424 :' THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY 



THE CONDUCTION OF RESEARCH 



By F. H. NORTON 



CHIEF PHYSICIST, NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS 



RESEARCH may be defined as the process of intentionally looking 

 for something new; the value of some physical constant, a new 

 material, or a method of performing some operation. According to its 

 purpose, research can logically be divided into two classes; the first 

 is pure research which includes the study of the properties of natural 

 objects, such as the determination of atomic weights, the distance of a 

 star, or the development of plants and animals, while the second may 

 be termed industrial research which includes the development of a 

 material having commercially useful properties, or the refinement of 

 a process so as to increase its output or decrease its cost. Such a di- 

 vision can not of course be strictly held to, for the two classes inter- 

 mingle at times, as there are a great many cases where an investigation, 

 starting as pure research, later developed industrial possibilities. In 

 fact there are very few pieces of pure research that do not sooner or 

 later offer valuable contributions to the industries. 



A very large portion of the modern development in science is due 

 to systematic research. While it may be true that some highly interest- 

 ing facts are stumbled upon in the realm of science, it is the thorough, 

 painstaking investigations conducted at our government, university and 

 industrial laboratories that in the last twenty years have given us such 

 a remarkable insight into the structure of matter and the universe. 



Engineering, which has in the past, clung to cut and try methods, 

 is beginning to realize the value of trained men and well-equipped 

 laboratories in solving its problems. Perhaps no division of engineer- 

 ing has advanced as rapidly in this respect as aeronautics, compar- 

 atively a very new subject, and yet, because of its exacting demands, 

 has caused the development of methods so advanced that they may well 

 be borrowed by the older branches. Commercial enterprises of all 

 types are developing research by organizing their own laboratories or 

 by financing the research laboratories of the universities. Many con- 

 cerns are devoting five to ten per cent, of their profits to research, and 

 some have laboratories employing scores of trained men. The in- 

 dustrial research laboratory is past the experimental stage and is recog- 

 nized as a sound financial asset. 



Research may also be divided according as it is definite or in- 

 definite, that is, whether or not it is known beforehand what is being 



