V./7 I Kl: 



Septembeb m. [.918 



ike .1 1. in. irk w lii. h nr ma) well lake 

 U .11 could force us in do nothing 1 did 

 1 apa< ii\ for before." 

 ti Mii.il 1 eseai ch worker," -.i\s the 1 

 the I d States Experiment Station Record, "is 

 less born than made"; and Dr. Nutting 

 in s ih, same thought in diffei enl langus 

 " Fertility of mind is nol so much .in inborn qualitx 

 hi" the mind itseli as oi the training and association 

 which that mind has had. 



Hence ii U our solemn dut) as a young nation in 

 provide abundant facilities al each of our three uni- 

 versities for tin- making of our future research 

 kors. 

 We pass mi in jpeak oi industrial research, which 

 ■ ilu.ii- ha> some utilitarian end in view, whereas the 

 purpose ul pure scientific research is mom exclusively 

 philosophii lie' di~.n\M\ of truth, ["he investigator 

 in pun science has been likened in the explorei who 

 liscovers new continents, or islands, or lands before 

 unknown; tin- investigator in industrial research in 

 the pioneer who surveys tin- newl) discovered land 

 in order to locate its mineral resources, in determine 

 its forest areas, and in ascertain the position of its 

 trabli land.' 



I quote Urns) remarks with all circumspection, foe, 

 after all. there are no sharp boundaries between re- 

 s' arch in pure science .aid in applied or industrial 



-, and Huxley was right when he wrote that 

 "what people called 'applied science' is nothinf but 

 the application of pure science to particular problems." 



The lacl is that applied science is , impossible until a 

 foundation of pure science has been laid to build il 

 mi. You cannot apply a science which is imt there 

 to apply, and. as Sir William Tinney has said, until 

 men began to interrogate Nature for the sake of learn- 

 ing her ways, and without concentrating their atten- 

 tion on the expectation ol useful applications of such 

 knowledge, little or no progress was made. 



Industrial chemistry has been defined as that branch 

 of chemical science which uses all the rest of chemis- 

 try and much engineering for the' furtherance of pro- 

 duction of chemical substances, or the use of chemical 

 means or methods for manufacturing any material of 

 commerce; and hence industrial research for the most 

 part differs widely from university research. True, 

 there are instances to the contrary; thus Michigan 

 University has at Ann Arbor a lank for testing ship 



esistance, and Illinois University has a laboratory for 



ivestigations on a full-size locomotive engine; but 

 industrial research is, for the most part, 'impracticable 

 for universities, and, as often as not, needs to be 

 ed "tit under large-scale conditions, as it were 

 111 situ, and by persons already possessing practical 

 experii hi various phases of the problem under 



\i the same time there should be much 

 closei .n between the university and indus- 



trial research. Industry should recognise that il must 



lepend p i upon the universities for its trained 



opi i it' to the fullest possible 

 extent In the end ' proper!) trained men be turned 

 out. 



Do you realisi ivhat ibis last sentence involves 

 you who are connected with the big industries? It 

 involves thai industry should recognise that, from a 

 purely selfish motivi , if fro i no other, its interest lies 

 in endowing research chaii hi universities, and in 



seeing'fhat the) : by men of genius. The 



very nature of industria iplies that there 



must be a constant accession to the ranks of its 



- "i i" 1 sons trained in pun ii ntific research. 



RE, vol. C, p. 157, TO17. 



I Cart) Presidential address, Proa Amer. Inst. Elec. 



Engmn . . ,'. M i;, 1916. 



. -\S5t. vol. 102] 



If such accession be intermitted, or if the increase of 

 knowledge b) means of pure scientific research be 

 hampered, industrial research will inevitably !"■ lim 



ii responding de 



Ih' Government has acted wisely and well 

 deavouring in establish a s\stem of industries in this 

 country; do we want these industries in fizzle "in, in- 

 to go through years "i laborious struggling.' it . 

 wish in minimise preventable disadvantages "t that 



kind, lei us do without di lax whatixii we 1 an In 



Fostei research, so 'bat the men in conduct ii max 

 become available as soon as they are needed. 



National research approaches more neai-1) hi 



industrial than to the university type. It is often 

 undertaken for the advantage ol industry in general, 

 Inn its outlook is considerably broader than thai al 

 embraced within the scopi of industrial research, 

 restricted, as the latter is, a, the requirements of 

 individual industries. In South Africa the en for 

 industrial research ha. become mor< imperative ot 

 late, and ih'- Industries Advisory Board, as well as thi 

 Scientific and Technical Committee appointed on the 

 initiative of the Ministei "I Mines and Industries, 

 has gone some distance bpth in educating the public 

 to tin need of I his type of research and in giving an 

 impetus in the required direction. Mainly, however, 

 the agem ies used were of two classes : the labora- 

 tories nf tbn university colleges, and those of rertain 

 Government Departments, together with the respec- 

 tive officers nf those institutions. 



Thin an two fundamental principles on which I 

 must now lax siress ; they are expressed in tin words 

 CO-operation and co-ordination co-operation between 

 workers in different branches of science, co-ordination 

 amongst those who work in the same branch in order 

 that the maximum of benefit max be attained. So 

 interdependent, in fact, so interlaced are the three 

 types of research to which I have briefly alluded that 

 it should be [latent as the sun al noon that tin- Closest 

 co-operation between them all is essential. It is to 

 be feared that this is not vet so clearly realised as it 

 should be. The waste of time and energy that has 

 risen from overlapping, which in turn has resulted 

 from lack of collaboration, is incredibly great. It has 

 stifled work of value in tin past to an extent that is 

 certainly nol realised; it has thrown back for many 

 years branches of investigation in which ere now- 

 incalculable progress migh havi been made and un- 

 told pecuniary advantages reaped. Would that the dire 

 necessity ol this searching war could slit ut> tie South 

 African nation to a correct appreciation nf the facts! 

 About a year ago the president of tin Society of 

 Chemical Industry, in his address at Birmingham, 



insisted mi the absolute necessity for the engineer and 

 the chemist to "get into double harness as quickly as 

 possible" and work svmpatheticallx together for the 

 progress of chemical industry. In South Africa, t"", 

 this necessity has been manifested, but I am glad to 

 say that wi have had more than manifestation; we 

 have had realisation and we have bad operation. For 

 example, when, some months ago, the fertiliser scar- 

 city arose, I was deputed to investigate the potentiali- 

 ties of unutilised raw materials in the Union, and 

 found, ami m gst other things, that there were several 

 thousand tons of good material going to waste in 

 various places in connection with such institutions as 

 slaughterhouses and crayfish canneries for lack of by- 

 products plant to deal with it. \\ In 11 1 had compl ited 

 my tour of inspection and furnished mv report, the 

 engineers were i barged to follow on, and set to wcrk 

 to make good the deficienc) in plant, "i'' 1 the result 

 that a respectable quantity of fertilisers will now he 

 produced from the refuse that hitherto has been geirg 



to waste. 



