SCIENCE AND THE COMMUNITY 507 



' Among the results obtained by comprehensive researches in the tank 

 which have been adopted in the industry are the introduction of the 

 " cruiser stern " on ordinary mercantile vessels, the introduction of 

 " aerofoil " types of marine propellers, the change of rake now common 

 in single screw ships, and the use of a central fin on the later ships to 

 control inflow into the propeller. Further as a direct result of researches on 

 cargo ship form, commenced at the William Froude Laboratory in 191 1 

 and carried on more or less continuously, the resistance to motion of a 

 " good " ship form has been reduced by about 10 per cent. The effect 

 of this can be appreciated from the following figures. The total tonnage 

 of vessels classed at Lloyds at 30th June, 1930, owned by Great Britain 

 and Ireland, was 15,000,000. Taking this at £10 a ton it amounts to 

 j^ 1 50,000,000. A saving of 10 per cent, on the coal bill means an average 

 saving alone of £4,500,000 per annum. In particular instances of the 

 research carried out on the lines of a particular ship (many such researches 

 are made yearly) reductions sometimes reaching 35 per cent, are achieved.' 



It is interesting also to note that in the corresponding report for 1936 

 (p. 7) it is stated that : 



' The importance of the work carried out by the William Froude 

 Laboratory is exemplified by the fact that of the i , 1 8o,ooo tons of merchant 

 shipping listed as " under construction " in Great Britain during 1936, 

 no less than 920,000 tons were based on the Laboratory tests.' 



And now I think of the advances made in the production of electric 

 lamps and lighting, the vastly improved position of this country in high- 

 definition television, the development on a commercial scale of the huge 

 plant for converting coal into oil by hydrogenation, the marked growth 

 of the plastics industry, and many other important advances. And, I 

 repeat, we are only beginning this intimate co-operation between Science 

 and Industry, between the genius of the scientist and the practical needs 

 of the industrialist — worker as well as manager being engaged in it. Nor 

 is the advance only in the needs of highly organised technical industries. 

 So let me add a few more illustrations of the kind of improvements at this 

 moment being studied and brought to a conclusion. 



I find that research is being actively pursued into the manufacture of 

 shoes from the hides until the article is sold to the public ; the building 

 of soundproof and fireproof homes with controllable room-temperatures ; 

 the elimination of the squeaking of brakes and the drumming of panels in 

 motor cars and road vehicles for popular use ; industrial diseases, like 

 the devastating silicosis ; preservation and transport of fresh food like 

 fish, eggs and fruits ; the treatment of teeth — -one of the most grievous 

 of our common ills ; fresh and good water. All very humdrum and 

 small, you perhaps may say, but, as a matter of fact, taken all together, 

 they make up a fascinating study in the irritating ills which deprive the 

 lives of the mass of our people of the comforts which freshen the springs 

 of human happiness and make possible the enjoyment of our national 

 wealth and our social unity of spirit. Some of this work is not new, but 

 all of it has received revived energy from those Departments which I have 

 principally in mind this afternoon. 



Investigation — I repeat it, it is so important — which ends innumerable 

 irritating distracting and unnecessary noises, even if people imagine they 



