8 



National Resources Planning Board 



growing conditions are determined. Then a chemist 

 investigates commercial nutrients, and possibly a com- 

 promise is reached with the bacteriologist between the 

 ideal and the practical. Then a chemical engineer 

 designs and operates a pilot plant, and later a full 

 scale plant is designed, installed, and initially operated, 

 possibly with the help of otlier engineers. The direc- 

 tor of research is responsible for the coordination of the 

 work of the biologist, the chemist, and the engineers 

 as tlio project goes forward through successive stages. 

 Modern research laboratories thus utilize men trained in 

 the various sciences, drawing together a variety of 

 disciplines. 



Research has been called "an attitude of mind" and 

 is, after all, the sum total of thought and activity of 

 research men. The early protagonists of industrial 

 research had in mind a practical constructive force that 

 promised great things for humanity; in the pursuit of 

 research they found adventure and the zeal and satis- 

 faction of the crusader. No brief dictionary-type defi- 

 nition conveys any understanding of what these re- 

 search men themselves meant when they used the term 

 "research." 



The best practical definition appears to be a descrip- 

 tion of industrial research in its various aspects, and 

 such a description is presented here in the several 

 studies written bj' research men. Differences of 

 opinion on terminology will be noted, but the composite 

 should give reasonably satisfactory comprehension of 

 the term. In spite of the differences, one common 

 denominator will be noted — the sincere endeavor of all 

 true industrial research men to work toward making 

 available to the public greater physical wealth and 

 well-being. 



Research Personnel 



A few requisites for research men are generally 

 recognized and first among them is intellectual in- 

 tegrity — the abihty to recognize truth, and the wiUing- 

 aess to accept it. Technical competence is assumed, 

 but a number of personal qualifications are considered 

 of such significance that they are discussed in some 

 detail in the study of Careers in Research. The indi- 

 vidual who qualifies fully for true research is rare, but 

 "the field of industrial research is so broad that there is 

 no standard type of individual for whom specifications 

 can be drawn." 



In most research organizations, a man with the 

 proper quahfications can find a life career with tangible 

 compensation generallj' on a par with or even above 

 that of technically trained men with equivalent responsi- 

 bilities elsewhere in the company.- Frequently men 



■ White, Alfred H. OccupatlODS and earnings of cbemlcal engineering graduate::. 

 Amrrican Imliliile of Chemical Enginem, TTanmctiom, t7, 235 0931). 



arc transferred to operating or sales positions because of 

 individual (jualifications and preferences, and such 

 transfers usually result in more effective liaison between 

 research and operating departments. 



As contrasted with many other fields, research is a 

 profession in which, because it depends so largely on 

 individual expression, workers cannot well be classified 

 on a salary or any other basis. Men with high creative 

 urge and scientific curiosity find satisfaction in initiating 

 improvements that others may carry forward to the 

 great benefit of employer and consumer. Association 

 with others of similar interests and intellectual activity 

 makes a strong appeal. Recognition through publica- 

 tion, permitted by most industrial research laboratories 

 when it is not prejudicial to company interest, is a source 

 of considerable satisfaction. 



With the present enormous mass of technical data 

 available, the research personnel serves as an intelli- 

 gence department to the modem company. Properly 

 organized and managed, such a department frequently 

 makes unnecessary any formal exchange of information 

 between companies — all draw from the same reservoir; 

 and occasionally identical advances occur simultane- 

 ously in several companies, as was true with solvent 

 refining in the petroleum industry. The uniform level 

 of advancement within industries maintaining re- 

 search — petroleum is only a conspicuous example — 

 indicates a constant and rapid transfer and develop- 

 ment of technical intelligence through normal channels, 

 usually without the necessity for official agreements. 

 In some smaller companies much of the time of research 

 men is given to keeping in touch with technical advances 

 in universities, in reading pertinent technical publica- 

 tions, and in conferring with technical sales-service men 

 from the larger manufacturers. Companies lacking 

 technically trained men for such "intelligence service" 

 are at a disadvantage and even find difficulty in fully 

 using the technical assistance offered by sales-service 

 men or professional consultants. 



Practice as to publication of research findings varies 

 from company to compan}'. At one extreme is the 

 company unwilling to let the name or number of its 

 research personnel be known; most companies are less 

 secretive and permit occasional publication and en- 

 courage staff members to attend the scientific meetings. 

 At the other extreme are companies which themselves 

 publish scientific papers and consider such publication 

 not only as a form of building "good will" and prestige, 

 but as serving the public welfare and particularly as 

 assisting in the further development of their research 

 men. In many instances, at least, publication has 

 resulted in professional advancement to the individual, 

 and both through his development and through associ- 

 ations created with scientific workers in related fields, 

 has benefited his employer. 



