77th Congress! . f Document , , e • HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES „ „„, 1st Session J [ No. 234 RESEARCH— A NATIONAL RESOURCE II. INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TRANSMITTING A REPORT ON "INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH" PREPARED FOR THE NATIONAL RESOURCES PLANNING BOARD BY THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES May 29, 1941. — Referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed with illustrations From the collection of the ■7 ^ z m Blill; 0 Pre|inger library San Francisco, California 2008 77th CoNcuEss, 1st Session ----------- House Document 234 RESEARCH -- A NATIONAL RESOURCE 11. INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH DECEMBER 1940 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL TO THE NATIONAL RESOURCES PLANNING BOARD UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE - - - WASHINGTON : 1941 FOR SALE BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, WASHINGTON, D. C. PRICE $1.00 To the Congress of the United States: One of tlio greatest rcsourees in the arsenal of democraey is our national ability and interest in industrial research. For the vigorous prosecution of our defense pro- gram and for the assurance of national progress after the emergency we rely heavily on the continued vitality of research by industry in both pure and applied science. Our people can justly take pride in the record of the accomplishment by American industry contained in the report on Research — A National Resource, Part II, Industrial Research, which I am transmitting for the information of the Congress. This docu- ment is one of a series on our research resources being prepared by the National Resources Planning Board with the assistance of scientific councils and committees. The National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council are responsible for the organization and presentation of this volume. The report presents a clear record of how successfully we have translated our old-time Yankee ingenuity for invention into American genius for research. Our scientists have uncovered and explained the secrets of nature, applied them to industiy, and thus raised our standard of living, strengthened our defense, and enriched our national life. The following significant paragraph in the report sums up the great changes that have come about through industrial research: More efficient and economical methods liave conserved our resources; new materials have made possible better products; and new products have contributed to the health, pleasure, and comfort of the general public. Such changes have not taken place without some temporary misfortunes. Here and there industries have disappeared and people have been tenijiorarily thrown out of work, but the net result of 40 years of organized industrial research in this country has been the enrichment of life to an incalculable degree. I connnend a careful reading of this report to the Members of the Congress. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. The White House, May 29, 1941. ui Executive Office of the riiEsiDENT National Resources Planning Boaud Washington, D. C, April 4, lO.jl. The President, The White House. j\Iy Dear IMr. President: We have the honor to submit lierewith a report on "Research — A National Resource: Part II — Industrial Kescarcli". This volume is the second in the scries on this subject prepared under the genei-al direction of our Science Committee with the cooperation of the councils wliich have designated members of the committee. The first part, submitted in 1938, dealt with "Relation of the Federal Government to Research", and a third part now in prepara- tion is concerned with "Business Research". The document now submitted was pie- pared bj' a special committee of the National Research Council. We endorse in principle the findings and recommendations of the special com- mittee and wish to call attention to the great importance of industrial research in rela- tion to both the present defense effort and also to developments in the post-defense period. Sincerelj" j^ours, Frederio a. Delano, Cliairman. Charles E. Merriam. George F. Yantis. NATIONAL RESOURCES PLANNING BOARD Frederic A. Delano, Chairman Charles E. Merriam George F. Yantis ADVISORS Henry S. Dennison Beaedsley Ruml DIRECTOR Charles W. Eliot, 2d ASSISTANT DIRECTORS Thomas C. Blaisdell, Jr. Frank W. Herring Ralph J. Watkins EXECUTIVE OFFICER Harold Merrill SCIENCE COMMITTEE Arthur L. Day Dugald C. Jackson Charles R. Morey David L. Edsall Charles H. Judd William F. Ogburn Edward C. Elliott Dexter M. Keezer Edwin B. Wilson Ross G. Harrison Waldo G. Leland Executive Office of the President National Resources Planning Board Washington, D. C, December 1, 1940. Mr. Frederic A. Delano, Chairman, National Resources Planning Board, Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Delano: Wc have the honor to transmit herewith a report on "Indus- trial Research," constituting the second of a series of reports on the research resources of the United States. This report was prepared for the National Resources Planning Board by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Research Council assigned the supervision of the preparation of this report to a Committee of 26 outstanding leaders in research. This Committee, known as the Committee of the National Research Council on Survey of Research in Industry, employed a staff of which Raymond Stevens, Vice President of Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., was the Director. The report calls attention to the fact that the United States has achieved con- spicuous leadership in industrial research. Since the beginning of this century, there has been a rapid development of research of the type with which the report deals. The intimate relations between industrial research and research carried on by the Federal Government and by other agencies, such as universities, is made clear in the report. It is also shown that industrial research has contributed very largely to the improvement of the standards of living. The report contains a number of recommendations which the Science Committee commends to the favorable consideration of the National Resources Planning Board. The Science Committee calls special attention to the fact that this report was prepared by one of the councils represented in the membership of the Science Committee. It is the belief of the Science Committee that the Federal Government profits greatly by securing, as it has in this case, the services of a competent nongovernmental association of scholars. Respectfully submitted. Edwin B. Wilson, Chairman, Science Commiltee. Arthur L. Day. Ross G. Harrison. Waldo G. Leland. David L. Edsall. Dugald C. Jackson. Charles R. Moret. Edward C. Elliott. Charles H. Judd. William F. Ogburn. Dexter M. Keezer. VII National Reskakch Councii. •J 101 CoNsrnuTioN Avenue Washixiitox, D. C. November 2i), 1940. Mi;. 1'"i;i:d]:kic A. Uki.ano, ( 'litii/iiiini , Xdliiiiial I'lxoiirrKf: I'liiniiliuj Board, Washington, D. C. Mv Dkak Mi;. JjKr.AXu: In c()in|ili,inc.i! witli j-oiir requt'st nf Dccciiibcr 8, I'J.'JS, addressed to tlie Xatioiiiil Uesearch Council, asking that tlie Council undertaUe a study of the rescairli resources of industrial laboratories, I have the honor to transmit to you herewith a report entitled "Research^A National Resource. II. Industrial Kesearch." The report has been jirepared under the supervision of a committee of the National Ke-seiirch Council, of 2() UKMuljcrs, of whicli Mr. F. W. Willard is chairman, and with the a.'isistance of a special sliill' under the direction of Mr. Raymond Stevens. Material for the report h:is been submitted by research workers in Government, industry, iniiversity, and professional fields. Unhcsitant and unstinted cooperation has been obtained on all sides in the Council's endeavor to meet comprehensively and con- slruetively the purpose of your request. Respectfully su limit ted. Ros.s G. IIakkison", Chairman. National Reseaisch Council 2101 CoxsTiiuTioM Avenue Washingto.v, D. C. SURVEY OF RESEARCH IN INDUSTRY November 22, 1940. Dr. Frank B. Jewett, President, National Academy of Sciences, Washinf/to7i, D. C. Du. Ross G. IIakkison, Chairman, National Research Council, Washington, D. C. Gentlemen: I have the honor to transmit the attached report of the National Research Council's Committee on the Survey of Research in Industry. It is my duty to record here the gratitude of your Committee to the leaders of private enterprise in the United States of America who have, without exception and without reservations, responded to your Committee's requests for information. Lack- ing this wholehearted cooperation, your Committee's task could not have been performed. To those men eminent in their respective fields who have prepared monographs for this report, your Committee records its grateful appreciation. To Mr. Raymond Stevens, Director of the Survey, and his staff, your Committee acknowledges its debt. They have performed a difficult task expeditiously, econom- ically, and with an intelligent discrimination of relative values. Respectfully submitted. F. W. Willard, Chairman. vni NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON SURVEY OF RESEARCH IN INDUSTRY F. W. WiLLARD, Chairman, President, Nassau Smelting and Refining Company, 170 Fulton Street, New York, Now York C L. Alshekg*, Director, Gianiiini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, University of California, Berkeley, California C. H. Bailey, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry and Vice Director, Agricultiu-al Experiment Station, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota Herbert A. Baker*, President, American Can Company, 230 Park Avenue, New York, New York Henry A. Barton^, Director, American Institute of Physics, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York L. W. Bass, Assistant Director, Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, Pittsburgh, Pennsj'lvania Carl Breer, Director of Research, Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, Michigan 0. E. Buckley, President, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, 463 West Street, New York, New York G. II. A. Clowes, Research Director, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana W. D. CooLiDGE, Vice President and Director of Research, General Electric Company, Schenectady, New York F. G. Cottrell, 3904 Ingomar Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. M. H. Eisenhart, President, Bausch and Lomb Optical Company, Rochester, New York Charles N. Frey, Director, Fleischmann Laboratories, 810 Grand Concourse, Bronx, New York George R. Harrison, Professor and Director of the Research Laboratoiy of E.xperi- mental Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massa- chusetts Maurice Holland, Director, Division of Engineering and Industrial Research, National Research Council, 29 West 39th Street, New York, New York Harrison E. Howe, Editor, Indiistrial and Engineering Chemistry, Mills Building, Washington, D. C. Jerome C. Hunsaker, Professor in charge. Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts Martin Ittner, Research Director, Colgate-PalmoHve-Peet Company, Jersey City, New Jersey Frank B. Jewett, Vice President, American Telephone and Telegraph Company and Chairman of the Board, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, 195 Broadway, New York, New York John Johnston, Director of Research, United States Steel Corporation, Kearny, New Jersey Virgil Jordan, President, National Industrial Conference Board, 247 Park Avenue, New York, New York F. T. Letchfield, Consulting Engineer and Assistant Vice President, Wells Fargo Bank and Union Trust Company, San Francisco, California L. W. Wallace, Director, Division of Engineering and Research, Crane Company, 4100 S. Kedzie Avenue, Chicago, Illinois E. R. Weidlein, Director, Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania •Deceased. Frank C. Whitmore, Dean of the School of Chemistry and Pliysics, Research ProfesFor of Organic Chemistry, Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pennsylvania R. R. Williams, Chemical Director, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, 463 West Street, New York, New York SURVEY OF RESEARCH IN INDUSTRY STAFF DIRECTOR Raymond Stevens, Vice President, Arthur D. Little, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts ASSISTANT DIRECTORS Dexter North, Washington, D. C. Representative, Arthur D. Little, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts Caryl P. Haskins, President, Haskins Laboratories, 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York STAFF MEMBERS Howard R. Bartlett, Head, Department of English and History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts Franklin S. Cooper, Director of Research, Haskins Laboratories, 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH Contents Pace 1 Summary of Findings and Recommendations I. A Report on Industrial Research as a National Resource— Introduction 5 II. Research in the National Economy 17 1. The Development of Industrial Research in the United States 19 2. Research — A Resource to Small Companies 78 3. Coordination Between Industries in Industrial Research 85 4. Technical Research by Trade Associations 88 5. Fundamental Research in Industry 98 6. Careers in Research 108 7. Research as a Growth Factor in Industry 120 8. Industrial Research Expenditures 124 III. Examples of Research in Industry 127 1. Research in Aeronautics 129 2. Research in the Petroleum Industry 144 3. Research in the Iron and Steel Industry 157 IV. Location and Extent of Industrial Research Activity in the United States 171 V. Research Abroad ^^^ VI. Men in Research 221 1. Chemistry in Industrial Research 223 2. Physical Research in Industry as a National Resource 236 3. The Role of the Biologist in Industry 253 4. Industrial Mathematics 268 5. Metallurgical Research as a National Resource 289 6. The Chemical Engineer in Industrial Research 306 7. Industrial Research in the Field of Electrical Engineering 316 8. Industrial Research by Mechanical Engineers 328 9. The Significance of Industrial Research in Border-line Fields 347 VII. Appendix ^^'^ 1. The Relationship of the National Research Council to Industrial Research '■^^^ 2. Acknowledgments -'70 XI I LLUSTRATIONS PttBe Figure 1. — Research Laboratories, Genera) Electric Com- pany, Sclienectady, New York fi FiGUKE 2.- — Research Laboratories, American Cyanamid Company, Stamford, Connecticut V Figure 3. — Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York, New York 10 Figure 4. — General Motors Research Laboratories Build- ing, Detroit, Michigan 11 Figure 5.— Research Laboratory Floor Plan, General Foods Crrporation, Hobokcn, New Jersey 15 Figure 6. — Interior View of Edison's Laboratory at Menlo Park, 1880. (World Wide Photos, Incl 30 Figure 7. — The First Laboratory of E. I. du Pont de Ne- mours and Company, Incorporated, was Housed in This Building, Erected About 1802, Wilmington, Dela- ware 44 Figure 8. — Library, Research and Development Lab- oratories, Bakelite Corporation, Bloomficld, New Jer- sey. (Unit of Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation) 54 Figure 9. — First Laboratory of Parke, Davis and Com- pany, 1873, Detroit, Michigan 60 Figure 10. — Starting Out in 1880 to Take a Picture. (Acme Photo) (iG Figure U. — Laboratory for Developing and Testing Re- fractories, General Refractories Company, Baltimore, Maryland 80 Figure 12. — Stri|)s of Light-Polarizing Film Hanging in the Laboratory of the Polaroid Cori^oration, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Strips are Transparent Unless Two Are Crossed at Right Angles 81 Figure 13. — Fiber Preparation Laboratory, John A. Manning Paper Comi)!tny, Incorporated, Troy, New York 83 Figure 14. — Laboratory and Headquarters of the Ameri- can Pharmaceutical .Association, Washington, D. C. 89 Figure 15. ^National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Asbu- ciation, Washington, D. C. 93 Fiouaa 16.— Laboratory for Investigation of Length Change in Concrete, Portland Cement Aseoolation, Chicago, lUinois 95 Figure 17. — Laboratories and Offices of the American Institute cf Laundering, Joliet, Illinois 97 Figure 18. — Higli-Speed Motion Pictures of the Human Vocal Cords, Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York, New York 101 Figure 19.- — Pure Research Division, Stamford Research Laboratories, American Cyanamid Company, Stamford, Connecticut 102 Figure 20. — Fundamental Research in Reaction Kinetics, Emeryville Laboratories, Shell Development Company, Emeryville, California 104 Figure 21. — Ultracentrifuge for Determination of Molec- ular Weights of Colloidal Materials Such as Proteins, Cellulose and Rubber, Experimental Station of E. I. du Pont do Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Dela- ware 105 Figure 22. — World Record for Maximum Speed 130 Figure 23.— Total Route Miles 131 Figure 24. — Total Plane Miles Flown 132 Page Figure 25. — Total Passenger Miles Flown 132 Figure 2G. — Passenger Revenue (Domestic) 133 Figure 27. — Passengers Carried (Domestic) 133 Figure 28. — Average Passenger Fare Per Mile 134 Figure 29. — Payments to Domestic Air Mail Contractors and Air Mail Postal Revenue 135 Figure 30. — Payment Per Pound-Mile Domestic Air Mail 135 Figure 31. — Model of Pipe Still Used in Development and Improvement of Processes, Standard Oil Develop- ment Company, Elizabeth, New Jersey 145 Figure 32. — Production and Reserves of Crude Oil in the United States, 1925-39 146 Figure 33. — Aerial View of Research and Development Laboratories, Universal Oil Products Company, River- side, Illinois 117 Figure 34. — Experimental Oil Cracking Still, Gulf Re- search and Development Company, Ilarmarvillc, Pennsylvania 148 Figure 35. — Variations in the Consumption of Straight Run, Cracked, and Natural Gasolines in Terms of Per- centages of Crude Oil, 1921-39 148 Figure 36. — The Production of Domestic Gasoline in the United States, 1921-39 149 Figure 37. — The Trends of Octane Gasoline Ratings and Automobile Engine Compression Ratios, 1929-39 152 Figure 38. — Variations in the Price of Gasoline in the United States, 1920-39 (based on 50 cities) 154 Figure 39. — Subzero Temperatures for Study of Oil, Fuel, and Lubricant Performances, Standard Oil De- velopment Company, Elizabeth, New Jersey 155 Figure 40. — Research on Creep of Steel, Crane Com- pany, Chicago, Illinois 161 Figure 41. — Austempering of Steel, American Steel and Wire Company, Worcester, Massachusetts. (Subsid- iary of United States Steel Corporation) 163 FiGUKE 42. — Vacuum Extraction Apparatus for Control of Oxides in Steel, Republic Steel Corporation, Cleve- lajid, Ohio 165 FiouBB 43. — Apparatus for Speotrographic Examination of Steel, Bethlehem Steel Company, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 167 Figure 44. — Personnel Employed in Industrial Research: 1920-40 174 Figure 45. — The Increase of Research Personnel Between 1938 and 1940; Relative Importance of the Various Components 175 Figure 46.— The "Birth Rate" of Industrial Research 176 Figure 47.^ — Geographical Distribution of Industrial Re- search Laboratories: 1940 177 Figure 48. — Research Employment in Various Indus- tries: 1940. The marks on the bars indicate values comparable with those of figure 49. See footnote 15. 179 Figure 49. — Research Employment in Various Indus- tries: 1927 and 1938. The upper bar of each pair refers to 1927; the lower bar to 1938 180 Figure 50. — The Percentage of the Dollar Value of Products of Various Industries Expended for Research: 1927 and 1938. The upper bar of each pair refers to 1927; the lower bar to 1938 181 Figure 51. — Independent Managements Utilizing Re- search, Distributed According to Corporate Size: 1940 182 Figure 52. — Number of Research Workers Employed by the Corporate Units in Various Sized Groups: 1940 183 Figure 53. — The Average Research Staffs Maintained by Corporate Units of Various Sizes: 1940 184 Figure 54. — Research Staffs Maintained by Corporate Units of Various Sizes in the Chemical Industry: 1940 185 Figure 55.- — The Average Research Staffs Maintained by Various Corporate I'nits l)i.strib\ited According to Sales and to Net Income: 1938 18C Figure 56. — The National Physical Laboratory, Ted- dington, England. (After A. W. Hobart) 190 Figure 57. — Kaiser Wilhelni Institute for Iron and Steel Research, Diisseldorf, Germany. (Photo, Siahl und Eisen) 198 Figure 58. — Laboratory of the German Interessen Gesellschaft Farbenindustrie. (Photo, Chcmnyco, In- corporated) 200 Figure 59. — Bacteriological Analyses by Students, Institute of Research, Berlin, Germany. (Photo, German Library of Information) 202 Figure 60. — The Wellcome Research Institution, London, England 203 Figure 61. — The Paint Research Station, Teddington, England 204 Figure 62. — High-Speed Wind Tunnel, Government Aviation Research Center, Guidonia, Italy. (Hamil- ton Wright Photo) 208 Figure 03. — Jungfrau Institute for Scientific Research, The Jungfrau, Switzerland. (R. Schudel Photo) 212 Figure 64. — Hydrogen Liquifier in the Cryogenic Hall of the Institute of Physical Problems of the Academy of Sciences of the L^nion of Soviet Socialist Republics. (Soviet Foto Agency) 214 Figure 65. — Laboratories of the National Research Council, Ottawa, Canada 218 Figure 66. — Research and Development Laboratories, Bakelite Corporation, Bloomfield, New Jersey. (Unit of Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation) 224 Figure 67. — Research Laboratory, Monsanto Chemical Company, St. Louis, Missouri 225 Figure 68. — A Chemical Research Laboratory, E. 1. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Incorporated, Wilmington, Delaware 228 Figure 69. — Main Library, The Dow Chemical Com- pany, Midland, Michigan 231 Figure 70. — Entrance to Research Laboratory, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Illinois 233 Figure 71. — Vacuum Tubes for the Production of Ultra- short Electromagnetic Waves, Bell Telephone Labora- tories, New York, New York 238 Figure 72. — High-Speed Photographs of Combustion in Gasoline Engine, General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Michigan 244 Figure 73. — Photoelastic Pattern of Roller Bearing Stresses. Points of Maximum Stress Occur Where the Lines are Spaced the Closest, Timken Roller Bearing Company, Canton, Ohio 245 Figure 74. — Electron Diffraction Pattern of (a) Plated and (6) Stripped Metal Surface. (After H. R. Nelson) 246 Figure 75. — Motion of a Pelton Wheel Frozen with the Aid of High-Speed Photography. (After Harold E. Edgerton) 246 Figure 76. — The "Atom Smasher," Westinghouse Re- search Laboratory, East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 247 I'llKC Figure 77. — Viscosimeter for Determination of the Abso- lute Viscosity of Glass, Owens-Illinois Glass Companj', Toledo, Ohio 248 Figure 78. — Organized Physics in America 250 Figure 79.^Studying 0.\idation-Reduction Systems, Fleischmann Laboratories, New York, New York 255 Figure 80. — Corner of Food Technology Laboratory, General Foods Corporation, Hoboken, New Jersey 257 Figure 81. — Photoelectric Colorimeter for Measuring Amount of Vitamin .\ in Foods, Purina Mills, St. Louis, Missouri 258 Figure 82. — Corner of Research Lal)cn'atory, Swift and Company, Chicago, Illinois 259 Figure 83.— Determination of Thermal Death Time of Micro-organisms, H. J. Heinz Laboratories, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 203 Figure 84. — Determinants 274 Figure 85. — Bicircular Coordinates 276 Figure 86. — Continued Fractions 278 Figure 87. — Elliptic Integrals 280 Figure 88.— The Isograph 282 Figure 89. — Templin Precision Metal Working Machine, Aluminimi Research Laboratories, Aluminum Com- pany of America, New Kensington, Pennsylvania 290 Figure 90. — Spectroscopic E.vamination of Metals, Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, Michigan 291 Figure 91. — Pilot Plant for Study of Soybean Oil Extrac- tion, Ford Motor Company, Saline, Michigan 308 Figure 92. — Chemical Engineering Laboratory, Alumi- num Research Laboratories, Ahmiinum Company of America, New Kensington, Pennsylvania 309 Figure 93. — Modern Dubbscracking Plant, Modeled in Wood, Equiflux Heater at Left, Universal Oil Products Company, Chicago, Illinois 312 Figure 94. — Pilot Plant for Manufacture of Chemicals from Petroleum, Emeryville Laboratories, Shell Devel- opment Company, P^meryville, California 313 Figure 95. — .Assembling of Million-Volt X-ray Unit, General Electric Company, Schenectady, New York 318 Figure 96. — Vacuum Electric Furnace for Production of Single Crystals of Gold and Copper. Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, East Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania 319 Figure 97. — Surge Generator, Wagner Electric Corpora- tion, St. Louis, Missouri 321 Figure 98. — Equipment for Investigation of Heat Dis- tribution in a Conventional Railway Journal Box As- sembly, Railway Service and Supply Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana 330 Figure 99. — "Squeeze" Test Machine for Subjecting Passenger Cars to Compression Load of 900,000 pounds, Pennsylvania Railroad Research Laboratories, Altoona, Pennsylvania 331 Figure 100. — Wind Tunnel Apparatus, Aerodynamics Laboratory, Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, Michigan 336 Figure 101. — Six-Plate Centrifugal Molecular Fraction- ating Still in Operation, Distillation Products, Incor- porated, Rochester, New York. (Subsidiary of General Mills, Incorporated, and Eastman Kodak Company) 355 Figure 102. — Research Department Library, American Can Company, Maywood, Illinois 357 Figure 103. — Source of Pure Beams of Protons for Bio- physical Research 359 Figure 104. — National Academy of Sciences and Na- tional Research Council, Washington, D. C. 367 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Findings 1. Continuous and increasing application of science by industry is contributing most significantly to the high standard of American Hving. Viewed in this Hght industrial research is a major national resom-ce. 2. The United States has become the acknowledged leader in industrial research. 3. American industry employs over 70,000 research workers in over 2,200 laboratories at an estimated annual cost, based on an average of figures reported, of the order of $300,000,000. 4. Industrial research is generally accepted both by informed labor and by informed management as a desir- able and constructive force. Organized labor is offi- cially on record in favor of research, and the annual reports of many of the most successful corporations have stressed the relation of research to earning power. 5. Small and moderate-sized companies were found whose principal means of competitive defense against larger companies is industrial research. One company mentioned specifically that, as a defense against compe- tition from a merger of other companies in the indus- try, a policy of research was adopted and special prod- ucts were developed, and in consequence there has been continuing heavy demand. 6. One-hundred eighty-one manufacturers report ex- penditures for industrial research of 2 percent of gross income as a median, the percent varying with company size and from one industry to another. 7. Industrial research is possible for all industrial units, small and large. The distribution of research in industry seems to foUow no definite rule but to depend rather upon management policy. It is apparent that research is most active in companies utilizing techni- cally trained men in design, production, or sales activity. 8. Industrial research acts as a protection against unfavorable changes taking place both within and with- out an industry. 9. A great difference exists in the direct utilization of research by different industries — a few industries still depend almost altogether upon sources of supply for their technical advance while others have themselves made great strides in the application of science. 10. Industry looks to the universities for trained tech- nical men, and for principal advances on the frontiers of science. However, it is of interest that advances are not infrequently made on these frontiers in the course of research projects originally designed to achieve immediate commercial objectives. 11. The United States is now virtually independent of foreign sources for adequate apparatus and facilities for laboratory research. 12. Cooperation and coordination in industrial re- search take various forms. Some industries cooperate through associations, especially in studying problems common to an industry. Frequent instances of coop- eration between noncompeting companies are noted. It is the belief of those responsible for this report that the danger of uimecessary duplication of research by competitive industry will remain slight. No special steps are recommended at this time to improve coordi- nation and to prevent duplication. 12. Relations between research men in Government and in industry are, in general, close and cordial. In- dustry generally is continuously cooperating recipro- cally with the Army and Navy and with the technical branches of other departments and bureaus in the Gov- ernment. A factor reported as interfering to some degree with even more effective use of industrial coop- eration by War and Navy Departments is the extension of secrecy to the point of not informing industry freely of troublesome problems. It is possible that less re- striction might be placed on information about existence and nature of problems, while at the same time taking care that the solutions, when found, are treated with discretion. 13. Some branches of applied science are more highly developed in industry than others. Notably chemistry has been widely accepted and applied, and well over a quarter of the members of industrial research staffs are chemists or chemical engineers. Biology, however, has not obtained the same general acceptance even in the food industries where there is great opportunity for wider utilization of applied biology. It is believed that the biologists themselves could take steps toward correcting this situation, as did the physicists in the formation and operation of the American Institute of Physics. 14. There is opportunity for some American imiver- sity to establish a comprehensive curriculum in applied mathematics. The number of men engaged in applied mathematics is comparatively small but their work is extremely significant. It could be made even more significant through special educational facihties. 15. Industrial research men are members of a pro- fession with liigh ethical standards. Compensation for industrial scientists is in general comparable with that for men with equivalent responsibihty elsewhere in industry. National Resources Planning Board 16. Industrial research lias an ever- widening field, and shows no tendency to terminate or even to be re- stricted for lack of new opportunity. Recommendations TO INDUSTRY: 1. Several large industries are found to lack extensive provision for research. It is recommended tliat leader.-^ in such industries associate themselves with representa- tives of the National Research Council in a sj-stemati- cally organized investigation of the possibilities of their undertaking industrial research, and of practical ways and means for realizing tlie possibilities. 2. Although no attempt is made in this report to define a procedure for initiating research, the various studies and the introduction suggest several sources of information and cooperation in providhig for research. It is recommended to companies not now conducting research, that they consult one or several of the sources of cooperation indicated in this report and consider carefully the establishment of research as a continuing activity. The -section on small industries and the introduction, in particular, may be found helpful for this purpose. 3. In order that more extensive and effective applica- tion of the biological sciences in the food industry may be encouraged, it is recommended to companies in the prepared and preserved food fields, that common ground be sought for the joint support of fundamental biological research. 4. Some companies publish scientific findings regu- larly, and, in general, publication is permitted when protection of the new findings has been assured. In the opinion and exporience of the committee, industries have not only not sufl'ered, but have profited by adopting a liberal publication policy. TO LABOR AND INDUSTRY: 5. An almost untouched and extremely profitable field for cooperation is believed to exist in the conduct of research on fatigue and related matters affecting the welfare of labor, and thus, also, industry. It is recom- mended that labor and industry join in initiating systematic research in this field. TO GOVERNMENT: C. Industrial research as a national resource capable of contributing to public welfare should be fostered. Any restrictive policies on research on the part of Gov- ernment are opposed to the public interest. For example, any tendency toward insisting upon capitaliza- tion of research expenditures for tax purposes might prove a dangerous threat to the welfare of industrial research. 7. In several branches of [niic and applied science, abstracts of the technical literature are supported by scientific societies. Such support is becoming increas- ingl}' burdensome and increasingly inadequate in the face of the enormous and rapidly expanding amount of technical matter being published. An excellent means of Government contribution to industry would be proper provision for systematic and complete publication of abstracts of scientific and technical literature. S. Provision should be made for the extension and revision of the International Critical Tables of Numer- ical Data, Physics, Chemistiy, and TcchnologA', origin- ally published in 1926 under the auspices of the Inter- national Research Council and the National Academy of Sciences. These critical tables are the principal combined source of authentic records of properties of materials. As such they should be brought and kept up-to-date. 9. Extension of research means increasing dependence upon adequate and correct standards of reference. Establishment of standards requires most exacting and long-continued laboratory work, a high caliber of technical personnel, and, frequently, expensive facili- ties. There is need for much more research on stand- ards of measurement than is now conducted, and it is recommended that the National Bureau of Standards be given encouragement and increased tangible support for research on standards. It is also recommended that any appropriations for such support provide ample funds for adequate publication and distribution of tlie Bureau's findings. 10. In order that findings of Government labora- tories generally be made readily and continuously available to industry, it is recommended that Govern- ment bureaus receiving appropriations for scientific work be less restricted than at present in allowances for representation at technical meetings, for publica- tion of findings, and in general, for cooperation with iiuliistriiil technical workers. SECTION I REPORT ON INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AS A NATIONAL RESOURCE— INTRODUCTION Contents Page. A Report on Industrial Research as a National Resource — Introduction 5 Purpose 5 Scope 5 The Nature of Industrial Research 5 Research Personnel 8 Place of Industrial Research in the Industrial Organization 9 Research in the National Economy 10 Research and the Small Company 11 "Examples of Research in Industry" 12 Location and Extent of Research Activity in the United States 13 Research Abroad 13 "Men in Research" 14 Bibliography 16 SECTION I A REPORT ON INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AS A NATIONAL RESOURCE— INTRODUCTION By Raymond Stevens Vice President, Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., Director, Survey of Research in Industry Purpose This report on industrial research in the United States is presented by the National Research Council, at the request of the National Resources Planning Board, as one of a series on research as a national re- source. In accordance with the general specifications suggested for it, the report discusses the nature, extent and welfare of industrial research but does not attempt a catalog of new wealth coming from the laboratories. Even a cursory review of the work in the various applied sciences will show the wealth-producing nature of industrial research. It is a resource with promising new areas under development and with no sign of deple- tion. The first of the applied sciences to be exploited in the industrial laboratories still produces in amounts apparently inexhaustible. Considered as an industry by itself, industrial research is not small, as it employs over 70,000 people, but it is based on the work of a comparatively small group of specially qualified men. The activities, objectives and policies of research men are described in this report in studies in which they themselves discuss the state of their several applied sciences. In some instances means are suggested by which their branches of research may be fostered. Scope An endeavor has been made to canvass the known industrial laboratories in the country, bringing up to date previous statistical information and supplementing it with new data. This material is summarized in the section on Location and Extent of Research Activity in the United States. A directory of all laboratories thus canvassed will be published separately by the Council. In most of the remainder of the report, however, emphasis has been placed on less tangible aspects. The brief review of research policies abroad has been considered desirable for comparative purposes, while the review of the origin and growth of industrial re- search in the United States is intended as an aid in the proper comprehension of the research structure as it now exists. The present status of industrial research in three different industries is described to illustrate the work of physicists, chemists, and aeronautical engineers in aeronautics; chemists and chemical en- gineers in the petroleum industry; and metallurgists with iron and steel. A few special aspects of research are discussed in some detail, but notable omissions are due to the belief that the matter is covered in publications readily avail- able and listed m the bibliography. In particular, organizational relationship of research, the subject of several surveys and reports, is not covered by a separate study, although it is touched upon briefly in this introduction. One obvious oniission, any dis- cussion of patent policy, is significant, as patent policy has important bearing on the health and growth of industrial research. \Vliat that bearing is, and what, if anything, should be done about the present patent system, is the subject of other current investigations, more detailed and extensive than could be included here.' It is generally recognized, however, that patents play an important part in the motivation of research, and no changes in the patent system should be made without most careful consideration of possible efi'ects on the welfare of industrial research. Another omission will bear comment: The tie between industrial research organization and the university is close and friendly, with recognition of mutual depend- ence. Work on the frontiers of science is carried on principally in the university, from which the stream of youth carries its results continuously uito industry. No study of industrial research can be complete without consideration of research work and policies in the imiversities. Some aspects of university research were covered in the preceding report (that on Government research) but a more extensive review is desirable. The authors of the various studies have been the final authority on content and wording of their sections and to them must go both credit and responsibility for the facts, conclusions, and recommendations they present. The Nature of Industrial Research The Century Dictionary defines research as "A continued careful inquiry or investigation into a subject ■ The Confeience Board and American Engineering Council. Joint patent inquiry for the National Association of Manufacturers, 1940. 6 Xational Resources Planning Board in ordpr to discover facts or priiiciiilcs," nnd tlicre are other good definitions, sucli as tliis: "Jiesearcii is tiie organized and systematic search for new knowledge." Unless these broad definitions are limited, however, research may include many and, at times, curious activities. "Research" may determine the type of radio program preferred by the largest number of customers in a particular income class, or the market available for automatic pencils. "Kcsearch" may ascertain the cost of manufacture of dry batteries, or the preferred practice in operating purchasing dei)art- ments. "Research" may disclose the designs used by various nationalities for foot coverings, and lead to new styles in shoes. All these activities can be called "research," and all maj' be conducted by industry— yet I'.one is what is here termed "industrial research.'' Industrial research as the activity of over 2,200 industrial laboratories consists of organized and sys- tematic search for new scientific facts and principles which may be applicable to the creation of new wealth, and presupposes the emplovmcnt of men educated in the various scientific disciplines. The line of de- marcation between such research and the technical utilization of research findings is seldom clearly defined. Usually the initial stages of commercialization are carried on under laboratory auspices. There is wide difference of oi)inion as to the point at wliich "research" stops and commercial development ;uid o[)("ration b(gin. Attempts have been made to classify the stages through wliich research travels on its way toward adoption of results by industry. At the foundation of all industrial research is a type referred to, in this report, as "fundamental" and because such research offers best promise of new industries and of nuijor contributions to old industries, special consideration is given it in this report. Dr. C. M. A. Stinc in his section describes "fundamental research" as "quest for facts about the properties and behaviour of matter, without regard to a specific application of the facts discovered." One stage removed is "pioneering re- search," and the distinction made is principally one of objective. If a definite objective is stated, particularly if it ai)plies to specific manufactured products, "the work becomes pioneering applied research." "The investigation of monomolecular films by a producer of electrical equipnu^nt might be fundamental research, whereas the investigation of monomolecular films by an oil refiner engaged in the production of lubricants might largely assume the complexion of applied re- search. The complexion of the research depends upon the character of the problem and the nature of the agency carrying on the investigation." Once an opportunity for commercial development becomes apparent, there is usually a period in which "test-tube" or "bench" research is conducted. Ap- paratus used is extremely limited and usually relatively crude. This has been true, for example, in the develop- ment of most of the plastics that have attained such wide acceptance. It avoids heavy expenditures in equipment or personnel in a project which at this stage is in effect a speculation. Following the bench stage there comes the pilot plant. For example, in the manufacture of spun glass a small unit was developed and operated for a con- siderable period. It was not expected that the product FiGCUE 1.- KfSfUich Laboratories. General Klectric Cuiupany, Schunectady, New York Industrial Research of this unit would be acceptable commercially, aiul many changes were anticipated before the desired product and procedure were achieved. These varia- tions in the process coidd be made without enormous expense, and mistakes on this scale are not ruinous. As the process was then still in the research stage, various trials could be conducted without delayina: production or interfering with the momentum of commercial operation. In this instance, for example, the high- speed-photography method was applied to the study of glass spinning and this made various refinements possible. Kesearch continues after the product is in actual production. Obtaining a satisfactory coating for glass fibers, as for air filters, for example, is typical of the product-improvement assignment frequently received by the research laboratory. At the same time in- vestigations are made of various applications when the fringe between sales and research has been reached. Commonly, in the market introduction of a new article research men cooperate with the sales force and frequently even become salesmen themselves tem- poraril}'. WTien market or production difficulties cannot readily be solved by production or sales personnel, membei-s of the research staff are frequently called upon to assist. Experience with the initial coating of photographic plates is typical of the kind of trouble that develops after the product is already on the market. The coating of these plates proved to have poor keeping qualities for unknown reasons. By dint of careful investigation it was eventually found that the difficulty was in the gelatin and that a special type was necessary. Such investigations are frequently known by research men as "trouble shooting." As a final stage in the develoiiment of a new process or product, technical control of process and quality is frequently established, providing for analyses or tests at various points in order to maintain the original procedure and the standards established. In this gradation from fundamental or pioneering research down to "trouble shooting" various steps and "types" of research have been recognized by authors and research men. Routine testing and production control are generally considered outside the definition, but there is no such general agreement on other fringes of research, as for example, at the border line between research in applied physics and the design of new mechanisms. Some research laboratory organizations include design personnel that in others would be in- cluded in engineering departments. It will also be apparent that dependence upon organization dift'erentiates modern industrial research from the practice of the individual inventor. In a typical project a new type of yeast is noted by a research bacteriologist, possibly a variation giving better flavor or greater yield. It is investigated in the test-tube stage, and its preferred nutrients and Figure 2. — Research L:i iries, American Cyanamid Company, Stamford, ConDecticut 8 National Resources Planning Board growing conditions are determined. Then a chemist investigates commercial nutrients, and possibly a com- promise is reached with the bacteriologist between the ideal and the practical. Then a chemical engineer designs and operates a pilot plant, and later a full scale plant is designed, installed, and initially operated, possibly with the help of otlier engineers. The direc- tor of research is responsible for the coordination of the work of the biologist, the chemist, and the engineers as tlio project goes forward through successive stages. Modern research laboratories thus utilize men trained in the various sciences, drawing together a variety of disciplines. Research has been called "an attitude of mind" and is, after all, the sum total of thought and activity of research men. The early protagonists of industrial research had in mind a practical constructive force that promised great things for humanity; in the pursuit of research they found adventure and the zeal and satis- faction of the crusader. No brief dictionary-type defi- nition conveys any understanding of what these re- search men themselves meant when they used the term "research." The best practical definition appears to be a descrip- tion of industrial research in its various aspects, and such a description is presented here in the several studies written bj' research men. Differences of opinion on terminology will be noted, but the composite should give reasonably satisfactory comprehension of the term. In spite of the differences, one common denominator will be noted — the sincere endeavor of all true industrial research men to work toward making available to the public greater physical wealth and well-being. Research Personnel A few requisites for research men are generally recognized and first among them is intellectual in- tegrity— the abihty to recognize truth, and the wiUing- aess to accept it. Technical competence is assumed, but a number of personal qualifications are considered of such significance that they are discussed in some detail in the study of Careers in Research. The indi- vidual who qualifies fully for true research is rare, but "the field of industrial research is so broad that there is no standard type of individual for whom specifications can be drawn." In most research organizations, a man with the proper quahfications can find a life career with tangible compensation generallj' on a par with or even above that of technically trained men with equivalent responsi- bilities elsewhere in the company.