264 BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



and other experimental workers deal directly with the natural laws and 

 natural resources which it is the business of industry to exploit, whereas 

 mathematicians touch these things only in a secondary way. 



The second statement would perhaps be granted on the general ground 

 that throughout the whole of industry, research is becoming more complex 

 and theoretical, and hence the value of consultants in general, and of 

 mathematical consultants in particular, must increase. It is not necessary, 

 however, to rely solely on such general considerations. Direct evidence 

 exists in certain industries, notably aircraft,^ where many of the major 

 research problems are generally recognized to be more readily accessible to 

 theoretical than experimental study, and in certain others, such as industrial 

 chemistry ,2 where one may reasonably assume that modern molecular 

 physics will soon begin to play an important part in determining speeds of 

 reaction. There is also the general alertness of executives to the dollar 

 value of a theoretical framework in planning expensive experiments, and 

 the gradually changing attitude toward mathematics that stems from it. 

 As Dr. W. R. Burwell, Chairman of the Brush Development Company, 

 writes: 



"There is a deiinite trend toward a greater use of mathematics in industry 

 which is somewhat commensurate with the trend toward the acceptance of re- 

 search and development departments as necessary adjuncts to successful busi- 

 nesses. It is becoming more and more generally recognized that mathematics 

 is not only a necessary tool for all engineers, physicists and chemists who make 

 any pretense of going beyond strictly observational methods and experimental 

 solutions to their problems but that it is also performing an important function 

 as the recording medium for those generalizations which lay the foundation for 

 the advances of scientific knowledge. . . . 



Even in an organization as small as ours, the use as a consultant is really 

 important and we are constantly having instances where the mathematician 

 because of his training is serving as an interpreter of mathematical and physical 

 theories, sometimes influencing the direction of experimental work and sometimes 

 eliminating the need for it." 



If, therefore, the estimate of 150 mathematicians in industry at present is 

 realistic, it may not be too wide of the mark to forecast several times that 

 number a decade or so hence. 



Source of Supply 



Based on these estimates, a demand for new personnel of the order 



of 10 a year may be predicted. This number sounds small; but if we 



reiterate that mediocrity has no place in the consulting field, and that 



^ See pages 31-34. 

 2 See pages 30-31. 



