Guys,
I heard a ham the other night (WA2EJT I think) mention a pdf'ed book available on the web about the history of Naval radio electronics from 1899 to 1979. (Your federal tax dollars at work for you.)
The book is titled "Evolution of Naval Radio Electronics and Contributions of the Naval Research Laboratory". The author is Dr. Louis A. Gebhard, who worked for the NRL for 57 years and was in naval radio research for a total of 63 years. The book is 460 pages; 25 Mb pdf.
The link to the book pdf :
http://www.virhistory.com/navy/manuals/nrl-history.pdfPlease pass along.
Enjoy and have a Happy Thanksgiving,
Tom WA3KLR