Basic Research 

 in INDUSTRIAL 

 LABORATORIES 



JAMES B. FISK 



Bell Telephone Laboratories 



THE MATERIAL well-being of a nation 

 and its military strength rest largely and increasingly on the 

 technical developments exploited by its industry. Basic research, 

 the search for new fact and understanding, has provided and 

 continues to extend and strengthen the foundations on which 

 technical advance and new development are built. 



These statements are increasingly accepted as axioms of 

 our society. It is hard to find examples of industrial products 

 or services that do not owe some debt, in many instances their 

 very existence, to basic research. If these are accepted truths, if 

 every industrial company has some stake in basic research as a 

 source of development opportunity, of economic growth and 

 financial reward, why are there relatively so few who do basic 

 research themselves or who provide funds for its support other 

 than indirectly through the taxes they pay? In particular, why 

 are there so few who do basic research themselves? 



I think the main reasons are these: Top management mav 

 be unaware of the present needs of its technologv for basic 

 research and unaware of future values to be had from its suc- 

 cessful conduct. Some companies will have sponsored only the 



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