Industrial Research 



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assistants of professors have been calletl in, to the 

 detriment of research in universities. In recent years 

 an unusually large number of outstanding research men 

 reached tlie age limit and have been retired. To 

 maintain continuity in researcii traditions and to profit 

 from their experience these men have been retained as 

 consultants and in many cases deliver lectures on tiicir 

 research experiences to the younger personnel. Tlie 

 experience of the I. G. is believed to be typical of many 

 other firms maintaining large research staffs. 



German research in electric communications, par- 

 ticularly in television, surpasses both i:i volume and 

 quality tiiat of any other European country. Some of 

 the work is done in Government laboratories, such as 

 that of the Reichspost, in telephony, radio, and tele- 

 vision; some in Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes, as on mag- 

 netic alloj-s, magnetic measurements, and metallurgy; 

 and a very important part by industry itself. The 

 Siemens-Halske and Siemens-Schuchert combine, one of 

 the largest electrical manufacturers in the world, does 

 much research in electric commimications other than 

 wireless, telephony, and electric power. In 1937 this or- 

 ganization was credited with a staff of 2,000 scientists. 

 The AUgemeine ElectrizitJits Gesellscliaft (German 

 General Electric Company) engages in researcii princi- 

 pally on electric power. In 1939 Telefunken Gesell- 

 schaf t and Fernseh (Bosch and Zeiss-Ikon interests) were 

 doing 90 percent of the research in television, with re- 

 search personnel larger than tiiat of any other country. 



Other great research laboratories are in the iron and 

 steel industry (Krupp, Rochling Iron and Steel Works, 

 Vereinigte Stahlwerke); glass (Schott and Genossen, 

 Osram); nonferrous metals (Metall Bank A. G.); coal 

 (Ruhr Chemical and others) ; photography (Zeiss-Ikon) ; 

 textiles; shipbuildmg (Deutsche Werke); electric insula- 

 tion (Hemisdorf-Schomberg) ; potash (several potash 

 producers and a trade association); inorganic chemicals 

 (Goldschmidt laboratories); general chemicals (Degusa- 

 Hiag); fine chemicals (Chemische-Pharmazeutische, 

 J. D. Riedel-E. de Haen); synthetic camphor and 

 menthol (Schering-Kahlbaum). 



Many trade associations in Germany maintain ex- 

 tensive research laboratories, of which those in the coal, 

 potash, cement, textiles, porcelain, varnish, and paint in- 

 dustries, among others, are doing the most outstanding 

 work. In contrast to the American practice of organiza- 

 tion of trade associations by the industries themselves, 

 trade associations in Germany are organized by and 

 under the control of the Government. 



A comparison of research in the German coal industry 

 with that of the United States reveals the sharp con- 

 trast in conditions which motivate research in a given 

 industry. In the United States the coal industry, not 

 having prospered relative to other industries, is little 

 able to engage in extensive research. In this country 



coking of coal is done principally by steel and gas 

 companies, whereas in Germany the coal industry 

 itself engages in tliis operation. Research by coal 

 interests here has been directed primarily towards 

 stokers for the utilization of coal as is, while in Germany 

 and England efforts have been toward utilization of the 

 higher value products of coal carbonization with such 

 developments as low temperature carbonization, utiliza- 

 tion of the new types of tar therefrom, synthetic motor 

 fuel, and chemical utilization of byproducts. Research 

 of this nature in the United States is conducted mainly 

 bj' the steel companies and the tar distillers. 



In recent years a shortage of research workers, 

 especially in fundamental lines, has arisen in Germany, 

 not only from causes previously mentioned but as well 

 from the smaller number of university graduates and 

 the greatly stimulated tempo of industry. These con- 

 ditions, together with the trend in universities from 

 fundamental to applied research objectives, hold dim 

 prospects of being alleviated and are causing industry 

 concern about the future supply of fundamental 

 research workers. Industry's desire to place emphasis 

 on fundamentals so as to provide a training ground for 

 future personnel is hindered by reason of Government 

 demands for research promising inunediate results. 

 Should normal conditions again obtain, a long period 

 will be required to train a new generation of research 

 workers to the high order of experience and ability 

 which characterized pre-Hitler Germany, thus render- 

 ing post-war recovery more difficult. Yet this shortage 

 of research workers should not be taken to mean that 

 industrial research in Germany has deteriorated, 

 although some observers are of the opinion that it has 

 become more superficial with the change of emphasis 

 under the dictates of political exigencies. 



Germany's plan for self-sufficiency necessarily brings 

 upon herself the tremendous disadvantages to be ex- 

 pected from an economy based on internal rather than 

 international considerations. In development of sub- 

 stitute materials and products from domestic resources 

 so as to reduce the volume of imports to a minimum, 

 it is obvious that the extra demands on Germany's 

 raw material, labor, and energy resources, not to speak 

 of its research resources, are huge. There must be 

 more labor to produce the extra products of the mines, 

 the fields, and the forests, more equipment to move 

 and to process them, in turn requiring more labor, 

 more chemicals, more energy, and so on almost ad 

 infinitum. Shortages exist all along the line. The 

 problems of applied research workers are thus multi- 

 plied manyfold. 



Before permission to build new plants is granted, 

 projects must first be demonstrated as in the interests 

 of self-sufficiency or national defense. Then permits 

 must be obtained for necessary buildmg materials, 



