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THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 


THE MOBILISATION OF SCIENCE 
| a letter to the Times of June 11 Mr. H. G. 
Wells gives utterance to a plea which, un- 
heeded in days of peace, may awaken a sym- 
pathetic response while the stress of war is upon 
the nation. Inasking that faith in the man behind 
the gun shall not be made any longer an excuse 
for providing him with fewer or inferior weapons, 
he invites political leaders and the War Office to 
make the fullest use of scientific men and method 
in the conduct of the war. He asks for the 
appointment of an acting sub-Government of 
scientific and technically competent men which will 
organise our utmost resources of scientific know- 
ledge and promote the employment of the most 
effective means of dealing with the enemy. 
There are signs that things are moving in the 
direction which Mr. Wells indicates as the road 
along which triumph must be assured, and his 
letter should hasten the organisation of the 
scientific forees which will assist to this end. The 
publication of the total 
during the last ten months ought to convince the 
nation that this war is one in which we cannot 
afford to give odds; and that all the force of 
scientific ingenuity and scientific organisation must 
be concentrated. upon the military and naval 
operations. There are hundreds of men of science 
number of casualties 
in the country whose energies and expert know- 
ledge are not being effectively used. We should 
possess a scientific corps, with men investigating 
at the Front as well as at home, instead of one 
or two committees advising officials as to possible 
means of offence or defence. When a man of 
science of such distinguished eminence as Prof. 
J. A. Fleming can say, as he does in the Times 
of June 15, that after ten months of scientific war- 
fare he has never been asked to co-operate in any 
experimental work or place any of his expert 
knowledge at the disposal of the forces of the 
Crown, though he is anxious to give such assist- 
ance, it is evident that the people in authority 
cannot understand the value of the scientific forces 
which it cheerfully neglects. Not a day passes 
but we are asked by men of science how they can 
devote their knowledge to national needs; and 
there is no ready answer. The organisation of 
the scientific intellect of the country is essential, 
yet almost nothing has yet been done towards its | 
accomplishment. 
It seems necessary, in considering how national 
NO. 2381, VOL. 95] 

f 
needs may be met dtionsepius® the invention of 
new methods of offence or defence from an in- 
crease in the supply of high explosive shell which 
has loomed so large newspapers. The 
novelty of the conditions and the unconvention- 
ality of the methods employed in this war carry 
the first problem outside the grooves in which 
naval and _ military have hitherto 
worked; and the united efforts of civilians and 
Service men will be required for its solution. The 
in the 
engineers 
necessity has arisen for surveying the whole 
scientific field to discover methods of destruction 
which we may use ourselves or from which our 
men look to us for protection. It is not enough 
that the Government should call in a scientific 
expert to advise in respect of what has occurred ; 
they must be ready to meet it when it does occur. 
Moreover, such intelligent anticipation ought not 
to be the special property of one department, and 
departmental rivalry or indifference ought to be 
smothered at birth by the appointment of a 
National Committee with a free hand and ample 
funds for experimental work. 
Such an arrangement is the more necessary in 
order to prevent the diffusion of effort over too 
wide a field. Some men are already engaged upon 
investigations of importance and yet 
unconnected either industry or war; and 
others are doing work upon which the mainten- 
ance of trade depends. It should be possible to 
secure a sufficient number of men of adequate 
standing without encroaching in any way upon 
For the war will bring 
first-rate 
with 
those we have mentioned. 
its aftermath of international competition, and we 
might as well lose as neglect to prepare for it. 
We plead, therefore, with Mr. Wells for a central 
organisation which shall direct into the most 
useful channels that mass of scientific knowledge 
and skill which is only waiting to serve the 
country’s need. 
But valuable as the work of such a committee 
might be, it would not obviate the desirability of 
using technically trained men to a far greater 
extent than is at present attempted, in increasing 
the output of the ordinary munitions of war. The 
problem before the new Minister is a dual one, 
and the two factors are labour and organisation. 
No man can do more than Mr. Lloyd George in 
persuading the workmen as a body to recognise 
the importance of unity and the danger which 
arises from industrial disputes; and every speech 
he delivers is both an inspiration and a warning. 
But it remains to be seen how far he will be 
able to secure that smoothness and efficiency of 
“aR 
