3i8 



NATURE 



[May 13, 1920 



staff of men of science giving their whole time 

 to the work of their respective 'positions. While 

 it favours well-planned co-operation and organised 

 effort in connection with the solution of particular 

 problems, it is opposed to all attempts at central 

 control of research, and to any action which may 

 hamper the individual investigator or hinder 

 personal initiative. 



The National Research Council has thus like 

 functions to those of our Department of Scientific 

 and Industrial Research, but its constitution is 

 different, and approaches more closely that of 

 the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies. It is 

 not financed by the U.S. Government, and is, 

 therefore, not a Government bureau, but a federa- 

 tion of the principal research agencies in the 

 United States concerned with the fields of science 

 and technology. Men of science in America are 

 fortunate in securing the generous support of 

 private benefactors for the work of their National 

 Council. They are in consequence perfectly free 

 to determine their own policy and to shape their 

 own destiny, untrammelled by any of the con- 

 ditions laid down by administrators unfamiliar 

 with their spirit or their service. 



Much of the misunderstanding which exists 

 among many of our men of science concerning the 

 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research 

 would be avoided if the constitution of the Depart- 

 ment were on the democratic lines of the National 

 Research Council. We do not wish to depreciate 

 the work of the Department in the slightest — 

 indeed, its very important activities in some direc- 

 tions have often been commented upon in our 

 columns — but we think the work could be 

 extended and made more effective if the suspicion 

 of bureaucratic control could be removed com- 

 pletely by placing responsibility for it more defin- 

 itely upon the body of scientific opinion. The men 

 who administer the grants in aid made by the 

 Royal Society, British Association, and other 

 scientific societies represent the fellows or mem- 

 bers of these societies, and are not appointed by 

 other persons or bodies. This is the case also in 

 the National Research Council, and we suggest 

 that our Department of Scientific and Industrial 

 Research might relieve itself of the criticism to 

 which it is sometimes subjected by making its 

 Advisory Council similarly representative of scien- 

 tific opinion. 



Even if this change of constitution cannot be 



readily made, we have in the Conjoint Board a 



means at hand of removing existing objections. 



The Department might make the Board a part of 



NO. 26.^7, VOL. lO^;! 



its administrative machinery and pay it an annual 

 retaining fee for service in a consultative capacity, 

 without giving it any executive functions. The 

 Board would thus serve as liaison officer between 

 the Department and scientific societies, and science 

 workers as a body would share responsibility 

 with the Department in the selection of subjects 

 for investigation which should be supported, 

 and of societies to which these might suitably 

 be entrusted. If our rich citizens and corpora- 

 tions were as generously disposed towards science 

 and education as those of the United States, the 

 Conjoint Board would be able to carry on its work 

 as effectively as tne National Research Council, 

 without connection with a Department of Govern- 

 ment. There is, however, little hope that such 

 aid will be forthcoming, and in its absence the 

 Department could with advantage use an organ- 

 isation very similar in constitution to the National 

 Research Council, but, unfortunately, without the 

 funds to do like service for science. 



Though the Conjoint Board was associated 

 with the establishment of the Department of Scien- 

 tific and Industrial Research, it has hitherto^ 

 received little aid from the Department, and has 

 had to carry on its very useful work mainly 

 through its own slender resources. Among the 

 important subjects dealt with by committees of 

 the Board are the application of science to agri- 

 culture, national instruction in technical optics^ 

 the possible relation between magnetic anomalies 

 and the presence of iron ores, water-power of the 

 British Empire, timber for aeroplane construction, 

 glue and other adhesives. Patent Laws, and the 

 need for a joint building for scientific and tech- 

 nical societies. In New York there is a splendid 

 building of this kind, and the National Research 

 Council proposes to expend 200,000!. on its head- 

 quarters. Here there is nothing to compare with 

 such accommodation for joint housing and meet- 

 ings of scientific and technical workers. Science 

 has organised itself in the Board as well as shown 

 directions in which organised effort may profitably 

 move. What is wanted now is what scientific 

 workers are unable themselves to provide, namely,, 

 sufficient funds to enable the Board to continue 

 and extend its operations on a firm financial basis. 

 We hope the Department of Scientific and 

 Industrial Research will be able to afford some aid 

 of this kind, while we pray that private bene- 

 factors will arise who will place the Board in the 

 same independent and strong scientific position 

 as is enjoyed by the National Research Council 

 of the United States. 



