It is Engineering Week at the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Mayagu¨ez, Puerto Rico, February 22–27, 1954. Just as in stateside colleges of the United States, there are luncheons, lectures exhibits, and trips through local factories. I am in the main auditorium where we are about to hear a lecture by the head of a Puerto Rican research institute. Everyone is in shirtsleeves or sportshirts, for the weather is typical of the tropics. Through the open doors and louvered shutters I can see the royal palms, flowering African tulip trees, and the fern‐leavedflamboya´n. The breeze cools those of us who hurried over from a class the last hour.