266 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
for employing as part of an engineering organization men competent 
to detect those advances in knowledge which are potentially valuable 
and to work out the technique of applying them. 
The research worker himself is not blameless in this respect. We 
can call to mind the case of Mendel, the significance of whose work in 
genetics was not recognized until he had been dead many years. His 
case is an example of discovery not appreciated because it is too far in 
advance of the general state of development of the science. Dr. Lan- 
chester’s books Aerodonetics and Aerodynamics contained much 
which may perhaps be regarded in the same way. 
The instances I have mentioned may, of course, be regarded as classic 
examples of the difficulty of disseminating knowledge. As the volume 
of knowledge increases, this difficulty grows. In the hall of Trinity 
College, Cambridge, there hangs the portrait of William Whewell, 
sometime Master. It is said that he was the last man to know all 
knowledge. He died in 1866.? 
But the research worker has, in my view, a part to play in “putting 
across” the results of research. It is reasonable to ask that he should 
put his results in such a form that they can be used. To those who 
feel that this is hardly worthy of so much of their time and attention, 
as it certainly demands if it is to be well done, 1 would command 
the example of one of the greatest workers in aeronautics, Hermann 
Glauert. Every one of his outstanding contributions to aerodynamics 
was finished in such a form that the method of its application was 
made clear. I am not aware that this in any way detracted from the 
value of his work on whatever basis it may be judged. And I know, 
from my long and intimate friendship with him, that he regarded 
it as the natural method, and indeed the only one that would satisfy 
his sense of craftmanship. 
PROBLEMS OF THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE 
If this review leaves us confident of our powers to use effectively 
the results that an alliance between research and engineering ingenuity 
can provide, as I think it should, how should we shape our plans for 
the future? Let us look for a moment into what the future may hold 
for us in one field alone: still further improvement in performance— 
in speed and in range. 
Within the limits of our present knowledge the most economical 
way to fly faster is to fly higher. Let us suppose that we can extend 
2 Oxford may feel that their claim has been overlooked. It is preserved in the rhyme: 
My name is Benjamin Jowett 
Hverything that’s known, I know it. 
What I don’t know isn’t knowledge 
And I am Master of Balliol College. 
Jowett died in 1893. 
