XXII 



THE POSSIBILITIES OF COOPERATION IN 

 RESEARCH 



GEORGE ELLERY HALE 



NO one can survey the part played by science in the war 

 without reflecting on the ultimate influence of the war 

 on science. Able investigators have been killed or incapaci- 

 tated, and with them a host of men who might have taken high 

 places in research. Sources of revenue have been cut off, and 

 the heavy financial burdens permanently imposed upon indi- 

 viduals, institutions, and governments must tend to reduce the 

 funds available for the advancement of science. On the other j 

 hand, the usefulness of science is appreciated as it never has r 

 been before, and some newly enlightened governments have K*, 

 already recognized that large appropriations for research willj 

 bring manifold benefits to the state. The leaders of industry , 

 have also been quick to appreciate the increased returns that 

 research renders possible, and industrial laboratories are multi- 

 plying at an unprecedented rate. The dearth of available 

 investigators, and the higher salary scale of the industrial world, 

 have seriously affected educational institutions, members of 

 whose scientific staffs, inadequately paid and tempted by offers 

 of powerful instrumental equipment, have been drawn into the 

 industries. On the other hand, industrial leaders have re- , 

 peatedly emphasized the fundamental importance of scientific 

 researches made solely for the advancement of knowledge, and 

 the necessity of basing all great industrial advances on the re- 

 sults of such investigations. Thus they may be expected to 

 contribute even more liberally than before to the development 



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