- Frequently men ■ White, Alfred H. OccupatlODS and earnings of cbemlcal engineering graduate::. Amrrican Imliliile of Chemical Enginem, TTanmctiom, t7, 235 0931). arc transferred to operating or sales positions because of individual (jualifications and preferences, and such transfers usually result in more effective liaison between research and operating departments. As contrasted with many other fields, research is a profession in which, because it depends so largely on individual expression, workers cannot well be classified on a salary or any other basis. Men with high creative urge and scientific curiosity find satisfaction in initiating improvements that others may carry forward to the great benefit of employer and consumer. Association with others of similar interests and intellectual activity makes a strong appeal. Recognition through publica- tion, permitted by most industrial research laboratories when it is not prejudicial to company interest, is a source of considerable satisfaction. With the present enormous mass of technical data available, the research personnel serves as an intelli- gence department to the modem company. Properly organized and managed, such a department frequently makes unnecessary any formal exchange of information between companies — all draw from the same reservoir; and occasionally identical advances occur simultane- ously in several companies, as was true with solvent refining in the petroleum industry. The uniform level of advancement within industries maintaining re- search— petroleum is only a conspicuous example — indicates a constant and rapid transfer and develop- ment of technical intelligence through normal channels, usually without the necessity for official agreements. In some smaller companies much of the time of research men is given to keeping in touch with technical advances in universities, in reading pertinent technical publica- tions, and in conferring with technical sales-service men from the larger manufacturers. Companies lacking technically trained men for such "intelligence service" are at a disadvantage and even find difficulty in fully using the technical assistance offered by sales-service men or professional consultants. Practice as to publication of research findings varies from company to compan}'. At one extreme is the company unwilling to let the name or number of its research personnel be known; most companies are less secretive and permit occasional publication and en- courage staff members to attend the scientific meetings. At the other extreme are companies which themselves publish scientific papers and consider such publication not only as a form of building "good will" and prestige, but as serving the public welfare and particularly as assisting in the further development of their research men. In many instances, at least, publication has resulted in professional advancement to the individual, and both through his development and through associ- ations created with scientific workers in related fields, has benefited his employer. Industrial Research 9 Place of Industrial Research in the Industrial Organization It is generally accepted that research, as a staff function, receives the direct attention and policj' super- vision of the principal executive management of the industrial corporation. There is no standard pattern for the place of the research department in the organi- zation, however, and occasional attempts are still made to subordinate research to production, sales, or other functions. Wliere research has been success- fully established on a continuing basis, such subordina- tion to other functions is not general practice. Committee management is found to be more frequent for research than in otlier organizational units in in- dustry. Such committees represent other major divi- sions and define broad research objectives, establish policies, and e.xercise financial control. The research director supervises the research within the limits thus imposed. In the absence of such practice, equivalent provision for cooperation with other departments usually is provided. In a majority of companies questioned on the subject, the final decision in authorizing individual research and development projects rests with an officer of the company, most frequently the president; only 19 per- cent rely upon a committee, with the president usually a member.^ This may be the executive or management committee, although special research committees, planning committees, "construction and experimental" committees, and budget committees are mentioned. No standard practice has been found for the deter- mination of the amount to be spent by a company on research. Some companies attempt to establish a rela- tion between expected value and the budget, a basis requiring rather clearly defined objectives. A few set aside a percentage of gross sales, while most use a combmation of methods.^ The proper ratio cannot easily be determined, since it varies with the nature of the product, the value added by manufacture, size of company, and many other factors. Inquiry in a variety of industries has shown, however, that per- centages amountmg to from Yi to 3 percent of gross sales are frequently found where research is well estab- lished. As low as one-tenth of 1 percent or less may be found within the packing mdustry, for example, while in chemicals 5 or more percent of gross income is frequently noted. Estimates or even records of amounts expended for research are difScult to secure because of the loose definition of the term. It is seldom possible to attain unanimity of opinion, even within one company, as to ' National Aasociation of Cost Accountanlt Bulletin, XX, No. 13, Sec. UI (March 1939). * Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Department of Manufacture. Budgetary and accounting procedures for organized industrial research. Wash- ington, D. C, Chamber of Commerce of the United States, 1937. pp. 4, 5. what constitutes research. In particular, quality control tests and analyses frequently contribute to product improvement and may in part properly be called research; similarly "trouble shooting," routine investigation of production or sales difficulties, may lead to change of process or product. Costs reported most carefully may not be presented on a basis directly comparable with figures from other companies prepared witli equal care. The principal expense in research laboratories is in wages and salaries, occasionally of the order of 75 or more percent.^ For the purpose of estimating amounts spent by industry on research, a figure of $5,000 per man per year has been used frequently by well informed research executives. Recent sampling inquiry of a number of laboratories for the purpose of this report gives an average annual cost per man of approximately $4,000. This cost includes both professional and non- professional men as reported in the National Research Council Directory of Industrial Research Laboratories. Such an average per person cost cannot safely be used for any one company as wide variation — from $2,500 to over $9,000 — is shown on the returns made. An average figure of between $4,000 and $5,000, however, is considered roHable in estimating the total amount spent by industry or any large section of industry on indus- trial research. In the present canvass of laboratories, over 70,000 research workers have been reported. Close estimates are out of the question because there is no precise and generally accepted definition, but on the basis of this number of men and the average cost per man indicated, it may be estimated in round figures that American industry is spending over $300,000,000 per year on research. It is impossible to measure the indirect benefit of organized industrial research, but it is often claimed that research benefits management, since it increases flexibilitj' in the face of changing conditions and leads to the adoption of research methods in management practice. Many annual corporation reports have cited organized research as contributing to growth and strengtli. A comparison of a group of companies known to maintain strong research departments with another group taken at random will show how research and successful management run together. Whether research is a significant factor in aiding good manage- ment or whether it has merely been adopted by such management is not easUy demonstrated. The relationship of labor to industrial research in- volves chiefly the somewhat controversial question of technological unemploj^ment. As contrasted with labor- saving equipment, consolidations, plant relocations, and many phases of technological changes, industrial ' Transcript of discussion. Meeting, Committee on Survey of Research In In dustry, December 6, 1939, p. 12. 10 National Resources Planning Board rcscaicli serves rallier to increase oi- sliil)ilize eini)lo3"- incnt. Organizeil labor has odicially recorded its active approval of the eiieounifieineiit of apphed science, and informed tiiought in tlie fields of labor organization and of sociolog}' recognize technological advancement as both desirable and inevitable. ° One important phase of labor relations concerns the temporary efTcct upon employment of any change what- ever, including changes produced l)y organized indus- trial research. Within an industry the necessitj' of reducing the effect of change upon employment presents a problem to management. Procedures have been proposed, for example, in the railroad industry ' recog- nizing and providing for employee displacement due to labor saving improvement. Labor approves tech- nological advances in general while endeavoring to alleviate immediate and femporarj' unemployment conse(|uei;ces,* ' and to increase participation in eco- nomic benefits. ' Reported at i-onfcrcnce arranged by Beyer, Ot tu S., Chairman, National Mediation Rnard for Survey of Research in Industry. ' Report of the Federal coordinator of transportation, 1934. Washington, U. S. Government I'rintins Office, 1935, House Document No. 89. ■ Frocffding^. iCIh Annual Conrtntion American Federation of Labor, Resolution Nu.l«, IKiiHE '.i. — I?ell Ti'k-phone Lal)oratorii's, New York, New ■\'ork I'leieedurc's within an industry do not solve the problem of obsolescence of a whole industry — the buggy and buggy-whip industries are classic examples. Unemployment insurance can reduce the shock, but it is far from the complete answer. Well-organized industrial research within the industry is in itself a protection against such obsolescence and the historj' of the fall of the phonograph before the advance of radio and its subsequent aggressive and successful revival as a result of research personnel and method is cited to illustrate profitable economic policy as well as sound sociological practice. There may be significance in the relation to emploj-- ment stability of the nimiber of research workers employed by a given company. The 6 industrial groups reporting the largest percentage of research workers per 10,000 wage earners in 1937 were chemicals, radio apparatus and phonographs, petroleum, rubber, electrical machinery and apparatus and electrical com- munication.'" These groups, as a whole, stand in favorable comparison to the balance of industry in the continuity of employment and in the relative absence of temporary displacement resulting from tech- nological advancement or other causes. Although factors other than research were also at work, including general good management, there is little question that research organizations played an important part in stability of employment. Research in the National Economy The rapidity with which research has taken its present significant place in industry- is mdicated in the discussion of its origin and growth. There was a long slow period, prior to the turn of the century, a period largely used in accumulating the great reservoir of scientific knowledge to be drawn on later, though there were many important examples of the conmiercial application of science. But shortly after 1900 mdustry generally began to accept research, organized research departments began to appear, and the conmiercial and sociological significance of organized research began to be apparent. In the discussion of growth and development it will be noted that companies whose operations were based on scientific discoveries were among the first to adopt oi-ganized research. Among them will now be found some of the countiy's largest and most important laboratories. In this record of growth will also be seen the close relation between the universities and the laboratories. It would appear that there was mutual * Murray, IMiliip. Chairman steel workers organizing committee. Verbatim record • if the proceedings of the Temporary National Economic Committee. Proceedinijs of the Temporary National Economic Commltlee, IS. No. 5, H5-96 (.\pril 12, 1940). I' Perazich, O., and Field, P. M. Industrial research and changing technology. Philadelphia, Pa., Work Projects .Administration, National Research Project, Report Xo. M-i. 1910. Industrial Research 11 dependence and that the very considerable increases in numbers of technical students and in courses in applied science were due to the demand being created by the laboratories. In turn, technical graduates initiated research in companies where it was previously unknown. Naturally, research prospered best in the newer companies, dependent upon technical men, and it has made least progress generally in the old, estab- lished industries where the art had been higlily devel- oped, as in the tanning industry, to cite an extreme example. As a distinguishing characteristic of modern research is its organization, it is to be expected that it would be most higlily developed in the larger companies. It is probable that in some instances an aggressive research policy has contributed to the rapid expansion of some of these larger companies. In the course of the survey, question was raised as to the abUity of the small com- pany to use research and as tliis problem had important bearing on public welfare, it was given special con- sideration. Briefly, it would appear that although the small company has many handicaps, in the use of advertising, accounting, legal assistance, and other staff functions, when it comes to research it is often found that a small flexible group can accomplish rather remarkable results. One companj- reported that when a large portion of the industry merged and offered unusually strong competi- tion, the company fell back upon research as a defense. As a result, specialties were developed that have kept the company in a strong position with increasing, rather than decreasing, pay roll. In many other instances, especially in industries built upon new discoveries, small companies lean upon research and technical development as a principal competitive support. Research and the Small Compary There is a lower limit for the average size of company that maintains a large organized research staff. Assum- mg 3 percent of gross income as proper for research, then $30,000 is a reasonable budget figure for a company whose annual gross income is $1,000,000. This would mean a research staff of six or seven people at an annual carrying cost approaching $5,000 per person. Obviously large research staffs are not to be expecteti in the smaller companies. It does not follow that small companies are not using industrial research. Unfortunately, the National Re- search Council's Dii-ectories of Industrial Research Laboratories are not a satisfactory source of small- corn [any research statistics, since small companies were not canvassed systematically even for the latest direc- tory. For this report a sampUng investigation was necessary and its findmgs have been used. For con- clusive statistical data on the extent of small-company r'jsearch, for comparison with large companies, or with estimates of totals sjjeiit for otlier purposes, a much more extensive census would be necessary. Relatively little use was cited of university, consulting, association or governmental laboratories. Small com])anies appear rather as highly individualistic and self-sufUcient. A variety of successful research practices is found in small companies as are numerous methods of providing for advertising, legal, and accounting procedure, and other staff functions without separate departments or organized staffs. Increasingly common and construc- tive is the use of help from the technical sales-service man who relays to his customer technical and even original research assistance in the application of his materials. An electrical company carries on research in electronic circuits, doing pioneer work in the field, and its findings are available to customers, small and large. Paint, lacquer, and resin manufacturers have aided small companies in the improvement of their prod- ucts by special finishes, frequently involving special original research. The small shoe manufacturer obtains his research from suppliers of machinery or materials, some of whom have large laboratories. The flow of technical knowledge from the research laboratory of the large company to the smaU company and through its sales engineers to the ultimate user or consumer takes the place of highly organized research in many small companies. Figure 4. — General Motors Research Laboratories Building. Detroit, Michigan 12 National Resources Planning Board Association research is used in sonic industries al- though less emphasized proportionately in the United States than in England. The Aniorican Institute of Laundering has an excellent laboratory serving the whole industry. Canners are served by a laboratory with an excellent record of achievement, and the asso- ciation even mauitains a traveling laboratory that follows the seasons from small cannery to small cannery. A central laboratory in the paint and varnish industry not only solved many minor problems but has intro- duced new oils to meet increased difficulty in obtaining supplies from the Orient. Such association laboratories are available to all members, and most of them issue reports at intervals, render advisory service, and even undertake individual investigation Contrarj' to a common understanding, the larger laboratories available under fellowship or consulting arrangement are not used exclusively by companies without research facilities. Sponsors of research at foundations and at commercial consulting laboratories include many companies well known for their own facilities, personnel, and progress in research. The large consulting laboratories are coordinating units in touch with many noncompetitive industries. Services of such organizations, however, are available to the small company at costs equivalent to those of the maintenance of one or two research men, and special arrangements arc frequently made by companies with much more limited budgets. The principal consulting laboratories are found pre- pared to suggest sources of research aid, and they indi- cate no lack of research assistance and cooperation available from various sources when sought. Banks can report on the financial standing of consultants, and many of them are now offering information on availa- bility of research aid as a special service to customers. One group of bankers even serves as an intermediary between question and answer on specific teclmical problems. In the utilization of outside facilities for new product or process development or for other major projects, however, the small company is faced with the same necessity for patient diligence as are the larger laboratories, for major research projects generally require a period of years for their development. Some small companies use individual consultants to advantage. The industrial areas of the country arc dotted with consultants available to industry and the best among them provide the equivalent of the research available to the largest companies. The Engineering Societies of New England has compiled a directory of research consultants of various tj'pes in the section, and it lists 289 entries of individuals and institutions cover- ing the whole field of science and engineering." " Directory of New England research and engineering facilities. Boston, Engi- neering Societies of New England, Inc., 1939. Numerous small manufacturing companies have employed one or more technically trained men for pro- duction or other duties, who carry on research or draw intelligently upon the extensive available sources of technical aid. In some instances, such men have met outstanding success. An extension of the practice of employing technical graduates appears worth)' of any possible encouragement. "Examples of Research in Industry" Research would appear to follow a general pattern in a particular industry with a notable similarity be- tween laboratories and policies within the industry as contrasted with laboratories and policies in other in- dustries. No adequate explanation of the reasons for particular policies in the different industries has been offered — whether they are dependent largely upon the technology in an industry or upon mere chance in development is not yet certain, nor will it probably be known until research has had opportunity for further development, particularly in some of the older indus- tries. The three industries chosen for illustration make these conditions apparent. It is even true that the word "research" in some industries carries different connotation than in others. At times in the past there has been a tendency to criticize whole industries for not adopting aggressive research policies. Wlien such criticism is based upon comparison between industries, however, it is seldom valid. In the chemical industry research is not only necessary but at present can be compared almost di- rectly with the design and engineering departments of the automobile industry. Some types of new chemicals can be created by the research department almost to order. The textile-finishing industry, however, is chemical and was built upon the research of Dana, Mercer, and other early chemists, but various attempts at the application of research to textile finishing have shown that the opportunity is by no means as obvious as in the chemical industry. Until some more promising approach to textile-finishing research becomes apparent it probably would be poor judgment for companies in that industry to spend the high percentages of gross income being devoted profitably to research by the chemical industry. It is not always true, however, that failure to adopt research is due to lack of apparent opportunity. Eng- land, Soviet Russia, and Germany have done more on the utilization of coal than has the United States. This country has not yet the need that spurred Germany to the conversion of coal to petroleum substitutes; but this country has a coal problem, and industrial research, properly supported and conducted, might assist in the solution. Unfortunately, the coal indr.stry is not pros- perous and is not expanding. Within itself it does not Industrial Research 13 contain the setting that has made research so construc- tive in the petroleum industry, for example. To a lesser degree, the railroad industry is in the same po- sition. If this is a fault, it docs not necessarily lie with the industries but rather with the fact that the problem of how to initiate and support research within an in- dustry not generally making reasonable progress has not been solved adequately. The subject needs study. Location and Extent of Research Activity in the United States An extensive analysis of the incidence of industrial research, based upon directories pubHshed by the National Research Council has recently been made.''^ The present report therefore devotes relatively brief space to the subject. The few charts presented, how- ever, are based upon additional recent data obtained by canvass made for this purpose. Only such charts are included as bear upon policy matters with which this survey and report are directly concerned. Supple- menting a questionnaire canvass of all laboratories known to the Council and of members of the National Association of Manufacturers and other companies, mem- bers of the survey staff personally canvassed a repre- sentative sample of industry, seeking answers to specific questions. It is believed that the information presented as a result of this sampling can be accepted as objective and representative. Organized research laboratories arc found in all the industrial areas in the country and in most types of industry. It is apparent that research has become well established as a continuing function and that its further spread may be anticipated. Of particular interest is the chart" showing the rate at which the number of laboratories has been increasing — and it should be borne in mind constantly that the list of organized research laboratories recorded in the directory is by no means a complete record of the provision for research in American industry. Research Abroad Industrial research was well developed in Europe before its general adoption in America, but the United States now leads in total spent on research and except possibly for the Soviet Union in ratio of research expend- itures to national income. Satisfactory figures are not available, but Bernal has estimated that we spend more on research than all the rest of the world, outside the Soviet Union, and that England and Germany spend possibly a tenth as much, France and Italy appreciably less.'* >' See footnote 10. I' Cooper, Franklin S. Location and extent of industrial research activity in the United States. This volume, figure 46, p. 176. Excellent and extensive laboratories arc found in Soviet Russia and Japan. Each of the smaller indus- trial countries provides for research. Switzerland, for example, makes up in quality for part of its lack in quantity. Research is generally recognized as a factor in mternational as well as in national industrial com- petition and development. England's Department of Scientific and Industrial Research is an outstanding example of government encouragement and support of research for the benefit of industry. The World War had shown the competi- tive power of research — ■ and there was general awakening to the fact that for success in times of peace as well as of war, it was desirable that the sources of science should be utilized to the full. The perils of war furnished precepts for peace, and it was realized that on the conclusion of the conflict a situation would arise in the world of industry which would call for increased effort if British industrial supremacy was to be maintained, and if the manu- factured products of the nation were to continue to hold their own in the world's markets. In anticipation of that situation the Government of the day set up the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and as part of the financial provision placed at its disposal. Parliament voted a capital sum of one million pounds for the encouragement of industrial research. The most effective way of promoting this aim was the subject of careful consideration by our predecessors in consultation with leaders of industry and the scheme of cooperative research was devised." The aim of the Department was to demonstrate to industry the usefulness of research with the thought that government aid would be withdrawn once the demonstration was made. About half the country's industry — principally the new industries — subscribed. Research associations were formed witliin various in- dustries and research activities were financed by the joint contribution, pound for pound, of government and industry. Estimates of accomplishment from such research cannot be checked satisfactorily, but specific results have been achieved, and in one report enormous returns were claimed from total annual expenditures — of the order of 800 percent. It is perhaps significant that after careful study, industrial associations were considered the best means of providing subsidy, of demonstrating the value of research to industry im- familiar with it, and of giving aid throughout industry. Even with sucii close contact with industry, there ex"ists the same difficulty reported for the subsidy of agricultural research in Great Britain — . . . There are, however, seme live farmers who make constant use of the facilities placed at their disposal by the State, with the result that the race is more than ever to the swift and intelligent. It is still unfortunately true that the very farmers who would benefit most from the help of the research workers are those who 'I Bernal, J. D., F. R. S. The soi-ial function of science. New York, The Mac- millan Co., 1939, p. 6.5, etc. " Report of the advisory council— 1932-33. Department of scientific and industrial research. Report for the year 1932-33. London, His Majesty's Stationery OflSce, 1934, p. 7. 14 are not being reached by the present methods of spreading scien- tific knowledge about farming. In foreign laboratories, there has been greater secrecy, apparently, than in the United States, with a y^robable corresponding reduction in over-all efhciency. In some totalitarian countries ability to assign a considerable number of investigators to an individual problem may offset partially such inefficient policies, and such ability is of special significance in areas of technologj- where the fundamental creative work has been done and where applications are required that depend more upon training and experience than upon the creative ability of skilled research scientists. One practice reported as tried in Soviet Russia has interesting possibilities. If a research man shows out- standing ability in a particular field the government may build him a laboratory, equip it well, and provide a staff of as many men as can be used. Incidentally, the staff and even the mechanics and all the helpers are understood to have their say in the choice and conduct of the program. The Soviet Union has also attempted coordination of research on a grand scale. In one instance 18 large laboratories submitted plans for research in the chem- istry of solid fuels (coal), and after study by a centra- lized body, assignments were distributed and financ- ing guaranteed for 180 projects. An American coal scientist reports use there of excellent equipment, capa- able research leaders, and well-organized general scope of activity. He was especially impressed bj' the mass of technical data being compiled on the nature of the fuel resources. "Men in Research" Chemists dominated the early industrial laboratories and even now approximately 25 percent of industrial laboratory men have specialized in chemistry. Opinions differ as to whether this dominance has been due to the nature and scope of the science or whether research going on within the science developed interest and skill in the use of the research method. There is also some uncertainty as to whether the flow of technically trained men into industry brouglit research with it, or whether the demand of industry led to the great expansion of chemistry, chemical engineering, and other technical courses. One of the first of the great industrial labora- tories started without a physicist, though the industry was based on physics. A similar situation originally held in other industries — the research director of a great steel company was trained as a chemical engineer, not a metallurgist; the research directors of the early food laboratories had little training in biological subjects. Other disciplines are gaining recognition, however. In one outstanding example, physicists formed the Ameri- can Institute of Physics and made intensive eflort to National Resources Flanning Board present the possibilities of applied physics to industry. The number of industrial physicists in the laboratories has increased significantly, and there is gradually increasing recognition of biologists, mathematicians and men trained in other disciplines, including the several divisions of engineering. "Chemistry in Industrial Research" presents the most mature of the research disciplines. As such it speaks in part for otlier disciplines in a discussion of origins of research programs and to some degree their conduct. At the other extreme of acceptance by industr}', how- ever, are the biologists. From the results of the inves- tigation made and reported in the study by Dr. E. B. Fred and Dr. C. N. Frey, there is reason to believe that opportunity exists for tremendous increases in the number of biologists, in the food industries particularly. It was found, however, that some changes in the teach- ing of applied biology in the universities for this pur- pose are desirable. In the more highly developed laboratories, mathe- matics is beginning to find its special place. It would seem probable that with the extension and refinement of research method and policy there will be increasing dependence upon mathematics. This may be true particularly as more obvious research opportunities become exhausted by relatively simple and crude approaches. Dr. Thornton C. Fry, speaking for the profession, states that no university offers a complete and satisfactory curriculum in applied mathematics. He has made the definite recommendation that such a course be organized and offered by one of the univer- sities. His present estimate of a very few graduates of such a course per year is of course no measure of the possible significance of such a step. Of the various professional societies actively inter- ested in research, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers has one of the most highly developed pro- grams under its own auspices. Activities in coopera- tion with this Survey are being made the basis for a reconsideration of the research of the Socict.y. It is well to note that mechanical, electrical, and other engineers are playing increasingly important parts in research as contrasted with straight engineering. In some of the larger machinery laboratories, for example, engineers predominate with possibly a few physicists and a few or no chemists. From the duplication apparent in the report of vari- ous applied sciences and particularly from the studj' of border-line zones, it will be noted that the lines of demarcation between the various pure and applied sciences have begun to disappear and in some instances arc quite obliterated. There remain, however, many areas, particularly on the fringes of the various sciences, that have not been developed satisfactorily. A few companies liave surveyed their special branches of Industrial Research 15 science and have established fundamental research to develop neglected areas. The areas are chosen either because current developments need new data or because of promise of new developments within the company's commercial and technical scope. The study of polymers by du Pont, of acoustics by Bell Telephone Laboratories, of aliphatic organic compounds by the Carbide and Carbon Chemical Company have been made for one or both reasons. But no organiza- tion now has responsibility and support for a search of the whole of science for neglected areas most promising in their ultimate return. If new industries are to come from research, as nylon, sound moving pictures, and new chemicals came from the investigations cited, fundamental studies in fields now comparatively neglected would seem to offer one of the best oppor- tunities. One of the most apparent of neglected areas is in TmEii Floor^ y^^Ai/^ Figure 5. — Research Laboratory Floor Plan, Gereral Foods Corporation, Hoboken, New Jersey 16 National Resources Planning Board the great border luie between the physical and social sciences, and some of the most interesting work is being done within it. Fatigue, for example, is a major factor in all industry, yet little is known about it. The National Research Council several years ago estab- lished a Committee on Work in Industry which is in- vestigating the possibilities of clinical-type studies in this border line field. Limited industrial investigations have been made and they indicate rather remarkable possibilities. But possibly more important is the rela- tion between scientist and laj'man. Where lies the re- sponsibility for adjustment of industry and society to advances made bj' the research scientist? The scientist himself is the first to indicate that he is not too well qualified outside his field, and the average physical scientist has no great opportunity for developing, by experience, ability to deal witii social problems. To say that physical scientists should solve the social prob- lems they create is to speak without considering their concentrated devotion to their own particular contribu- tion to human welfare. There is recognition, how- ever, among some scientists that more attention may profitably be given to the social aspects of science, and insofar as their efforts contribute to a better under- standing of science by laymen, and insofar as they help develop a liaison between technical man and lay- man, benefit is achieved. Some leaders among non- technical men, especially in government and industry, have developed active lay interest in scientific and tech- nical matters, and such development is probably even more beneficial and promising. The industrial execu- tive, political leader and publicist are all in a position to assist in the adjustments that will continue to be necessary as research advances. Bibliography Books Bebnal, J. D. The social function of science. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1939. 482 p. Boyd, T. A. Research, the pathfinder of science and industry. New York, London, D. Appleton-Century Company, Inc., 1935. 319 p. George, W. 11. Tlie scientist in action; a scientific study of liis methods. New York, Emerson Books, Inc. (1938). 354 p. Holland, Maurice, and H. F. Pringle. Industrial explorers. New York, London, Harper and Brothers, 1928. 347 p. Hcxi-EY, J. S. Science and social needs, . . . with an intro- ductory chapter by Sir William Bragg . . . and discussions. New York, London, Harper and Brothers, 1935. 287 p. Little, A. D. The handwriting on the wall; a chemist's inter- pretation. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1928. 287 p. Murray, D. S. The laboratory; its place in the modern world. London, The Fcnland Press, (1934). 117 p. National Research Council. Industrial research laboratories of the United States, including consulting research laboratories. 6th ed., 1938. Compiled by Callie Hull for the National Research Council. Washington, D. C, Published by the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences (1938). 270 p. (Bulletin of the National Research Council No. 102; earlier editions were issued as Bulletins Nos. 2, 16, 60, 81, and 91.) National Research Council. Division of engineering and industrial research. A bibliography on research; selected articles from the technical press, 1923-1924-1925. New York (1925). 46 p. National Research Council. Five years of research in in- dustry, 1926-1930; a reading list of selected articles from the technical press, compiled by C. J. West. New York, National Research Council, Division of engineering and industrial research, 1930. 91 p. Redman, L. V., and A. V. H. Mory. The romance of research. Baltimore, The Williams and Wilkins Company, 1933. 149 p. Ross, M. H., ed. Profitable practice in industrial research; tested principles of research, laboratory organization, admin- istration, and operation. New York, London, Harper and Brothers, 1932. 269 p. National Resources Committee. Science Committee. Re- search— a national resource, v. 1. Report of the Science Committee to the National Resources Committee. Washing- ton, U. S. Government Printing Oflice, 1938. 255 p. National Resources Committee. Technological trends and national policy. (Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office.) 1937. 388 p. Weidlbin, E. R., and W. A. Hamor. Science in action ; a sketch of the value of scientific research in American industries. New York, London, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1931. 310 p. Weidlbin, E. R., and W. A. Hamor. Glances at industrial research during walks and talks in Mellon Institute. New York, Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1936. 246 p. SECTION II RESEARCH IN THE NATIONAL ECONOMY Contents The Development of Industrial Research in the United Pase States 19 Factors Affecting the Development of Industrial Research 1 9 Progress in Chemistry and Physics in the Nineteenth Century 20 Foundation of Schools of Science and Tech- nology 20 Vast Natural Resources 23 The Protective Tariff 24 Attitude of Industrialists and Scientists 24 Period of Unorganized Research 25 Early Plant Chemists 25 The Creation of New Industries by Indepen- dent Investigators 29 Hyatt and Celluloid 29 Edison and the Electric Light 29 Acheson and Carborundum 31 Hall and Aluminum 33 Baekeland and Bakelite 33 Growth of Organized Research 34 Period Preceding First World War 34 Effect of the First World War 35 Organized Research a Major Industry 37 Some Economic and Social Aspects of Industrial Research 39 Development of Organized Research Within In- dividual Companies 42 Chemicals 42 American Cyanamid Company 42 Dow Chemical Company 43 E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company 43 Monsanto Chemical Company 45 Petroleum 45 Atlantic Refining Company 45 Gulf Research and Development Company 45 Humble Oil and Refining Company 45 Shell Development Company 46 Standard Oil Company of California 47 Standard Oil Company of Indiana 47 Standard Oil Company of New Jersey 48 Standard Oil Development Company 48 Universal Oil Products Company 48 Electrical Communication 49 Bell Telephone Laboratories 49 Western Union Telegraph Company 50 Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Supplies 51 General Electric Company 51 Westinghouse Electric Company 54 Rubber 55 B. F. Goodrich Company 55 United States Rubber Company 55 Page Motor Vehicles 56 General Motors Research Corporation 56 Chrysler Corporation 57 Metals 57 American Brass Company 57 American Rolling Mil! Company 58 American Smelting and Refining Com- pany 59 United States Steel Corporation 59 Pharmaceuticals 60 Abbott Laboratories 60 Eli Lilly and Company 60 Parke, Davis and Company 61 E. R. Squibb and Sons 61 Miscellaneous Industries 61 American Locomotive Company 61 Armour and Company 62 Swift and Company 62 Babcock and Wilcox Company 63 Bausch and Lomb Optical Company 63 Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Incorporated 65 Eastman Kodak Company 65 Johns-Manville Company 68 National Lead Company — Titanium Division 68 Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company 69 United Shoe Machinery Company 69 Western Precipitation Corporation 70 Research Institutes 70 Battelle Memorial Institute 70 Mellon Institute 71 Other Research Institutes 72 Commercial Laboratories 72 Charles T. Jackson 72 James C. Booth 72 Arthur D. Little, Incorporated 72 Miner Lal)oratories 73 Other Commercial Laboratories 74 Testing Laboratories 74 Electrical Testing Laboratories 74 Robert W. Hunt and Company 74 Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory 75 The United States Testing Company Incorporated 75 Bibliography 75 2. Research — A Resource to Small Companies 78 Place of Research in Small Enterprises 78 Extent of Research in Small Enterprises 79 Character of Research Activities 80 Facilities for Research 80 Dependence Upon Outside Research Agencies 82 Benefits from Cooperative Research Activities 82 Significance of Research to the Small Enterprise 83 17 Contents — Continued 3. Coordination Between Industries in Industrial lie- Paue searcli 85 Joint Activities in Research 85 Exchange of Information 86 Policies on Publication of Research Findings 86 The Industrial Research Institute 86 Bibliography 87 4. Technical Research by Trade Associations 88 Types of Research 89 New Products Developed 90 Quality Standards Improved 91 New Uses for Products 91 Technical Research Agencies 91 Trade Association Laboratories 92 Research Promotes Consumption of Canned Foods 92 Paint and Varnish Research 92 Commercial Research Laboratories 92 University Fellowships and Grants 93 Governmental Research Agencies 94 Collection and Distribution of Data 94 Financing Research 94 Research — A Long-Range Activity 95 Coordination of Research 95 The Trade Association Research Committee 96 Patents 96 Access to Research Results 96 National Emergency 97 Bibliography 97 5. Fundamental Research in Industry 98 Introduction 98 Reasons for Fundamental Research in In- dustry 99 Organization for Fundamental Research 99 Cost of Research 100 Conditions for Successful Fundamental Re- search 100 Results Achieved 100 Patfe American Cyananiid Conii)any 101 Bell Telephone Laboratories 101 Coming Glass Works 102 Eastman Kodak Company 102 General Electric Company 103 Monsanto Chemical Company 103 Standard Oil Development Company 103 United States Rubber Company 103 W'estinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Com- pany 103 General Motors Corjjoration 104 E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company 105 Fundamental Research by Small Companies 106 Fundamental Research and Foreign AfTairs 106 Bibliography 106 6. Careers in Research 108 Introduction 109 Qualifications for a Career in Research 109 Personal Qualifications 109 Training 111 Selection of a Position 113 Careers in Research 114 Organization 114 Progress of the Research Worker 115 Future of the Research Worker 117 Compensations of the Research Worker 117 Probable Future of Industrial Research a-s a Career 118 Bibliography 118 7. Research as a Growth Factor in Industry 120 Summary and Conclusions 123 Bibliography 123 8. Industrial Research lOxpenditurcs 124 SECTION II 1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES By Howard R. Bartlett Head, Department of English and History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. ABSTRACT In the nineteenth century the activity of scientists in Europe and the United States greatly increased man's fundamental knowledge. Laymen in this country, convinced of the importance of the newly discovered facts, made it financially possible to establish schools of science and technology, whose avowed object was to instruct students in the application of science to the everyday purposes of life. Certain factors, however, served to delay the prog- ress of applied science in this country. Its territory was so vast and its resources were so abundant that industry, for some time, was not particularly concerned with producing goods economically and efficiently. As long as the products of industry could be sold at a profitable price to a rapidly increasing population, the manufacturer had httle incentive to invest his funds in the search for new methods or new products. It was not until the last quarter of the nineteenth century that competition became sufficiently severe to cause industrialists to turn with increasing frequency to professors in the universities and to commercial chem- ists for assistance. The results were so satisfactory that the gap between" pure" and applied science grad- ually closed, and trained chemists, physicists, metal- lurgists, and biologists found employment in industry. Also during this period, independent investigators, working in their own laboratories, made discoveries which resulted in the foundation of new industries and demonstrated further the advantages to be gained from utilizing in industry the facts and methods of science. Until the twentieth century, however, industrial research remained largely a matter of the unorganized effort of individuals. Early in the 1900's a few com- panies organized separate research departments and began a systematic search not only for the solutions to immediate problems of development and production, but also for new knowledge that would point the way for the future. The First World War focused the attention of the general pubHc upon the accomplishments of applied science and greatly stimulated the growth of industrial research. Between 1920 and 1940 the number of m- dustrial research laboratories increased from about 300 to more than 2,200. Great changes have been wrought by the results of industrial research. More efficient and economical methods have conserved our resources; new materials have made possible better products; and new products have contributed to the health, pleasure, and comfort of the general public. Such changes have not taken place without some temporary misfortunes. Here and there industries have disappeared and people have been temporarily thrown out of work, but the net result of 40 years of organized industrial research in this country has been the enrichment of life to an incalcu- lable degree. The last section of this paper presents historical sketches of more than 50 industrial research laboratories. Factors Affecting the Development of Industrial Research The nineteenth century was nearly over before the industrial research laboratory became an important factor in the economic life of the United States. Not until the nineties had the developments in science, education, and industry reached the point at which the organized application of science to industry by trained men seemed to industrialists to be the key to greater progress and profit. Without a fund of scicn- 321835—41 3 tific knowledge from which to draw and without a sup- ply of men sufficiently prepared to apply that knowledge, the industrial research laboratory could not e.xist. By the end of the nineteenth century both of these require- ments had been met, and in addition industry had come to realize, from the accomplishments of the works chem- ist and the individual experimenter, that many of the problems which defied rule-of-thumb methods would yield to the application of science. Toda}' the research laboratory is widely recognized as an indispensable 19 20 National Resources Planning Board part of the country's industrial equipment. From it comes the knowledge that leads not only to improved methods and materials but also to entirely new proc- esses and products and occasionally to new industries. Progress In Chemistry and Physics in the Nineteenth Century Scientists of the nineteenth century, building upon the solid foundation laid by those of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, uncovered and explained secrets of nature which, when applied to industry, were to alter completely the details of man's existence. Inquiring minds were active in many subjects, but a brief mention of a few men working in chemistry and physics is suflicicnt to show how important this period was for the future development of numerous great industries. In 1801 Thomas Young brought before the Royal Society in London "the first convincing proof . . . that Ught is not a corporeal entity, but a mere pulsation in the substance of an all-pervading ether." It was in 1801 also that Sir Humphrey Davy, as lecturer and professor of chemistry at the newly established llo5'al Institution in London, was carrying on the experiments in electrochemistry by which he was able to isolate potassium and sodium and to prove that substances formerly considered elementary were really compounds. At the same time John Dalton was formulating his atomic theory, which, when first presented in 1803 before the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, made little impression.' The atomic theory was soon to receive some support, however, from the work of a French chemist, Gay- Lussac, who, in publishing his observations, brought out "the remarkable fact that gases, under the same conditions of temperature and pressure, combine always in definite numerical proportions as to volume." ^ An Italian, Amadeo Avogadro, quickly supplied the explanation of Gay-Lussac's observations in terms of the atomic theory, but because of the slow acceptance of the theory itself, Avogadro's law was neglected by chemists for a whole generation. Johan Jakob Berze- lius, a Swedish chemist, however, put the theory to test in his laboratory by determining the combining weights of the different elements, and in 1818 he published his first table of atomic weights. Ten j'ears later the barrier between animate and inanimate nature was destroyed when a young German chemist, Friedrich Wohlcr, succeeded in synthesizing urea in his laboratory; and in 1831 Michael Faraday, Davy's prot6g6 and successor at the Royal Institution, opened the whole field of electricity and magnetism for cultivation by such men as Hermann von Ilelmholtz, Clerk Maxwell, and lleinrich Hertz. Perhaps the greatest of all the chemists of the period was Justus von Liebig, whose laboratory, established at Giessen in 1824 for research in organic chemistry and agricultural chemistry, became the training school for young chemists from all countries. AVhen called to Munich in 1852, he developed there a still larger labora- tory to which came a steady stream of applicants seeking the privilege of studying and working with the renowned teacher; among them were the Americans, Eben Horsford, J. Lawrence Smith, Frederick A. Gcnth, AVolcott Gibbs, and C. M. Wetherill. Just before the middle of the century Louis Pasteur began the work which was to mean so much first to French industry and later to all mankind. Three advances of far-reaching importance came toward the end of the century, when J. J. Thomson isolated the electron and measured its charge and mass; when Rontgen discovered X-rays; and Becquerel observed the first indications of radioactivity. Two scientists in the United States also made dis- tinct contributions to scientific theory. The first was Josiah Willard Gibbs, who in 1876 presented his phase- rule, one of the most important additions to the theory of chemistry made by an American. Partly because it was not sufficiently brought to the attention of chemists and partly because its mathematical presentation was not at first understood, a decade passed before it was applied. The second was Joseph Henry who, although preceded by Faraday in the announcement of the theory of current induction, was the first to announce the phenomenon of self-induction. Foundation of Schools of Science and Technology The reservoir of scientific knowledge was filling, and, as it filled, many men turned their thoughts to means by which this knowledge could be utilized. As in the discovery of new facts, so also in the application of them, the countries of Europe quite naturally preceded the United States. Special schools were founded where students could learn not only scientific theories but also their application to industry. Germany, France, and, to some extent, England had recognized that "the greatest warfare of the nineteenth century is in- dustrial warfare — the struggle between great nations for supremacy in the various industries, and for the control of the various markets."