Industrial Research 



207 



universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow have hkewise 

 been doing considerable applied research. 



Industry 



The development of industrial research owes much to 

 the professional attention accorded in England to the 

 cultivation of knowledge in a systematic manner. This 

 began in an important way toward the close of the 

 nineteenth century, but in special fields had its begin- 

 nings earlier. Engineering as we know it had its birth 

 in England about 1750. Since that time, and especially 

 in the last 50 years, applied science has been cultivated 

 to a constantly increasing extent. The British were 

 leaders in industrial development prior to the research 

 era in industr}^. Cliemical engineering, as it concerned 

 the design, erection, and operation of plants in chemical 

 and related industries, had its birth in England, the 

 concept of unit operations having come later in the 

 United States. Professional recognition came to be 

 enhanced by publication of critical sm-veys of technical 

 knowledge, of which prominent examples have been 

 Guttmann's work on explosives, Sir Boverton Red- 

 wood's masterpiece on petroleum, Cross and Bevan's 

 classic on cellulose, and Lewkowitsch's compilation on 

 oils and fats. With one or two exceptions, however, 

 including Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., Eng- 

 land probably is still excelled by Germany in skill of 

 translating results of applied research to commercial 

 practice. 



Results of research by British industry are generously 

 published although not so openly and freely as in the 

 United States. Research executives commonly attend 

 technical meetings but their subordinates do not to the 

 extent practised in this country. 



Concurrent with the change in attitude toward 

 applied research by universities a similar transformation 

 occurred in industry, which placed more stress on 

 research and endeavored to make up for lost time. The 

 social disadvantages attaching to industrial research 

 have been largely but not wholly removed since the 

 First World War. The practice of purchasing processes 

 and products developed abroad, however, still prevails 

 and is a natural outlet for idle capital. 



It is diiBcult to estimate the number of industrial 

 research laboratories in England: Industrial Research 

 Laboratories, prepared by the Association of Scientific 

 Workers, is far from complete. Of 450 industrial firms 

 conducting research, only 80 replied to inquiries. 

 Many of the most prominent laboratories are omitted, 

 among them those of British Distillers, Ltd., Anglo- 

 Iranian Oil Company, Unilever, British Celanese, 

 Courtalds, J. Lyons and Company, Buroughs-Wellcome, 

 the Gas, Light, and Coke Company, South jSIetro- 

 poHtan Gas Company, Mond Nickel Company, the 

 British Aluminium Company, most of the laboratories 



of Imperial Chemical Industries (which had 18 research 

 stations operating or authorized in 1938), and others. 



Bernal ' saj's, however, that four-fifths of industrial 

 research, other than that carried on by the Govern- 

 ment, is undertaken by no more than 10 large firms. 

 He estimates the number of firms maintaining research 

 laboratories as between 300 and 600, and the total 

 money spent on industrial research as perhaps as much 

 as £2,000,000 (exclusive of Government expenditures). 

 It is possible, however, that routine testing is included 

 in the research personnel. 



The research organization of Imperial Chemical 

 Industries, Ltd., is outstanding and has received many 

 favorable comments. It has a technical development 

 committee and an executive committee on develop- 

 ment, which is tied up with a sales committee, to make 

 decisions on research in progress. The ability of 

 I. C. I.'s engineers to convert the results of research 

 to practice has been outstanding. 



Societies 



The scientific, professional, and industrial societies 

 represent influences tending to improve conditions sur- 

 rounding research both in fundamental and applied 

 fields. The opportunities afforded at their meetings 

 for presentation of papers on new subjects and sub- 

 sequent discussion thereof, personal contacts, and ex- 

 change of ideas, have assisted materially in dispelling 

 the secrecy which formerly characterized much of the 

 research especially in applied fields. In chemistry and 

 chemical engineering the Society of Chemical Industry, 

 the Institute of Chemists, and the Institution of 

 Chemical Engineers have been particularly prominent 

 and have done much to elevate these professions to 

 positions of national importance. The symposiimi 

 plan, developed to the highest degree in Germany, is 

 perhaps next most advanced in England, the meetings 

 of the Faraday Society being a particularly good 

 example. 



The Royal Society of London, founded in 1640, 

 stands in close and important relationship to the 

 Goverimient by reason of the nominations which it 

 has become a function of the society to make for scien- 

 tific positions in the Government, and also because of 

 the special research problems which it imdertakes for 

 the Government from time to time. The Royal Insti- 

 tution (1799) maintains a library and laboratories and 

 promotes research in connection with the experimental 

 sciences. 



Research in Italy 



As in other totalitarian states the national economy 

 of Italy is directed toward self-sufficiency and pre- 

 paredness. Italy is so lacking in material resources 



' See footnote 7 



