, INTRODUCTION xiii 



foundations upon which the electrical engineer has reared such a 

 magnificent structure. 



" What is true of the electrical art is also true of all the other 

 arts and applied sciences. They are all based upon fundamental 

 discoveries made by workers in pure science, who were seeking 

 only to discover the laws of nature and extend the realm of 

 human knowledge. 



" By every means in our power, therefore, let us show our ap- 

 preciation of pure science and let us forward the work of the pure 

 scientists, for they are the advance guard of civilization. They 

 point the way which we must follow. Let us arouse the people of 

 our country to the wonderful possibilities of scientific discovery 

 and to the responsibility to support it which rests upon them and I 

 am sure that they will respond generously and effectively." 



In each of the illustrations we have cited, and in many 

 others like them, three elements, fundamentally important 

 to the welfare of the United States, should be recognized. It 

 is clear that a nation anxious to reduce the cost of living and 

 unwilling to give place in the industrial world to better in- 

 formed rivals must adopt every feasible means of promoting 

 research in the industries. It is equally clear that so long as 

 the security of the world is menaced by unscrupulous military 

 powers, research methods must be effectively utilized in per- 

 fecting the means of national defense. But more fundamental 

 still is the prime necessity, clearly appreciated and strongly 

 emphasized by the far-sighted leaders of American industry, 

 of promoting research in all branches of science, without 

 thought of any industrial application, for the sake of advancing 

 knowledge. As Sir Joseph Thomson has recently said, it ib 

 only in this way that the greatest advances are made. The 

 pioneers of industrial research are those who seize and apply 

 the discoveries of men of science, by whom new territories are 

 opened and explored. Without the knowledge derived from 

 such explorations, the investigator bent upon immediate in- 

 dustrial advantage could make little progress. 



Our place in the industrial world, the advance of our com- 

 merce, the health of our people, the output of our farms, the 