^ Many of the early technical schools gre\v out of the industrial demands of the locaUty in which they were established. The silver mines of Freiberg, for example, led to the founding in 1765 of a famous School of Mines, ' Williams, Henry Smith The story o( nineteenth-century science. New York, London, Harper and Bro., 1900, p. 255. I The story of nlnctccnth-century science, pp. 256-257. See footnote 1. ■ White, Andrew D. Scientific and industrial education in the United Mates Popular Science Monthty. 6, 172 (1874) Industrial Research 21 which is said to ho the oldest technical "High College" in the world. It had a faculty of eminent men and was a center of activity in geology, mineralogy, crystallog- raphy, metallurgy, and chemical technology.'' The Royal Polytechnic Institute at Dresden was started in 1828, and by 1845— there were in all Germany, including Austria, thirty poly- technic schools, usually one and sometimes two in each large city; . . . forty-six schools of agriculture, seven schools of mines, and eighteen schools of forestry. . .' The German states came early to realize that their material prosperity was dependent largely upon the thoroughness of their systems of scientific education. In supplying instruction in chemistry, France, how- ever, was far ahead of other countries. "Vauquelin was the first to organize a course of instruction in his small laboratory for students anxious to learn, while Gay-Lussac and Thenard also taught in their labora- tories, which however were exceedingly cramped." ° French schools such as the Polytechnic School, the School of Engmeering, the School of Mines, and the great Central School of Arts and Manufactures were training students in the nineteenth century to apply the new scientific knowledge. The movement was not so far advanced in England, and in 1868, after a survey of the schools and universi- ties on the continent, Matthew Arnold wrote: In nothing do England and the Continent at the present moment more strikingly differ than in the prominence which is now given to the idea of science there, and the neglect in which this idea still lies here. . .' In the United States an interest in science, particu- larly chemistry, was developing during the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1802 Benjamin Silliman was appointed professor of chemistry at Yale and immediately granted a leave of absence "in order that he might acquire the necessary knowledge and experi- ence." At that time Philadelphia was the center of scientific activity and without question the best place in the country at which to gain a knowledge of chemistry. Benjamin Rush had been teaching chemistry in the Philadelphia Medical School since 1769.' James Wood- house and later Robert Hare also taught chemistry at the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania, and it was from a close friendship with the latter that Benjamin Silliman gained much of the knowledge and experience which made it possible for him to develop < Chitteoden, Russell H. History otSheffield Scientific School of Yale University, 1846-1922. New Haven, Yale University Prvss, 1928, vol. 1, pp. 14 and 20. • See footnote 4. * Meyer, Ernst von. A history of chemistry. New York, Macmillan and Co., 1891, p. 524. ' Arnold, Matthew. Higher schools and universities in Germany. London, Macmillan and Co., 1874. p. 213. 8 Newell, Lyman C. Chemical education in America from the earliest days to 1820. Journal of Chemical Education, 9, 680 (April 1932). the subject of chemistry at Yale. Olhcrs wore strug- gling to get chemistry recognized as a worthy subject in the college curriculums: Aaron Dexter and John Gorham at Harvard; Nathan Smith, Lyman Spaulding, and James Freeman Dana at Dartmouth. In 1845, however, even the most advanced colleges and universities still placed most of their emphasis upon the classical studies, and what little instruction they offered their students in the physical and natural sciences was elementary in character and confined to undergraduates, for the graduate student was, as yet, practically unknown. Instruction was limited to a textbook and lectures during which the professor per- formed a few demonstrations. Laboratories, as we know them today, did not exist, and anything approach- ing laboratory work by students had scarcely been thought of. In fact few of the professors holding chairs in the sciences possessed the necessary equipment or had the necessary rooms for such experimental work. A brief description of Robert Hare's laboratory, one of the best of that day, will give some idea of what a chemist in the 1830's had to work with: The hearth behind the table, is thirty-six feet wide, and twenty feet deep. On the left — is a scullery supplied with river water by a communication with the pipes proceeding from the public water works, and furnished with a sink and a boiler — . In front of the scullery are glass cases for apparatus. On the right of the hearth are two other similar cases. . . . Behind the lower one of these is the forge room, about twelve feet square; and north of the forge room are two fireproof rooms communicating with each other, eleven feet square each; the one for a lathe, the other for a carpenter's bench, and a vice bench. Over the forge room is a store room, and over the lathe and bench rooms is one room of about twenty by tw'elve feet. In this room there is a fine lathe, and tools. The space — to the right is divided by a floor into two apartments — . The lower one is employed to hold galvanic apparatus, the upper one for shelves, and tables, for apparatus, and agents, not in daily use. In front of the floor just alluded to is a gallery for visitors. The canopy over the hearth is nearly covered with shelves for apparatus, which will bear exposure to air and dust, especially glass. In the center of the hearth there is a stack of brick work for a blast furnace, the blast being produced by means of very large bellows situated under one of the arches supporting the hearth. The bellows are wrought by means of a lever and a rod descending from it through a circular opening in the masonry. There are two other stacks of brick work on the hearth against the wall. In one there is a coal grate which heats a flat sand bath, in the other there is a similar grate for heating two circular sand baths, or an alembic. In this stack there is likewise a power- ful air furnace. In both stacks mentioned, there are evaporating ovens — .' The idea of a special school of science or of a technical school in which the applications of scientific discovery might be stressed grew slowly at first, and naturally so, for its successful development demanded the evolution of methods of instruction which often violated accepted » The American Journal of Science and Arls, 19, 20 27 (January 1831). 22 National Resources Planning Board tradition.'" Nevertheless there were some men ready to give of their wealth to establish such schools, for they sensed the great possibilities of the future if only the rapidly accumulating new knowledge could be made available to those who would lind their work in indus- trial enterprises. Stephen Van Rensselaer was one of the first of these men. For generations his familj^ had ruled over a vast feudal estate that included all the land now comprising Albany, Columbia, and Rensselaer counties. Although the family's estate was greatly reduced and its baronial rights were lost upon the estab- lishment of the colonial government during the Ameri- can Revolution, there still remained a large property which Stephen Van Rensselaer undertook to develop after his graduation from Harvard College. He was the first to propose a canal connecting the Hudson river with the Great Lakes and, as chairman of the canal commission, engaged Prof. Amos Eaton in 1821 to make a geological survey of the proposed route of the canal from Albany to Buffalo." The importance of the work and the difficulty of finding men who were qualified to conduct it so impressed Van Rensselaer that he was convinced of the need for providing men with training in science and technology. In 1824 Van Rensselaer wTote to Reverend Samuel Blatchford : I have established a school in the north end of Troy, for the purpose of instructing persons ... in the application of science to the common purposes of life. My principal object is to qualify teachers for instructing the sons and daughters of farmers and mechanics ... in the application of experimental chemistry, philosphy and natural history to agriculture, domestic economy, the arts and manufactures.'- Professor Eaton, whose interest in science had taken him to Yale to studj' with Benjamin Silliman and whose ability for making popular presentations of scientific discoveries had led Governor De Witt Clinton in 1818 to invite him to give a course of lectures before the mem- bers of the New York legislature, was to hold the office of "senior professor" and teach chemistry and experi- mental philosophy.'^ Students were not to be taught according to the us>ial method by seeing experiments and hearing lectures, but by lecturing and experi- menting in turn under the guidance of a competent instructor. Thus by a term of labor, like apprentices to a trade, they were to become operative chemists. '* The Rensselaer School opened on January 3, 1825, and for 17 years, under Professor Eaton's direction, it I" Butler, Nicholas Murray. Editor. EducatioD lu the Uuitcd States. McDden- hall, T. C. Scicntiflc, technical and cneineering education. Albany, N. Y., J. B. Lyon Co., 1900, Monograph No. 11, p. :). " Education in the United States, p. C. .See footnote 10. " Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, BulUtin, 7 (March 1940). " Scicntiflc, technical and enginoering education, p. 7. Sw footnote 10. '< Sclentlflc, technical and engineering education, p. 8. Sec footnote lu. offered a year course of study. About 1850 the emphasis was shifted to civil engineering, and the course of study was lengthened to three years. The year 1 840-47 was an important one in the history of education in the Uniteil States. The Yale Corpora- tion resolved to organize a school of applied chemistry and by their action founded what later came to be called the Sheffield Scientific School in honor of its first large donor, Joseph E. Sheffield, cotton merchant, promoter of railroads and canals. That same year the catalog of Harvard College carried the announcement; In the course of the winter of 1846-47, arrangements were made by the government of the University for the organization of an advanced School of Science and Literature — to be known and de.-ignated as the Lawrence Scientific School in tlio Uni- versity at Cambridge. ■Like Sheffield, Abbott Lawrence was a successful mer- chant and manufacturer interested in education and willing to give money to provide a scientific training which the existing departments of the University did not offer. Also in 1846 William Barton Rogers, professor of natural philosophy at the University of Virginia, wrote to his brother Henry of his feeling about the idea of establishing in Boston a Polytechnic Institution, "whose true and only practicable object" should be "the inculcation of all the scientific principles which form the basis and explanation of (the arts)" and with this a "full and methodical review of all their leading processes and operations in connection with physical laws." " Of all places in the world Rogers felt that Boston was the one "most certain to derive the highest benefits" from such an institution because of "the Iviiowlcdgc seeking spirit and the hitellectual capabilities of the commimity." He felt that in Boston "the occupations and interests of the great mass of the people were immediately connected with the applications of physical science, and their quick intelligence had ah'eady impressed them with just ideas of the value of scientific teaching in their daily pursuits." " Although Rogers never lost opportunity to advance his ideas and plans for a Polytechnic Institute, it was 15 years before Governor Andrew approved an "Act to Incorpo- rate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology," one branch of which was to be a School of Industrial Science that woidd provide a "complete course of instruction and training, suited to the various practical profes- sions— and, at the same time, meet the more limited aims of such as desire to secure a scientific preparation for special industrial pursuits . . . having their founda- " Rogers, William Barton. Lite ami Icttirs of William Barton Rogers. Edited by his wife. Boston, New York, Houghton Mimin and Co., 1896, vol. 1, p. 200. '• Life and ietteis of William Barton Rogers. See footnote 15. Industrial Research 23 tion in the exact sciences." '" By 1899 the Institute had graduated nearly 2,000 men. Before tlie middle of the century the vast mineral reso>n-ccs of the country had scarcely been touched, and the need for trained men to discover and develop thoin was great. At Columbia College, the efforts of Professor Thomas Egleston, a graduate of Yale and the ficole des mines in Paris, resulted in 1864 in the organization of the School of Mines. Although Co- lumbia College did not pledge itself to support the new school, it did permit the use of some rooms in the college buildings. George T. Strong, William E. Dodge, Jr., and several others provided about $3,000 to equip the laboratory. The members of the instructing staff, consisting of Professor Egleston and a little later Pro- fessors Charles F. Chandler and F. L. Vinton, were appointed without salary, for they were expected to gain their livelihood from fees.'^ Although originally intended to train mining engi- neers, the school soon had on its staff men qualified to teach in other fields, and the program of the school was expanded to include civil engineering, applied chemistry, sanitary engineering, geology, and architecture. A year after its opening the School of Mines became a coordi- nate branch of the college, and for some time brought to it much of its fame." In Worcester, Mass., two men, Mr. John Boynton, a merchant, and Mr. Ichabod Washburn, founder of the Washburn and Mocn steel and wire manufactory, had confided to the Reverend Seth Sweetser their desire to contribute to the establishment of a school for train- ing young men for industrial pursuits. A conference with several other individuals interested in such a school resulted in a united effort from which came the opening of the Worcester Polyteclmic Institute in 1868. Dr. Charles O. Thompson, its first president, is said to have gained from a study, particularly of the Imperial Technical School at Moscow and the Institute of Technology at St. Petersburg, the idea of combining lectures and the study of textbooks wnth practical exercises in workshops where the student could learn the construction and use of machines.^" Other businessmen active in the development of our natural resources provided opportunities in their re- spective localities for young men to get a practical education. Asa Packer, tanner, carpenter, owner and master of canal boats, mines, and railroads made it possible to found Lehigh University. Edwin A.» " Life and letters of William Barton Rogers. See footnote 15, vol. 2. p. 223. '* Resignation of Professor Chandler. Metatlurgicat and Chemuat Engineertng, 8, 66 (February 1910). " See footnote 18. "Scientific, technical and engineering education, p. 13. See footnote 10. Stevens, one of the earliest users of steam for water transportation, provided by his will the original funds for Stevens Institute at llobokcn. Before 1900 other generous donors had provided for such institutions as the Case School of Applied Science, at Cleveland; the Rose Pol3'technic Institute at Terre Haute, Indiana; Throop Polytechnic Institute, later to become the California Institute of Technology; and the Armour Institute of Technology at Chicago. The long-established colleges and universities could not neglect the science and technology which was spreading rapidly and affecting so markedly the devel- opment of the country. The schools of science at Harvard and Yale have already been mentioned. Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and many other institutions added schools of science during the nineteenth century even though "the student pre- paring for an industrial profession was not considered as of the same caste with the student preparing for a 'learned profession' " ^' A major event affecting the development of scientific and technical education in the United States was the act, proposed by Justin S. Morrill, of Vermont, and passed by Congress in 1862, providing for the issuance to every state of scrip for 30,000 acres of land for each representative and each senator sent to Congress by that state. The scrip was sold in the open market, usually for low prices, and the proceeds spent particu- larly to found or assist institutions in which subjects relating to agriculture and the mechanic arts should be leading branches of study. Classical and scientific studies were not to be excluded , however, and the study of military tactics was definitely included. Some states gave their funds for the endowment of scientific and industrial education in an existing institution; others founded purety agricultural colleges; and still others founded separate schools which have since grown into great institutions. Purdue, Pennsjdvania State Col- lege, the Universities of Illinois and Ohio are but a few of those organized under the terms of the Morrill Act. Andrew D. White, a vigorous proponent of the "new education," pointed out the significance of this act in 1874, when he said: It was to provide fully for an industrial, scientific, and general education suited to our land and time — an education in which scientific and industrial studies should be Icnit into its very core, while other studies should also be provided for.-^ Vast Natural Resources Although the amount of scientific knowledge was increasing and more and more men were being taught " Scientific and industrial education in the United States, p. 171. See footnote 3. " Scientific and Industrial education in the United States, p. 173. See footnote 3. 24 National Resources Planning Board in schools of science and technology to apply it, obsta- cles still existed to delay the application of science to industry. When the nineteenth century oj)ened, our ancestors had before them a country whose limits they did not know, but one which was soon to yield them seemingly inexhaustible natural resources. As the population in- creased in the United States, more and more attention was given to the development of manufactures, although the obstacles to their introduction were numerous and troublesome. In time, canals, railroads, and steam- boats made available the great deposits of ore and coal and widened the areas of profitable trade. This expan- sion of transportation facilities was made possible by feats in civil and mechanical engineering that, for the age, were "gigantic." Our dependence upon foreign- trained engineers was soon relieved, and in some branches of engineering we began to set the example for Europe. The "captains of industry" were bold and capable; masters of organization and of men. Their immediate problems were not those of producing effi- cientl}^ and economically, but rather those of acquiring control of resources, transporting materials, and finding an adequate supply of labor to manufacture them into products for which a greedy and growing population was clamoring. Technical improvements were im- ported from Europe and quickly adapted to the re- quirements of industry. Until the last quarter of the nineteenth century, however, teclmical progress was based far more upon inventive experimentation and trial-and-error methods then upon a conscious and sys- tematic effort to apply the principles of science to in- dustry through the medium of research. In no way does this fact belittle the achievements of those who utilized such methods, or serve as a criticism of indus- trial leaders of that era. It simply indicates that in- dustry had not yet reached the point wliere a further increase in wealth depended upon the "progress of scientific knowledge and the refinement of engineering skill." As long as there was a large demand at a prof- itable price for the products of the mill and factory, owners and managers had little incentive to invest even a small portion of their earnings in a search for new methods and new products. When, even under such generous natural conditions, problems did arise which threatened profits, the industrialist's traditional attack was a plea for greater tariff protection, or a "proposi- tion" which would offset the wasteful methods of production by eliminating the offending competitor." The Protective Tariff As late as 1913 an editorial in the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry went so far as to say that » Duncan, U. K. Temporary industrial fellowships. North American Review, IBS, M (May 3, 1907). probably the greatest factor in retarding the develop- ment of scientific research among our industries has been a high tariff; that it has caused prosperity and enormous profits in si)it(' of short-sighted management; and that political research has been well understood. Many industrial managers have spent thousands on the lobby and not a cent for placing their business on a sound scientific footing . . . Only after hope of increasing profits by the political route has been entirely eliminated, will they turn to the scientific method.-* Although this is probably an overstatement of the effect on research of high tariffs, it is true, particularly in the early days of our development, that they fre- quently deprived the United States of the opportunity to share in the benefits of improvements which had been made abroad. For nearly .30 years, for example, the domestic producers of hammered iron were pro- tected from the rolled iron which Great Britain w'as producing much more cheaply under Cort's new processes of puddling and rolling.^' Moreover, tariff pro- tection and industrial combinations undoubtedly tended to hide problems, or at least to hide the importance of problems, and in so doing postponed a scientific attack upon them. On the other hand, the tariff undoubtedly made it easier for many industries to become estab- lished, and the combination of small industrial units into large corporations made it possible for the latter to support costly research. Attitude of Industrialists and Scientists The industrialist's suspicion of the scientist and the scientist's disdain for the man who would apply his discoveries to everyday enterprises also delayed research. To the manufacturers, industry was no place for the impractical dreamer; he belonged in the university, where he would not upset the methods that had worked for many years. "Even the trained chemist," said Willis R. WTiitney in 1916, "constituted in the minds of most manufacturers a pure speculation." This feeling was partly the result of ignorance of what a properly trained man could accomplish and partly the result of the numerous failures of men who were employed to do research although they were wholly unqualified through temperament and lack of proper training and resourcefulness to undertake it. The manufacturer, frequently unwilling to provide the necessary conditions and equipment for research, ex- pected immediate and startling results. Speaking of this attitude as he observetl it in the oil industry, Mr. William M. Burton said: It is very curious tliat from (lie early days of the industry until the discovery of Lima oil, there seems to have been prejudice on the part of practical oil men against the chemical fraternity. '* Research. Indttitriat and Kngiveering Chemistry, 6, 9fi6 (Decomber 191.3). "Taussig, F. W. The tariff history of the United States. New York, London, O. P. riilnam's Sons, 5th ed., 1909. p. 127. Industrial Research 25 Why, ... is not entirely clear, but I tliink one reason might be the fact that manufacturers frequently called upon chemists of general training to solve some particular jjroblem connected with their business, ignoring the fact that the chemist jjrobably had had no practical refining experience. The chemist, therefore, probably offered suggestions which were totally impracticable and the manufacturer seeing the fact, was not particularly impressed with the chemical profession as a possible aid to his business . . ." The scientist, on the other hantl, was not eager to see his discovery apphed to industry. He was in search of truth, and the application was unimportant. ITere and there a scientist could be found who went so far as to feel that "making a utility of the God-given discoveries of the truly beautiful phenomena of Nature was a prostitution to be deprecated, and that research could only be pure when it was 'sterile.' " " In time, however, the gap between "pure" and "im- pure" science was to become much smaller. As William H. Walker expressed it: There is with scientific men a general awakening to the fact that the highest destiny of science is not to accumulate the truths of nature in a form that no one but the elect few can utilize, but that the search for truth can be combined with a judicious at- tempt to make the truth serve the public good. Thus the dis- tinction which has existed between the terms pure science and applied science is rapidly falling away. An attempt to define these two kinds of science reveals the fact that their distinction is a general impression rather than a clear statement. '' Period of Unorganized Research The wealth of natural resources, the reliance upon tariff protection, and the mutual distrust of the scientist and the industrialist served to delay but failed to pre- vent the infiltration of science into industry. Growing competition within home industries could not be met with high tariffs, and combinations seldom achieved a monopoly. Obviously, a new attack upon industrial problems was necessary, and farsighted, technically- minded leaders gradually overcame the objections of their associates and made it with applied science. They turned to the imiversity professors and the com- mercial chemists for assistance and advice upon certain specific problems. With many misgivings, they added to their staffs trained chemists whose first work was largely restricted to testing, sampling, and controlling processes. It was not long, however, before these chemists, with their special training, substituted scien- tific methods for rule-of-thumb and, as a result, not only accelerated the improvement of existing processes but also utilized waste products and created new prod- ucts. Many a research laboratory has evolved from the dingy corner allotted to a plant chemist. " Burton, William M. Chemistry in the petroleum industry. Induslrial and Enginening Clttmistrn, 10, 485 (June 1918). " Whitney, W. R. Incidents of applied research. Industrial and Enginetring Chemistry, 8. 561 (June 19161. ■> Walker, W. H. Chemical research and industrial progress Scienlijic American Supplement, 71, 14 (July 1, 1911). Early Plant Chemists An early and isolated example of such a laboratory was that of the Merrbnack Manufacturing Company at Lowell, Mass. From 1834 until liis deatli in 1868, Samuel Luther Dana served the company as resident and consulting chemist.^ After being graduated from Harvard College in 1813, he studied medicine and be- came an M. D. in 1818. For 8 j'ears he practiced in Waltham, but the subject of chemistry had a fascina- tion for him, and even before he gave up his medical practice he had "established a laboratory for the i)ro- duction of sulfuric acid and bleaching salts." This enterprise was soon merged with the Newton Chemical Company and Dr. Dana served it as superintendent and chemist until 1833. He then went to Europe for a year and upon his return became chemist for the Merrimack Manufactm-ing Company. Possessed of a wide knowl- edge of substances and an originality in devising means for solvuig problems, he undertook a systematic study of the action of the dung of beeves which at that time was used "for removmg the excess of mordant in print- ing calicoes with madder." This research led to the discovery that "crude phosphates in a bath with bran" were a complete substitute for the expensive and un- pleasant material which had hitherto been indispen- sable. By using sodium phosphate made from bones, Dana greatly improved the process of calico prmting in the United States. Later, Mercer found that arsenates were equally effective and cheaper. Dana continued his study of the chemical changes that took place in the process of bleaching cotton fab- rics preparatory to printing them and finally developed what became known as the "American System" of bleaching, once referred to by the French scientist Persez as realizing "the perfection of chemical opera- tions." The process was not only widely adopted in the industry, but was also highly praised as a piece of scientific investigation, a description of it being pub- lished in the Bulletin de la Societe Industrielle de Mul- house in 1838. Although much of Dana's attention was given to the many diverse problems which arose in the mills, he went on year after year studying madder, its nature, and its application to l)oth dyeing and agriculture. Moreover he continued his study of manures, and 1842 published The Farmer's Muck Manual of Manures which was considered "the sheet anchor of libraries in the rural districts of New England for many years." Benjamin Silliman, the younger, placed him first in point of "time, originality, and ability" among those in the United States who wrote upon scientific agricul- ture. To Dr. Dana should go the distinction of estab- " This account of Dana's work is based upon those in Youmans, W. J. Pioneers of science in America. New York, D. Appleton and Co., 1896, pp. 313-315; Dic- tionary of American biography. New York, C. Scribncr's Sons, 1930, vol. 5, p. 61. 26 National Resources Planning Board lishing one of the first industrial research laboratories in this country — a laboratory in wliich he worked sys- tematically for 34 years not only to solve the immediate problems of the Merrimack Manufacturing; Company, l)ut also to discover new facts which would aid the growing textile industry in New England. Another pioneer chemist in industry was Charles Benjamin Uudlej% who, in 1875, left his position as teacher of science at the Riverside Military Academy, Poughkecpsie, N. Y., to join the staff of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad.'" At that time the company had acquired some apparatus for conducting physical tests, but had made no provision for making chemical analyses. Any need for the services of a chemist was met by consulting an outsider. When the company decided to have an engineering laboratory "in its broadest sense," a department of physical tests was easily organized from the staff and equipment already available. To organize a department of chemical tests, however, was not so simple, for nobody within the company had had the necessary experience, and no other railroad maintained a laboratory from which a trained man could be liii'cd. Mr. Theodore N. Ely, the Superintendent of Motive Power for the Pennsylvania R. R., consulted his friend Dr. Coleman Sellers, and upon his recommendation offered the position to Dud- ley. Since the latter had a strong desire to make the study of "physiological chemistry his specialty," the decision to give it up for work in industry was not easUy made. Moreover Dudley was well aware of the general antagonism and skepticism regarding the work of the; scientist when any attempt was made to apply it to practical affairs. He knew too that the undertaking was largely an experiment the success of which would depend not alone upon the accuracy of his chemical analyses, but also upon his ability to cooperate with men who would have httle use for his approach. In spite of these undesirable features, Dudley knew that the railroad would offer many new and interesting problems, and that the higher executives were men who would be sympathetic toward his efforts. He accepted the offer and began his work with the help of one or two untrained men. The problem which confronted him was not a simple one. First of all he had to determine what material was best for the company to use for any given purpose. Once this decision was made, he had to prepare specifi- cations that would insure the company's getting exactly what it wanted when purchasing in an open and higlily competitive market. To get such results, a third step was necessary, that of devising "the best methods and the most efficient organization for carrying on routine "This account of Dudley's work is based upon papers by Marburg, E., Ely, T. N., Smith, E. F.,aDd Howe, H.M., published in a Memorial volume commemorative of The IKe and life work of Chariea Benjamin Dudley, Ph. D. (American Society tor TestInK Materials.) Pbiladelphia, Pa., The Society, 1911. acceptance tests on an extensive scale." And finally he had "to conduct independent research and keep in touch with the latest scientific and practical develop- ments in a vast field" in order that the railroad might profit by any method or product that would increase its efficiency or reduce its operating costs. At the time Dudley joined the staff of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad, the loss resulting from the rapid corro- sion of valves and other parts of the locomotives was a serious one. He immediately began a study of the tallows used for lubricating the locomotive cylinders and found that by careful and proper rendering and by the selection of fresh tallow he could greatly reduce the loss. The next step was a carefully prepared specifica- tion which would govern future purchases of tallow. A more dangerous situation, involving the safety of passengers, existed in connection with the railroad's signal lights, which frequently grew dim and sometimes failed entirely. An investigation showed that no trouble arose when lard oil made in the company's own oil house was used. Then Dudley experienced difficul- ties in his attempt to discover why lard oil purchased from dealers gave trouble. Almost by accident he dis- covered, in the course of his experiments, that "when acid was added to a mixture of cotton-seed oil and lard oil a reaction took place in which the heat evolved was in almost exact proportion to the cotton-seed oil." A conclusion was not difficult to draw: the manufacturers were mixing low-priced cotton-seed oil with high-priced lard oil and selling the mixture for pure lard oil. Notice that in the future the company would accept no lard oil that did not meet Dr. Dudley's tests brought immediate expressions of indignation, which, how- ever, were quickly followed by an ample supply of pure lard oil. An investigation of The Chemical Composition and Physical Properties of Steel Rails brought Dudley world-wide attention. Steel was being offered to the railroads as a substitute for iron, but nobody knew to what extent it would meet the requirements of actual service. Before beginning his investigation, Dudley spent a few weeks at the Sheffield Scientific School in order to learn more about the methods of analyzing steel. After his work at Yale, in an effort to discover the reasons for the variable life of steel rails, he examined 2.5 samples which in actual service had been rated from "good" to "very bad." His data, which consisted of the location of the rail, the tonnage carried over it, and the results of chemical and physical tests, pointed to the conclusion that mild steel made a rail which was less likely to break and which would wear longer than one of harder steel. On the basis of his findings he then reconuncnded a formula for the chemical compo- sition of rails that should be purchased in the future by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Industrial Research 27 Some of the leading steel producers took immediate issue with Dudlej' on the grounds that his experiments were inadequate, that his results were not consistent with the experience of other users, and that his formula would greatly increase the cost of producing steel rails. Nevertheless, Dudley had started an inquiry which led to many more lesearches, both in the United States and abroad. An inkling of the significance of his work can be gained from a statement made by Capt. W. R. Jones, of the Carnegie Company, who had taken issue with some of Dudley's findings: Before he proposed this formula how many of those who con- den>ned it as being egregiously wrong had any idea whatever of the relations of carbon, silicon, and manganese to phos- phorus? Although Dr. Dudley may be wrong, and I believe he is only partially correct, yet he was the first to endeavor to establish a formula of this kind, and is therefore entitled to the thanks of steel makers; for although it may not be correct, it is much nearer the mark than what others have simply guessed at; and the direct results of his investigations have been to stimulate investigations by others and throw much light on a dark subject." Rails, axles, springs, paints, varnishes, coals, disin- fectants, dyes, were all subjected to Dr. Dudley's analysis, and the results were practically expressed in standard specifications. Today much of the type of work which he did is no longer classified as research ; for, because of his pioneer work and the work of the Amer- ican Society for Testing Materials, organized largely tlirough the efforts of Dr. Dudley, such tests and analyses have been standardized and no longer involve a search for the unknown. But in the seventies and eighties, when business men had little faith in what the chemist could do, and the chemist had little knowledge of what he could do for the business men, Dudley's work was true industrial research. When his career with the Pennsylvania ended, the laboratory which he had organized was staffed by 34 trained chemists and many assistants. The rapid and spectacular developments in the American iron and steel industry would have been impossible but for the work of trained chemists, metal- lurgists, and engineers. If the industry as a whole has lagged in organized research, it is nevertheless true that some companies began early to "make a rational attempt to apply the findings of the chemist to their immediate problems." In the spring of 1863 a chemical laboratory was established at Wyandotte, near Detroit, where a fur- nace had been built for experimenting on a large scale with the process for producing steel invented by William KeUy. Previously the experiments with the Bessemer process had not met with success largely because of the " The lile and life work of Charles Benjamin Dudley, Ph.D., p. 23. See footnote 30. imperfect control of raw materials. Those in charge of the furnace at Wyandotte, however, recognized the necessity for using suitable pig iron and established laboratory facilities for determining the quality of the iron received from various furnaces.'^ W. F. Durfee, the man who was invited by Capt. E. B. Ward to design and superintend the furnace at Wyandotte, made an interesting comment about this laboratory: It is quite certain that long after the establishment (of this laboratory) the manufacturers of steel in Sheffield did not regard the employment of chemical investigation of their materials or products as desirable or practicable. I have in my possession a pamphlet published in Sheffield, England, as late as 1870, for the purpose of attracting attention and trade, in which the following sentences occur: "The various articles on the manufac- ture of cast steel in the encyclopaedias and other works are for the most part out of date or are written by scientific men having little or no practical acquaintance with the subject and conse- quently are not of much value — The steel manufacturers of Sheffield are not chemists. The application of chemistry to the manufacture of steel has not yet met with any success. The analysis of steel is a very difficult process. It has frequently been attempted in Sheffield but never with any practical success." 32 At the insistence of a number of the members of the American Iron and Steel Association, J. Blodgett Britton established in Philadelphia in 1866 an "Iron- masters' Laboratory" in order to "encourage the de- velopment of workable bodies of iron ore and to inform producers of the quantity and quality of the metal they would yield."" Alloys also began to interest American iron-masters about this time. In 1868 four of the largest rail mills in the U. S. were experi- menting with chrome ore and manganese in the puddling furnace for hardening rail heads, and the Government had ordered an experimental lot of projectiles to be made of cliromc iron in order to test their ability to penetrate hardened armor.'' The first chemist in the iron industry employed by a company not making Bessemer stool is believed to have been with the firm of Kloman, Carnegie & Company, operators of the famous Lucy furnace.'" Two develop- ments seem to have convinced Henry Phipps, then in charge of the Lucy furnace, that the services of a chem- ist were necessary. Companies producing steel were beginning to state their requirements in chemical terms, "the principal one being that tlu^ metal should not contain more than ten-hundrodths of 1 percent of phosphorus." For every increase of ono-huiulredth of " Clark, Victor S. History of manufactures in the United Slates (1860-1893). New- York, McGraw-Hill Book Co.. Inc., 1929, vol. 2. pp 70-71. " Durfee, W. F. The first chemical laboratory. American Iron and Steel Associa- tion, Bulletin SO, 249 (November 10, 1896). " History of manufactures in the I'nitcd States (1860-1893), p. 78. See footnote 32. " History of manufactures in the United States (1860-1893), p. 78. See footnote 32, >• Bridge, J. H. The inside history of the Carnegie Steel Company. New York, The Aldinc Book Co., 1903, p. 65. 28 National Resources Planning Board 1 percent of phosphorus the companies deducted 25 cents per ton from tlie price tliey would pay.^' Also at a critical period in the financial history of Kloman, Car- negie & Company, the Lucy furnace suffered a "chill" upon the substitution of high-grade Lake Superior ores for the low grade ores on which it had been running well. As a result the company hired Dr. Fricke, a German chemist, and in the words of Andrew Carnegie: . . . great secrets did the doctor open up to us. Iron stone from mines that had a high reputation was now found to contain ten, fifteen, and even twenty per cent less iron than it had been credited with. Mines that hitlierto had a poor reputation we found to be yielding superior ore. The good was bad and the bad was good, and everything was topsy-turvy. Nine-tenths of all the uncertainties of pig-iron making were dispelled under the burning sun of chemical knowledge.'' '\Miile competitors described the exiKMiditure for a chemist as an extravagance, Carnegie and his partners reaped substantial benefits from their knowledge of the composition of ores. They bought ore at low prices from mines which other furnace owners held in disre- pute; they bought for 50 cents a ton the flue cinder from the heating furnaces and the roll scale from the mills, bj'products that competitors were piling on the river banks as waste, mixed them with smaller quan- tities of high-grade Lake Superior ore than had pre- viously been necessary, and yet they produced a better pig iron at a lower cost. To complete the game, they sold, through brokers, their own inferior puddle cinder with high phosphorus content to these same competitors for $1 and $1.50 a ton.'' The secret was in knowing how to flux the ore that was used. " Wliat fools we had been!" said Carnegie. "But then there was this con- solation," he continued, "We were not as great fools as our competitors." Very early in its history the petroleum industry likewise sought the services of the scientist. Before Colonel Drake drilled his w^ell near Titusville, Pa., in 1859, samples of petroleum had been sent to Professor Silliman, the younger, at Yale for his examination. He distilled the oil, separated the various fractions accord- ing to their boiling points, and reported that portions of these distillates were suitable for illuminating pur- poses. Men in the oil business, knowing that if a substitute for the expensive animal and vegetable oils that were then being used in lamps could be found it would have a ready market, acted upon Professor Silliman's advice and began the refining of petroleum in this country.** " The inside history of the Camcgio Steel Company. See footnote 36. ■■ Carnc!!ie, Andrew. Autobiography. Boston, New York, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1920, p. 182. '• The inside history of the Carnegie Steel Company, p. 64. See footnote 36. Auto- biography, p. 183. See footnote 38. '•Burton, William M. Chemistry In the petroleum Industry. Induttrial and Enjfiwerfnj ChemUtrv. 