to test them, and in 1945 he demonstrated that the new baseballs were inferior. This was done by addressing the issue of whether or not a pitched baseball could curve out of the plane of the pitch. With the help of two pitchers from the Washington Senators baseball club and his 1917 wind tunnel he studied the effect of spin and speed on the trajectory and established the relationship between the amount of spin and the curvature of the ball (see curveball). To measure the spin, he attached a lightweight tape to the ball and counted the twists in the tape. This was a popular topic in newspapers and is probably the most widely known of his research results. Another of Briggs many interests was the National Geographic Society and in 1934 he chaired the Society's Committee on Research and Exploration. During this time he instrumented two stratospheric balloon flights, the second of which broke the existing record for altitude in 1936. During retirement he became more active in the Society, and led an expedition to study the solar eclipse in Brazil in 1947. Briggs often wrote articles for the National Geographic Magazine. Briggs died March 25, 1963, aged 88, after a diverse life of scientific exploration and service. He is remembered for his range of interests. Briggs was almost universally liked, and had a reputation for levelheadedness and serenity. Edward U. Condon, Briggs' successor at the Bureau said: "Briggs should always be remembered as one of the great figures in Washington during the first half of the century, when the Federal Government was slowly and stumblingly groping towards a realization of the important role science must play in the full future development of human society." In 2007, Michigan State University honored the Lyman Briggs school, named for Briggs, by allowing it to become the Lyman Briggs College. Awards, honors and distinctions Positions: Philosophical Society of Washington, President, 1916 Washington Academy of Sciences, President, 1917 Federal Specifications Board, Chairman, 1932 Federal Fire Council, Chairman, 1933–1939 National Bureau of Standards, Director, 1933–1945 National Geographic Society, Life Trustee, 1933–1964 Special Advisory Committee for Stratospheric Balloon Flights, Chairman, 1935–1936 National Conference on Weights and Measures, Chairman, 1935 American Physical Society, President, 1938 Uranium Committee S-1 of the National Defense Research Committee, Chairman, 1939 Research Committee of the National Geographic Society, Chairman, 1937 National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Vice-chairman, 1942 National Bureau of Standards,