200 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



Although the industrial laboratory has become the basic element 

 in the electrical industry, the manner by which its fruits are put to 

 practical use is complex. Not only are there many ways by which 

 a new idea is transformed into a practical thing, but also there are 

 many problems in connection with making the fullest use of scientific 

 effort. These ways and these problems merit a closer examination. 



EFFICIENT USE OF SCIENCE PRESENTS MANY PROBLEMS 



The task of the industry is not only to uncover new principles and 

 make new discoveries, but also to determine which ones can be put to 

 practical, profitable use, and how. It is difficult to recognize the 

 potential value of new discoveries and to determine at an early stage 

 the possibilities of applying them to industrial processes and 

 products. 



THE PROBLEM OF TIMING 



The rate of application of new ideas is not dependent solely upon 

 the time necessary to conceive and develop them. It is also influenced 

 by the time required for public acceptance. Household refrigeration, 

 the basic principle of which is very old, required a relatively long 

 time for both instrumentalities and public acceptance. Numerous 

 problems had to be solved in the commercial development of such 

 items as suitable refrigerants, sealed compressor shafts or the alterna- 

 tive of hermetically sealed units, systems of proper lubrication that 

 would be effective for a period of years, elimination of noise, quan- 

 tity-production methods such as those previously developed in the 

 automobile industry, electric- welding methods, and many other items, 

 including even such things as a system of time payments. 



During the first two decades of radio the efforts of radio engineers 

 were directed toward developing methods by which radio could be 

 used as a means of private communication. It remained for a new 

 idea, the opposite of this notion, to, allow radio to assume its present 

 etature. Public acceptance of radiobroadcasting was almost instan- 

 taneous. This case is an exception to the rule that the exploitation 

 of new products and devices usually results in unprofitable operation 

 for prolonged periods. 



The course of carrier current' also supports this point. In the 

 middle 20's carrier current came into successful use for communica- 



' Carrier current is a term used to define currpnts that are superimposed on circuits 

 such as transmission lines which are already carrying power currents. These carrier cur- 

 rents are induced in, and collected from, these circuits by the use of high-frequency trans- 

 mitting and receiving equipment which is not metallically connected to the circuits over 

 which they are carried. These carrier currents are generally used for communication and 

 control purposes, and this scheme of operation eliminates the necessity of providing parallel 

 telephone or transmission circuits. 