10, 484 (June 1918). Li spite of this instance of the practical application of chemistry, it did not play much of a part in the methods of refining that were then used. They were crude and wasteful, utilizing only a little over 5 percent of the total mass of the crude oil. Not until 1870, when M. L. Hull of Cleveland devised the "vapor stove," were the naphtiia fractions utilized; and then millions of gallons of naphtha, for want of a demand, were allowed to fiow into the creeks and rivers, there to evaporate. Little change took place in the industry until 1885 or 1886, when a new source of petroleum was found in northwestern Ohio near the town of Lima. When the customary refining methods of distillation and treatment with sulfuric acid and alkali were applied to this Lima oil, they were found to be inadequate. Illuminating oils of suitable quality were not secured because the crude oil contained from ji to 1 percent of sulfur. The industry was forced to turn to the chemist for a solution, but because of a long-existing prejudice against the "chemical fraternity," there was scarcely one trained petroleum chemist in the United States in ISSS.*' Out of this situation, however, came a much better understanding. Both the itidustry and the chemist came to realize that if practical solutions for refining problems were to be found, industrj' must be patient until the chemist had learned something about the refining industry. Since 1890, and particularly since the introduction of the internal combustion engine, research has played an increasingly important part in the petroleum industry. Although some of the concerns to which the meat packers sold their by-products in a crude state had employed chemists, and the packers themselves had occasionally consulted commercial chemists, it was not until 1886 that a chemist (H. B. Schmidt) came to be regularly employed by a meat packer in the Union Stock Yards in Chicago." Other packers soon fol- lowed suit in an effort to improve their products and to find use for various byproducts. "There was so much for the chemist to do in the packing industry in those days that it was simply a question of what pleased him best to work on." " Li the copper industry previous to 1SS4 the use of chemistry had been confined almost wholly to a few routine analyses by commercial chemists. In one instance Calumet and Hecla had employed an expert chemist to help them out of a chemical difficulty. "About 1884, a few chemists were employed in the earlier work of developing deposits in Montana and Arizona," but not until 1890 was the real value of " Chemistry in the petroleum Industry, pp. 484-485. See footnote 40. " Lowenstein, Arthur. Contributions of the chemist to the packing house prod- ucts Industry. Industrial and B>n(iineering Ckemittry, 7, 943 (November 1915). " Contributions of the chemist to the packing house products industry. See footnote 42. Industrial Research 29 chemists in concentrating, roasting, smelting, and re- fining copper appreciated." Since tlioii their research and their improvements in analytical methods have made it possible greatly to improve the purity of the metal so vital to the electrical industry .''' A slowly increasing number of chemists found a demand for their services in such mdustries as pulp and paper, glass, chemicals, corn products, soap, photo- graphic supplies, fertilizer. Some of the more venture- some individuals established commercial laboratories to which industrialists could bring their chemical problems. Most of these early laboratories have disappeared ; but a few have survived, and many more have been founded.'" Although it must again be said that today much of the work done by these chemists would not be called industrial research, their efforts, nevertheless, resulted in better products at lower prices, new products from former waste materials, and other accompUshments which impressed the more foresighted industrial leaders with the importance of the new knowledge that was available to them, or could be made available if the chemist were given time and opportunity to become familiar with the requirements of industry. The Creation of New Industries by Independent Investigators The results achieved by many independent investi- gators, whose searches frequently gave rise to new industries, also attracted the attention of industrialists to the value of research. When John Wmthrop, Jr., set up in Boston his curious chemical plant — "part drug- gist's shop, metallurgist's workroom, chemist's labora- tory, and alchemist's den" — and made experimental batches of alum and saltpeter in an effort to provide the colonists with chemicals, medicines, and gunpowder, and to exploit the mineral resources of New England, he was but the forerunner of thousands of individuals in this country who have sought to apply then- knowledge and skill in new ways. The records of the Patent Office bear witness to the uselessness, inipracticality, and absurdity of manj- such efforts, but they also bear witness to accomplishments which have completely altered the way in which human bemgs live and the problems which they face. The names of Eli A^^litney, OHver Evans, Robert Fulton, Elias Howe, Samuel F. B. Morse, Obed Hussey and Cyrus McCormick, William Kclley, Alexander Graham Bell, and Charles Goodyear, immediately come to mind. For many years such individuals as these were pointing out the ways of technical progress. Most of them, although without " Herreshoa. J. B. F. Contributions of the chemist to the copper Industry. Induxlual and Engineering Chemistry, 7, 274 (.\pril 1915). " Contributions cf the chemist to the copper industry, p. 275. See footnote 44. " This volume, pp. 72-75. the formal training that we now consider indispensable for the scientist and the engineer, were, nevertheless, possessed of "an mtuitive uisight which was unique, and an insatiable curiosity and a dogged determination to overcome all obstacles." Athough scores of men made important contributions to our technical and industrial development, the work of only a few of those whose accomplishments hastened the transition from isolated, unorganized research to cooperative, organized research in industrial laboratories can be mentioned here in any detail. Hyatt and Celluloid John Wesley Hyatt, a journeyman printer, working in Albany, one day read of an offer of $10,000, made by Phelan & Collander of New York, for a substance that could be used as a substitute for ivory in billiard balls. Undaunted by his scant knowledge of chemistry, he began to experiment nights and Sundays in the hope of gaining the reward. His efforts produced a number of useful plastic compositions, but none of them was suitable for billiard balls. One day his eye fell upon a bit of dried collodion about the size and thickness of his thumbnail, and as a result he began experimenting with nitrocellulose. Eventually, by making a solid core of another plastic material and covering it with nitro- cellulose dissolved in ether and alcohol, he made a billiard ball. Many difficulties, however, stood in the way of a perfect product. A lighted cigar applied to the ball at once resulted in a serious flame and occa- sionally "the violent contact of the balls would produce a mild explosion like a percussion guncap," a feature that led one bUliard saloon proprietor in Colorado, writing to Hyatt about his billiard balls, to say that he did not mind very much personally but that it was a bit dangerous, for every man in his saloon immediately pulled a gun.^' Hyatt's experiments with nitrocellulose continued, and he also designed special machinery for its manu- facture and manipulation. In the winter of 1872-73 the Celluloid Manufacturing Company, in Newark, N. J., began to manufacture the first of the modern plastics. After 3 years Hyatt's financial backers finally allowed him to hire Frank Vanderpoel, a trained chemist, to sj'stematize the process and perfect a quick and accurate method of determining the spent acids.'** Edison and the Electric Light From a baggage-car laboratory fitted up with retorts and bottles discarded from railroad shops, Thomas A. Edison's curiosity, persistence, and skill were to carry *' Hyatt, John W. .\ddress of acceptance. iitry, 6, 159 (February 1914). " .address of acceptance. Sec footnote 47 Indmlrial and Engineering (Them- 30 National Resources Planning Board him to cxtrnordinarv success in business and to the realization of a boyhood dream — the possession of a well-equipped laboratory in which he could work day and night if he chose. The funds which he received from the sale of his stock-ticker made it possible for him to set up a workshop on the top floor of a padlock factorj' in Newark, N. J. In 1876, however, the desire for greater privacy and more room caused him to build a laboratory at Menlo Park. It was a "two story clapboard structure, long and unpretentious but ex- actly what he wanted."*' Next to the laboratory in importance was the brick machine shop where skilled workmen constructed the innumerable pieces of equip- ment that Edison needed in his experiments. A small wooden carpenter shop, a gasoline plant that supplied the gasoline gas used for illumination, and a small building in which lami)black, made from a battery of smoking kerosene lamps, was collected and pressed into small cakes for use in the Edison carbon transmitter completed the facilities at Menlo Park.^" *• Jehl, Francis. Mcnlo Park reminiscences. Dearborn, Mich., Edison Institute, 1936. vol. 1, p. 7. A private laboratory in which a man strove to make inventing a profitable business was a new thing and did not go uncriticized bj' the "pure" scientists of the day. Moreover Edison was looked upon as an un- schooled intruder. His methods of research were not the traditional ones. Ho frequently disregarded the long-established rules deemed to be fundamental and relied on common sense and patient effort to carry him through a difficult problem. His motto was "Seeing is believing," and he would not give up the search for what he wished to see until he ha- 15 1932). " Menlo Park reminiscences, pp. 344-346. See footnote 49. devising methods of measurements so that ho could make the use of electricity practical. Sir James Jeans in his presidential address before the British Association for the Advancement of Science tried to give some idea of what such efforts meant to industry when he said, "Let us also remember that the economic value of the work of one scientist alone, Edison, has been estimated at thi'ce thousand million pounds." '* By 1881 Edison was living in New York because of his new business interests. Activities at Menlo Park soon ceased as one by one the men in the laboratory left to assume new responsibilities in the rapidly grow- ing electrical industry. A new laboratory was estab- lished at Gocrck Street and a dozen men, "mostly college graduates worlcing for glory and not pay," were kept busy there testing and improving Edison's new dynamos. While at Menlo Park Edison had devoted himself to his experiments and had given little thought to the problems of manufacturing the products which his ex- periments had made practical. In 1886, however, he built a much larger laboratory at Llewellyn Park and determined to develop there a "large industry to which a thoroughly practical laboratory would be a central feature, and ever a som-ce of suggestion and inspira- tion." " Another intensely active period in Edison's life fol- lowed the opening of the new laboratory. He gave his attention particularly to the development of his phono- graph, motion picture camera, storage battery, and dic- tating machine, while a rapidly expanding manufactur- ing plant turned out the products perfected in the lab- oratory. In 1917 he left his interests in the hands of others and served the government for 2 years on prob- lems created by the war. But in 1919 he was again back in his laboratory where in 1929, 2 years before his death, he was still workmg 16 to 18 hours a day. The laboratory at West Orange now has a staff of 107 persons and continues to serve as the center of research and development for the various interests of Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Acheson and Carborundum In the fall of 1880, a young man, jobless but with a keen interest in electricitj^, arrived at Edison's labora- tory at Menlo Park. A white lie got him on the pay roll. After a short time in the drafting room, E. G. Acheson was placed in the original experimental depart- ment at $7.50 a week. Soon he was in the lamp fac- tory learning all the details in preparation for arrang- ing the exhibit of Edison's electrical inventions at the International Exposition in Paris. After the Exposi- M Jeans, Sir James. Presidential address. British Association tor tlic .Advance- ment of Science, Report, 1934, p. 18. " Edison: his life and inventions, vol. 2, p. 369. See footnote 50. 32 National Resources Planning Board tion he assisted in constructing machine shops and lamp factories to operate the Edison patents in Europe, and it was 1884 when he returned to New York only to leave Edison and try some experimental work on a scheme for "controlling electric currents, regulating dynamos, etc." Finding two backers, he built a "new style of dynamo" which proved to be a failure, for, although it would produce a current of immense amperage, the voltage was absurdly low. "Another failure added to a long list," he said. His next experiment, on an anti-induc- tion telephone wire, was made by taking "a rubber-cov- ered wire, coating it with graphite, passing it through a copper solution and plating on it a tube of copper; next braiding cotton over the tube; then soaking the cotton with asphaltum ; then covering the whole with a lead pipe covering." He patented the process which a short time later he sold to Mr. George Westinghousc for $7,000 in cash and $50,000 in stock of the Standard Underground Cable Company, which, however, because of a reduction in the company's capital, was soon re- duced to $16,666. After a 3-year term as electrician to the Cable Com- pany at a regular salary, Acheson conceived the idea that if he could estabhsh a small electric lighting plant in some town, he could make the plant pay its way by night-lighting and yet use the dynamo for experiments during the day. Monongahela City was selected as the location. He soon turned his attention to making rubber synthetically and succeeded, in 1891, in pro- ducing a small piece. Unfortunately, one of his part- ners in the lighting enterprise arrived in Monongahela City to see the plant just after investing considerable money in a rubber tree grove in Alexico, where he in- tended to produce more rubber than the world would use, and advised Acheson to shut the plant up and "throw it into the Monongahela River." Acheson lost interest in rubber, not even making a record of how he produced his sample; but ignoring the advice, he turned his plant to new uses. The value of an artificial abrasive had been brought to his attention by a chance remark made in 1880 by Dr. George F. Kunz, of Tiffany & Company. He decided to try to produce one. The recollection of an experiment wliich he had once conducted for his brother on the reduction of iron from its ores by the use of natural gas suggested a starting point, for in this experiment some clay articles placed in a highly heated furnace into which natural gas was passed had, when cold, been found to be thorougldy impregnated with carbon. The procedure by which Acheson discovered the material to which he gave the name Carborundum is described in his owTi words: An iron bowl, such as plumbers use for holding their melted solder, was attached to one lead from a dynamo and filled with a mixture of clay and powdered coke, the end of an arc light carbon attached to the other lead was inserted into the mixture. The percentage of coke was high enough to carry a current, and a good strong one was passed througli the mixture between the lamp carbon and bowl until the clay in the center was melted and heated to a very high temperature. When cold, the mass was examined. It did not fill my expectations, but I by sheer chance, happened to notice a few bright specks on the end of the arc carbon that had been in the mixture." One of these specks, when mounted on the end of a lead pencil and drawn across a pane of glass, cut it like a diamond. After patient work with a small furnace made of bricks, Aclieson had enough of his material to take to the lapidaries in New York City. It was during the journey that the substance received its name, be- cause of the discover's hunch that it was composed of carbon and corundum, a hunch that later proved to be a mistake, for carborundum is a compound of carbon and silicon. In New York a diamond cutter bought the tiny supply at 40 cents a carat or at the rate of about $750 a pound. Upon his return from a trip to Europe, where he sold the foreign patent rights, Acheson heard of the new electrical development at Niagara Falls. After inspec- tion of it, he placed before his directors a plan for build- ing a new plant equipped for a thousand horsepower. To do this, in the face of the fact that the Monongahela plant, using only 134 horsepower, was producing twice as much as was being sold, entailed too great a risk for them, and they resigned. But Acheson went on with his plans, and although eventually forced to appeal to some Pittsburgh bankers for assistance, the Niagara Falls works were started in the fall of 1895. By 1910, although Mr. Acheson had lost control of it, the com- pany was using 10,000 horsepower and producing car- borundum at the rate of 10,000,000 pounds a year. A new industry had been created, the value of the product proved, and a market for it found even though the couLntry had been passing through a financial depression. But Acheson's contributions to industry were not over. Under patents secured in 1895, 1896, 1899 he began the manufacture of graphite. Other experiments followed and in 1906, while trying to increase the value of carbo- rundum as an abrasive, he found in the furnace a small amount of "a very soft, unctuous, noncoalcscing graph- ite" which he immediately recognized as an ideal lubri- cating product. More experiments resulted in a method of suspending graphite in water to form a lubricant called Aquadag. The next step was the transference of the graphite from the water medium to an oil medium, to form an improved lubricant called Oildag. Acheson felt that those two products would probably prove to be of more value to the world than any of those he had previously developed.'' "Acheson, E. O. A pathflnder: discovery, invention and Industry. New York, The Press Scrap Book, 1910, pp. 98-99. " A pathfinder: discovery, invention and industry, p. 129. See footnote K. Industrial Research 33 Hall and Aluminum Shortly before Acheson built his plant at Niagara Falls for the manufacture of carborundum, another industry resulting from the persistent research of an individual had located there. As a schoolboy, Charles M. Hall received his first knowledge of chemistry from a textbook that his father had studied in college during the lS40's. Aluminum was mentioned in this book, but Hall did not begin experimenting to find a process for making it cheaply until the fact had dawned upon him that although every clay bank was a mine of aluminum, the metal was as costlj' as silver. The first experiments were not imdertaken very seriously because he was then a student in college and already working on "three or four other attempted inventions." An introduction to the subject of thermochemistry and a close association with his professor in chemistry, Frank Fanning Jewett, increased his knowledge and led him gradually to the idea that aluminum could be obtained by electrolysis. Beginning in 1886 to experiment on such a plan, he made manj^ tries, until finally he "took some cryolite and found that it melted easily and in the molten con- dition dissolved alumina in large proportions." Putting some of this molten mass in a clay crucible, he passed an electric current through it from a small electric bat- tery rigged mostly from parts borrowed from Professor Jewett. At the end of 2 hours he pom-ed out the melted mass but found no alummum. A repetition of the experiment with a carbon crucible enclosed in a clay crucible brought greater success, for in the bottom of the carbon crucible were a number of small globules of aluminum. Hall was convinced that he had found tbs process he was seeking, but it was not easy to convince others. Within 3 years two groups of backers became discouraged and gave up. A third group formed the Pittsburgh Reduction Company — now the Aluminum Company of America — and in the summer of 1888 began to build and operate a commercial plant in Pittsbm-gh which produced 50 pounds of metal a day, that sold for $2 a pound. Soon the company erected a larger plant at Niagara and, by 1911, had a third plant and was pro- ducing 40,000,000 pounds a year. The price had fallen to 22 cents a poimd. From 1888 until 1914, the experimental development of the company's various manufacturing processes was carried on in its plants and chemical laboratories under Hall's direction. After his death experimentation con- tinued in the different plants under the direction of the superintendents, and in certain plants imder the direc- tion of the central engineering organization, but in 1917 it was decided to centralize this work in one organization reporting directly to the management. In January 1918 Francis C. Frary was hired to organize the research work of the company. The war delayed his plans, and it was not until he was released from military service in December 1918 that he really started to build up the research organization for the Aluminum Company of America. Baekeland and Bakelite In 1889, as part of his reward for winning a prize in chemistry. Dr. Leo II. Baekeland, professor of chem- istry and physics in the Government Normal School at Bruges, Belgium, was able to make a trip to the United States. An enthusiasm for i)hotography and an mterest in the new photographic processes which were being developed had already brought him some reputation in this branch of the chemical industry. Once in New York, Baekeland was offered a position as chemist in the factory of E. and H. T. Anthony & Co., makers of photographic films and bromide paper. He accepted the position, resigned his post at the Government Normal School, and decided to remain in America. After 2 years with this company, he left it to become a consulting research chemist and to try, as he ex- pressed it, "to work out, without sufficient financial means, several half-baked inventions, the development of each of which would have required a small fortune." During a long convalescence Baekeland reached the decision that he would focus all his attention upon the project which seemed most likely to bring liim the quickest results. With the financial backing of Leonard Jacobi, he tackled the problem of manufacturing some new types of photographic paper. Although the tech- nical difficulties were soon overcome, the business did not at once become a profitable one; it took 6 years to convince the picture-taking public that Velox was a good product. Once that was done, the Eastman Kodak Co. offered Baekeland cash for his interest in the enterprise, and he accepted it. After an interlude of study and work during which he helped to perfect a process for manufacturing caustic soda and chlorine, Baekeland began the work which was to bring him fame — the study of the action of formal- dehyde upon phenols. Other chemists had sought to fathom the mysteries of tliis reaction, but had obtained like Kleeberg a worthless, insoluble mass of material, or like Blumer and De Laire special resinous substances with practically all of the general properties of natiu-al resins. Baekeland was not much mterested in syn- thetic resins, which at that tune cost more to produce than the natural products and were in some respects inferior to them, but he was fascinated by the hard mass for which Kleeberg had been unable to find a solvent. After many attempts, Baekeland, too, had to give up as hopeless the search for a solvent. Making a fresh start, he studied exliaustively each 34 National Resources Planning Board step in the complicated ciieniicul reaction and eventu- allj- learned liow to control it at whatever phase he desired. Then followed the discovery of a practical method for producing a substance that would remain fusible and plastic while it was being formed or molded, and yet could under the action of heat be polymerized and hardened to the state where it was no longer fusible or soluble. Baekeland still had to convince himself that the new substance could be produced upon a commercial scale and that it could be used satisfactorily for industrial purposes. Consequently, he installed a workmg unit in which under various conditions the material could be prepared in ton lots. From the earl}^ experiences of those who used the material Baekeland learned much. Because the methods of handling bakelitc differed so radically from those involved in the manipulation of rubber and celluloid, Baekeland encountered great dif- ficulty in teaching some of his prospective customers how to work the new material. Consequently he abandoned his idea of allowing the use of his patents on a royalty plan and concluded that the best way was "to conduct the manufacture of the raw materials to be- yond the stage where chemical knowledge or too much experience is required." Once this decision was made, Baekeland proceeded to organize factories in both this country and in Europe. The Bakelite Corporation, now a unit of Union Car- bide and Carbon Corporation, has had from the time of its founding a research laboratory and an experi- mental department for the carrj'ing on of both fundamental and applied research. Today the research and development laboratories are operated at Bloomfield, N. J. There, under the direc- tion of Dr. George O. Curme, Jr., and Mr. Archie J. Weith, the correlation of the numerous types of plastics and their properties is being studied and new resins are being evaluated in terms of present-day industrial requirements. Fundamental research on synthetic or- ganic resins for various uses is being carried on, and a great many experunents are under way in the develop- ment of compositions for use as molding plastics, im- pregnating materials, adhesives and bonding agents for plywoods, abrasives, resistors, and carbon brushes. Other research is bemg conducted in such diverse fields as synthetic resin bases for the paint and varnish industry, heat-hardcnmg laccjuers, cast resinoids, ce- ments, wire coating compounds, calendering, and coat- ing compounds. In cooperation with industrial firms, research studies are being made to improve fabricating techniques, to develop more efficient molding processes, and to design faster production machines. Growth of Organized Research Period Preceding First World VNar The preceding account of the efforts of men who were seeking to apply science to industry, either within the industrial organization itself or in their private laboratories, is far from being a complete one, but it is sufficient to show that after 1875 the application of science to industry was becoming increasingly effective and was receiving growing recognition and support from industrial leaders. Until the end of the nineteenth century, however, in- dustrial research remained for the most part an unorgan- ized effort by individuals. Their accomplishments were many and important; but individuals working inde- pendently could not, for very long, provide the technical and scientific knowledge essential to a rapidly developmg industrial nation. Here and there farsighted executives saw the need for organized, coordinated, systematic research by trained scientists working together under favorable conditions and, soon after the turn of the century, took measures to meet that need by establishing in their companies separate research departments or divisions.'* On the whole, those industries born in the laboratory or di- rectly dependent upon new knowledge for their growth organized their research activities earlier and more rapidly than the industries which had long been estab- lished. In fact in 1920 approximately two-thirds of all the research workers who were recorded in the first survey of the National Research Council were employed in the electrical, chemical, and rubber industries.^^ Several endowed institutes of research and an in- creasing number of commercial laboratories provided industry with additional facihties for carrying on re- search conveniently and inexpensively. In spite of tliis increased activity, however, the num- ber of companies carrying on research in 1920 was rela- tively small. That j-ear the National Research Council published its first Directory oj Industrial Research Laboratories, which contained about 300 names. This is a small figure when compared with the number of companies for which research was a sound undertaking. Although after 1900 the technical journals and the proceedings of engineering societies published an increasing number of papers pertaining to industrial research, public interest was still small. Before the First World War popular and scmipopular magazines " Since the story of organized research in this country can best be told not In gener- alities but In terms of specific experiences, one part of this paper sketches the growth of research in approximately 50 industrial laboratories. See pp. 42-75. » Perazlch, G., and Field, P. M. Industrial research and changing technology. Philadelphia, Pa., Work Projects Administration, National Research Project, Report No. M-i, 1940. pp 41-12. Industrial Research 35 contained little mention of industrial research. In the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature the distinction between scientific research and industrial research was not made until the publication of a Supplement covering the years 1907-15. In that volume six articles were listed under the heading "Industrial Research," but all of them discussed the subject in relation to England and were published in the English periodical Nature. Long before the war, however, leaders of research in the United States were aware of Germany's accomphsh- ments and pointed them out to American industrialists and educators in an effort to arouse interest and create conditions which would make for comparable achieve- ments in this country. In 1911, Willis R. Whitney wrote: For the past 50 years that country (Germany) has been ad- vancing industrially beyond other countries, . . . bj' new technical discoveries. In fact this advance may be said to be largely traceable to their apparent over-production of research men by well fitted universities and technical schools. "o He went on to point out that each year a few hundred new doctors of science and philosophy were gradu- ated. Most of them had been well trained to think and experiment; to work hard, and to e.xpect little. They went first into the chemical industry until it could absorb no more of them, and then into every other mdustry iji Germany. They became the teach- ers, the assistants, and the professors of all the schools of the country. They worked for $300 to $500 a year, satisfied as long as they could make experi- ments and study the laws of nature. The intense and widespread activity of so many highly trained men soon manifested itself in many physical and electrical devices, and in hundreds and even thousands of new commercial organic products. "England and America had the raw material for such development. But Germany had the prepared men and made the start." Effect of the First World War The outbreak of the First World War immediately focused attention upon the technical and scientific developments that had given Germany such industrial strength and military power within a comparatively short time. Industrial research began to have sig- nificance for the general public. As F. B. Jewett expressed it: Newspapers, magazines and periodicals are continually pub- lishing articles on it; vast numbeis of people are talking, more or less knowingly, about it; and industries and governmental depart- ments, which, up to a few years ago had hardly heard of industrial research, are embarking or endeavoring to embark upon the most elaborate research projects.'' "Whitney, W. R. Research as a financial asset. Scientific American Supplimmt, 71. 347 {June 3, 1911). •' Jewett, F. B. Industrial research. {Reprini and CirciUar Seriet of the National Research Council, No. 4.) Washington, D. C, National Research Council, 1918, pp. 2-3. 321835—41 4 The American Federation of Labor adopted resolu- tions urging the President of the United States and the leaders of Congress to foster in every way a broad pro- gram of scientific and technical research because it forms a fundamental basis upon which the development of America's industries must rest, because it greatly in- creases the productivity of industry, advances the health and well-being of the whole population, an Developments in industrial research, p. 37. See footnote 62. 36 National Resources Planning Board idgc with the aid of C. F. Kettering and the Victor X-Ray Company. Two months before America en- tered the war, the Submarine Signal Company of Boston, and the General Electric Company, aided a little later by the Western Electric Company, had taken the first steps toward developing a submarine detector. By November 1917, the famous "C" and "K" tubes were ready for trial installations, and their performance proved to be superior to any other detect- ing device that the country produced before the armi- stice was signed. An appreciable percentage of the personnel of the Westinghouse Laboratories went into various departments of the Government during the war. In many other research laboratories, facilities, money, and men were placed at the service of the country in meeting the problems caused by the war in Europe and later by our participation in it. American chemists and chemical manufacturers were harshlj' criticized during the war for having failed to develop an American dye mdustry. They rephed with various explanations. "The United States," said Bernhard C. Hesse, "had persistently and deliberately declined to bring about economic conditions which those who were in a position to know told them were essential to the establishment of an independent coal- tar color industry in this country." " A. D. Little gave a different explanation of the lack of dye industry when he said : The plain underlying reason why we have been unable during thirty years of tariff protection to develop in this country an independent and self-contained coal-tar color industry while dur- ing the same period the Germans have magnificently succeeded is to be found in the failure of our manufacturers and capitalists to realize the creative power and earning capacity of industrial research." Whether either of these statements gives a completely satisfactory explanation of America's dependence in 1914 upon Germany for dyes and dye intermediates is doubtful and beside the point here. The significant fact for this survey is that in cooperation with the Government, American industrialists established a dye industry which American scientists have continued to advance teclmically. The foundation of the industry was laid when A. AL Palmer, alien property custodian, and Francis P. Garvan, his colleague, became convinced that the German patents would not only provide a solution of the immediate problem, but would also serve to protect the new industry against German competition after the war." M Hesse, BerDbard C. Contribullon of the chemist to the Industrial development or the United States — a record of achievement. Industrial and Engineerinfj Chemistrj/, 7, 297 (April 1915). "Little, A. D. The dyestufi situation and Its lesson. Jnduttrlal and Engineering Chemlttrg, 7, 239 (March 1915). " The Chemical Foundation. Scientific American, IK, 315 (March 29. 1919). When the Trading with the Enemy Act was first drawn up it did not provide the ahen property custodian with authority to take over enemy owned patents, but an amendment to the act remedied tliis defect. The idea was then conceived of putting the patents in the hands of an American institution strong enough to protect them. An effective barrier to German importa- tions after the war would thereby be erected and Amer- ican industry would be freed from the prohibition en- forced by the patents against manufacture. The Chemical Foundation, Inc., originated by Garvan and approved by President Wilson, came into existence and acquired about 4,500 of the former German chemical patents. It was not to operate any patent itself, but merely to issue nonexclusive licenses for the patents for a small fee to persons, firms, or corporations wishing to participate in a competitive chemical industry. After certain provisions for the retirement of preferred stock were met, all siu-plus income went to the support of research. Although Garvan had had no formal scientific train- ing, he believed wholeheartedly in the importance of applied science, and, as rapidly as funds were available, he used them to support cherr'cal research and to edu- cate the public in the importance of the chemical in- dustries. The paper research laboratory at Savannah. Ga., which, under the direction of Charles H. Herty, has developed processes for the utilization of southern pine in the manufacture of newsprint paper is an out- standing example of research made possible by the fund of the Chemical Foundation. In 1934 Garvan organ- ized the Farm Chemurgic Council in an attempt to bring together the leaders of science, agriculture, and industry for an attack upon the problems that have faced agriculture for many years. In 1916, when the National Academy of Sciences offered its services to the Government, President Wilson asked it to organize an advisory committee and various subconmiittecs to coordinate and make available to the Government the research resources of nongovernmental institutions. The National Research Council was formed as an operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences, and its work was so effective that in May 1918, again at the request of President Wilson, it was given permanent organization.*' Early in the war the submarine problem and the development of antisubmarine devices engaged the attention of the Council. Fifty engineers and physi- cists, called together to determine what had already been done in this field, formed special groups to deal with various phases of the problem. Scientists from the Allied countries came to America to report what •' Barrows, Albert L. The relationship of the National Research Council to industrial research. This volume, pp. 365-370. Industrial Research 37 research was being carried on in their countries, and, in order to prevent duphcation of effort, scientists were attached to the American embassies in London, Paris, and Rome to keep in close touch with research activities among the AlHes. The Council's Divisions of Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Geophysics dealt with 70 major problems in connection with range-finding and the pressures and velocities involved in the dis- charge of large guns. The Chemistry and Chemical Technology Division had 40 problems assigned to it. A thoroughgoing study of primers was made; a special committee was formed to deal with the problem of fixa- tion of atmospheric nitrogen; and other groups worked upon charcoal for gas masks, fuel for motors, the toxi- cology of gases, and difficult problems in ceramics and refractories. The Engineering Division of the Council had 14 committees at work and maintained close coop- eration with the engineering societies. The Division of Agriculture was active on problems of production and conservation while other groups of scientists carried on investigations in meteorology, geology, road building, medicine, and psychology.^* Such organized effort resulted within a short time not only in the solution of numerous wartime problems, but also in the discovery of many facts that were to provide the basis for great peacetime industries. The effective- ness of cooperation in research was clearly demonstrated, but the concentration of all the research resources of the country upon the immediate problems of a warring nation had at least one serious drawback, which Dr. Jewett pointed out at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute shortly after the war. He said : The results of the research activities throughout the war have been simply astounding, even to men whose whole training and experience have been along this line. Few, however, realize the exact price paid for these results or appreciate fully the reactions on the orderly peace-time life of the nations brought about by the diversion of our educational and research energies toward the one common purpose of human destruction. With the pic- ture of recent scientific war-time achievements before us, it is difficult to realize that in setting up the machinery to accomplish these achievements we at the same time set up the machinery for the destruction of advances beyond a certain point. By rob- bing the colleges, universities, and industries of their trained scientists and employing them in war's scientific sweat-shop, it was inevitable that stupendous results should be obtained. By so doing, however, we cut off completely the possibility of further advances into the realm of the unknown and likewise destroyed our chance of developing new men to carry on the investigational work of the old, when the latter were worn out. . . . While I am not in a position to know the exact situation else- where in the world, I do know that we in the United States had early in the summer of 1918 arrived at the state where scientific man-producing machinery no longer existed." In contrast to this point of view, however, was that of Dean W. R. That(;hcr, of the University of Minne- sota, who felt that the increased appreciation of the practical value of research and the enhanced respect for the research worker, resulting from America's ex- perience dm'ing the war more than counterbalanced the temporary concentration upon wartime problems.'" Organized Research a Major Industry Since the First World War, industrial research has assumed the proportions of a major industry. Labora- tories organized before the war have expanded their facilities and increased their staff's; new laboratories have been established by companies seeking to maintain or improve their position in the industrial order by using more efficient methods, by making better products, by developing new products, and by being equipped to meet the changes that come through science and tech- nology. In 1920 about 300 laboratories were engaged in industrial research; in 1940 the number had increased to more than 2,200. Meanwhile the total personnel had grown from approximately 9,300 to over 70,000."' The 2 periods of most rapid expansion were from 1920 to 1931 and from 1933 to 1940. Between 1931 and 1933, the business depression caused many companies to curtail their research activities and to reduce the number of workers in their laboratories. In 1930, when the National Research Council revised its List of Industrial Research Laboratories, 1,625 industrial estab- lishments reported a total research personnel of 34,212. A second report in 1933 showed 1,455 laboratories reportmg a total personnel of 22,312, a decrease of almost 35 percent. Nearly 44 percent of the labora- tories, however, kept their personnel intact, and about 13 percent increased their staffs. The greatest decline in the employment of research workers occurred in the larger laboratories, of which only 22, employmg more than 100 men each in 1930, accounted for a total decrease of 3,119." By 1935, however, the lost ground had been recovered in most industries, and for the last 5 years the total personnel in research laboratories has showed a marked gain. In their study of "Industrial Research and Changing Technology" George Perazich and Philip M. Field have pointed out some significant features about the postwar growth of research. In the interval between 1927 and 1931 laboratory personnel grew by approximately 14,000 workers, more than half of whom were employed by the electrical, petroleum, and industrial- chemical industries. In the seven years following 1931, labora- tory personnel of all companies grew by 11,500 more workers. "Howe, H. E. The stimulation of research. Scientific American, i!0, 518-519 (May 17. 1919). " Industrial research, pp. 3-4. See footnote 61. '• Angel], James Rowland. The development of research in the United States. {.Reprint and Circular Series of the National Research Council, No. 6.) Washington, D. C, National Research Council. 1919, p. 17. 'I Cooper, Franklin S. Location and extent of industrial research activity in the United States. This volume, pp. 174 IT. " West, C. J., and Hull, Callie. Survey of personnel chunges in industrial research laboratories— 1930-1933. Research Laboratory Record, I, 154-58 (September 19331. 38 National Resources Planning Board About half of this growth was due to the increase in stafTs of producers, of agricultural iniplcnieiits, industrial chemicals, petroleum, and rubber." The same source shows that there has been an im- pressive increase in the number of large laboratories. Fifteen companies in 1921 maintained research staffs of more than 50 persons; by 1938 there were 120 such companies. Their growth was — . . . eightfold (as) compared with about a threefold rise for companies with fewer than 1 1 persons on their research staffs. . . . Thirteen companies with the largest research staffs, representing less than 1 percent of all companies reporting in the National Research Council survey, employed in 1938 one-third of all research workers, or as many as the 1,583 companies with the smallest research staffs." During this period concentration of research workere in the laboratories of a few companies within an in- dustry became more marked. ... In rubber, for instance, a quarter of the reporting com- panies employed 90 percent of the research personnel in the industry; in petroleum and industrial chemicals the respective percentages were 85 and 88." In 1938 the largest number of research workers was employed in the chemical and allied industries. . . . Next in importance were petroleum; electrical com- munications; electrical machinery, apparatus, and supplies; other machinery industries; and rubber products ... In that year more than half of all those working in industrial research labora- tories in the United States were employed by the chemical, petroleum, and electrical industries (including communications, utilities, radio, and the manufacture of electrical machinery, apparatus, and supplies.) " From 1927 to 1938 there was a gain in the number of research workers in the petroleum industry of 538.7 percent while during the same period the increase in the radio and phonograph industry was 1,600 percent.'' With the remarkable growth of industrial research since 1920 have come a better coordination of all re- search activities and a more cooperative approach to the problems common to companies within an industry. The National Research Council, in addition to promot- ing research, has fostered among the scientific organiza- tions and institutions of the country a coordinated program of research in the interest of the general welfare. To assist more directly the research interests of industry, the Council has established the Division of Engineering and Industrial Research." The greater part of the Council's membership is "composed of representatives of some 85 national scientific and tech- '* iDdustrlal research aod cbangiog technology, p. 6. S«e footnote 59. " Industrial research and changing technology, pp. 8-10. Sec footnote 59; Location and Client of Industrial research activity in the United States. See footnote 71. " Industrial research and changing technology, p. 10. See footnote 59. " InduRtrlal research and changing technilogy, p. 18. See footnote 59. " Industrial research and changing technology, statistical table, p. 19. See foot- note 68. " The relationship of the National Research Council to Industrial research, pp. 305-369. See footnote 87. nical societies." Nearly 1,000 persons are members of the many committees that have been formed to repre- sent the major fields of science. In addition to their work with the National Research Council, the engineering societies have expended much effort and money to promote important joint research projects. In 1926 the Special Research Committee of the American Engineering Council presented a 5-year program of research estimated to cost $335,000 that would benefit both industry and agriculture. In 1938 a Special Committee on Scientific Research Legisla- tion presented a report, which was approved by the American Engineering Council, stressing the need for more coordinated and scientifically directed research as "essential to the maintenance of adequate national defense" and "investment in the public welfare." This report also urged careful study of the ways in which the Federal Government could aid and encourage research without interfering with the existing or pros- pective research of individuals, corporations, and edu- cational institutions. The Engineering Foundation, the research agency for the engineering societies in civil, mechanical, elec- trical, mining, and metallurgical engineering, is like- wdse active in coordinating research activities. In 1937 the laboratories of 14 universities and 2 Government bureaus were working with it in an effort to solve tech- nological and human problems in the engineering fields. In addition the Engineering Foundation has sponsored long-term research projects in alloys of iron and in welding, the latter project embracing more than 60 fundamental studies in college and industrial labora- tories and a compilation of welding literature." Many special and joint research committees in the various engineering societies are active in furthering coordinated and cooperative research projects. In one of the worst years of the depression, 1931, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers had 460 men, 50 percent of whom were not members of the society, I voluntarily serving on 28 such committees. To finance the society's research activities of that year, $40,500 was contributed by industry and other interests outside the society. Some 25 technical societies, trade asso- ciations, and Government bureaus cooperated with the committees as joint sponsors and financial support- ers of the various projects.'" A cooperative attack upon common problems by companies in the same industry is not a new procedure, j but it is one that has become increasingly important in the last two decades. In the late eighties the cane- sugar producers in Louisiana were threatened by the '• Cooperative engineering research. liututlTtal and Eatttutrint Chtmittr) (Newt Ed.), 16, f J (February 20. 