11^ — ^THE RISE OF SCIENCE IN INDUSTRY 



but not without the help of other technical men; the fundamental ideas 

 were and are chemical. . . . 



Sufficient has been presented to show that certain industries of the 

 United States have been elevated by an infusion of scientific spirit 

 through the medium of the chemist, and that manufacturing, at one time 

 entirely a matter of empirical judgment and individual skill, is more and 

 more becoming a system of scientific processes. The result is that Amer- 

 ican manufacturers are growing increasingly appreciative of scientific re- 

 search, and are depending upon industrial researchers — "those who cata- 

 lyze raw materials by brains" — as their pathfinders. It is now appropriate 

 to consider just how industrialists are taking advantage of the univer- 

 sities and the products of these. 



When an industry has problems requiring solution, these prob- 

 lems can be attacked either inside or outside of the plant. If the pol- 

 icy of the industrialist is that all problems are to be investigated only 

 within the establishment, a research laboratory must be provided for 

 the plant or for the company. At present, in the United States, prob- 

 ably not more than one hundred chemical manufacturing establish- 

 ments have research laboratories or employ research chemists, although 

 at least five companies are spending over $100,000 per year in research. 

 In Germany, and perhaps also in England, such research laboratories in 

 connection with chemical industries have been much more common. The 

 great laboratories of the Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik and of the 

 Elberfeld Company are striking examples of the importance attached to 

 such research work in Germany, and it would be difficult to adduce any 

 stronger argument in support of its value than the marvelous achieve- 

 ments of these great firms. 



A frequent difficulty encountered in the employment of researchers 

 or in the establishment of a research laboratory, is that many manufac- 

 turers have been unable to grasp the importance of such work, or know 

 how to treat the men in charge so as to secure the best results. The 

 industrialist may not even fully understand iust what is the cause of his 



• * ' 



manufacturing losses or to whom to turn for aid. If he eventually en- 

 gages a researcher, he is sometimes likely to regard him as a sort of 

 master of mysteries who should be able to accomplish wonders, and, if 

 he can not see definite results in the course of a few months, is occa- 

 sionally apt to consider the investment a bad one and to regard research- 

 ers, as a class, as a useless lot. It has not been unusual for the chemist to 

 be told to remain in his laboratory, and not to go in or about the works, 

 and he must also face the natural opposition of workmen to any inno- 

 vations, and reckon with the jealousies of foremen and of various officials. 



From the standpoint of the manufacturer, one decided advantage of 

 the policy of having all problems worked out within the plant is that the 

 results secured are not divulged, but are stored away in the laboratory 

 archives and become part of the assets and working capital of the cor- 

 poration which has paid for them; and it is usually not until patent 

 applications are filed that this knowledge, generally only partially and 

 imperfectly, becomes publicly known. When it is not deemed necessary 

 to take out patents, such knowledge is often permanently buried. 



In this matter of the dissemination of knowledge concerning indus- 



