BASIC RESEARCH IN INDUSTRIAL LABORATORIES 



The interaction of research workers with development 

 engineers in industrial laboratories is important to development, 

 both in direct consultation and in longer-term, continuing edu- 

 cation, and such communication can be important to the re- 

 search man too. His role in this interaction is to "keep the 

 thinking straight," to reduce empiricism, and to infuse develop- 

 ment activity with scientific method. The quality and tone of 

 a development organization are importantly influenced by the 

 presence of a good basic research activity in the industrial labor- 

 atory. The research group can also be a source of excellent 

 development engineers at the proper stage in individual careers, 

 as experience has shown. 



No industry, no industrial laboratory, can be expected to 

 be entirely self-sulhcient in generating all its technology, let 

 alone the science on which its technology rests. To draw 

 effectively from the broad world of science you must be a 

 part of science, and your ticket of admission, so to speak, is your 

 own established competence in some area of science. Then, re- 

 gardless of where the discovery that is in your field of interest 

 may be made, you will be in a position to recognize and under- 

 stand, to appraise and use. You will have something to give in 

 return. It may be simply scientific understanding and a useful 

 exchange of ideas. It may be that the discoverer or inventor is 

 interested in using your own discoveries and inventions. An 

 industrial laboratory with strong basic scientists, generating 

 much of its own new science and technology, will contribute 

 to science, will be alert to the results of others — and will have 

 valuable assets for exchange and use. 



Essential Ingredients and Conditions 



Several years ago, in a thoughtful article entitled "Vitality 

 of a Research Institution and How to Maintain It" Ralph 

 Bown discussed essential ingredients for successful research in 



161 