1937). *• American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Reports and papers research com- mittee. New York, The Society, 1932, p. S. Industrial Research 39 competition of the beet-sugar producers. For years the latter had been working with the chemist and the agronomist to raise the sucrose content of the beet root and to find processes that would unprove the yield of sugar and make molasses and all the other byproducts sources of profit rather than loss. The net cost of beet sugar fell year after year until it was sold at prices comparable to those of cane sugar. Faced with this grave competition the cane-sugar producers decided to meet it with the same methods that had created it. They called Dr. W. C. Stubbs to Louisiana, and under his direction, established the Sugar Experiment Station at Kenncr. It was moved later to Audubon Park, on the outskirts of New Orleans.*' From funds contributed entirely by the cane-sugar planters of Louisiana, a com- plete sugar house was erected upon a scale large enough to give commercial results. About $100,000 worth of equipment for the station was obtained either by purchase or gift.*^ Stubbs soon found that there were many inefficient practices in the cane-sugar industry that could be remedied by proper scientific control. When the planters began, however, to look for chemists and engi- neers to provide this control, they were faced with another problem, for outside of Europe there were few men who knew much about the chemistry of sugar. Undaunted, the Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association met and decided to establish in connection with the Sugar Experiment Station a school for training the experts they needed. Under the direction of Stubbs, the Audubon Sugar School was opened in 189L The whole enterprise was so successful that it was taken over by the State and became a part of the Louisiana State University. Research is today an accepted and important part of the work carried on by many trade associations. Dis- cussing in detail in another section of this report the research activities of these associations, Charles J. Brand states that of the 330 trade associations listed in the survey of the National Research Council 36 main- tain their own research laboratories, and at least 54 others conduct technical research in some other way. A cooperative attack upon problems other than technical ones is now being made by a few industries. Various means exist by which research directors and laboratory executives can exchange information and study jointly the common problems of organization and management. One group of executives representing 28 companies in widely different industries located in many different parts of the country has met at various times " Coates, Charles E. An experiment in the education of chemical engineers. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Audubon sugar school. Industrial and EngineerinQ Ckemislri), 9, 379-380 (April 1917). •• An experimeiit in the education of chemical engineers. See footnote 81. since its formation 2 years ago to discuss problems arising from the maintenance of research laboratories.*' Since the study of science and the technique of experiment became parts of the curriculum of educa- tional institutions in this country, university labora- tories have been the source of innumerable scientific contributions to industry." The proper relationship between the university and industry in the matter of industrial research is, however, a difficult one to de- termine and perhaps an even more difficult one to maintain. Nevertheless, during the last 20 years means have been evolved by which the university and industry can cooperate to their mutual advantage. Through practice schools and cooperative courses both faculty and students become cognizant of the practical prob- lems which are involved in the successful application of science to modern industry. As a result industry is supplied with men better qualified to enter its research laboratories and its development departments. Through engineering experiment stations and divisions of indus- trial cooperation, the knowledge of specialists and the unique facilities of university and technical school laboratories are made available to industry, without interfering with the educational program, and often in fact, with benefit to it. A few years ago Dr. Vannevar Bush in writing about the educational institution and industrial research said: Where an institution has unique facilities, and outstanding staff of specialists, and a location in the midst of intense indus- trial development, it is certainly incumbent upon it to play a part in the industrial world about it, not only because its exist- ence may thereby become a matter of greater utility to industry, but also because the resulting relationships when properly nurtured are capable of exerting a profound and beneficial influence upon its educational processes. This is especially true in a case of a school of engineering, where the relationship be- tween the pedagogical processes and many types of industrial problems is particularly close; but it applies as well to an institution of science, where that science is applied, whatever may be the tield.'^ Some Economic and Social Aspects of Industrial Research Science and the research laboratory played but a small part in furthering the early technical develop- ments in industry. Lewis Mumford in his Technics and Civilization wrote: . . . The detailed history of the steam engine, the railroad, the textile mill, the iron ship, could be written without more than passing reference to the scientific work of the period. For « Worthington, C. Q. Coordination between industries in inrtustriBl research. This Tolume. pp. 85-87. " Papers describing contributions of research laboratories in universities to indus- try, have been published but no comprehensive study of the subject has as yet been made. " Busb, Vannevar. The educational institution and industrial research. Research LaboratOTii Record, t, 3.'> (November 1932). 40 National Resources Planning Board these devices were made possible largely by the method of empirical practice, by trial and selection: many lives were lost by the explosion of steamboilers before the safety-valve was generally adopted. And tliough all these inventions would have been the better for science, they came into existence, for the most part, without its direct aid. It was the practical men in the mines, the factories, the machine shops and the clockmakers' shops and the locksmiths' shops or the curious amateurs with a turn for manipulating materials and imagining new processes, who made them possible." Although the "practical men" and the "curious amateurs" continue to make their contributions to the technical progress of the country's industries, the importance of their work, compared with that done by trained scientists and engineers cooperating in organized laboratories, has, for the last 50 years, been steadily diminishing. In the universities and in industry, trained chemists, physicists, metallurgists, mathemati- cians, and biologists have been continually pushing outward the frontiers of science. The detailed history of the electric light, telephone, camera, aeroplane, radio, of paper, rubber, chemicals, alloys, and plastics could not be written without repeated reference to science and the industrial research laboratory. No longer can the knowledge upon which further important technical advances depend be supplied b}' the "clock- makers" and the "locksmiths." Even though more great inventors of the stature of Edison, Diesel, and Sperry appear, as they unquestionably will, "the results of extensive research will be the raw materials upon which their inventive work will be exercised." *'' No comprehensive account of the economic and social importance of the industrial research laboratory can be written until the many developments that have emerged from it have each been studied in great detail. These developments are so numerous and often so far- reaching in their effects, as in the case of the incandes- cent light, the internal-combustion engine, or the radio, that a complete account will probably never be possible. Nevertheless some of the more obvious and immediate economic and social results of industrial research can be observed. The application of science to industry has helped to remedy some of the less desirable consequences of tech- nical change: Natural resources have been conserved and former waste materials have been turned into useful products through organized research. Simple analyses by a trained chemist made valuable the enormous piles of flue cinder and roll scale that had been discarded from the heating furnaces and mills in the iron industry. No longer do millions of gallons of naphtha, for want of a demand, flow into the creeks and rivers to evaporate. " MumlorJ, I.«wis. Tochnlcs and civilization. New Yorit, Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1?34, pp. 215-216. " FiTTis. J. P. Ites«arrh for iDdustrial pioneering. Mechanical Engineering, S(, 249 (April 1932). No longer do the meat packers bury in the swamps carloads of bones and heads or pollute the streams with blood and tankage from their slaughterhouses. In 1907 nearly seven-eighths of the coke made in the United States was produced in beehive ovens, where only the fLxed carbon of the bituminous coal was saved and all volatile constituents were wasted. That same year, however, 5,607,899 tons were produced in byprod- uct recovery ovens, and the value of the gas, tar, and ammonia obtained from them amounted to $7,548,071. At the prices which prevailed in 1907, the value of the byproducts wpsted in beehive coke ovens has been estimated at a little over $55,000,000.*' The manufacture of the type of powder used by the United States Army in 1918 required great quantities of alcohol and ether which, because of their volatility, were largely lost during the powder manufacturing process. Industrial research made it possible to devise methods which, at the scale of operation in 1918, resulted in a saving of 50,000,000 pounds of these sol- vents each year. Similar changes in the process of making guncotton saved 45,000,000 pounds of nitric acid, an economy particularly important in the days when nitric acid had to be made almost entirely from Chile saltpeter. A more recent example of the economic benefit re- sulting from industrial research is found in the petro- leum industry, where in 1936 the cracking process made it possible for the refineries of the world to conserve 1 ,865,000,000 barrels of crude oil. Without this process it would have required 3,607,000,000 barrels instead of the 1,742,000,000 barrels of crude oil actualh' refined to have supplied the world's need for gasoline.** New processes originated in the research laboratory have brought lower costs of production and improved products. James Gayley's invention of the dry-air plant eliminated the weather as a troublesome variable in the production of pig iron and brought a saving of from 50 cents to $1 in the cost of producing each ton, which for the j'car 1912 meant a saving of from $15,000,000 to $29,000,000. Ten years ago it was estimated that the replacement of the carbon filament lamp by the more efficient tung- sten filament, gas-lillod lamp was saving the consumers of electric light in the United States about $2,256,000,- 000 a year.'" Although probably inaccurate, this figure does give some hint of the magnitude of the savings which can come through industrial research. ^Vbolly beyond calculation, however, are the social " Sadtler. S. P. Conservation and the chemical engineer. .4mer/can InttUuie of Chemical Engineer!. Traruaelioni, i, 109 (1909). •• Pioneers In research. Olland Oai Journal, 36. ii-H (May 27, 1937). •• Carty, J. J. Science and progress in the industries. {Reprint and CirctjJar Series of the National Rueaich Council, No. 89.) Washington, D. C. National Research Council, July 1929, p. 3. Industrial Research 41 benefits which come with the rcHef of eyestrain and the prevention of nervous disorders. Recently the research laboratory of a steel mill announced an electronic device that would substitute for the fallible human eye an electric eye for controlling the temperature in the process of making Bessemer steel. It is claimed that the accuracy made possible by this one result of a research project costing less than $75,000 will save the company $3 on every ton of steel it produces, or a potential yearly sum of $3,000,000. Every automobile owner has shared directly in the results of the intensive research carried on by the manufacturers of tires. In 1908 a small tire cost $25; a large one $125. Each dollar bought about 50 miles of tire travel. In 1920 the estimated cost of tires for every 10,000 miles traveled was $163. By 1936 this figure has been reduced to $38.30. Dr. W. A. Gibbons, of the United States Rubber Company, has figured that if one assumes that this reduction in the price of tires since 1920 has not been a determining factor in bringing about the increased use of automobiles then the decrease in cost that has taken place has saved the public the enormous total of $35,083,000,000. Impressive as are the new methods of industry, more impressive still are the new products which have been made possible through industrial research. In 1935 the American Chemical Society exhibited at the Exposition of Chemical Industries 75 industrial prod- ucts that had been commercialized during the recovery period 1934-35. No product was exhibited whose origin could not be traced directly to an industrial research laboratory. Every person's life is influenced by direct contact with scores of new devices and products that did not exist 10 years ago, but far greater in number are the new materials used by industry, of which the layman knows little. In 1911, W. R. Wliitney wrote: Copper, iron, and five other metals were known and used at the time of Christ. In the first 1,800 or 1,900 years of our era, there were added to the list of metals in technical use (pure or alloyed) about eight more, or a rate below three a century. There has been so much industrial advance made within the past twenty or thirty years that fourteen new metals have been brought into commercial use within this period. This is almost as many in our quarter century as in the total preceding age of the world." Just a quarter of a century later C. M. A. Stine, speaking in 1936 at the annual dinner of the Wilmington Traffic Club, said : Lighter, stronger, rust-resisting metals were needed. The metallurgist and the electrochemist have developed more than 10,000 alloys that have gone into every department of industry. It was chiefly the demands of the automobile and the airplane that inspired this research, which in turn revolutionized steel- making and all metal working . . ." 'I Research as a financial asset, p. 346. Sec footnote 60. n Stine. C. M. A. Change rules the rails. Vilal Speech^, f. 348 (March 9. 1936) In any list of now jiroducts must be included multi- farious chemicals, medicines, drugs, vaccines, and serums. If the byproducts of the wood, coal, and petroleum iiulustries were also added, the total would be stupendous. By decreasing costs and improving quality, by relieving drudgery and sulforing, and by increasing the opportunities for pleasure these new products have contributed to a higher standard of living. The impact of new methods and new materials upon industry has brought, however, continual change; and change in a complicated industrial society inevitably means insecurity, temporary dislocation, and frequently disaster for many individuals. The rapidity with which this change sometimes occurs is well illustrated by the following description of events that took place as the tungsten lamp was being evolved. I have seen whole factories entirely overhauled a number of times in the past few years, in order to make the newest lamps. Not only have entire floors of complicated and expensive machines for making carbon lamps been thrown out and new machinery for making metal filament lamps installed, but before packing cases containing new machines could be opened and unpacked in the factory they have been thrown out as uselees, as the advance from squirted metal filaments to drawn wire filaments proved the better way. Before the limit of factory efficiency on vacuum lamps could be reached, the introduction of nitrogen into the lamps brought the factories an entirely new factor, and now, before the consumers have more than com- menced to feel the effects of the nitrogen-tungsten lamps, the manufacture of argon and its introduction into the incandescent lamp becomes a reality.'' Rarely can the shocks caused by technical changes be absorbed within a single company. The rapid development of the incandescent lamp, for example, eliminated any commercial possibilities for an ingenious lamp invented by Nernst and also greatly lessened the value of certain German patents covering a process for producing ductile tungsten. Hall's electrolytic process for producing akmiinum at $1 a pound brought sudden idleness to Castner's plant which had been producing 500 pounds a day at a cost of $4 a pound. Likewise the development of mechanical refrigeration has made great inroads upon the market for natural ice. The successful production of synthetic indigo meant that the market for the crop from 1,000,000 acres of land in India had been destroyed. The discovery of an eco- nomical process for the fixation of nitrogen has freed the world from its dependence upon the nitrate beds of Chile, with the residt that an important Chilean industry has sunk steadily into debt, and the country has lost a major source of revenue. Successful proc- esses for the production of synthetic fibers and sj'n- thetic rubber have created new domestic industries and » Whitney, W. R. Relation of research to the progress of manolacttirlng indus- tries. General Eleclrk Review, 18, 872 (September 1915). 42 National Resources Planning Board ^eatcr national self-sufficiency, at the expense, how- ever, of the prothicers of natural fibers and natural rubber and at the risk of further disturbance to world trade. Industrial research has added new factors to the competitive system in industry. To the struggle between companies in the same industry for the advantage that comes from lower costs of production and better quality of products has been added the rivalry for new knowledge. As one director of a research laboratory has expressed it: The keenest competition today is between revolutionary ideas. What the manufacturer of today fears is not so nivich the com- petitor who may shade production or selling costs a little, as the manufacturer who may virtually i)ut him out of business by getting out something radically new that the customer prefers.** Industries never before considered as possible rivals, have become competitors because of discoveries made in research laboratories. The petroleum industry, "Jewett, F. B. Address before the American Bar Association, July 1938. Re- port) of the American Bar Atsocialion, BS, 192 (1928). already a serious competitor of the coal industry, is rapidly becoming a producer of chemicals. The air- plane, a product of intensive and highly complicated research, competes with the railroad train; the rubber industry, with the textile industry; and the chemical industry, with the cotton-growing industry. Research has made more research imperative. In- dustrial strength can be achieved only through knowl- edge of what is taking place in the laboratory. In the face of constant change, industries maintain their stability only by being prepared for the next advance. For companies unable to support expensive research laboratories, the iiroblcm of keeping abreast of new developments is difiicult ; yet through trade associations, commercial laboratories, and universities the small concern has been able to strengthen its position tlirough research. This necessity for seeking new methods and new products has brought new life to many companies. Inefficient methods have fallen before the impact of applied science; growth has replaced atrophy. DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZED RESEARCH WITHIN INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES For vtost of the material which follows, the author is greatly indebted to the executives and directors of research in the respective companies whose laboratories are described. In viany instances the wording follows closely that of the accounts which were sent to him. The reader mil perhaps be aware that, in these pages many important laboratories are not discussed. The short lime available for the preparation of this report made such omissions inevitable. Chemicals American Cyanamid Company When the American Cyanamid Company acquired the American patent rights to the cyanamid process, there was a relatively small pilot plant in operation in Germany, an operating unit of commercial size in Italy, and a number of scattered plants under construc- tion in Europe. To construct its first cyanamid unit at Niagara Falls, Canada, the company brought from abroad engineers, operating experts, and special items of equipment. An organization made up wholly of Americans was assembled, however, and in 1909 a research department was established to develop methods and means of converting the crude product into a fertilizer material which could be used in the American fertilizer mixtures. This research was carried on with the scattered facilities in the plant and in institutional laboratories. In 1912 a formal research laboratory was established, and 3 years later a building was erected at Warners, N. J., to house its activities. At this time about six men spent their full time in the laboratory. With the out- break of the First World War, the company, knowing By means of a questionnaire executives in every known research laboratory in the country were asked for historical material concern- ing the laboratories in their respective companies. An additional appeal was made to the directors of research in more than 76 laboratories known to be especially active in their industries. In some instances no reply was received; in others the account either was not historical in character or was too brief to be useful. it would be called upon for many products derived from cyanamid, organized a special stafl" to develop and pro- duce them. Not until early in 1919 could this emer- gency service be abandoned and the personnel reorgan- ized into a new research unit principally occupied with investigations of cyanamid derivatives. During the 10 years from 1919 to 1929, the Cyana- mid Company acquired three other enterprises: the Selden interests at Pittsburgh and Bridgoville, Pa., with a modern laboratory at Pittsburgh; the Calco Company at Bound Brook, N. J., with a highly de- veloped laboratory; and the Lederle Laboratories, with an excellent central laboratorj' at Pearl River, N. Y., as well as some other widely scattered research facilities. The laboratories at Warners and at Linden, having proved entirely inadequate, were abandoned; and a new research center was established at Stamford, Conn., which later absorbed the Pittsburgh and Bridgeville units. At present the company operates three major units: one at Stamford for research, both fundamental and applied, in pharmaceuticals and mining chemicals; one at Bound Brook for the study of coal-tar products; and one at Pearl River for the study of biologicals, serums, vaccines and for specialized pharmaceutical IndxLstrial Research 43 work. Approximately 325 technical men, supplemented by 320 operating, clerical, library, and legal assistants, devote their entire time to research. When facilities for the study of certain problems are unavailable in these three laboratories wholly under the control and direction of the company, other laboratories in institutions scattered throughout the country are used by means of a fellowship plan. Dow Chemical Company In 1887 Herbert Dow, a student at Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, invented a new and economical process for extracting bromine from brine. Two years later he proceeded to put his electrolytic cell to work in a small flour-mill shed in Midland, Mich. Before very long his process was also adapted to the extraction of chlorine from brine, with caustic soda as a coproduct. These developments, at the end of 10 years, led to the consolidation of several parent com- panies to form the Dow Chemical Company. A sister company, formed by Dow and his associates in 1901, and later purchased by the Dow Chemical Company, is conceded to have been the first one to carry on a synthetic organic chemical process on a commercial scale in America. The company manu- factured sulfur chloride and reacted it with carbon bisulphide, producing carbon tetrachloride which, in turn, was treated with iron in the presence of water to produce chloroform. The First World War shut off the European sources of chemicals and stimulated the company's production of aromatic organic compounds. The output of phenol was increased to 30 tons a day, and a new process was developed for the manufacture of synthetic brominated indigo. The end of the war found the company in a critical position; either it would have to develop efficient man- ufactm-ing processes, or suffer enormous losses in apparently useless buildings and machinery. Intensive research proved to be the solution of the company's problem. The old-time method for producing phenol was discarded and a new process devised and placed in operation. The next steps were to undertake the pro- duction of the phenol derivatives, aspirin and synthetic oil of wintergreen, and to utilize the byproducts from indigo and phenol manufacture in making artificial flavors and perfumes. Aniline was produced by a new process based upon the action of ammonia upon chloro- benzene. An alloy of magnesium metal, weighing only one-fourth as much as iron, was manufactured in quantities for airplane parts, portable tools, high-speed machinery, and many other purposes. The company was the first to produce a spray material of organic origin which contained no arsenic or lead. Without constant research the Dow Chemical Com- pany could not have achieved such a record of accom- plishments. Since 1919 when a group of organic re- search chemists was formed and an adequate reference library was established, there has been no let-up in the intensity of the company's research in many fields, mcluding organic and inorganic chemistry, biochem- istry, physics, and metallurgy. Today 225 graduate chemists and physicists, 270 technically trained engi- neers, and 170 laboratory assistants continue to work on problems new and old. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company In no company in the country have chemistry and chemical research played a more important part than in E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. The founder himself, E. I. du Pont, when 16 years old, had begun to study chemistry in the laboratory of Lavoisier, who was then in charge of the manufacture of gun- powder for the French Government. In 1837 the direc- tion of the company fell to Alfred du Pont, who had been a former student of chemistry under Thomas Cooper at Dickinson College and who was always "contriving" a new instrument or experimenting in the laboratory in an effort to improve the quality of the powder made by the company. ^^ Henry du Pont, who assumed the management in 1850, was not interested in experimenting with new methods and even wrote to various agents that he was satisfied that the powder could not be improved. The search for new methods and better products was continued, however, by Alfred du Font's younger son, Lammot, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1857, as a result of the latter's investigation, nitrate of soda was used in place of nitrate of potash in the manufactui-e of blasting powder, a substitution that not only benefited the company financially but also represented an advance in the art of powder making. '* Before the Civil War he had accomplished much toward the development of both black and brown prismatic powders. In an attempt to carry out some "plant-scale experiments on the separation of nitroglycerol from the waste acid," for the purpose of recovering the latter, he was killed by an explosion. The loss of this able chemist was a serious one, but other members of the family carried on his work. By 1884 the company had succeeded in developing a brown prismatic powder which was satisfactory to the Government.^' Francis G. du Pont, an efficient chemical engineer, invented and developed the du Pont smokeless powder and later, with the aid of Pierre S. du Pont and others, a smokeless powder for the Government's use. •' Du Pont, Mrs. B. Q. E. I. du Pont dc Nemours and Company, a history — 1802-1902. Boston, New York, Houehton Mifflin Co., 1920, pp. 72-73. " E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, a history— 1802-1902, p. 78. See foot- note 95; Reese, Charles L. American chemical industries. E. I. du Pont de Ne- mours and Co. Industrial and Enoineerint Chtmulry, 17, 1094 (October 1925). •' American chemical industries, pp. 1094-1095. See footnote 96. 44 NatioTial Resources Planning Board For nearly a hundred years the du Pont Company apphed chemical knowledge to improve the quality and increase the number of its products, but it was not until 1902 that scientific research became a clearly defined part of the company's policy. In that year the Eastern Dynamite Company, which controlled several other d}Tiamite manufacturing companies, es- tablished under the guidance of Charles L. Kcese the Eastern Laboratory in Gibbstown, N. J. Two years later the Experimental Station was established, and in 1906 it was installed in its present location near Wilmington, Del. The Experimental Station was under the jurisdiction of the company's development department until 1911 when, together with the Eastern Laboratory, it be- came part of the newly created chemical department, which for the next 10 years directed all of the company's research. Although originally organized for research in explosives, the chemical department, following the general diversification and expansion of the company's business, soon extended its activities into such fields as dyestuffs, textiles, synthetic organic chemicals, heavy chemicals, and pigments. Research had become such an important factor in the success of the company by 1912 that a United States court, in a decree which divided the company's business by establishing two independent competing organizations — the Hercules Powder Company and the Atlas Powder Comi)any — stipulated that the labo- ratories of the du Pont Company should serve the two new companies for a period of 5 years. Back of this requirement was the fear of the court that new develop- ments in the laboratories, unless made available, might prevent the success of the new companies." In 1922 a complete reorganization of the manufac- turing, sales, and research activities of the company resulted in the decentralization of research, which today is carried on by nine major operating depart- ments, two controlled subsidiaries, and the chemical department. The research work of the operating de- partments and the subsidiaries is concerned largely with their respective branches of industry and technology. The chemical department is concerned not so much with applied research problems as with the exploration of new fields of science and pioneering investigations aimed at the development of new products and proc- esses. Thus, insofar as fundamental research and long- range I'esearch are concerned, the chemical department serves the entire range of the company's activities. Nylon, which represents a wholly new family of or- ganic compounds of the class of polyamides, is a no- table result of the fundamental research of tliis depart- ment. In the fields of explosives, powders, dyestuffs, »• American chemical industries, p 1095. See footnote 96. Figure 7. — The First Laboratory of E. I. du Pont do Nemours and Company, Incorporated, Was Housed in this Building, Erected About 1802, Wilmington, Delaware Industrial Research 45 cellulose film, cellulose nitrate lacquers, synthetic resin enamels, synthetic rubber, and camphor, the ac- complishments of the various laboratories have been almost innumerable and their effect upon the industrial life of the Nation has been incalculable. Monsanto Chemical Company The Monsanto Chemical Company, established in 1901 to make saccharin, now produces a variety of prod- ucts in the following three broad groups : fine and medic- inal chemicals, heavy chemicals, and intermediates. An important factor in the company's growth, particu- larly in recent years, was its research laboratory, which was acquired in an unusual manner. In 1928, the Thomas and Hochwalt Laboratories, then 2 years old and engaged in commercial research in Dayton, Ohio, began work on the problem of producing synthetic resins from petroleum bases. After 5 years the study pointed to such important possibilities that the Mon- santo Chemical Company purchased a major share in the development. A subsidiary, called the Monsanto Petroleum Chemicals, Inc., was formed to exploit the process, while the Thomas and Hochwalt Laboratories not only expanded their research in connection with this new enterprise, but also engaged in other work for the Monsanto Company. By 1936 so large a proportion of the laboratory's effort was bemg devoted to the company's problems that a merger was effected. That same year the company's expenditures for research were 3.04 percent of its sales and 16.5 percent of its net income. Petroleum Atlantic Refining Company The Atlantic Refining Company began its corporate existence April 29, 1870, and during the next 30 years much work was done by various individuals of scientific and engineering attainments upon the problems of pe- troleum refining and the processes and machines in- volved in the packaging of petroleum. About 1900 the emphasis placed on research was increased, but investi- gations were still largely carried on in connection ^vith operating work. In February 1924 a separate depart- ment was established under the title "Process Division"; later this title was changed to "Research and Develop- ment Department." In 1924 this department num- bered 82 individuals and by December 1939 it had grown to 195. At the present time the department has well equipped research laboratories, including an auto- motive laboratory equipped with an electric chassis dynamometer and an air-conditioning apparatus which permits studies at temperatures 20° below zero, Fahr- enheit. In the development branch, pilot units per- mit petroleum refining operations on a small scale, but in such a manner that results in the plant can be dupli- cated and anticipated. Among those developments in the petroleum in- dustry to which the company has made substantial contributions are the evolution of distillation processes from batch stills, through tower stills, to the modem pipe still for the large scale fractional distillation of crude petroleum; the solvent extraction of lubricating oils; the thermal production of motor fuels from both heavier and lighter hydrocarbons; and novel develop- ments in the construction and propulsion of ocean- going tankers. The Atlantic Refining Company also cooperates with both automotive and petroleum companies in projects conducted under the auspices of such national bodies as the American Petroleum Institute, the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the American Society for Testing Materials. Gulf Research and Development Company When the management of the Gulf companies de- cided to centralize its research activities. Dr. Paul D. Foote was called in August 1937 from the National Bureau of Standards to Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, to head the new research program. The number of technical men employed at Mellon Institute to work on the company's production and pipe-line problems, trebled within a short period. In December of the next year offices were opened for work in geophysics. Dur- ing 1929 a building was erected in Pittsburgh to house the new research activities. In January 1930 most of the company's employees at Mellon Institute and the geophysical group were transferred to the new quarters. Definite technical divisions of geophysics, engineering, chemistry, physics, materials engineering, and business management were set up as the research department of the Gulf Production Company. The total staff num- bered about 90. By 1937 the Gulf Research and Development Com- pany had built several new buildings and had a labora- tory staff of 418. An additional 575 employees were doing exploratory work in the United States and foreign countries. Humble Oil and Refining Company The Humble Oil and Refining Company started operations at its first major refinery in 1920. For the first 4 years there was no formal organization for research work, but there was, of course, a laboratorj' for the control of refining operations. Two or three of the better-trained men in this routine laboratory who showed an aptitude for special investigations were from time to time assigned to work on proposed proc- esses and on the solution of plant operating problems. The refinery was growing rapidly, and in 1924, a sepa- 46 National Resources Planning Board rate group was set up to spend full time doing research and development work on refining processes. At the start, this group consisted of seven technically trained men, some of whom were transferred from the routine laboratory. From 1924 to the latter part of 1926 all the research and development effort was associated with the current and contemplated refining processes at the Bay town refinery located about 30 miles east of Houston, Tex. In the latter part of 1926, a comprehensive research program on the production of alcohols and organic chemicals from hydrocarbons present in natural gas was initiated, and a separate imit with laboratory facilities and experimental equipment was established in north Texas, where natural gas supplies were readily available. At first this group consisted of 3 technical and 20 nontechnical men, but in the course of the work it was increased to 7 technical and 36 nontechnical men. From 1929 to 1932 an extensive research program on hydrogenation was conducted at Baytown, but it was concluded soon after plans for the installation of hydro- genation equipment at Baytown were abandoned. The depression was about at its severest stage, and activities had of necessity to be reduced by roughly 40 percent. This reduction was accomplished partly by the release of assistants and service men without tech- nical training and partly by decreasing the number of hours a month that each man worked. As economic conditions improved, the research activity was again expanded by increasing the working hours of each employee, until by the beginning of 1934, tlie force was back on a normal full-time basis. From then until 1936, the research and development continued on a fairly constant level, and no substantial additions were made to personnel. The period 1936 to 1938 was one of expansion, and the force was increased some 60 percent to 70 percent over the period. Since 1938, 10 men have been added to the staff. Only a relatively small proportion of the research and development effort has been directed toward work of a pioneering type since the principal emphasis has been placed on improving correct refinery processes and products and on improving and adapting known processes to the particular conditions existing at the company's refineries. Since the company has access to the results of research work carried on by the Stand- ard Oil Development Company, an intensive pioneering program is not essential. Nevertheless, its program of industrial research has enabled the company to operate its refining process at a high level of efficiency. Convinced of the value of its research activities in oil refining, the company decided in the middle of 1928 to estabhsh a separate unit for research on drilling and the production of crude oil and natural gasoline in the field. The group of 22 technical men and 16 nontechnical men assigned to the production unit has made valuable contributions toward the answer to such problems as the estimation of reserves, well spacing, the chemical treatment of drilling fluids, the flow of oil, gas, and water mixtures through reservoir rocks, and the behavior of oil and gas reservoirs under various operating conditions. A third research group has been engaged since 1925 Ln geophysical exploration. Discontinuing the refrac- tion method in 1920, the company adopted the reflec- tion technique and now has eight reflection parties operating in the field. Although in geophysics, emphasis has been placed upon practical research, some funda- mental work has been done. Shell Development Company Previous to 1928 the plant engineers of the Shell Oil Company, Inc., made numerous improvements in oil technology, but a new era of planned research began in 1928 with the creation of the Shell Development Com- pany. From the start its directors saw in research the means not only of bringing about the improvement and more economical processing of such staple commodities as gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, and lubricants, but also of laying the basis of a profitable chemical industry through the study of petroleum as a primary raw- material containing a great variety of hydrocarbons. The policy of the Shell Development Company has been to undertake one project of research after another, developing each through the stages of fundamental re- search, applied research and semicommercial trials, to the final commercial application. Thus by a series of limited objectives, the company has evolved at its lab- oratories in Emeryville, Calif., a weU-roimded program of research, which embraces all the major interests of the oil industry. The Shell management intentionally created the Development Company as a separate unit freed from the day-to-day problems of operation so that is might plan and conduct research on a broad, long-term basis. The operating companies have laboratories of their own from which the technical controls of their operations are exercised, and in which many experiments for the improvement of operations are carried out. Occasion- ally research begim in the laboratory of an operating company, however, proves to be of such a fundamental character that it is transferred to the laboratory of the Development Company, and, conversely the Develop- ment Company, for geographic or other special reasons, sometimes transfers problems to the operating com- panies. Although the work of the research laboratories has, by a combination of organization and natural growth, come to be arrangwl under such major dopurtmcnts as organic chemical research, application research, pilot plant research, oil production research, oil technology Industrial Research 47 research, engine research, asphalt research, anci funda- mental research, a large degree of flexibility and co- operation is maintained. Approximately 15 percent of the total budget of the laboratories is spent upon such fundamental investigations as the mechanism of catal- ysis, mechanism of polymerization, hydrocarbon re- arrangements, and pyrolysis. The laboratory of the Development Company, starting with a total staff of 57 includmg 12 university-trained research workers, has steadily expanded until in 1940 it employs 520 persons, of whom 91 are senior research workers and 260 are university graduates. Standard Oil Company of California Organized research and development work was initi- ated in the Standard Oil Company of California in 1920 when a research division for these activities was created within the manufacturing department. During the first few years, the main effort of the division was directed to- wards the improvement of such refining processes as distillation, thermal cracking, acid treating, and acid recovery, with such impressive retmns that in 1926 the research work was expanded and centralized in an independent department. Since that time the depart- ment has grown steadily imtd it is now composed of a staff of 400 men, about half of whom are chemists, engineers, physicists, or men with some technical train- ing. Two branch laboratories are maintained, and the department has representatives at the various refineries and producing plants. The company has done pioneer work in the manu- facture of compoimded lubricating oils for Diesel engines, and in recent years much of its research has been done in the field of catalysis for the purpose of developing processes by which petroleum can be converted into new and better products for industrial and domestic uses. Standard Oil Company of Indiana Research in the Standard Oil Company of Indiana has expanded in a period of 50 years from the work of a single plant chemist to the multiple activities of a modem department comprising 186 technical and 250 nontechnical men. Research began in the company in 1890 with the hiring of Dr. WiUiam M. Burton to investigate the Frasch Desidfiu-ization Process. Later, when the larg- est refinery of the company was being erected in Whit- ing, Ind., Bm-ton established an analytical laboratory there to test paints and other materials being used in the construction. During the next 20 years, until 1910, there was httle increase in the laboratory staff, which was mainly concerned with routine analyses. Some development work was carried out, however, and it resulted in improvements in the manufacturing of asphalts, greases, lubricating oils, and candles. The years 1910-20 brought moderate expansion in both personnel and research. Although emphasis con- tinued to be placed on analytical work, experiments were carried out in connection with the Burton crack- ing process, while other investigations led to improve- ments in the manufacture of medicinal white oils and lubricants. After 1922 the expansion of the laboratory staff was rapid, conforming to the widening of research activities. The laboratories of 3 refineries of the company were incorporated into the research department, while other laboratories were established. One, the engine re- search laboratory, was founded in 1925; another was organized early in the 1930's for fundamental research. The increase in the total personnel was twentyfold in 20 years. Paralleling this structural growth were the extended activities in and accomplishments of research. With the introduction of the approach of chemical engineer- ing to refinery problems, studies were made of distUla- tion, fuel economy, corrosion, evaporation losses, and gasoline recovery. Considerable effort was also ex- pended in the development of thermal cracking, both in the field and in experimental equipment in the labora- tory. From the intensive research on thermal cracking, the large modern combination cracking unit was evolved and has since been continually improved to a point where it is capable of producing better than 75 percent of high octane gasoline from crude oil. The problems of knocking characteristics and gum forma- tion, arising from the application of the thermal cracking process to meet the growing demands for gasoline, were solved by experiments with antioxidants. The proc- esses of propane dewaxing and chlorex extraction resulted from intensified research on lubricating oils. At the present time experimental work is being carried out on all phases of petroleum refining from the crude distillation to the road testing of fuels in modern automobile engines. In addition, considerable effort is being expended in the development and improvement of specialty products such as greases, candles, asphalts, road oils, solvents, special lubricants, and domestic fuels. The activities of the research department are co- ordinated with those of its closely associated develop- ment and patent department, which assists in main- taining teclmical contacts with competing companies and other industries, provides a technical information service, and manages the patent affairs of the company. In addition to the research and development activi- ties conducted directly by the staff, the company has contributed to and participated in cooperative research projects conducted under the sponsorship of the American Petroleum Institute, Gasoline Products Company, The Polymerization Processes Corporation, and The M. W. Kellogg Company. 