2 



attack, there has begun a great awakening 

 of our people. By bringing to their minds 

 the brilliant achievements of the member- 

 ship of this institute in electric lighting 

 and power and communications and by 

 calling their attention to the manifold 

 achievements of the members of our sister 

 societies in mechanical and mining and civil 

 engineering, and the accomplishments of 

 our fellow-workers, the industrial chemists, 

 they are being aroused to the vital impor- 

 tance of the products of science in the na- 

 tional defense. 



Arising out of this agitation comes a 

 growing appreciation of the importance of 

 industrial scientific research, not only as an 

 aid to military defense but as an essential 

 part of every industry in time of peace. 



Industrial research, conducted in accord- 

 ance with the principles of science, is no 

 new thing in America. The department 

 which is under my charge, founded nearly 

 forty years ago to develop, with the aid of 

 scientific men, the telephone art, has grown 

 from small beginnings with but a few 

 workers to a great institution employing 

 hundreds of scientists and engineers, and 

 it is generally acknowledged that it is 

 largely owing to the industrial research 

 thus conducted that the telephone achieve- 

 ments and developments in America have 

 so greatly exceeded those of other countries. 



With the development of electric lighting 

 and electric power and electric traction 

 which came after the invention of the tele- 

 phone, industrial scientific research labo- 

 ratories were founded by some of the larger 

 electrical manufacturing concerns and these 

 have attained a world-wide reputation. 



