48 



NATURE 



September 8. 192 1] 



applied science are now quickly brought to the 

 knowledge of all interested workers. In fact, as 

 regards the particular branch of science with which 

 I am more directly concerned, the arrangements 

 for the preparation and dissemmation of abstracts 

 of contemporary foreign chemical literature are 

 proving to be a veritable embarrassment of riches, 

 and there is much need for co-operation among the 

 various distributing societies. This need is espe- 

 cially urgent at the present time owing to the 

 greatly increased cost of paper, printing, binding, 

 and indeed of every item connected with publica- 

 tion, which expense, of course, ultimately falls 

 upon the various societies and their members. 

 Ihe problem, which has already received some 

 attention from those entrusted with the manage- 

 ment of the societies referred to, is not without 

 its difliculties, but these are not insoluble. There 

 is little doubt that a resolute and unanimous effort 

 to find a solution would meet with success. 



The present high cost of book production, which 

 in the case of specialised books is about three 

 times what it was in 1914, is exercising a most 

 prejudicial effect upon the spread of scientific 

 knowledge. Books on science are not generally 

 among the "best sellers." They appeal to a com- 

 paratively Umited and not particularly wealthy 

 public, largely composed of the professional 

 classes who have suffered in no small measure 

 from the economic effects of the war The present 

 high price of this class of literature is to the 

 public detriment. Eventually it is no less to the 

 detriment of the printing and publishing trades. 

 Publishers are well aware of this fact, and 

 attempts are being made by discussions between 

 employers and the executives of the Typographical 

 Association and other societies of compositors to 

 reach an equitable solution, and it is greatly to 

 be hoped that it will be speedily found. 



All thinking men are agreed that science is at 

 the basis of national progress. Science can de- 

 velop only by research. Research is the mother of 

 discovery, and discovery of invention. The in- 

 dustrial position of a nation, its manufactures and 

 commerce, and ultimately its wealth, depend upon 

 invention. Its welfare and stability largely rest 

 upon the equitable distribution of its wealth. All 

 this seems so obvious, and has been so frequently 

 and so convincingly stated, that it is superfluous 

 to dwell upon it in a scientific gathering to-day. 



A late distinguished Admiral, you may re- 

 member, insisted on the value of reiteration. On 

 this particular question it was never more needed 

 than now. The crisis through which we have 

 recently passed requires it in the interests of 

 national welfare. Of all post-war problems to 

 engage our serious attention, none is more im- 

 portant in regard to our position and continued 

 existence than the nation's attitude towards 

 science and scientific research, and there is no 

 more opportune time than the present in which to 

 seek to enforce the teaching of one of the most 

 pregnant lessons of our late experience. 



It is, unfortunately, only too true that the indus- 



NO. 2706, VOL. 108] 



trial world has in the past underrated tne value of 

 research. One indication that the nation is at 

 length aroused to its importance is to be seen in 

 the establishment of the Department of Scientitic 

 and Industrial Research, with its many subordin- 

 ate associations. The outbreak of the Cjreat War, 

 and much in its subsequent history, revealed, ai 

 we all know, many national shortcomings, due to 

 our indifference to, and actual neglect of, manj 

 things which are at the root of our prosperity and 

 security. During the war, and at its close, vari- 

 ous attempts, more or less unconnected, were 

 made to find a remedy. Of the several committees 

 and boards which were set up, those which still 

 exist have now been co-ordinated and brought 

 under the control of a central organisation — the 

 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. 

 Research has now become a national find State- 

 aided object. For the first time in our history its 

 pursuit with us has been organised by Government 

 action. As thus organised it seeks to fulfil the 

 aspirations to which I have referred, whilst meet- 

 ing many of the objections which have been urged 

 against the endowment of research. It must be 

 recognised that modern ideas of democracy are 

 adverse to the creation of places to which definite 

 work is not assigned and from which definite 

 results do not emanate. This objection, which 

 strikes at the root of the establishment of such anj 

 institution as Sir David Brewster contemplated^ 

 is, to a large extent, obviated by the scheme o| 

 the Department of Scientific and Industrial R( 

 search. It does not prescribe or fetter researcftJ 

 but, whilst aiding by personal payments the \vX 

 dividual worker, leaves him free to pursue hi^ 

 inquiry as he thinks best. Grants are made, o^ 

 the recommendation of an Advisory Council 

 experts, to research workers in educational in<S 

 stitutions and else\yhere, in order to promote re- 

 search of high character on fundamental problems 

 of pure science or in suitable cases on problems of 

 applied science. Of the boards and committees 

 and similar organisations established prior to or 

 during the war, or subsequent to it, with one or 

 two exceptions, all are now directly under the 

 Department. They deal with a wide range of 

 subjects, such as the Building Research Board, 

 established early in 1920 to organise and super- 

 vise investigations on building materials and con- 

 struction, to study structural failures, and to fix 

 standards for structural materials. The Food In- 

 vestigation Board deals with the preservation by 

 cold of food, and with the engineering problem- 

 of cold storage, with the chemistry of putrefaction, 

 and the agents which induce it, with the bionomics 

 of moulds, and the chemistry of edible oils and 

 fats. The Fuel Research Board is concerned with 

 the immediate importance of fuel economy and 

 with investigations of the questions of oil-fuel for 

 the Navy and Mercantile Marine, the survey of 

 the national coal resources, domestic heating, air 

 pollution, pulverised fuel, utilisation of peat, the 

 search for possible substitutes for natural fuel oil, 

 and for practicable sources of power alcohol. 