48 National Resources Planning Board standard Oil Company of New Jersey Centralized industrial research ui the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey began in a modest way with the organization of the development department in September 1919. The technical staff of this new de- partment consisted of 2G analytical and research chemists in the research laboratorj^, and 3 chemical engineers in the experimental division. In addition a general engineering department of some 60 men worked in close collaboration with, but not as an integral part of, the development department. The rapid technical advance in methods of cracking and the growing use of more efficient fractionation equipment bj^ the petroleum industry w^ere accompanied by an expansion of the experimental division, and a small increase in the staff of the research laboratory of the development department, which, by the end of 1926, had a total persormel of some 150, including chem- ists, engineers, and nontechnical assistants. Motor fuel and lubrication laboratories were estabUshed in the early 1920's for testing and developing improved fuels and lubricants. Standard Oil Development Company The Standard Development Company was incorpo- rated in Delaware in September 1923 as a patent-hold- ing and licensing organization. Its corporate name was changed to the Standard Oil Development Com- pany in October 1927, and the new company took over the research and development activities previously carried out by the development department of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. The general engineering department and the standard inspection laboratory were incorporated into the new organi- zation. In December 1927 the motor fuel laboratories were enlarged and the refining research group (process lab- oratories) moved into new quarters. The facilities then made available to the refining research group consisted mainly of pilot plant equipment and permitted a more systematic study of refinery processes, thermal crack- ing, atmospheric and vacuum distillation, and acid and solvent treating. This work was carried out on a scale large enough to secure basic data for design of new equipment. Early in 1927 negotiations, begun in 1925 with the owners of the Bergius and Pier patents on hydrogena- tion, culminated in the acquisition of the American rights to this process by the company. Shortly after this agreement was reached a hydrogenation labora- tory was estabhshed. The research and development work of this organization led to the commercial appli- cation of the hj'drogenation process to petroleum dis- tillates and heavy residues. Thus it became possible to make high qualitj' fuels and lubricants from feed stocks which could not be utilized by existing processes. The Hydro Engineering & Chemical Company was incorporated as a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Devel- opment Company in February 1930 to supervise devel- opment work on hydrogenation and to design hydro- genation plants in the United States. Including this newly formed unit with a staff of 67 engineers, the Standard Oil Development Company had approxi- mately 600 employees by the end of 1930. The company completed a new research laboratory in 1931 to provide much needed facilities for the techni- cal library of the patent department. This librarj^ has one of the largest technical reference sections in the petroleum industry and a staff which keeps the research, development, and engineering groups informed con- cerning the latest advances in the petroleum and allied fields. The staff of the comapny increased rather rapidly to approximately 1,000 persons by the end of 1937. Sub- sequent additions to the staffs of the various laboratory and engineering groups have gradually increased the personnel of the Standard Oil Development Company to its present 1,300 employees. The Standard Oil Development Company by agree- ment with the major refining units of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey acts as a central research and development agency for the operating companies. Such centralization of research work prevents uimecessary du- plication of staffs and laboratories and results in much better research facilities than would be possible had each operating group tried to proceed independently. Universal Oil Products Company In 1907 Jesse A. Dubbs, owner of the Sunset Oil and Refining Company and the Globe Asphalt Company of Obispo, Cal., was faced with a serious problem. One of his oil wells had developed water which could not be separated from the oil by simple heating in a pipe still, the process which he had been using on other emulsified crude oils. After 2 years of investigation and experi- ment, he solved the problem and applied for a patent. Dubbs had discovered the first heat cracking process, but he did not realize it until 1913, when Dr. William M. Bm"ton secured a patent on another heat cracking process. Dubbs then amended his application, and when his patent was issued, in 1915, it covered cracking and condensation under the pressure of self-generated vapors. A group of men interested in the commercial pos- sibilities of the patent acquired it, estabUshed a labora- tory at Independence, Kans., and engaged a staff of research workers, including Carbon Petroleum Dubbs, son of the inventor, to develop the cracking process. From this beginning the Universal Oil Products Com- Industrial Research 49 pany has growii to be an important research and development organization. The investigations made at Independence resulted, in 1919, in the building of a cracking unit which, in a spectacular run lasting 10 days, demonstrated the possibihties of the process. Because of the formation of coke in the tubes of the cracking unit, runs had previously been limited to 2 days. Successful as this demonstration was, it served only to stimulate the company to a gi-eater research and development campaign. J. Ogden Armour supplied funds, to the extent of more than $6,000,000, for the work. The laboratory at Independence was soon insufficient for the company's needs, and, in 1921-22, a new one was built at Riverside, 111. In addition to the labora- tory buildings the research equipment now includes 25 acres of tanks and "strange looking structures." Dr. Gustav Egloff directs the activities of approximately 250 research workers, most of whom are men trained in science and engineering. The stafi" is divided into groups of specialists such as mathematicians, physicists, physical chemists, and organic chemists. Other even more speciahzed groups work upon the specific prob- lems of catalysis, treating, and cracldng. Fundamental research has led to such developments as Ipatiefl"'s catalytic polymerization process, which bids fan to become the forerunner of a whole group of new processes, and Morrcll's alkj^lation process, by means of which 100 octane gasoline is produced. In East Chicago, a few miles from the laboratory, the company maintains a 1,000 barrel cracking unit in which new developments, after they have been tested in a pilot plant and on a semiworks scale, can be tried on a commercial scale before being offered to pro- spective Hcensees. The results of the company's re- search and development are made available not only to those who operate equipment under a license but also to the industry as a whole, as soon as this step can be taken safely. In addition to research in its own laboratories, the companj' has helped to finance the work of the American Petrolemn Institute and has maintained research fellowships in several imiversities and technical schools. Electrical Communication Bell Telephone Laboratories On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell's voice was transmitted to the ear of his assistant, Thomas A. Watson, over a wire strung between 2 rooms on the top floor of a boarding house in Boston. The patient re- search of another pioneer, who had often been beset with poverty, had met with success; and the public, in spite of its skepticism, was soon to have a new means of communication. Gardiner G. Hubbard, Bell's father-in-law, organized the Bell Telephone Associa- tion, in partnership with Bell, Watson, and Thomas Sanders, the father of one of Bell's deaf pupils. In May 1877 a man from Charlestown, named Emery, came to Hubbard's law office and handed him $20 for the lease of 2 telephones. The world's first commercial telephone bill had been paid in advance. A crude ex- change was established, and 6 telephones were lent to the proprietor of a burglar-alarm system for installation in 6 Boston banks. Within 90 days, 778 telephones were in use.'" Although faced with many struggles, financial, legal, and technical, the new telephone indus- try was gathering momentum. Without continuous research, however, the present system of communication by telephone could never have been achieved. Since the days when Bell and Watson constituted the "Department of Development and Research," men have sought knowledge that would improve and extend this means of communication. Previous to 1907 the Bell Telephone System had three laboratories or departments of development and re- search, one in the American Company at Boston, one in the Western Electric Company at Chicago, and one in the Western Electric Company at New York. ""' To promote efficiency and economy the laboratory work and the experimental work of these three groups were combined in 1907 into a single unit, known as the Engi- neering Department of the Western Electric Company. Increasing the distance spanned was from the be- ginning one of the outstanding problems of telephony. From this combined laboratory organization came a new attack on this basic problem, and telephone service was opened in 1911 between New York and Denver, a distance of 2,100 miles. This step was largely accom- plished by improvements in the construction and appli- cation of the loading coil which had been invented at the turn of the century. Several years before the New York to Denver service was opened, however, the company's engineers realized that unless the problem of telephone repeaters could be satisfactorily solved, this line would mark the prac- tical limit of distance for telephony."" Consequently, J. J. Carty, then chief engineer, of the American Tele- phone Company asked for money and men to develop, by further research, a telephone repeater suitable to operation on long loaded lines. Theodore N. Vail, president of the company, approved; consequently: in the winter of 1910-11, a small group of scientists was selected and research initiated under the general guidance of Dr. F. B. Jewett, who was then Transmission and Protection Engineer of " Kaempflcrt, Waldcmar. A popular history of American invention. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1924, vol. 1, p 330. i» Oiflord, W. S. The place of the Bell Telephone Laboratories in the Bell system. Bell Telephone QuaHerl]/, i, 90 (April 1925). '" Mills, John. The line and the laboratory. Bell Telephone QuaTterly, 19, 6 (January 1940). 50 Naiional Resources Planning Board the American Telephone ami Telegraph Company. The men who were to investigate the problems which loaded lines pre- sented to repeaters were in Dr. Jewett's department in the telephone company; those who were to make a laboratory attack on the repeater itself were grouped into a research depart- ment under Dr. E. H. Colpitts in the Engineering Depart- ment of the Western Electric Company. The scientists thus assembled became the nucleus of the present Research Depart- ment of the Bell Telephone Laboratories. A year later Jewett became Assistant Chief Engineer of the Western Electric Com- pany, and in that position coordinated the entire transcontinental line research, whether carried out in the laboratory or in the field.'" The work was directed primarily to the development of electrical amplifying devices, to improvements in line structure, and to the proper association of line and amplifiers at periodic intervals to give stable operation. Although several forms of repeaters were tried out successfully on the line, it was demonstrated that the vacuum tube could be perfected to be the most effec- tive telephone amplifying device. As a result of the work, on Januar}^ 25, 1915, Alexander Graham Bell in New York talked with Thomas A. Watson in San Francisco over 3,400 miles of wire. Since that time have come in succession improved repeater operation over open wire lines, repeated cable systems adequate to span any distance, multi- plexing of both open wire and cable circuits, and the multichanneled coaxial circuit type of cable now going into use. The development of transoceanic radio tele- phone service to Europe and later to all parts of the world has been the final step in extending the distance range of telephone communication. Since the laboratory had become so important and its work so extensive by 1925, it was given corporate form and became knowTi as the Bell Telephone Labora- tories, Inc. Dr. Jewett was made president of this unit and a vice president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which owns the Laboratories jointly with the Western Electric Company. The Laboratories are responsible to the former company primarilj' for fundamental research and development, and to the latter for development, design, and engineer- ing in connection with manufacture. The principal activities of the Bell Laboratories are carried out in a headquarters building in New York City, together with leased space in two other city buildings. However, many kinds of development are carried out in smaller country locations. These include radio laboratories at Holmdel, Deal, and Wliip- panj', N. J., a chemical laboratory at Summit, N. J., an outside plant laborator}' at Chester, N. J., and a transmission testing station at PhoenLxville, Pa. Stations are also located at Gulfport, Miss., and Limon, Colo., to insure a range of climatic conditions ■"The line and the laboratory, p. 10. Seo footnote 101. for testing of preservatives for timber products. In addition, small groups of people from the laboratories are located at the Western Electric factories at Kearny, N. J., Hawthorne, 111., and Point Breeze, Md., and at a large number of places tliroughout the country, to carry on work with the people and plant of the oper- ating telephone companies. About 2,000 out of a total of 4,600 people in the Bell Telephone Laboratories are professionally trained members of its technical staff. This trained personnel covers development and engineering as well as research. Somewhere between a fifth and over a half of the per- sonnel would be designated as "research" according to the interpretation of that somewhat indefinite term. Since research, development, manufacture, and opera- tion are all included in the Bell System organization, the divei-sity of problems covered by the Bell Telephone Laboratories is peculiarly wide. Much of the Labora- tories' work finds embodiment as operating systems of apparatus — transmission systems for handling telephone currents and switching systems for establishing tele- phone connections. The work of such a system starts with fundamental mvestigations of materials and of electrical and mechanical action, together with studies of the needs and experiences of the operating companies. The work continues through the model stage of appara- tus and functioning combinations, and then into the economical design of all the parts involved and their association iiito an economical operatuig system. Included are considerations of manufacturing methods, factory testing, and field installation and operation. The development responsibility for the new system covers also its trial uistallation and tests of performance in the operating plant. The Laboratories' interest in the system extends throughout its useful life and may finally end with a consideration of the best way of obtaining any residual value as it goes to the junk pUe. The following statement, by one intimatel}' connected witli the Laboratories for manj^ years, gives another picture of the diversity of the Laboratories' activities: Our research problems are scattered along the whole frontier of the sciences which contribute to our interests, and extend through the fields of physical and organic chemistry, of metallurgy, magnetism, electrical conduction, radiation, electronics, acoustics, phonetics, optics, mathematics, and even of physiology, psychol- ogy, and meteorology. In each field inquiry carries the important question of its practical applications, and thus involves con- sideration of the specific devices which our industry uses and study of new forms into which they may be molded and new services which they may be made to render.'" Western Union Telegraph Company For many years after the demonstration of the practi- cability of Morse's electric telegraph, research and development in the field of electrical communication 1" Arnold, H. D. Organizing our research. BeU Laboratorlu Record, I. 161 (June 1926). Industrial Research 51 wore carried on iilinost oiitiroly hj' iiH!i\'i(luals. Although maii.y important improvements in repeaters, the duplex, the quaihniplex, and the telephone resulted from tiie work of these inclivithials during tlie carlj- years of the telegraph industrj', it was not until about 1900 that any concerted efl'ort was made to organize telegraph research and development. About (hat time the nucleus of a ^Vestcrn Union laboratory existed in New York, masquerading under the name of a "Repair Shop." But to all intents and purposes it was a labora- tory, for there in a space of about 40 by 100 feet were assembled the best of machines and apparatus then available for experiments with telegraph e(iui[)ment. The activity in this shop proved so worth while" that a year or two later the company decided to establish an E)lectrician's Work Sliop, and tliere six men were regu- larly emploj'cd in experimental and development work. Compared with present-day apparatus their equipment was crude, but with it much of the ground work upon which modern telegraph practice rests was done. Despite these limitations of space and equipment, the first units of the modern multiplex, which permits the simultaneous transmission and reception of several messages over a single wire, were being tested and per- fected, and the first of the modern telegraph jirinters was being developed. The successful application of the combination of multiplex channels and printing telegraph marked the beginning of the era of mecha- nized telegraphy to which these laboi'atories have made and are still making major contributions. In 1910 the first laboratory to be organized as such by Western I'liion was established at 16 Dey Street, New York, and about 15 men were employed. This laboratory had some of the equipment which is now con- sidered indispensable, including an oscillograph, a fair selection of meters, electrometers, galvanometers, and Wheatstone bridges, as well as a small power plant. Late in 1916 the laboratory was moved to more spacious quarters. The staff was increased to 25 engi- neers and organized into 5 divisions — cable, power |)lant, apparatus, automatics, and general laboratorj'. Demands upon the laboratory continued to increase, and in 1918 a research and a chemical laboratory were added. In 1921 a laboratory devoted to the develop- ment and ijnprovement of the multiplex ami simplex was established; a year lnt(M- a mechanical laboratory was addetl. The rapidly expanding telegraph business required, however, still more experimental and development facilities, and in 1925 the laboratories again were moved to larger quarters. Work upon cables, simplex print- ers, tickers, iind the nniltiplex continued to increase. Moreover, investigations in chemistiy, metallurgy', and photography were made necessary by the company's broad program of research which sought not only to 321835 — 11 5 bring llu; benefits of scientific knowledge to every branch of the telegraph industry, but also to make sure that its vast volmne of supplies was of suitable quality. Twice since 1925 the quarters devoted to research have been outgrown, and in addition to the laboratories in New Y'ork the company maintains another labora- tory at Water Mill, J^ong Island, which is designed to deal prijnarily with the many problems presented by the radio industry. Work is also done there upon |)roblems relating to wire telegraphy, such as the syn- chronous operation of telegraph e(|uipmcnt, the balanc- ing of ocean cable circuits, and facsimile telegraphy. WhOe Western Union reseairh aims primarily to im- prove telegraph service and to lower costs, it frequently leads to devices and products that are made available to other industries. Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Supplies General Electric Company During the last part of the nineties the electrical indiistiy had been expanding with tremendous speed. New and larger stations were springing up in all parts of the country, and transmission lines w'ere being strung to carry the increasingly higher voltages, 'i'ho con- stant demand for larger aiul larger apparatus with which to generate, control, transmit, and distribute the steadily increasing amounts of power forced innumer- able problems upon the company's engineers. As difficulties arose, and as new ideas came, thcj' were handled in the department most intimately concerned. To a limited extent facilities were also provided in the model department for working otit new problems, but the personnel of the department was generally very limited, and the magnitude and importance of the problems undertaken soon became restricted. The works laboratory of the early days of the indus- try has been described by Elihxi Thomson as — not necessaril3' for research, but for the exainiiialion of products brought in or sent out, and for the analysis of materials. We may picture ... a space set aside fiom a portion of tlie manu- facturing and testing department, where with a few tools and perhaps one or two workmen, devices and new appliances were constructed in the form of working models, which were there to be refined and immediately put into manufacture. Sometimes this space was limited in extent to that of a single moderate- sized room, and later on, for privacy, it might be a space par- titioned off from the rest of the floor.'" With the industry in its infancy, such activities were sufficient to meet the immediate demands of the business, but as the various departments became more distinct, as the number of products increased, and as the quantity of products produced became gi'eater, little attention could be given to scientific research. But "' Thomson, Eliliu. In an unpublished manuscript. 52 National Resources Planning Board several individuals in the General Electric Company — unwilling to accept the point of view of a financier in the textile industry who told Elihu Thomson that he thought the electrical industry was rapidly becoming stand- ardized and getting to the point where new research and experimentation were hardly necessary — were con- vinced of the need for a continuous search for new sci- entific knowledge. They had heard of the work being done by Cooper Hewitt on the mercury arc lamp and felt that they, too, should investigate it. By 1899 the period of business stagnation following the depression of 1893 had largely passed, and business men were again viewing the future with optimism and making their plans accordingly. Mr. E. W. Rice, Jr., was at this time technical director of the company. He had been a student under Elihu Thomson and later his assistant when the latter had left teaching to direct his energy to the commercial development of his many ideas. Both men saw the necessity for new facts and princi- ples in the electrical industry, and both men felt it futile to wait for those facts to come from the univer- sities. Their idea of supplementing the company's existing engineering and development facilities with a research laboratory was also enthusiastically supported by Dr. Steinmetz and Mr. Albert G. Davis, the com- pany's patent expert. With such backing, Rice was able to persuade the directors to grant him an appro- priation to provide facilities and personnel for a syste- matic program of research, and the annual report for the year 1901, carried the announcement to stockholders that — although our engineers have always been liberally supplied with every facility for the development of new and original designs and improvement of existing standards, it has been deemed wise during the past year to establish a laboratory to be devoted exclusively to original research. It is hoped by this means that many proBtable fields may be discovered. The most important step was still to be taken — the hiring of a man capable of organizing and guiding a research laboratory of the type contemplated by the directors of the company. Since there were no out- standing research men in other industries to be called to General Electric, the company turned to the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology. There Rice found Dr. Willis R. Whitney, assistant professor in the chemistry department. Pleased with the reports of Whitney's energy, originality, and skill, Rice and Stein- metz went to Boston, talked with Whitney, and asked him to undertake the work at Schenectady. Whitney was not anxious to leave Boston, for, as he expresses it, "I was having too much fun working on colloids and didn't want to stop." But this was not Whitney's only misgiving; he was also a bit doubtful as to whether or not he could find enough work at Schenectady to keep him busy. Rice, convinced that he had found the right man, was equal to the situation. He surprised Whitney by telling him to bring his work on colloids with him, and if by any chance he found he did not have time to work on them, he could get somebody to help him. To meet Whitney's second objection that there might not be enough for him to do, Rice proposed an arrangement whereby Wliitney would spend part of his time at Schenectady and part at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In September 1900 Whitney began a 3-year period of long-distance commuting. From Monday morning until Wednesday night he worked in Schenectady; the rest of the week he spent in Boston. At the end of 3 years, however, convinced that there was enough to do in the research laboratory of the General Electric Company, he left his teaching position. For many years, Whitney has had as his associate at Schenectady Dr. W. D. Coolidge, who likewise began his career in a laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When, in 1905, Whitney needed another man on the staff he decided to get Coohdge, of whose ability he was sure. The steps that followed must have brought at least an inward smile to Whitney. At first Coolidge was not interested. He did not care to leave either Dr. Noyes, with whom he was working, or the problem of "electrical conduction in aqueous solutions at high temperatures," which he was study- ing. Rice's tactics, this time used by Whitney, again won for the General Electric. Coolidge was told to bring his work right along to Schenectady, and there he could give all the time he wished to his aqueous solu- tions. Somewhat doubtfully he accepted the offer, but once in Schenectady his eyes must have sparkled when the innumerable intriguing and important problems which faced the small group of workers began to be known to him. It was not long before his aqueous solutions were shipped back to the Massachusetts Institute of Teclmology. Within 3 j-ears he was assistant director of the laboratory. Of his many accomplishments the two best known are the Coolidge . X-ray tube and ductile tungsten, on which he spent ' nearly 4 years of persistent and resourceful search before it was produced commercially. Since Wliitney's retirement in 1932, he has directed the activities of the laboratory. Mr. Rice's idea, from the very first, was to develop a : laboratory for research in pure science. Ho wished it \ set sufficiently apart in the company organization to be free from the responsibilities of current problems i of the company. Since in practice such dctaclmicnt ' has been impossible to maintain, the ride in the General Electric Laboratory has been to give calls for assist- ance from the engineers and production men "prece- dence over all else claiming the attention of the staff, if they involve, as they usually do, possible loss to the Industrial Research 53 company or delay in satisfactorily meeting a customer's needs." Nevertheless, one of the outstanding character- istics of the laboratory has been the director's constant effort to keep in progress as much fundamental research as possible. The fact that the laboratory has been free from all direct responsibility for engineering and manu- facturing operations has made it less difficult to main- tain fundamental research than it otherwise would have been. The presence of Dr. Ii-ving Langmuir has also helped to keep fundamental research from being crowded out. Dr. Whitney, writing of Langmuir, said: Some promising research men are so tempted by urgent calls of manufacturing difficulties tliat they metaphorically divest themselves of their protecting clothing and quickly plunge into depths of factory troubles unfathonied by all previous e.xperts. Not so Langmuir! He was destined to be a good helper (or life preserver), but a still better pioneer. His methods develop principles of new utilities instead of putting patches on the old.'"* That scientists inevitably are led at times from re- search to its application because they alone have the knowledge necessary for design and development is shown by the following instance related by Mr. Larry A. Hawkins, e.xecutive engineer of the laborator3^ When Langmuir had discovered the pure electron discharge from a hot cathode in high vacuum, Coolidge perceived and demonstrated the possibility of utilizing such a discharge in a new type of X-ray tube. He could not stop there if the new tube were to be made available to the medical profession. No other department of the company had the knowledge and facilities necessary for its design and development. Coolidge became for the time a designing engineer. Even when he had produced a tube satisfactory for the doctor's use, he had not completed the necessary task. No factory department was in a position to undertake its manufacture. Coolidge therefore had next to become a production manager, devising and building equipment, establishing details of material specifications, fabri- cation of parts, assembly, exhaust, and testing, and supervising the smaU scale manufacture, until others had acquired the neces- sary training to enable them to carry on.'" When Dr. "WTiitney decided that the activities at the General Electric laboratory were sufficient in number to require his full-time attention, he had about a dozen helpers. Since that time the increase in the nunaber of employees has in general followed the increase in the company's business. Moreover, as the activities and ac- comphshments of the laboratory became more numerous, its prestige increased, and it was accorded greater independence. In 1903 a Research Laboratory Ad- visory Council had been formed, with Mr. Rice as chair- man. For 12 years it held meetings two or three times a year in order to guide the development of the labora- tory in a way that would be of greatest benefit to the I" Whitney, Willis R. Irving Langmuir, scientist. Ciirrenl Hiatory, S7, 705 (March 1933). ••• For this quotation and much of the factual material concerning the General Electric Co., the author is Indebted to its executive engineer, Dr. Larry A. Hawkins. company. Although Dr. Whitney, as director, had long enjoyed an entirely free rein, he continued to re- port the activities of the laboratory to the vice presi- dent in charge of engineering until 1928, when he was himself made vice president in charge of research. With this move the research laboratoiy took its place in the organization chart on a level with the major activities of the company. Occasionally the laboratory staff has been decreased because of prolonged business depressions; but much more frequently by the transfer of a group of laboratory men to another department because of the develop- ment in the laboratory of a new product, so different from the company's prior comanercial products that no existing department was competent to complete its development and carry on the initial manufacture. Such products as the new type of carbon brush for rail- way motors and other apparatus, ductUe tungsten and the process of making it, the Coolidge X-ray tube, and the radio power tube have resulted in the organization of new departments manned by the men from the labora- tory who had been in charge of the development and initial production. With the exception of 2 or 3 years during the recent depression, the company has for 15 years followed the practice of inviting a carefully selected list of post- graduate students to work in the laboratory during the vacation period. As a result, the company, when in need of additional men, has been able to select those who have shown clearly that they possess the qualities necessary for a successful career in research. The research laboratory cooperates closely with nu- merous other laboratories maintained by the company. There is the General Engineering Laboratorv, specializing on the standardization of instruments and testing methods, the development of new instruments and new testing procedure, and the conducting of special engineering tests. There is the Thom- son Research Laboratory at Lynn, from which have come fused quartz, the supercharger for aeroplanes, and a number of other developments. Each of the larger works has its own works laboratory, responsible for supplying the technical assistance and supervision required in factory processes, making physical and chemical tests on materials and product, conducting the neces- sary experiments for solving the day-to-day problems arising from factory operations or engineering requirements, and devel- oping new factory equipment and processes. There is a large laboratory for lamp development, a metallurgical laboratory specializing on tungston, molybdenum and their alloys, a lighting research laboratory, an illuminating engineering laboratory, and a high-voltage laboratory for studying lightning and other high voltage phenomena."' If all of the laboratory work of the company were consolidated in the research laboratory, its staff woidd need to be increased manyfold, and the portion of its activities devoted to fundamental research would be a minute fraction of the whole and in constant danger of '•^ Hawkins, L. A. Manuscript. 54 National Resources PlanniTig Board being scjucczcd oul ciilirely by ibe pressure of service work. Under the existing organization the research laboratory keeps as free from development and service work as it possibly can by turning over to the other laboratories as much of that work as they are prepared to take. Toda}' the total personnel of the research laboratory numbers 290. Thirty-four chemists, 17 physicists, 26 engineers, and 10 metallurgists are at work seeking both new knowledge and a better application of that already at hand. Westinghouse Electric Company Westinghouse Electric Company research started, in an unorganized way, with the formation of the company in 1886, and many technical developments took place between that date and 1902 (or 1903) when a research department was established by C. E. Skinner. Since the company then had no central laboratory, experi- mental work continued to be conducted in laboratories scattered throughout the East Pittsljurgh Works. In 1916, however, a separate research building was con- structed, and staffed with research scientists drawn from universities, from inthistiy, and from their own laboratories in East Pittsburgh. To a considerable extent these men were occupied with fundamental ami long-range problems, while the mi-n in the older laboratories worked u])on more immediate problems. After the separate research building was completed, the lamp company research was housed there until it became evident that this work could best be carried on nearer the lamp works. For the past 20 years, therefore, lamp research has been a separate activity at Bloomfield, N. J., under the direction of Dr. II. C. Kentschler. With the facilities provided by the new building and with the demands created by America's entry into the war, research expanded rapidly. The company was immediately involved in problems intimately con- nected with the military and naval needs of the country. Many major developments in the electrical industry have come largely or entirely as a result of Westing- house research. George Westinghouse himself was a pioneer in the generation, transi)ortation, and distri- bution of alternating current. Machine-wound coils and laminated cores for transformei-s; air ventilated and oil filled transformers; the polyphase induction motor, invented by Nicola Tesla; the slotted armature for direct-current machines; the Scott transformer; and the synchronous contlenser; these are some of the im- provements contributed by research workers and engi- neers in Westinghouse. Micarta, a laminated plastic inateiial widely used in the electrical industry for many years, originally consisted of paper and shellac, l)ul men in the company's laboratory found that sj-n- thetic resins could be advantageously substituted for the shellac. Mr. C E. Skinner, the first director of research at Westinghouse, was one of the first to make Figure 8. — Library, Research and Development Laboratories, Bakelite Corporation, Bloomfield, New Jersey. (Unit of Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation) Industrial Research 55 use of Bakelite and similai- coihijouihIs in the electrical industry. In fact Wcstinghousc i^nvc I^r. Backcland his iirst conmu'rcial order for Baivclitc. IniiJrovcnicnts in insulation materials and electrical sheet effected in the laboratory have brouglit great savings (o the users of electricity. New and valuable alloys, incluiling one with the same expansion characteristics as hard glass and another of very great strength at high (enipera- tures, which is a salisfactmy substitute in many i)laces for platinum, have l)i'en developeti l)y the company. The laboi-atories have also i)layed an active part in perfecting radio transmitting and receiving e(iuipment. Some 10,000 of the tubes used m the early receiving sets were manufactured by members of the research staff. In 193G the company' began an extensive program of research in the field of nuclear physics, which led to the construction of a 5,000,000-volt atoju smasher of the electrostatic type. Another step toward more funda- mental research was taken in 193G when the Westing- house Research Fellowship Plan, by which five Fellows with Ph. D. degrees would be appointed each year to carry on research in fields of their o^\^l choosing, was inaugurated at the suggestion of Dr. E. U. Condon. Fellowships are granted for 1 year, although they may be renewed for a second year, and, in general, the studies made by the recipients have no inmicdiatc commercial objective but are designed to increase the store of scientific knowledge. Westinghouse supplements research in its own laboratories by maintaining a number of research fellowships and by subsidizing certain studies in such institutions as Mellon Institute, Arthm- 1). Little, University of Pennsylvania, Stevens Institute of Technology, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology, and the Engineering Foundation. Rubber B. F. Goodrich Company Although Charles Goodj'car discovered the secret of vidcanization in 1839, when he dropped a piece of rubber mixed with sulfur on the hot stove in his kitchen, it was not until 1S95 that the first research laboratory in the rubber industry was established by the B. F. Goodrich Company at its plant in Akron, Ohio. Charles C. Goodrich, the eldest son of the fomider, was a graduate chemist and the first manager of the laboratory'. As the uses for rubber grew, an ever-increasing number of problems were presented to the laboratoiy staff. Groups were organized to find methods of con- trolling and improving the raw materials, to study waj's of bettering processes and equipment, and to develop new products. Their research uncovered the fact that certain organic chemicals added to rubber compositions shorten the time of vulcanization and improve the strength and aging i)roi)erties of the finished goods. This advance made it possible or manufacturers to jjioduce in greater quantities without buikling additional plants and for consumers to liavc better products at lower cost. From the laboratory came also the discovery that carbon black, when iiicorjjorated in rubber goods in amounts much greater than had previously been used, increased the resistance of rubber to abrasive wear and made possible tiie construction of a satisfactoiy tread for automobile tires. Similarly the addition of certain chemicals to rubber, was found to retard its deteriora- tion and to increase its resistance to heat and to cracking under repeated flexing. At the present time the division of synthetic research under the tlircction of Dr. \Vald() L. .Semon, is particu- larly active in developing a rubber-like product made entirely from raw materials available in this coimtry. Petroleum, the base, is broken down to butadiene, which is liquified, mixed with other ingredients prepared from natiu^al gas and air, and then made into a milky emidsion by the use of soap supplied from American agricultural sources. United States Rubber Company As m many other great industries so, too, in the tire industry progress in the early days was the result of inventive genius. While this force is still important as the industry continues to grow, it has to be supple- mented with systematic investigations of the factors in the numufacturing process which afi'ect the properties of the finished product. In the United States Rubber Company organized research is conducted by the operating divisions of the company, in each of which there is a development department with suitable laboratory facilities, and by the general development division, of which the general laboratories are a part. Fundamental research and such applied research as is of interest to more than one division are carried out by the general development divi- sion. Responsibility for the maintenance and improve- ment of the quality of the company's products rests upon the technical groups in the operating divisions. This separation of responsibilities permits both the necessary concentration upon research and the proper attention to manufacturing processes. For years the company has studied systematically the physical and engineering problems involved in the manufacture of tires, and as a result has contributed materially to the progress which the industry has made in increasing the safety, improving the performance, and lengthening the life of this important product. Although it had been known for a long time tliat 56 National Resources Planning Board certain materials would accelerate the process of vulcani- zation, only within the last 20 years has the company been particularly active in discovering and promoting the use of chemicals for this purpose. During the same period the useful life of rubber products has been greatly increased by the development of another class of chemi- cals known as antioxidants. About the time of the First World War, the United States Rubber Company began an intensive study of latex in an effort to find methods of using it in manu- facturing operations in place of dry rubber. As a result of this study the companj' has developed a number of new or improved products which can be manufactured by using the latex method. Among the new products are a rubber thread which when covered with textile yarns is known as Lastex; a latex paper widely used in the manufacture of artificial leathers and similar products where a high degree of strength and good embossing properties are desii-ed; a latex foam from which car seat cushions, mattresses, and similar products can be manufactured directly; and a wire which has a rubber insulation of such unusual high quality and uniformity that it permits a reduction in the over-all diameter. Substantial quantities of latex are also being introduced into industries which were unable to use dry rubber in their manufacturing processes. Motor Vehicles General Motors Research Corporation About 1909 C. F. Kettering visualized a research organization for the purpose of initiating improvements upon which he felt the future of the automobile in- dustry depended. The Dayton Engineering Labora- tories Company was established to carry out the pro- gram Kettering had conceived. The company hoped to license its subsequent developments to the various car or accessory manufacturers and in this way to obtain funds for future investigations. Realizing that research and production, if housed under the same roof, might prove to be unfortunate rivals for the company's time and effort, the men in the enterprise decided not to enter immediately the manufacturing field. The first project of the newly organized company was a battery ignition system, which found favor in the eyes of several manufacturers. Inasmuch as the system consisted chiefly of a coil and several small parts or contacts, the Kellogg Switchboard and Supply Company of Chicago undertook to manufacture the unit, and a license arrangement was agreed upon. In this way funds were obtained for further research, and the company could continue on its original purpose. In 1912, the company offered the self-starter to the automobile manufacturers. A problem immediately presented itself, however. Because of certain features in the construction of this new unit, it could not be readily produced by an outside company. The labora- tories, therefore, undertook the assembly of the starter, purchasing the parts from dilferent manufacturers. In this way the company became a manufacturing concern, still devoting, however, part of its energies to funda- mental research, out of which, incidentally, came the Delco farm lighting unit in 1914. After an unsuccess- ful attempt to have an outside company manufacture the unit, the farm lighting division of Delco was organ- ized to take over the production. At the time the United States entered the First World War, several of the manufacturers of accessories found it necessary to combine in order to stabilize the acces- sory business. Consequently, the United Motors Cor- poration was organized, with Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., as president. This organization later purchased by Gen- eral Motors included Delco, Remy, New Departure, Hyatt, and Perlam Rim. In 1917 Kettering, realizing that facilities for general automotive research were Umited because of the require- ments of production, returned again to the idea of a laboratory for fundamental research and organized the Dayton Research Laboratories Company, with Mr. F. O. Clements as director. The newly organized company focused its energies chiefly on the problem of detonation. During the early months of the country's participa- tion in the First World War, the Government often had occasion to ask the assistance of the organization in the solution of war problems, among them the gyro- scopic control of aerial torpedoes. Later the company found difficulty in obtaining raw materials because of the enforcement of the priority list. In order to over- come this handicap, the company became associated with the Dayton Metal Products Company as its research division, but engaged also in research and pro- duction work for the Dayton Wright Airplane Company. At the end of the war, the company again turned its attention to automotive research, concentrating its efforts on ethyl gasoline, combustion studies, and air- cooling problems. General Motors at this time be- came interested in these projects and purchased the Dayton Metal Products Company and also the Dayton Wright Airplane Co. In 1920 the General Motors Research Corporation was established at Moraine City, Ohio, with C. F. Kettering as president and F. O. Clements as technical director. This step marks the beginning of the present period of the research laboratories. In the summer of 1925 the Research Corporation transferred its labora- tories to Detroit to be nearer the manufacturing divi- sions of the company, and its name was changed to General Motors Corporation, Research Laboratories. At this time it was merged with the General Motors Industrial Research 57 Research Department which had been estabhshcd bj' Arthur D. Little, Inc., at Detroit in 1911. The hibora- tories quickly outgrew the quarters assigned to them, and in 1929 were moved into a new building. On January 1, 1938, research was given the status of a full division and is now the Research Laboratories Division, General Motors Corporation, with C. F. Kettering as general manager. The research workers in General Motors have con- tributed to every product or study in which the cor- poration has had an interest. The wide variety of the problems engaging the attention of the staff and the importance of its work to the automotive industry are clearly indicated by such accomphshments as lacquer finishes, ethyl gasoline, powdered metal oilless bear- ings, two-cycle Diesel engines, static and dynamic balancing machines, quick process malleable iron, two- way hydraulic shock absorbers, hypoid gear lubricants, and rubber bushings. Chrysler Corporation In 1924, when the public first viewed a Chrysler automobile, the company's engineering research facUi- ties consisted of a 3-room laboratory in a small wooden buUding. Today the engineering and research division with a staff of 55 technical workers and more than 1,000 other employees is housed in new, fully equipped laboratories, in which on an average day 1,500 research tests and projects are in progress, while on some days the number reaches 2,500. Each project has a care- fully defined objective, a detailed budget, and a