648 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. ! 



istic of the genius of our people in one 

 aspect, let \is again consider for a moment 

 that other and even more significant phase 

 of our industrial research, namely, that 

 which involves the coordinated and long- 

 continued effort of many chemists along 

 related lines. 



Chemistry in America is essentially re- 

 publican and pragmatic. Most of us believe 

 that the doctrine science for science's sake 

 is as meaningless and mischievous as that 

 of art for art's sake, or literature for litera- 

 ture's sake. These things were made for 

 man, not for themselves, nor was man made 

 for them. Most of us are beginning to real- 

 ize that the major problems of applied 

 chemistry are incomparably harder of solu- 

 tion than the problems of pure chemistry, 

 and the attack, moreover, must often be 

 carried to conclusion at close quarters 

 under the stress and strain induced by time 

 and money factors. Under these circum- 

 stances it should not excite surprise that a 

 constantly rising proportion of our best 

 research is carried on in the laboratories of 

 our great industrial corporations, and no- 

 where more effectively than in the research 

 laboratory of the General Electric Com- 

 pany under the guidance of your past 

 president, Dr. Whitney. As to the labora- 

 tory method Dr. Whitney says in a per- 

 sonal letter : 



We see a field where it seems as though experi- 

 mental work ought to put us ahead. We beUeve 

 that we need to get into the water to learn to 

 swim, so we go in. We start back at the academic 

 end as far as possible, and count on knowing what 

 to do with what we find when we find it. Suppose 

 that we surmise that, in general, combustible in- 

 sulation material could be improved upon. We 

 try to get some work started on an artificial mica. 

 May be we try to synthesize it and soon come to a 

 purely theoretical question; e. g., is it possible to 

 crystallize such stuff under pressure in equilibrium 

 with water vapor corresponding to the composition 

 of real mica? This may lead a long way and call 

 in a lot of pure chemistry and physical chemistry. 



Usually we just keep at it, so that if you haven't 

 seen it on the market we're probably at it yet. 



In striking contrast to the secrecy main- 

 tained between individual workers in large 

 German research laboratories, is the almost 

 universal custom in America to encourage 

 staff discussion. In the General Electric 

 Laboratory, as in many others, the weekly 

 seminars and constant helpful interchange 

 of information has developed a stafE unity 

 and spirit which greatly increases the effi- 

 ciency of the organization and raises that of 

 the individual to a higher power. 



Many evenings could profitably be spent 

 in discussing the achievements of this labo- 

 ratory. Their quality is well indicated by 

 the new nitrogen tungsten lamp, with its 

 one half watt per candle, which combines the 

 great work of Dr. Coolidge on ductile tung- 

 sten with the studies of Langmuir and 

 others of the staff on the particular glass 

 and gas and metal which are brought to- 

 gether in this lamp. 



Any attempt to adequately present the 

 enormous volume of research work, much 

 of which is of the highest grade, constantly 

 in progress in the many scientific bureaus 

 and special laboratories of the general 

 government or even to indicate its actual 

 extent and range, is of course utterly be- 

 yond the limits of my attainments or of 

 your patience. The generous policy of the 

 government toward research is unique in 

 this, that the results are immediately made 

 available to the whole people. Heavy as 

 some of the government reports are, they 

 can not be expected to weigh more than 

 the men who write them. Some, like the 

 "Geochemistry" of F. W. Clarke, are of 

 monumental character. A vast number are 

 monographs embodying real and important 

 contributions to scientific knowledge or in- 

 dustrial practise. Some, as would be ex- 

 pected, are little more than compilations or 



