BASIC RESEARCH IN INDUSTRIAL LABORATORIES 



nical and scientific objectives? "What business is it in?" so to 

 speak. And what business does it intend to be in? 



This concept, the conscious setting of objective, does no 

 violence to basic research. It simply implies that the research 

 man will understand the purpose of the organization, know 

 what is technically feasible in the business, and have a criterion 

 of relevance for his work. Because his research is relevant to the 

 main aims of the overall organization, it need be no less basic 

 and no less a contribution to science, as experience has fre- 

 quently shown. 



It is true, for example, that a laboratory devoted to im- 

 provement and extension of electrical communications is an 

 unlikely source of new knowledge in high-energy particle 

 physics. The reverse is also true. In both cases, however, there 

 is enormous scope and challenge to initiative. 



Beyond people and purpose there is an array of ingredients 

 which, taken all together, make up what we will call environ- 

 ment — the intellectual, organizational, and economic environ- 

 ment in which research is carried out, and the services and 

 lacilities which support it. 



Important elements of a research environment are certain 

 freedoms. 



Freedom in the choice of problems — subject to the 

 criterion of relevance. 



Freedom to carry a study to the point of demonstrating 

 the merit of an idea — and freedom to drop the study there 

 and go after the next good idea. 



These are important freedoms for the research organiza- 

 tion, but they are not inherent, natural rights of individuals. 

 They are to be earned over a period of time by distinguished 

 performance. Also, they include being able to enlist one's 

 associates in attacking particularly challenging problems, if the 



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