dead- line for its completion. These limitations are altered only when the research is clearly proceeding toward a desired end, for Chrysler engineering and research must "pay oft" eventually in a better car or a lower cost of manufacture." The company's engineering and research is subdivided roughly into three divisions, (1) fundamental research, which seeks new ways of designing a car and its parts, (2) the analysis, testing, and control of materials, parts, and processes involved in the production of the next model, (3) the testing of the completed car and the comparison of the results with those from similar tests upon the carj of competitors. Work in the first category is concerned with projects that point toward the automobile of the future. Engi- neers test scale models in a wind tunnel in order to de- termine the changes necessary in design to reduce the resistance of an automobile to both head winds and cross winds. From such studies the engineer learned that a "typical sedan in 1932 could go backward with about half the resistance with which it could go for- ward." Physicists study the interplay of scores of vibrations of varying intensities, durations, and wavelengths in order that engineers may be aided in designing the complementary dampening equipment to this vibration and in properly placing the dampening equipment relative to the center of gravity. Chemists and metallurgists seek new alloys, synthetic rubbers, and plastics that will better meet the loads and stand the speeds of today's high-compression motors. For years the physiology of the automobile driver has engaged the attention of the company's research work- ers in order that they may better understand the effects of noise and vibrations on the human system. The second type of research in the company's labo- ratories consists of subjecting to rigorous tests every part of the automobile and every material from which those parts are constructed. In the laboratory where routine ferrous tests are made, for example, a single bench is allotted to each of the basic elements in the composition of steel, so that once a specimen piece has been subjected to the various tests its content of carbon and magnesimn and copper is accurately known. From these exhaustive tests and analyses of parts and materials, the company is able to write specifications for better materials, new materials, and new parts. The company's laboratories in a sense, therefore, serve a host of industries that supply both the automotive industry and the general public. Elaborate facihties are provided for the third type of research — that of testing the finished car and comparing it with the cars of other manufacturers. A variety of machines reproduce in the laboratory all the road con- ditions that a driver could possibly encomiter. In fact these conditions can be greatly exaggerated, yet the means of measuring the effects upon the car can be far more accurate and detailed than any that can be established for an actual test on the road. In the dynamometer building, tests can be run in a completely dehumidified room with the temperature at 45° F. below zero, or in a room where the temper- ature is far above himian tolerance. Nevertheless a final check upon the results obtained in the laboratory is secured by sending fleets of cars to operate in every part of the country under a variety of road conditions. By its application of science and scientific methods, by its painstaking records of tests and analyses, the company duphcates in a short time years of trial and error effort; and, so far as human planning and fore- sight can insure it, "seeks to determine its own tech- nological destiny." Metals American Brass Company The American Brass Company included among its member companies the Coe Brass Manufacturing Company of Torrington, Conn. This fact is of im- portance in a survey of the development of research 58 A^ational Resources I'laiining Board because Williaui II. Basset t Ix'canie elieinist of the Coo Manufacturing Company in 1902. Duriiitr tluit year and in the ones miniediately following:, wliilf he was chief chemist and metallurgist of the American Brass Company, Basselt initiated a broad program of re- search which was to have great influence upon the entire copper anil brass industry. The progi'am was, in reality, a gradual outgrowth of work demanded by the problems of the industry; for instance, the produc- tion of electrolytic copper had resulted in adequate volume but not in the cjuality necessary for the pro- duction of good WTOught copper and wrought copper alloys. By cooi)erating closely with the most able copper metallurgists and refmers of those early days, Bassctt succeeded in securing electrolytic copper with properties which were equal to those of the Lake copper that previously' had been the standard of the industry. Such cooperation was not confined to those in tlie copper refining industry, but was extended to the men in the brass casting shop and brass mill where "rule-of- thumb" methods were in control. In a relatively few months, standard methods of chemical analysis of coj)- per and its alloys had been developed and put into practice throughout the mills of the American Brass Company. Exact chemical ranges of composition of alloj's were decided upon, and from that time each alloy was cast to specifications, not only as to copper content but also as to allowa])le amounts of impurities. From the multiplicity of problems facing the copper industry one of the first that Bassett selected for study was that of the logical determination and arrangement of data on the properties of copper and copper alloys after cold rolling and after heat treatment or annealing. Charts were prepared showing graphically the tensile strength, elongation, electrical conductivity, hardness, and grain size of many brass, bronze, and nickel alloys. This study, made more instructive by means of photo- micrographs, was the first instance in America of the use of the microscope in the examination of the struc- ture of copper and its alloys. With the assistance of Mr. F. G. Smith and Mr. J. C. Bradley, he revealed by methods of polishing and etching the relation of grain size to annealing temperature. The research department (as such) did not grow rap- idly. It gave most of its attention to improving manu- facturing methods, yet each of the trained men in the department was expected to give a portion of his time and thought to the solution of research projects. In 1920 the company's research program was broad- ened to include a large number of studies in the resist- ance of alloys to corrosion and the development of new alloy materials. Today its research continues under the direction of II. C. Jennison and J. K. Freeman, Jr. American Rolling Mill Company Since its incejition tlie American Kulling Mill Com- pany has given iirst i)lace to researcii. Such emphasis was essential, for the company started as a very small concern in 1900, the j'car that much of tiie steel indus- trj' was consolidated into the largest commercial corpo- ration the world had j'^et known. Tiie officials of the American Itolling Mill Company felt that if the C( m- pan^' wvn: to survive it must enlist the forces of re- search. Their early and continuing faith in industrial research has been justified, and today the company is the world's largest nnmufacturer of si)ccial-analysis iron and steel sheets. The company's researeli can be divided into two parts: one, the study of chemical anil metallurgical problems to produce sheets for exacting uses such as drawing, s])inning, and the making of alloyed metals; the other, a study and ilevelo])nient of mechanical and l)rodiictivc ])rocesses to better the |)roducl, increase the output, and lower the cost. Chemical and metallurgical research at the American Rolling Mill Companj- began when a 25-ton furnace was set aside for experiments in nuiking electrical steel of the uniformitj-, low hj'steresis, and high i)ermeability needed by such concerns as the West inghouse Company. The relentless toll of rust demanded attention, and experiments were conducted in 1900 to make pure ii'on in an open hearth furnace, with the result that the company's ingot iron was placed on the market. It won the prize award at the San Francisco Plxposition in 1915 for rust resistance, welding, magnetic, and enameling j)roperties. The growing need for stronger lightweight sheets for railroad cars, busses, and products of a similar kind led to intensive research which re- sulted in the j)roduction of the high tensile sheets which are today serving this market with definite advantages. Closely associated with iron and steel production are the various methods for coating sheets of iron and steel. Recent research has i)roduced galvanized sheets that can be painted immediately without weathering and a galvanized coating that will not peel in forming or spinning. As a result the cost of hand dii)ping is saved on all sorts of galvanized products. The invention by John B. Tyttis in 1024 of the con- tinuous process for rolling sheets is perhaps the Ameri- can Rolling Mill Company's greatest contribution to the iron and ste(>l industry. Mills built and equipped for this process by the leading steel comi)anies, under license, have made possible an increase in the use of iron and steel sheets that could not lunc taken place willi hand mil! ojiei'ation. Industrial Research 59 American Smelting and Refining Company Iviiiy in 192-1 llic i)ropusal to establish a research liepaitiiUMil ill the, American Smelting and Kelining Company was given serious consideration. The sug- gestion was occasioned by the feeling among the odi- cials that systematic research would materially assist the company in maintaining its position in the rapiilly advancing nonferrous metallurgical field. It was believed that the needs of the cojnpaiiy couhl best l)c served bj' a stall' composed of highly trained scientists, together with men in the plant who had shown a natural ai)titude for research. The activities of the staff would be ilirecteil towaiil the investigation, study, and developnu-nt of established i)rocesses, as well as new ones. This staff, together with its facilities, would also be availai)le for technical advice and service to the various i)lants and, by keeping in touch with scientific progress in otlier industries, would ]>rovi>! Dedication of Sguibb Institute. Induttrial and EnsiTuerlnn Chematrn (,Ntwi Ed.), 16, 564 (October 20, 1938). 62 National Resources Planrnnrj Hoard locomotive tractive power, hniiiin comj)anv and kept busy upon immediate i)rol)lcms of control and trouble shooting. About the same time C. H. MacDowcll coiiviiiced Armour that profits lay in the direction of better utilization of byproducts as fertilizer and was com- missioned to start the venture which became the Armour Fertilizer Works. In 1907 Paul Rudinick, who succeeded .Manns in charge of the chemical lal)oratories, created a separate department undc" Dr. Frederick Fenger foi- pharma- ceutical research, and one for research in fertilizers under H. C. Moore. Not until 1928, liowcver, was an attempt made to form a separate research organiza- tion. At that time W. P. Hemphill, an executive officer of the company, brought research under his jurisdiction, with J. J. ^'ollertsen, chief control chemist, in immediate charge. The physical equipment for research remained decentralized until E. L. Lalumier, Hemphill's successor, obtained the first a[)propriation for a separate research laboratory. From 19.10 to 1939 both research and develoi)ment work were handled by the research department under the direction of V. Conquest. In the latter year the development work was placed under a separate head, and the research program expanded. Swift and Company In 1871 G. H. Hammond, a Detroit paikcr, built a partially successful refrigerator car. Five or six j-ears later Gustavus Finnklin Swift, by de- veloping a completeh' successful one, made possible the erection of centralized meat packing plants near livestock markets such as Chicago. By 1877 Swift and Company was shipping dressed beef to a country- wide trade. With its market greatly expanded, the company's operations increased, and steadily mounting tonnages of blood, grease, and bones were discarded as waste or utilized in a haphazard way to make feeds, fertilizers, soaps, and other finished products. Little Industrial Research 03 serious atteiilion, however, was given to the systematic conversion of waste products into vahiablc byproducts. In 1892 a small laboratory was established at the Chicago plant of Swift and Company ui a building which served simultaneously as a glue and soap factory. Dr. Joslyn was employed as chief chemist. The stated functions of the laboratory were to analvze and stand- ardize the company's products, and to find answers to problems pertaining not only to the manufacture of major products such as meat and lard, but also to the exploitation of byproducts. Since the meat packmg mdustry offered unexplored territory to the scientist, his discoveries were frequent and led quickly to an expansion of the company's activities. New packing plants were built or purchased, and in each new plant there was a laboratory' for analytical and control work. Branch laboratories were installed at St. Louis in 1900, Kansas City and St. Joseph in 1905, Fort AVorth in 1906, and subseciuently in Omaha, East Cambridge, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Paul, New- ark, East St. Louis, Edmonton, Toronto, Harrison, and Atlanta. Much of the research m the laboratories during the early j'ears of their existence was determined by outside factors. Between 1907 and 1910, the problem of acidu- lation of phosphate rock to render phosphoric acid available for fertilizers which could supplement the animal fertilizers rich in nitrogen was of paramount im- portance. A little later a process was worked out by which potash could be recovered from kelp. From 1910 to 1912 the research staff was particularly active in developing modern methods of fat and oil hydrogena- tion, refining, and bleaching. Until 1920 the research laboratories were attached to divisions such as glue and gelatin, fat and oil, soap and glycerine, bacteriologj', and meat. Trouble shooting, technical sales service, utilization of byproducts were the chief activities of the men in the laboratories, and out of a staff of approximately 50 persons, not more than 8 or 10 were doing actual research. To relieve the inadequacy of accommodations and to provide for expansion, the company built new labora- tory facilities in 1929. Two years later W. D. Richard- son, who had been chief chemist for 27 years, resigned and R. C. Newton succeeded him. More trained men were emploj'ed to work on problems which the smaller staff had been forced to neglect. New divisions were formed, and coordinated with them were 16 outside laboratories and 160 smaller test rooms devoted to the ever increasing task of controlling the processes and products. Approximately 150 trained men are now engaged in this control work. At the laboratories in Chicago about 60 persons are engaged at least part of the time in fundamental re- search in many subjects, including physical chemistry. bacteriology, industrial sanitation, nutrition, histology, and pathology. These men also devote time to devel- opment work and to consultation and technical sales service. Babcock and Wilcox Company Since the early days of its existence Babcock & Wilcox Company has carried on laboratory and research work. Until 1900, studies were conducted at Stevens Institute of Technology, under the guidance of T. B. Stillman, Sr., and D. S. Jacobus. From 1900 to 1910 a small wooden building in Bayonne, N. J., housed 3 to 4 men engaged in laboratory work on fuel, combustion, and water anal3'ses. In 1910 the company established at Bayonne a complete chemical, physical, and metallurgi- cal laboratory, and placed a competent chemist and metallurgist in charge of it. This laboratory continued in operation until 1932, when it was moved to the com- pany's plant at Barberton, Ohio, and consolidated with two other laboratories. Besides this laboratory, the company now maintains a complete metallurgical and piij'sical laboratory at Beaver Falls, Pa., and a third laboratory at Augusta, Ga., especially equipped for re- fractory research. To complement research work in its own laboratories the company has supported research in technical institutions. Most of the company's research has naturally been devoted to subjects affecting the construction and op- eration of boilers, which in 50 years have changed from hand fired cast-iron boilers having a capacity of 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of steam an hour at 160 poimds pressure to completely automatic units fired with pulverized fuel, producing more than 1,000,000 pounds of steam an hour at a pressure of 2,600 pounds. Research on refractories, however, has led the company into the manufacture of firebrick and insulating materials, products which find little use in connection with boilers. Bausch & Lomb Optical Company The Bausch and Lomb Optical Company, is said to owe its existence to the imagination of J. J. Bausch in foreseeing the advantages of hard rubber as a material for making spectacle frames. A chenucal laboratory was established by the com- pany in 1899, with John Wood Scott as chemist in charge. The iirimary purjiose of this lalioralory was the preparation of chemicals to be sold through the chemical supply division which, at that time, was an active division of the company. Shortlj' after the laboratory was founded, it was asked to undertake research on lacquers for finishing metal, cements for use in the lens departments, and abrasive materials for use in grinding lenses. Before the end of the year, 1899, Mr. Frank Kolb was engaged to work primarily on such problems. He was soon put in charge of the 64 National Resources Planning Board chemical laboratory and has hold tlmt position up to the present time. The activities of this early chemical laboratory were the special interest of Henry Baiisoli. As the company gjew, the responsibilities of the laboratory naturally increased. It was called on for aid in the early experi- ments in the making of optical glass, inspired by William Bausch; it undertook research m all kinds of metal plating; and the latest step in its expansion was the addition of the equipment and personnel necessary to handle the companj^'s work in metallurgy. In 1905 the scientific bureau was established, pri- marily to perfect optical designs, to carry out such research as might be necessary or appropriate to es- tablish standards of performance, and to devise testing equipment for use in the factory in producing instru- ments that measured up to the established standards of performance. The man employed to head this depart- ment was Dr. G. A. H. Kcllner, who had been educated at the Universitites of Jena and Berlin and who had had practical experience in the optical industries of Ger- many. Attached to his staff were Adolph and Henry Lomb, Jr., and Fred Saegmuller. In 1908 Dr. Kellner engaged the services of W. B. Ray ton, and lost the services of the other 3 men mentioned because of the continued growth of the business and the necessity to draft these men for other responsibilities. From this small beginning the department grew until on January 1, 1940, its staff consisted of a total of 39 people, including optical engineers, electrical engineers, and mechanical engineers. Dr. Kellner's first undertaking was a revision of the line of microscope objectives that were manufactured by the company. iVt the same time he began a revision of the optical systems employed in a group of engineer- ing instruments which the company had begun to manufacture after its absorption of the business of the George N. Saegmuller Company of Washington in 1905. A new interest, introduced into the company's activities by Saegmuller, was the development of lire- control instruments for the United States Navy^ instruments such as gun sights, periscopes, range finders, and miscellaneous telescopes. Prior to this time the Navy had very little equipment of this sort, and the years between 1905 and 1914 were active ones in both the Bureau of Ordnance of the Navy and the scientific bureau of the Bausch & Ix)mb Optical Com- pany in developing various equipment which was more or less experimental in the study of the whole problem of determining ranges and aiming guns. The scientific bureau has continued research upon the company's original products — spectacle lenses and frames. In 1912 it began studies in the performance of curved forms of lenses. The general development of the whole field of ophthalmology has perforce led the company into the design and manufacture of elab- orate instruments for diagnosis of the pathology of the eyes and for the determination of refractive errors. As a result of the First World War the company had to supplement its lines of products by a group of labora- tory instruments such as spectrometers, refractometers, spectrographs, and colorimeters. Responsibility for developments in this field rested on the scientific bureau. A survey revealed the fact that too many of these instruments were so designed that the operator, instead of being able to concentrate on his main problem, had to devote a large part of his time and ingenuity to keeping the instruments in working order. Until his death in 1926, Dr. Kcllner manifested a keen interest in the design of such instruments. Following Dr. Tvelliicr's death, Dr. Rnj'ton was made head of the bureau, where subsequent developments have added to the original responsibility for optical design, the responsibility for the mechanical design of all optical instruments manufactured by the company. By continuous research involving the properties of materials and the suitabilitj' of designs, this depart- ment has, through improved instruments, advanced the work of both the research and routine laboratories of the country. A third research grou]) niamtained hy the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company is concerned with the problems of manufacturing o[)tical glass. This group obtains assistance from the chemical laboratory and from the scientific bureau, the former doing analytical work and the latter investigating the quality of glass as regards its effect on the performance of lenses and instruments. The glass research group proper is concerned with the problems of melting, annealing, and inspecting optical glass. Work in this field was begun shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. The conditions that resulted from the war made it absolutely necessary that the company solve the problem of manufacturing opti- cal glass. The emergency was so serious that the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington assigned several members of its staff to duty at the glass plant of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, and, as a consequence, the progress made in the years 1917 and 1918 was manj- times greater than it would otherwise have been. In spite of the fact, however, that throughout these years very large quan- tities of usable optical glass were manufactured, the number of kinds made was small, and much remained to be done to reduce the cost of production and to improve the quality of the product. Formulas and techniques required for the production of a wider range of glasses also had to be developed after the war. As the interests of the company have expanded so, too, have the activities of its research laboratories in which 130 workers are now employed. Industrial Research 65 Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Incorporated Public utilities providing electric, gas, or steam service are faced with research problems that are dif- ferent in many ways from those of manufacturing com- panies. They do not usually manufacture or sell products and are not directly interested in creating new products. Their function is to provide service at the least possible cost to the public. To a very consider- able degree, the plant and facilities of a utility company are composed of more or less complete units purchased from manufacturers. The engineering problems are, therefore, largely those of selecting suitable equipment and assembling it in a way that will give the most effective operation. Only to a limited extent does the company fabricate raw materials. Manj' of the items of equipment, however, are such that they cannot be tested thoroughly by the manufac- turer. Large steam turbine generating units, electric power cables, large gas manufacturing equipment must be operated under service conditions in order to deter- mine their limitations and possibilities. Therefore, the chief tasks of research workers in the utility industry are the critical examination of problems arising from the operation of equipment and the interpretation of the results of such an examination in ways that will be useful in designing and manufacturing equipment. The utilities rarely make basic designs for such equipment, however, but are continually confronted with the prob- lem of choosing between a number of designs ofl'ered by various manufacturers. An intelligent choice requires knowledge of the controlling factors. Occasionally it is necessary for the utility companies, as purchasers of equipment, to make demands that will accelerate prog- ress, but these can be made intelligently only when those calling for the new type of equipment have a suf- ficiently detailed understanding of the problems in- volved to know that their solution is practical and eco- nomically sound. Other research arises in connection with the adapt- ing of utility company services to the needs of custo- mers. Most of the activity in this connection is of an engineering or teclmical nature, but there is a continual sprinkling of problems, such as corrosion of pipes and equipment utilizing gas or steam, which demand the more fundamental approach that can be made only by a research organization. The Consolidated Edison Company of New York is one of the few utilities in the country that has set up research as a distinct activity. In most companies it is a part of the engineering and operating divisions. The present research organization of this companj' is an out- growth of the work of a small group formed in 1922 and charged with the responsibility of handling a variety of technical problems in connection with high voltage elec- tric power cables on the new power transmission system which was then being evolved. An important phase of the early work was the development of new test tech- niques for use in the investigation of the cables and the making of suitable joint designs. This effort was grad- ually expanded to include methods for checking new in- stallations of cable and for locating faults when they occurred. Gradually these procedures became more or less routine and were eventually transferred to the company's testing and operating departments. For 15 years electrical msulation has been an impor- tant study m the company's laboratory. Today, atten- tion is directed particularly to the factors influencing the deterioration of electrical insulation and to the es- tablishment of criteria for use by the engineering depart- ments in their selection of cables. Many aspects of this work are so fundamental that a study of them requires men with a knowledge of physical chemistry and physics. Improved efficiencies in the utilization of fuel have been possible only through the extensive use of new products of the metallurgical industry; consequently work in metallurgy has been of growing importance. Although the materials which are used in the production and fabrication of metals are carefully selected, they must be put into actual service before their essential characteristics can be determined. The company has, therefore, found it very important to have in its research organization trained metallurgists, as only they can obtain the necessary fundamental information. Ex- tensive laboratory studies are frequently required to explain conditions observed in the field. The personnel of the research organization in the Con- solidated Edison Company, totaling about 30, is not large, but the assistance of a large technical service organization and of the engineering departments is available whenever specific projects demand an in- creased personnel. Eastman Kodak Company While still a bank clerk, George Eastman began the research which laid the foundation for the present Eastman Kodak Company. Keenly interested in photography, he was annoyed at having to carry about a dark tent and silver bath whenever he wished to take a picture, and when an article in an English journal suggested to him a possible improvement in the art, he set about "to compose an emulsion that could be coated and dried on a glass plate and retain its properties long enough to be used in the field." His first experiments brought small results, but finally he found a coating of gelatin and silver that had all the necessary photo- graphic qualities. The thought then came to him that other photog- raphers must also be eager to rid themselves of the cumbersome equipment required for taking pictures. 66 A'ational Resources Planning Board By Juno 1879 ho was ninkinp: aiid iiuukcliiig plates that were entu'd}' succ-ossful, ami a inonlh later he got his first patent in England on a process for coating the plates. Experiment after experiment was made to improve both the emulsion and tlie machine in which the plates were coated. Meanwhile the demand for the product was increasing, and Eastman's fame was spreading. Catastrophe was soon to strike, however. Photographers began to complain that the Eastman plates were dead. Recalling all the stock in the hands of dealers, Eastman began to search for a dependable emulsion. Four hundred and fifty-four attempts at mixing, cooking, and testing brought the same result — a "slight red fog and sliglit veil." Neither his own formula nor any other would produce a clear i)late. After 18 more attempts he obtained an enndsion "free from red fog" but his success was fleeting; the l)ottlc broke, and he lost it all."^ Following a brief trip to Elngland, Eastman resumed his experiments in Kochestcr. Very soon his plates '" Ackerman. Carl W. George Eastman. Boston, New York, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1930, p. 43. were again "clear ami good." The liundreds of unsuc- cessful experiments and the information obtained during his stay in England had given Eastman the clue to the (lifTieidty, whicli lay not in his formula or machine but in tiie gelalui beuig received from the manufticturers. Thereafter he tested every chemical or ingredient before he purchased a supply. Although Eastman was not the first person who had had the idea of using some substance other than glass as a base for the emulsion, he now turned his efforts in that direction. In a letter to one of his attorneys, he says: 1 first conceived the process of making Transparent Film by coating a support witli a solution of Nitro Cellulose, and then coating it with emulsion and afterwards stripping it off — earl}' in (lie year 18S4, not later tlian Feb. or Mar.'" Innumerable tecluiical and chemical problems arose during the development of tliis new j)roduct, and the first commercial film was not juade until March 26, 1885."' Fiir from satisfied with tliis film, but convinced "' George Eastman, p. 1.5. See footnote U3. I" George Eastman, p. 54. See footnote 113. r:^-^ Figure IU.- (Starting tJiit in Ism,) to iiikr :\ I'icture Iixhixfrial Research 67 that lie was on the right track, Eastman (h'cith'd to obtain the services of a trained chemist. lie consulted Professor Samuel Allan Lattimore, head of tlic Depart- ment of Clieniistry at the University of Rochester. Dr. Lattimorc's assistant was an "ingenious, quick witted fellow" named Henry M. Reichenbach, and sometijue in August 1886, Eastman oflered hiju a posi- tion in which he was to "devote his time entirely to experiments." Unlike many employers, Eastman was not imi)atient, and a year later in reporting the residts of the experiments to one of his associates in London he says of his chemist He knows nothing about photography ... I told him what was w-anted and that it might take a day, a week, a month or a year to get it, or perhaps longer, but that it was a dead sure thing in the end.'" Eastman's confidence m research was justified. After trying one thing after another, Reichenbach eventually found what he sought — the formula for a transparent, flexible fihu, which he patented Decem- ber 10, 1889. Eastman again wrote to his associate in London, this time offering a bit of advice: It will not be long before your concern will need a practical chemist. . . . The best way to do is to make application to the Prof, of Chemistry in some good technical school and have him recommend two or three first class boys. You can inter- view them and take your choice — If he is any good he will be the most profitable man you can hire."' Research was reducing photography from a compli- cated process requiring study and practice to a few sunple operations which the amateur coidd easily per- form. But there was much to be done, and Eastman sought more chemists. In 1891 he asked Prof. Thomas M. Drown, of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, to select a young chemist from the graduating class and to have him devote (dm-ing the remaining months of his training) some attention to photographic chemistry. Upon Reichcnbach's dismissal, Eastman sought recommendations for a young chemist from professors at Johns Hopkins, Columbia, and Cornell. At the same time he employed Dr. Leonard Paget to continue the company's research work in New York City. When Eastman built new buildings in 1893 at Kodak Park, he provided space for a new experimental labo- ratoiy, to which he called attention in a Prnapfctiin for Kodak, Limited, as follows: Special chemical and mechanical departments with a staff of skilled hands are maintained for experimental purposes in order to keep in advance of all demands for improvements in every branch of photography."" In 1910 the laboratory was enlarged, and 2 j-ears later a building at Kodak Park was completely remodelled to provide adequate facilities for all kinds of experi- ments-ciiemical and ])liysical. The company's re- search now included not only problems of immediate interest in the manufacture of photographic supplies, but also (juestions of scientific nature that might have an application in the photograjjliic industry. A man of unusual training and experience was needed to organize and direct the work of the laboratory, and while abroad in 1912, Eastman fovmd such a num in Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, one of the managing directors of a snuill firm of j)liotograpiiic maiuifacturers in England. He was a chemist, a physicist, also a practical manufacturer of color-sensitive dry plates and color screens used in photogi-apliy. Alecs came to America and has been in charge of the Eastman lab- oratory ever since. His firm, Wratten & Wain- wright, Ltd., was incorporated in the English company, Kodak Ltd. From the early days of the laboratorj^, organic chemicals used in the company's research were pre- pared in the organic chcmistiy laboratory, and a foatiu-e of the laboratory particularly interesting to foreign visitors was the equipment which made it possible to try out new processes on a miniature factory scale."* When the First World War cut off the supply of syntlietic organic chemicals coming from Germanj^, this experience and equipment proved especially valuable to this country. The laboratory soon became the chief soiutc in tlie United States for organic chemicals \ised in research. It can now supply industrial and university laboratories witli more than 3,000 such chemicals.'-" Research has led to a tremendous expansion of tlio photographic industry, and, in turn, the expansion of the industry has greatly extended the range of prob- lems with which the research laborat.ory has to deal. Today the work of the Kodak Research Laboratories falls naturally under the three subjects of photography, chemistry, and physics. LTnder those three main divisions, groups in the laboratory are doing funda- mental research as well as development and service work. Some idea of tiie extent and complexity of the company's research can be gained from the folIoM'ing description of the Chemical Division: . . . Each of the main divisions of the laboratory is subdi- vided into smaller specialist departments dealing with particular subjects. The chemical Division includes the following lab- oratories: Organic Chemisty, for general organic research, par- ticularly on cellulose and cellulose esters; Photochemistry, for II* George Eastman, p. 57. See footnote I i^ "' George Eastman, p. 63. See footnote US. 1" George Eastman, p. 146. See footnote 113. "• Fleming, A. V. M. Industrial research In the United States of America. Lon- don, H. M. Stationery OfHcc, 1917, p. 7. I'o Rochester — the city of varied industries. Induilrial and Engineerivfi Chemislry. (News Ed.). 15, 287 (July 10, 1937); Mees, C. E. K. Manuscript. 3218.S5 — 41- 68 National Resources Planning Board fundamental rcscarcli on the theory of pliotograi)liic sensitivity and development; Ilijjli Vacuum Chemistry, dealing with vacu- um pumps and gages for molecular distillation and vapor- pressure measurements; Electro-chemical Measurements, in- cluding Redex potentials of developers, electromctric titration, determination of hydrogen-ion concentration; Colloid Chemistry of Gelatin, Physical Chemistry of Film Support; Research on problems arising from the use of cellulose acetate yarn in textile processes, including a physical testing of yarn and the dyeing properties of textile materials; Micro-analysis; X-ray examina- tion of structure; Photographic emulsions and Sensitizing dyes."' More than 400 workers, over half of whom have uni- versity degrees, are now required to carry on the company's extensive research program. Johns-Manville Company In the seventies H. W. Jolms was experimenting with an oil stove, a teakettle with a flattened spout, and an ordinarj- clothes wringer to produce a fireproof roofing from saturated wool felt, burlap, manila paper, pitch, and asbestos. His experiments were successful, and for more than 20 years his efforts were devoted largely to the development of commercial products that could be manufactured from asbestos. I^ooking about in 1899 for a man who would make himself generally useful, Johns hired William Robbins Seigle, then 20 years old. Ten years later, when the II. W. Johns-Manvill(> Company purchased the Indurated Fibre Compan^^ at Lockport, N. Y., Seigle joined forces with Prof. C. Ij. Norton, who had developed a process for making "homogeneous sheets from a combination of asbestos and cement formed together under heavy pressure." Although not a scientist by training, Seigle be- lieved that if inventors working alone and with little scientific knowledge could occasionally make discoveries that were important for industry, then highly sldlled scientists working with adequate facilities could make many more such discoveries. In 1916 he organized with Professor Norton the Norton Laboratories, Inc., at Lockport, N. Y., and in 1917 he set up the W. K. Seigle Laboratories in the garage of his home in Mamaroneck. ^Mien the garage became too small for his research activities, he moved the laboratory to Bridgeport, Conn., and incorporated the enterprise as the Fibrefraks Laboratories. Although Seigle carried on the research as a personal activity, Johns-Manville profited by it in many ways. Asbesto-cement pipe, for example, was made possible very largely as a result of knowledge obtained in Seigle's laboratory. In time Johns-Manville purchased the Fibrefraks Laboratories and centered all the company's research at the Manville factory in New Jersey, with Mr. Seigle as director. Under his supervision the research work ex- I" Research In the Rochester area. JnduaMal and Engineerlnp Chemittrn (Niict Ed.), IB, 336-337 (August 10. 1937). pandcd until tiie laboratories reached their present size employing more than 125 trained workers, headed by a skilled staff of research engineers. Facilities have been provided in individual laboratories, such as the McMillan Thermal Insulation Laboratory and the Acoustical Laboratory, for special study of each class of materials made by the company. As a result, new materials are developed, existing products are improved, and technical service is given to customers and to the company's manufacturing and sales organizations. Only through research do the company's executives feel that they can be prepared for the future. National Lead Company — Titanium Division About 1870 a young French chemist. Dr. A. J. Rossi, came to America and was engaged in a blast furnace operation at Boonton, N. J., where titaniferous ores were being successfully smelted into pig iron. During this experience he became interested in the occurrence of titanium in iron ores. Mr. James McNaughton, who controlled the large acreage in the Adirondack Mountains where the Mclntyre Iron Company had operated a blast furnace for the reduction of titanium-bearing ores, was aware not only of the richness and extent of the titaniferous ore deposits available there, but also of the doubt of blast furnace operators regarding the possibilities of the use of such ore in furnace practice. Confident that effective utilization of the deposits could be made, he secured the services of Rossi, the only person in the country at that time who had anj- knowledge of the practical smelting of titaniferous ores. About 1890, with Rossi and several friends, McNaughton organized a syndicate and erected a very small blast furnace in Buffalo, N. Y., where titaniferous ores were smelted in various proportions. Rossi secured patents on the processes of smelting such ores and also on the manu- facture of various titanium alloys. In 1908 Rossi separated an impure titaniimi oxide and proved its unusual opacity as a pigment by mixing it with salad oU and applying the combination as paint. He was probably the first to conceive of the use of titanium oxide as white pigment. In 1912 L. E. Bartan joined Rossi in a systematic program of research on the possibilities of titaniimi for use as pigment. To- gether they developed a method of se])arating titanium oxide from rutilc and ilmcnite. Tlu-ough further re- search, they were able to demonstrate the practicability and value of titanimn dioxide as a white pigment of uniciue qualities and outstanding merit, and later, after additional studies, they produced the composite types of titanium pigments. As a direct outgrowth of their intensive experimental effort, the Titanium Pigment Company was incorp- orated and a factory built at Niagara Falls to produce Industrial Research G9 tilaiiiiun pigments, but restrictions imposed by tlie Government upon the use of power during the First World War delayed the commercial production of titanium pigments until 1918. After experiencing a rapid expansion, the Titanium Pigment Company was dissolved in 1936, and the manufacturing interests, property, and stocks were taken over by the National Lead Company — Titaniimi Division. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company Since its incorporation in 1883 the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company has maintaned research departments in its tliree divisions: glass, paint and varnish, and alkali chemical. Most of the company's research has been an outgrowth of plant problems and commercial require- ments, although occasionally the solution of problems quite remote from its operations and regular line of products has been undertaken. Research in the glass division has residted in such developments as a continuous process for manufacturing plate glass from a large tank instead of intermittent small pots; a continuous method of giinding and polish- ing plate glass, which replaced the individual plate polishers; improved finishes of glass; glasses of many different compositions for the purpose of meeting specific requirements; improved refractories for fm-naces; new and improved methods of laminating glass; new plastics for laminating glass; new safety glass cements; double glazed windows; glass building blocks; colored enameled glasses; and opaque construction glasses. The laboratory has recently cooperated with the laboratory of the Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Cor- poration in the development of vinyl plastic, a new plastic used in the manufacture of laminated safety glass. United Shoe Machinery Company It was in 1846 that Elias Howe, Jr., inventor of the sewing machine, revolutionized mechanical scwnng by putting the eye of the needle in the point. In 1851, John Brooks Nichols, a shoemaker, of L5'nn, taking Howe's machine as a model, made a similar machine whichsewcdthe uppers of shoes. ThcNichols invention, which may be considered the beginning of what today is research in the shoe industry, was the first important application of machinery to shoemaking. In 1858, Lyman R. Blake took the second step in the application of mechanical sewing to shoemaking by inventing a machine which sewed the soles of shoes to the uppers. From the time of Nichols and Blake to the present day — a period of 90 years — shoemaking has changed from handcraft to a higldy mechanized indus- try. Of this period, the last four decades have recorded a very large proportion of the major developments in invention and technical progress. With the founding of the United Shoe Machinery Company in 1899 came the first systematic application of scientific methods to the shoe industry. Conditions, prior to that time, insofar as the development of shoe machinery was concerned, were notably chaotic and unsatisfactory not only for inventors and manufacturers of machinery, but also for their prospective customers — those engaged in the manufacture of shoes. During the latter part of the century, an increasing number of men had acquired knowledge and skill in the develoi)ment of machines designed to replace hand work, but there was an almost complete lack of coordi- nation among these inventors. The need for system- atic organization and mobilization of effort was one of the fundanu'ntal reasons for the founding of the United Slioe Machinery Company. Over the past 40 years the company's experimental and research activities have led to the development of new production techniques, of improved products, and of more efficient service for the shoe industry. In the field of machine development, the company has con- tributed essentially and broadly to a rise in labor pro- ductivity, to a reduction in production costs, and to a mechanization of hundreds of operations formerly dore by hniid. During the last decade, the increase both in the numb(>r of research problems in the shoe industry and in their complexity has made it imperative for the research division to develop a program of coordinated effort. In the field of machinery development, for example, it is seldom practical for independent inventors to attempt the mastery of all the knowledge necessary for effective procedure. No matter how resourceful the individual may be, he must have the correlated assistance of the chemist, physicist, metallurgist, test-room specialist, and practical shoemaker. Every year the suggestion department of the com- pany's research division receives more than 3,000 separate items covering a wide range of subjects per- taining to shoe machinery, manufacturing processes, and allied problems. Before these suggestions become the bases for research projects, the commercial, eco- nomic, and patent features of each are carefully ana- lyzed. The division's large volume of data relating to the technological developments of the past furnishes invaluable information which influences the recommen- dations of research management to executive man- agement. The United Shoe Machinery Corporation embraces a number of affiliate companies engaged in manu- facturmg lasts, wood heels, eyelets, tacks and nails, shoe cartons, shoelaces, tanning machinery, chemicals used in the shoe industry, and hand tools. Research for all of these subsidiaries is sponsored by the research division, and the direction of new developments is systematically divided among competent specialists. 