CAPSULE CONCLUSIONS 



are not, and what may be the magnitude of their cost. It is 

 obvious to everyone familiar with development of hardware that 

 the design of "things" is handicapped at every turn by a lack 

 of basic knowledge and for want of definition of that which can 

 be created within the limits of present knowledge. While 

 difficult to prove, there is little doubt that a more vigorous 

 support of basic research — and "analytical engineering" — 

 could pay rich dividends in making "things" easier and less 

 costly to develop, especially less costly in manpower. It also 

 would minimize the need for expensive crash programs. It 

 could help in preventing premature production. 



Recently Mr. Kappel, President of the American Tele- 

 phone and Telegraph Company, expressed a similar conclusion 

 about the importance of such research in industry when he 

 said: "The cost of development is far greater than the cost of re- 

 search, and if a big development gets off on the wrong foot, the 

 price is terribly high." 



The need for additional basic and supporting research is 

 nowhere more evident than in those technological develop- 

 ments which require new materials or materials with new and 

 unique properties, as for example, in the design of advanced 

 nuclear reactors. Some of our technology has been limited 

 because we have not yet achieved the necessary mastery over 

 materials. It has frequently been necessary to engineer around 

 inadequate materials, thus greatly increasing the cost of a 

 project. For want of improved materials, some projects have 

 been unable to meet specifications, and even others have failed 

 of accomplishment. 



My third category of observations relates to problems in 

 the management of our technology. There is sometimes a tend- 

 ency, for example, to overcomplicate and overelaborate the tech- 

 nological products and systems that we produce. This is always 

 a temptation in the development of military weapons, but this 



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