70 National Rcsnurcex Flnvnlnf) Board Committees are used as an efTcctive means of coordi- nating; research activities with the various operating departments of the business. For example, an operat- ing department committee, consisting of representatives from both the research division and a commercial department, review periodically the details of all de- velopments for that department respecting progress, direction, and cost. Two other important committees are the shoe ma- chinery program committee, and affiliate companies' program committee which have the responsibility of planning major developments in machines, processes, anil products, and of formulating definite long range objectives. The company has recently enlarged its experimental laboratory and now has more than 600 persons em- ployed in the research division. Western Precipitation Corporation In 1906 Frederick Gardner Cottrell, a professor of physical chemistry at the University of California, did the first work of any commercial significance in the field of electrical precipitation — a principle that was discovered by Hohlfeld, at Leipzig, in 1824. After plant tests of Cottrell's precipitator were made at the sulfuric acid works of E. I. du Pont de Nemours in Pinole, Calif., a commercial installation was made in 1907 at the plant of the Selby Lead Smelter to collect the sulfuric acid fumes escaping from the gold and silver parting kettles. Once the practicability of the process had been dem- onstrated. Dr. Cottrell and three associates founded the International Precipitation Company to act as a holding company for patents and to operate the world over through engineering organizations in various terri- torial districts. The Western Precipitation Company was organized to handle the engineering work in the western states. In 1911 the latter acquired its parent company. Not until 1936, however, was the name changed to the Western Precipitation Corporation. The corporation is a research, development, and engineering enterprise, augmented by a construction department. Although still specializing in (he electrical precipitation process, the company is also active in the field of dust and fiune control and in the air con- ditioning of materials. ForSOyears Walter A. Schmidt has been its director. An interestmg outgrowth of the International Precipi- tation Compan.v is the Research Corporation. When the Western Precipitation Company was formed, Cottrell and his associates in the International Precipi- tation Company offered their patent rights for the eastern territorjnn the United States to the Smithsonian Institution as an endowment for scientific research. Although the members of the Board of Regents did not deem it wise for the Institution to become direct owner of the patents, they were willing to accept a declaration of trust from the owners of the patents and to operate them in the interests of the Institution and pay over to it any net profits.'*^ As a result of this decision, the Research Corporation was organized in 1912 and capitalized by a group of men anxious to further without personal profit Dr. Cottrell's objects, which, as stated in the charter of the corporation, are ... to i)rovicte nioan.s for the advancement and extension of technical and scientific investigation, research, and experimenta- tion by contributing the net earnings of the corporation, over and above such sum or sums as may be reserved or retained and held as an endowment fund or working capital, ... to the Smithsonian Institution, and such other scientific and educational institutions and societies as the Board of Directors may from time to time select in order to enable sucli institutions and societies to conduct such investigations, research, and experi- mentation. Dr. Cottrell hoped particularly that the Research Coiporation would prove to be a means of getting closer and more effective cooperation between universities and technical schools and industrial plants, yet at the same time keeping the academic institutions or the members of their faculties from becoming involved in business details. The Research Corporation, he be- lieved, would achieve this cooperation by being in a position to develop useful and patentable inventions evolved by men in academic positions in connection with their regular work — inventions which would other- wise be unavailable to the public because of the dis- I inclination of the owners either to undertake the ■ necessary development work or to place their control in the hands of a private interest. The corporation could study the situation and arrange licenses under fair terms so that individual manufacturers would be , justified in undertaking the development of the in- I vcntions. At the same time it would be accumulating funds from royalties that could be used for further investigations.'^ Research Institutes Battelle Memorial Institute By the will of Cordon Battelle, an industrialist of Columbus, Ohio, the founding of Battelle Memorial Institute was made possible. In the couree of his industrial career, which was closely connected with the metallurgical and fuels industries, Battelle came to the conclusion that the furtherance of research in industry would contribute largely to the public welfare, and that a nonprofit research institute, sufiiciently financed to insure independence and continuity of "' Coltrell. P.O. Tho research corporation. Jniuttrial and Engineering ChemistT\i. i, 864 (December 1912). »> The research corporation, p. 865. See footnote 122. Industrial Research 71 operation, would be in a position to oncourap;e the use of research as a means of industrial progress. His will established a self-perpetuating board of trustees to formulate general policies and (o administer the endowments. A director, responsible to the board, was to be in immediate charge of the institute's activities. The nucleus of a technical staff was assembled, and the first building was ready for occupancy in the sum- mer of 1929. The staff grew as the volume of work increased, until at the end of 1939 it numbered over 200 persons of whom 125 were technically trained. Office and laboratory space has expanded correspond- ingly, and in 1937 a new building made it possible to establish a complete experimental foundry. This growth has been in accord with the policy by which the services of the organization have been made available to industry. Endowment income has been utilized to provide phj'sical plant and capital equipment, to finance a considerable body of fundamental research, to publish the resulting knowledge, and to engage in a program of research education. The large and grow- ing bulk of research, however, has been done under a sponsorship plan by which the out-of-pocket cost has been bonie bj^ industry, including single companies or groups of companies, associations, and individuals. All residts of such work have become the property of the sponsor, including data and patents on new or improved processes and products. In some cases such work may be held in confidence, while in others the results become available for publication. Because of the desire to maintain a permanent and closely integrated research staff, it has been the policy of the institute to confine its efforts to certain defuied fields of research. These are metallurgy, chemistry, fuels, ceramics, applied physics, and electrochemistry. The greater part of the sponsored work has been done for the metal, ceramic, fuel, and chemical industries, but other industries with problems in the special fields noted have accounted for an important fraction. Each year appointments of research associates are given to qualified graduates of accredited imiversities and col- leges who have demonstrated marked aptitude for scientific research. Mellon Institute In the early years of this century Dr. Robert Kennedy Duncan was seeking a means by which miiversities and technical schools could be brought into closer coopera- tion with industry. He recognized the need for a greater supply of men trained to do industrial research and for a more widespread and direct application of science on the part of small industries, to the end that the public at large might profit. The plan, known as the Industrial Fellowship System, apparently crystallized in Duncan's mind in 1906 after he had previously spent much tune inspecting the factories, laboratories, and universities of various European countries, where he had become impressed with the spirit of cooperation which existed between industry and institutions of learning, to the advantage of both. The contrast with American methods at this tune convinced him that some elfort should be made to provide for a greater application of science in this country. Duncan returned from Eurojjc to accept the chair of industrial chemistry at the University of Kansas where in January 1907, he established the first Industrial Fellowship. In his words, this plan gave — . . . the manufacturer the privilege of founding in tlie Uni- versity a Temporary Industrial Fellowsliip for the investigation of a specific problem, the solution of which would mutually and materially benefit both the manufacturer himself and the public. '2' Two years later, quite by chance, Andrew W. Mellon's attention was called indirectly to industrial fellowships through a chemical discovery made in France, which he passed on to the chief chemist of the Gulf Oil Com- pany. The latter reported that the discovery had no practical value and to prove his statement sent Mellon a copy of a book called The Chemistry of Commerce by Robert Kennedy Duncan. In the last chapter of that book Mellon read of the plan for industrial fellowships. Both he and his brother, Richard B. Mellon, felt that an institution based upon Duncan's ideas would be a strong force in the direction of improving the standard of living through discoveries and inventions. '^^ Con- sequently they invited Duncan to come to the Univer- sity of Pittsbiu'gh ami establish the system there. He accepted, and in 1911 the first research fellows began their work in temporary quarters. As the result of a substantial gift from Andrew and Richard Mellon in 1915, the system was placed upon a permanent basis as Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. Duncan died in 1914 and was succeeded as Director by Dr. Raymond F. Bacon, the former associate director. He in turn was succeeded by Dr. Edward R. Weidlein, the present director. Although allied cooperatively with the University of Pittsburgh, Mellon Institute has its own building, endowment, and management. It was incorporated in 1927. Under the Industrial Fellowship System, an individ- ual or a company with a problem to solve may become the donor of a fellowship by contributing to the institute a definite sum of money for a period of not less than 1 year. The funds so donated are used to pay the salary and research expenses of the man or men selected '" Duncan, R. K. Temporary Industrial fellowships. North American Review 185, 57 (1907). 'W Mellon, Andrew. Address for the founders. Induttrial and Engineering Chem- istrv (JVewj Ed.), IS, 187 (May 10, 1037). 72 National Resources Planning Board to rnrrv out tho dosirod invcstifjation, and the institute furiiislies sucli fncilitics as arc necessary for the conduct of the work. The results obtained belong exclusively to the donor, and patents are assigned to him. Wliere secrecy is necessary, the institute tai^cs every precau- tion to secure it, but often, after a reasonable time, the knowledge obtained by the various researches is, with the consent of tlie donor, made •rciioially availaijle through publication. The soundness of the Industrial Fellowship Sj'stem and the success it has had are clearly indicated by the statistics of its growth. During the academic year 1911-12, the first year that the system was in operation at the l^nivcrsity of Pilts])urgli, 2.S fellows were en- gaged. From March 1939 to March 1, 1940, 91 fellow- ships required the services of 107 fellows and lOfi assistants.'-' A new building, dedicated in 1937, has made it pos- sible for Mellon Institute to expand its activities, and it is interesting to note that in the twenty-seventh annual report of the director, Dr. Weidlcin states that fundamental research in technology and pure science is becoming a more important part of the institute's worl<. Other Research Institutes In recent years other research institutes have been founded at several universities and colleges, among them the Institute of Paper Chemistry at Lawrence College in 1929, the Purdue Research Foundation at Purdue University in 1930; the Research Foundation of the Armour Institute of Technology in 1936; and the Ohio State University Research Foundation the same year. The object of all these research foundations is to cooperate with industry in the solution of pure and applied research problems, to the end that the univer- sity, the general public, and the industry itself shall be substantially benefited. Commercial Laboratories Before the trained chemist, physicist, or metallurgist found much opportunity for regular employment in industry, lie fre(|uently served as a consultant on special problems. Nfcmbers of the faculties at universities and technical schools did most of the consulting work in the nineteenth century, but some courageous indi- viduals, sensing the growing inclination of industrialists to consult specialists, established private laboratories where advice could be purchased and materials could be tested and analyzed. Two such laboratories were opened in 1836; one in Boston by Dr. Charles T. Jackson, and one in Phila- delphia by Dr. James C. Booth. i» Uanior. \V. A. Pure and applied science research at Mellon Institute, 1939-40. Science, 91, 10711. (1940). Charles T. Jackson Jackson made geological surveys for the States of Maine, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire and for tlie Federal Ciovernment on public lands in the region of Lake Superior. He experimented in Ids laboratory with the narcotic effects of ether and showed Dr. W. T. G. Morton, a Boston dentist, how to adiniiiLster it before extracting a i)atient's tooth. He was the lirst to make a chemical study of sorghum and to call attention to the vast economic jiossibilities of cotton- seed. His laboratory offered unusual o])])ort unities for a varied experience in tiie prai-tical applications of cheinistrv, and it was here that \\'il]iani Channing, Richard Cro.ssley, and Benjaniin Siiliiiian, Jr., among others, received some of their (raining. James C. Booth After studying with Wohler in Hesse-Cassel and with Magnus in Berlin, James C. Booth returned to I'liila- deljjhia and openetl a student laboratory where men could receive personal instruction in applied chemistry. In 1S60 he made an unsuccessful attempt to interest iron manufacturers in a S3'stem of control analysis of iron ores. . . . He was tlic first cliemist in tlie United States to use the polariscope for testing sugar; lie investigated the production of gelatin; made studies of tlie ores of iron, nickel, and other metals; served as melter and refiner of the United States Mint at Phila- delphia; and acted as consultant and analyst for many chemical industries.'-' This laboratory, which in 1878 became the firm of Booth, Garrett, and Blair, was the training school for many chemists who later achieved distinction. Arthur D. Little, Inc. As a chemist to the Richmond Paper Company at Rumford. R. L, whose mill was the first one in the United States to manufacture wood pulp by the sulfite process invented by B. C. Tilglmiarm, Dr. Arthur D. Little began his career. In 1886, however. Little formed a partnership with Roger B. Griffin, who had specialized in chemistry under Professor Sabin at the University of Vermont, and they opened a laboratory for carrying on business ". . . as chemical engineei-s, analytical and consulting chemists, and for doing expert and general laboratory work. . . ." The firm was not started under ideal conditions; it was located in Boston on the sixth floor of a building in which a temperamental elevator, more often than not, made it necessary for clients to walk up. More threatening to their chance for success, however, was the general attitude of sus- picion toward chemists. In fact Sir William Crookes had just published an editorial in Chemical News in ■" Browne, C A. Tlie history ol chemical education In America between the years 1820-1S79. Journal of Chemical Educalivn, 9, 714 (April 1932). Industrial Research 73 which he expressed the conviction that it was no longer possible to hojie that a gentleman might secure a liveliliood by the practice of analytical chemistry. Some of the difliculties whicli faced consulting cliem- ists in those da^'s have been described by Dr. Little: . . . Tlie impression prevailed tliat their reported results were influenced by the interests of their clients. It was charged that they frequently took commissions for recommending products, processes, and equipment, and they were certainly for the most part everywliere underpaid.. . Five dollars was the ruling price for a sanitary analysis of water, and 7r)(( for tlie analysis of a sample of raw sugar. We gave up testing sugar on the day when a composite sample representing 6,000 tons of sugar was brought to us for test at that figure. Clients almost without exception refused to pay charges for consultations and considered that the submission of a $3.00 sample for analysis entitled them to discussion of its use, eflocts, and merits with no limitation as to time.'-' The testing of sugar, however, proviilcd most of the work of the commercial chemists in Boston at this time, and, in spite of its previous experience with the 6,000- ton batch, the firm soon obtained the major portion of this work by buying the business of H. Rathgens upon his retirement. Later a few additional clients were secured by buying out another chemist by the name of Austin. Early in 1S93 Griffin suffered a fatal injury in the laboratory, and only after some hesitation and doubt did Little decide to carry on the business alone. He did so for 7 years, and then formed a partnership with William IL Walker. In 1S99 a group of Delaware capitalists sent Dr. Little to Em-ope with a representative of their group to study the commerciid production of "viscose," a com- pound which had been discovered in 1893 by Cross, Bevan & Beadle, a well-known firm of cellulose chemists in London. Little's report pointed to such important possibilities that a second trip was made to confirm the facts. As a result of this trip, the Cellulose Products Company was organized. In 1918 Lord Shaugnessy, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, asked Arthur D. Little, Inc., to or- ganize and carry forward a survey of the natural re- soiu-ces of Canada for the purpose, primarily, of pointing out the industrial opportunities of the country. The work proved to be so important for Canada that it was later transferred to the Council for Scientific and Indus- trial Research, and thus became an activity of the Canadian Government. A particularly interesting result followed from an anah'sis of a German product marketed under the name of "Lactarine." It was brought to the labora- tory by AVilliam A. Hall, who manufactured in Bellows Falls, Vt., a water paint consisting of a mixture of ground g>-psum and glue. He had foimd that when Lactarine was used in place of glue in his paint, it made the coating insoluble wlien dry. Lactarine proved to be a mi.xture of casein and lime, but it could not be im- ported for less than 30 cents a pound — a figure which, for Hall's purpose, was prohibitive. After proving to Ilall that casein could be produced from skunmed milk, the company was commissioned to work out commercial methods for its manufacture. The problem, although not an easy one, was finally solved, and the Casein Company of America was soon doing a business of $2,000 a day. The research had cost Hall a little over $700. Little's success in giving exi)ert testimony in numerous l)atont suits also added to his reputation and that of his company. Among the famous cases in which he served as technical advisor were those involving the infringe- ments of the Schultz patents for (chrome tanning leather, the Malignani and Howell patents for the evacuation of incanch^scent electric lamps, and the \Valdsrode smokeless powder patent. A pioneer in the establishment of commercial research laboratories, Little was also a pioneer in arous- ing American industry to the importance of research and in vitalizing the teaching of chemical engineering. In fact, in spite of the notable achievements of his laboratory, he once wrote that his— . . . most significant contributions had been (first) the preaching of the gospel of industrial research during many years when manufacturers had no conception of what research meant and were profoundly skeptical of the value of cliemistry to them; (and, second, the) conception of the new method of teaching chemical engineering which, is embodied in the School of Chem- ical Engineering Practice of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and which has been adopted by other institutions."' For years he spoke and \vrote in an inimitable style of the possibilities of research, beseeching industrialists to see "the handwriting on the wall." Miner Laboratories The Miner Laboratories of Chicago, foimded in 1906 as a partnership of A. P. Bryant and Carl S. Miner, but now under the ownership and direction of the latter, has developed from an organization engaged primarily in analyses for industries utihzing the products of mid- western agriculture to one whose major activities are now in the field of industrial research. Its first significant researches were those conducted during the period 1910 to 1915 in connection with patent litigations. This work led ultimately to the establishment of a fellowship for the study of certain problems connected with the business of manufacturing molded plastic products. Other research followed rapidly, much of it again in connection with patent litisralion. "' Little, K. D .Manuscrip •" Little. See footnote 128 74 National Resources Planning Board A largo amount of analytiral work for the food industry led to research on ways of improving the marketabihty of oat hulls, then utilized maiidy as a feed material. As a result of this research, the pro- duction of furfural was developed on an industrial scale. The publicity tliat resulted from this development was probably largely responsible for bringing the Miner Laboratories into notice as an agency for industrial research, and since the early 1920's industrial research has increased, until it now constitutes about 80 percent of the activities of the laboratories. The plan for conducting research most frequently takes the form of fcllowsliips under which one or more chemists devote their efforts to single or multiple problems of a client in the laboratories of the organiza- tion. In other cases, however, work is carried on in the laboratory of a client having no research department other than the men working wholly under the supervi- sion of the Miner Laboratories. In still other instances the Miner Laboratories' directing group cooperates with the research departments of clients in the planning and directing of research. Other Commercial Laboratories Many other conimercial consulting laboratories such as the Barrow -Agee Laboratories, Memphis, Tenn.; Gustavus J. Esselen, Inc., Boston, Mass.; Arthur R. Maas Laboratories, Los Angeles, Calif.; Lucius R. I'itkiu, Inc., New York City, N. Y.; Foster D. Snell, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y.; and Weiss and Downs, New York City, N. Y., are making valuable contributions to industrial progress by conducting important research projects. Testing Laboratories Electrical Testing Laboratories Electrical Testing Laboratories began in 1896 as the Lamp Testing Bureau of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies. Its initial activity was the inspection and testing of incandescent lamps for about 60 of the light and power companies which were licensees under the Thomas A. Edison patents. Soon, however, the defects in incandescent lamps led to a program of research which has been repeatedly extended as the number or types of lamps has been increased and as electric lighting has grown in importance, until the company's research in the performance of lamps now covers all lamp products made in the L^nited States. Before a standard of candle power was provided by the National Bureau of Standards, Electrical Testing Laboratories maintained one for the electrical industry. In 1002 the Lamp Testing Bureau was incorporated; in 1904 the name was changed to Electrical Testing Laboratories, and the business expanded to include general electrical testing, chemical testing, mechanical testing, radiometric, and photographic testing. In addition to serving about 30 different industries through general testing work, the company has made tests for engineers and munufaclurers; furnished standards of various types to universities, other laboratories, and to manufacturing organizations; certified to the raanufac- tincrs of numerous electrical products that their j)rod- ucts comply with the specifications of the industry; and carried on research for manufacturers ami promoters. The Meter Code, under which all light and i)ower companies buy meters and metering equipment, was written originally at the Electrical Testing LaVjoratories under the joint committee of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies and the National Electric Light Association. After several revisions, this code now constitutes a national standard by which the utility companies and the meter manufacturers determine the quality and operation of watt-hour meters and associated apparatus. The Electrical Testing Laboratories was also intimately connected with a study of electric cables and the establishment of standard specifications for lead-covered, paper-insulated, high-voltage cable. In 1931 the company began exhaustive tests upon elec- trical appliances. These tests brought to light many defects in the construction of appliances and led indirectly to improvements in them, including better insulation and other safeguards against electrical shock. At present the company is engaged in research in the field of fluorescent lighting in order to establish proper specifictitions for operation and design. Robert W. Hunt and Company Captain Robert W. Hunt, who superintended the building of the experimental Bessemer convertors at Wyandotte, Mich., and directed the first commercial rolling of steel rails at the Cambria Works in 1807, founded the Robert W. Hunt & (\)nipanj' laboratory in 1888. It was the result primarily of his conviction of the value of inspections and tests to l)Oth manufacturer and purchaser and of his l)elief thai the testing could be done more efficiently and economically by a company of impartial engineers organized to represent many purchasers. At first the work of the laboratory was confined prin- cipally to the inspection of rail steel, but was later expanded to include tests of other railway materials and equipment. As cement and steel came to be used in the building industries, the laboratory's staff and equip- ment were increased to cover the inspection and tests of the new materials. Gradually branch laboratories and oflTices were established in many of the large cities in the United States and in some European countries. Although the laboratory has continued to be one primarily for inspection and testing purposes, its chem- Industrial Research 75 ical, metallurgical, X-ray, photomicropirapliic and phys- ical testing laboratories are equipped and staffed for some research. Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory In 1879 Dr. Gustav Lindenthal, a bridge builder, went to Pittsburgh; with him went ^Villiam Kent and William F. Zimmerman to act as inspectors of steel on his projects. In the course of their work at the Dia- mond Iron & Steel Co. they met Alfred E. Hunt, super- intendent of the open hearth plant, ami George H. Clapp, the plant chemist. Kent and Zimmerman organized the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory in 1881; Hunt and Clapp joined forces with them later and in 1887 bought them out. One of the outstanding achievements of the Pitts- burgh Testing Laboratory was the proof in 1888 that the Hall process would produce aluminum on a commer- cial scale. For several years the laboratory exercised control over the production of alummum bj' the Pitts- burgh Reduction Company. The testing of portland cement was also a pioneer activity of the laboratory, for which, at one time, the company had branch laboratories in many of the large cement mills in the colmtrJ^ Although the company still tests a great deal of cement, the branch laboratories have long since been taken over by the mills themselves. The laboratorj- inspected the steel for such structures as Brooklyn Bridge, the bridge over the Firth of Forth in Scotland, and International Bridge over the Niagara River at Niagara Falls. In the sense that research frequentlj' involves a suc- cession of suitable tests, each one depending upon an analysis of the results of preceding tests, the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory, as well as other testing labor- atories, can be said to do some industrial research. The United States Testing Company, Inc. The United States Testing Company, Inc., developed from the needs of a particular industry. Prior to 1872 the raw silk used m the manufacture of merchandise in the United States came principally from China, Italy, and France. Conditioning houses in France and Italy determined the size, quality, gum and water content of much of the raw silk that was sent to the United States, but no facilities existed for getting similar information regarding the raw silk from China. As a step toward a remedy for this situation. The Silk Association of America, Inc., was formed in 1872. Its first report contained a recommendation that a conditioning house be established in New York City. In September 1880, Messrs. Poidebard and Muzard issued a printed announcement to the silk trade that they were establishing the New York Silk and Wool Conditioning Works. After a diflBcult career financially, the company, whose name had meanwhile been changed to the New York Silk Conditioning Works, was merged in 1909 with the United States Silk Conditioning Company, which hail been incorporated in 1907. After D. E. Douty, of the National Bureau of Standards, became general manager in 1913, the company's activities were so greatly extended that the original name no longer accurately indicated the work of the company and, in 1920, it was changed to the United States Testing Company, Inc. With the hiring of a chemist in 1911, the directors of the company initiated the research which is now con- ducted on pro])lems relating to the textile industry and to the designing, developing, and numufacturing of standard instruments and apparatus. In 1928 the com- pany developed tints which were fugitive and would eliminate the then prevalent fabric defects due to the use of unsuitable dyes. Continued research has since developed a greater range of shades and at the same time produced tints suitable for rayon and acetates, spun viscose, wool, and silk. Bibliography Books AcKERMAN, Carl W. George Eastman. Boston, New York, Houghton Mitfliii Company, 1930. 522 p. American Society for Testing Materials. Memorial volume commemorative of the life and life-work of Charles Benjamin Dudley. Philadelphia, Pa., The society, 1911. 269 p. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Research reports and papers, 1932. vol. 4. New York, The society, 1932. 253 p. Angell, .Tames Rowland. The development of research in the United States {Reprint and circular series of the National Researcli Council, No, (5.) Washington, D. C, National Research Council, 1919. 19 p. Arnold, Matthew. Higher schools and universities in Ger- many. London, Macmillan and Company, 1874. 270 p. Broderick, John T. Fortj' years with General Electric. Albany, N. Y., Fort Orange Press, 1929. 218 p. 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Dearborn, Mich., Edison Institute, 1936. 430 p. Jewett, F. B. Industrial rcsearcli. (Reprint and circular series of tlie National Research Council, No. 4.) Washington, D. C, National Research Council, 1918. 16 i). Kaempffert, Waldemar B. A popular history of American invention, vol. I. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1924. 577 p. Little, Arthur D. The fifth estate. Philadelphia, Franklin Institute, 1924. 22 p.; Excerpts in Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, SI, 535 (1924), and in Science, n. s. 60, 299 (1924). Little, Arthur D. The handwriting on the wall. Boston. Little, Brown and Company, 1928. 287 p. Mees, Charles K. K. An organization of industrial scientific research. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1920. 175 p. National Research Cocncil. A history of the National Re- search Council, 1919-33. (Reprint and circular series of the National Research Council, No. 106.) Washington, D. C, National Research Council, 1933. 61 p. Perazich, George, and Field, Philip M. Indu.strial research and changing technology. (National research project on reemployment opportunities and recent changes in indus- trial tecliMif|Ues. Report No. M-4.) Washington, D. ('., U. S. Work Projects Administration, 1940. 81 p. Rogers, William Barton. Life and letters of William Barton Rogers, ed. by his wife. vol. 1. Boston, New York, Hough- ton Mifflin and Company, 1896. 427 p. Smith, Edgar F. Chemistry in America. New York, London, D. Appleton and Company, 1914. 356 p. Smith, Sir Frank E. Industrial research and the nation's balance sheet (Norman Lockyer Lecture; 1932). London, British Science Guild. 31 p. Taussig, F. W. The tariff history of the United States. New- York, London, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1931. 536 p. Weidlein, Edward R., and Hamor, W. A. Science in action. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1931. 310 p. W11.LIAMS, Henry Smith. The story of nineteenth-century science. New York, London, Harper and Brothers, 1900. 474 p. YouMANS, William J. 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The first report upon the chemical industries of the United States and their relation to national prei)aredness. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 9, 177 (1917). Browne, C. A. The history of chemical education in America between the years 1820 and 1870. Journal of Chemical Educa- tion, 9, 696 (1932). Bush, Vannevar. The educational institution and industrial research. Research Laboratory Record, S, 35 (1932). Carty, J. J. Relation of pure science to indu.strial research. American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Proceedings, SS, 1411 (1916). The Chemical Foundation (Editorial). Scientific American, 71. s., 120, 315 (1919). Clark, Walton. A century of light. Journal of the Franklin Institute, 182, 511 (1916). Clarke, F. W. The man of science in practical affairs. Popular Science Monthly, 56, 487 (1900). Co.^TES, Charles E. An experiment in the education of chem- ical engineers. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Audubon sugar school. Journal of Industriil and Engineering Chem- istry, 9, 379 (1917). Compton, K. T. Edison's laboratory in wartime. Science, n. s., To, 70 (1932). Compton, K. T. Put science to work! The Technology Review, 37, 133 (1935). Compton, K. T. Science and prosperity. Science, 80, 387 (1934). Compton, Karl T. Science in an American program for social progress. Scientific Monthly, 4-'i, 5 (1937). Coulter, J. M. Public interest in research. Popular Science Monthly, 67, 306 (190.3). Davis, Robert M. Research, its cash value. Factory and Industrial Management, 76, 712 (1928). Decline of the University in Scientific Research (Edi- torial). Scientific American, 102, 370 (1910). Duncan, Robert Kennedy. Industrial fellowshii>s: five years of an educational industrial experiment. Journal of the Frank- lin Institute, 175, 43 (1913). Duncan, Robert Kennedy. Temporary industrial fellow-ships. Xorth American Review, 1S5, 54 (19071. Durfee, W. F. Fir.st chemical laboratory (Letter to the editor). American Iron and Steel Association, Bulletin, SO, 249 (1896). Ely, Sumner B. Effect of the machine age on labor. Scientific Monthly. 37, 257 (19331. Flinn, Alfred D. Development of existing agencies. American Society for Testing Materials, Proceedings, IS, Pt. 2, 43 (1918). Gherardi, Bancroft. Progress through research. Bell Tele- phone Quarterly, 11, 3 (1932). Gifford. W. S. The place of the Bell telephone laboratories in the Bell system. Bell Telephone Quarterly, 4, 89 (1925). GoRRELL, Frank E. Cooperative research in the American canning industry. American Society for Testing Materials. Proceedings. IS. Pt. 2, 40 (1918). Industrial Research 77 Greene, Arthur M., Jr. The present condition of research in tlie Uniteil States. Society of Mechanical Engineers, Transactions, 41, 31 (1919). H.WVKINS, I,. A. Researcli in intlustry. VVic Journal of Ike Society of Autoinolive Engineers, 9, 20 (1921). Hesse, B. C. CuntribulioMs of tlie chemist to llie induslrial development of tlie United States. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 7, 293 (1915). Hirshkeld, C. F. Present status of research in the industrial life of the country. Engineering Education, 10, 118 (1919). HiRSHFELD, C. F. Researcli and social evolution. Mechanical Engineering, 42, 103 (1920). Hoover, Herbert. Tlie nation and science. Jbid., 49, 137 (1927). Howe, H.^krison E. Trend and purpose of modern research. Journal of the l''ranklin Institute, 199, 187 (1925). Jewett, F. B. Edison's contributions to science and industry. Science, 75, 65 (1932). Jewett, Fr.vnk B. Industrial researcli. Mechanical Engineer- ing, 41, 825 (1919). Jewett, Frank B. The place of researcli in industry. Amer- ican Petroleum Institute, Proceedings, IS, Sect. Ill, 27 (Decem- ber 1931). Kennelly, \. E. Industrial research and the colleges. Amer- ican Institute of Electrical Engineers, Proceedings, 36, 757 (1917). Kettering, Charles F. The importance of scientific research. Aviation Engineering, 2, 9 (1929). Kettering, Charles F. Researcli and social progress. Vital Speeches of the Day, 2, 356 (1936). Little, A. D. Industrial research in America. Science, n. s., 38, 643 (1913). Macladrin, R. C Universities and the industries. Jour7tal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, S, 59 (1916). Mees, C. E. K. Research as the enemy of stability. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 19, 1217 (1927). Millikan, R. A. Research in America after tlie war. Amer- ican Institute of Electrical Engineers, Transactions, 38, 1723 (1919). Mills, John. The line and the laboratory. Bell Telephone Quarterly, 19, 5 (1940). Mills, John. The project method in researcli. Journal of Engineering Education, n. s., 21, 214 (1930). Newcomb, S. Conditions which discourage scientific work in America. North American Review, 174, 145 (1902). Xewell, Lyman C. Chemical education in America from the earliest days to 1820. Journal of Chemical Education, 9, 677 (1932). NoYEs, W. A. Contribution of chemistry to modern life. Science, 26, 706 (1907). I'endkay, G. Edward. Crucible of change; greater revolutions Come out of laboratories than are made by ideologies. (Ga- wain Edwards, i)seud.) North American Review, 247, 344 (1939). Heese, Charles L. Developments in industrial research. American Society for Testing Materials, Proceedings, 18, Pi. 2, 32 (1918). Research (Editorial). Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 5, 966 (1913). Research in the Rochester Area. Industrial and Engineer- ing Chemistry {News Ed.), 15, 336 (1937). RfCE, E. W., Jr. The field of research in industrial institutions. Journal of the Franklin Institute, 199, 65 (1925); General Electric Review, 27, 720 (1924). Richards, J. W. The electrochemical industries of Niagara Falls. Electrochemical Industry, 1, 11, 49 (1902). Shepard, Norman A. A century of technical progress in tlie rubber industry, induslrial and Engineering Chemistry, 26, 35 (1933). Steinmetz, Charles 1'. Scientific research in relation to tli" industries. Journal of the Franklin Institute, 182, 711 (1916). Stine, C. M. a. Chemical research: a factor of prime impor- tance in American industry. Journal of Chemical Education, 9, 2032 (1932). Thomson, Elihu. The field of experimental research. Amer- ican Association for the Advancement of Science, Proceedings, 4S, 75 (1899). Thomson, Elihu. Fortit^tli aiuiivcrsary celebration of the A. I. K. E. Addresses in Philadelphia by three cliarter members with a resum6 of electrical engineering progress. American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Transactions, 43, 110 (1924). Walker, W. H. Chemical research and industrial progress. Scientific American Supplement, 72, 14 (1911). Weidlein, E. R., and Hamor, W. A. Three centuries of chemical industry in America. Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, 42, 185 (1935). West, C. J., and Hull, Callie. Survey of personnel changes in industrial research laboratories — 1930-33. Research Lab- oratory Record, 2, 154 (1933), Whitney, Willis R. Relation of research to the progress of manufacturing industries. General Electric Review, 18, 8G8 (1915). Whitney, Willis R. Research as a financial as.sct. Scientific American Supplement, 71, 346 (1911). Whitney, Willis R. Research, twenty-five years ago and now. Electrical World, 84, 599 (1924). SECTION II 2. RESEARCH— A RESOURCE TO SMALL COMPANIES By Fairfield E. Raymond Administrative Assistant, National Industrial Conference Board, Inc., New York, N. Y. Special Contributor, Cambridge, Mass. ABSTRACT This report on research in I lie small coiiijiaiiy is based on a statistical study of 50 companies located in 0 industrial centers of New England. They range in size from 33 wage earners to 1,500, and in total assets from $150,000 to $2,500,000. In addition to this statistical survey a considerable number of other small companies was studied to give a broader basis for the generalizations of the report. The outstanding feature of the small company is its technical uniqueness — in respect to a process, a product, a service to industry, or a selected market. Research, which for the small company is "organized fact-finding," is carried on by the company itself in varying degrees of complexity of organization, and is besides the product of collaboration with research agencies, technical institutions, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, customers, and even competitors. In the small company it is usually very individualistic, relying on the inspiration of one or a few executives. There is no apparent relation between the size of the company and the amount of research carried on as evidenced bj' the number of research workers, kind of research organization, or number of fields of research. The determining factor seems rather to be the kind of process or product. The small company can be self-sufficient in the matter of immediate product or process developments, but for research which is concerned with the long-range type of development it needs the help of outside agencies. This includes the use of private research laboratories, technical institutions, and the buying or licensing of new developments from individuals or other companies. Such use, however, is markedly intermittent. Additional resources in research for the small com- pany are in the participations by their [)ersonnel in the activities of professional societies, the informal exchange of information among staff and clients and suppliers, and especially current technical literature. Place of Research in Small Enterprises A striking feature that marks the place of many a small company and explains its existence as a vital factor in our industrial economy is its technical unique- ness. Through the initiative of an individual or through the force of circumstances these small companies create a unique position for themselves by providing services or products that are too specialized for larger corpora- tions to supply profitably. As an extreme example, we have the very small concerns operated by tradesmen or craftsmen whose claim to uniqueness is largely a per- sonal service to a particular clientele in the comnnmity. There are also those innumerable proprietors of small businesses who cater to the needs of a locality and who manufacture with a certain amount of ingenuity products which for the most part are in common use. Again, we have the inventor type who has succeeded in building a small business around some technical specialty for which there is but a limited demand. 78 The more consequential small company for which research begins to be a factor falls largely into the following categories. It may be foumled upon some specialized branch of technology, for example the development and manufacture of a special type of gas engine for use in outboard motors. It may cater in a technical way to a selected market, as does the manu- facturer of sporting goods, such as fishing rods and flies. It may offer a unique technical product to industrj', as for instance some small suppliers to the automotive industry, such as the makers of windshield wipers. Or it may offer a unicjue engineering service to industry, as, for example, do production die makers. To obtain a measure of the extent to which research proves to be a resource to the small compjvny, a lim- ited though representative sample of 50 such companies has been examined. In addition to these 50, on which the statistical study in this report is based, a consider- able number of others has been studied to give greater Industrial Research 79 validity to the generalizations drawn. Outstanding concerns were selected for stiuly in 6 industrial centers in New England. This is not, then, a typical sample of the small company, for the purpose is not to present a cross section of the industry hut rather to present the clearest examples of the extent to which research has proved of benefit to the small company. For this purpose, obviously, companies of little technical accom- plishment would add little to our Icnowledge and so they have been neglected in order to concentrate at- tention on more successful research methods. But in the latter category as much diversity as possible was achieved in location, type, and size. The 50 companies of the sample range in size from 33 wage earners to 1,500. Their total assets, as repre- sentative of capital employed in the business, range for the majority from slightly over $150,000 up to $2,500,000, wliile 7 companies having somewhat larger total assets were included in order to provide a connect- ing link between the typical sample of small company and those of larger proportion. To provide sufficient diversification, the companies investigated include those that were manufacturers of machine tools, process equipment, control instruments, prime movers, mechan- ical appliances, metal products, rubber, leather, tex- tiles, foods, drugs, pharmaceutical supplies, and a lim- ited number of consumer goods. Extent of Research in Small Enterprises Research for the small company must be viewed on the basis of the defuiition of Dr. C. F. Hirshfeld, the late director of research for the Detroit Edison Company, "research consists of organized fact-finding."' It then becomes a question of the extent to which organized fact finding has been carried by companies witliin this category. The markedly different circumstances of the field of business, the character of the market, the complexity of technology, and the severity of competi- tion make it difficult to draw specific conclusions. The outstanding fact is that, whatever be the extent of or- ganized fact-finding among small businesses, research in the broadest sense gives to such concerns a resource for rendering a imique technical service to industry or the community whereby they hold tlieir place in com- petition. These companies draw in turn upon teclmi- cal institutions, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, customers, and at times competitors, for technical de- velopments to supplement their own activities. The small enterprise has the option of carrying on whatever sort of research it can afford, of developing its own technique, of training its own technicians and experts, of acquiring new knowledge by hiring trained engineers or by participating in professional-society ■ Davis, H. N.* and Davies, C. E. Industrial research by mecbaoical engineers. This volume, p. 329. activities, by paying for the services of consultants or scientists, by financing s|)ocific research projects through technical institutions, or by buying outright new tech- nical developments or inventions from individuals or other coinpaiiics. These o[)tions are not, of course, mutuallj' exclusive; a company may use first one and then another as the need arises, or more than one may be utilized simultaneously. In fact, the intermittent and irregular use of such kinds of research is the most striking characteristic of its use by the small company. Research is thus ])oth a dire(;t and indirect resource to the small enterprise; it benefits not only from its findings but also from the contributions it is able to make to others. The importance of research to the small enterprise is brought out by the fact that 12 of the companies interviewed admit that should they immediately cease all forms of organized fact finding in which they are now engaged, they would be forced out of business within a year, while 17 would be seriously affected by the loss of competitive position that would immediately ensue. Six others acknowledge that after a period of approximately 3 years they would forego all technical uniqueness. On the other hand, 13 companies whose distinctive position rests more in serving a selected or regional market or in acknowledged consumer goodwill recognize that the cessation of research would only inhibit the long-term growth of the company. Only 2 companies went so far as to assert that the technology of their field had become so well developed that any effect would be merely incidental. Of the competitive forces that impel small companies to undertake research, two are of primary importance. The first is the need to satisfy the specific teclmical requirements of industrial customers; an example would be the manufacture of machine tools for specialized operations. The second is the necessity the small company faces of meeting technical competition wath unique developments of its own, as, for example, in the development of impregnated fabrics in such articles as shoe laces. Of almost equal significance is the expressed desire of small entrepreneurs to excel in a specialized field of technology or to establish themselves in a sector of a market which they are peculiarly qualified to serve. An example of this last would be the manufacture of vitamins and hormones. In a few instances the small company holds the position of pioneer on the frontier of nn evolving art, as in the use of cast beryllium copper for molds and dies. In the area of consumer goods, factors of market competition take precedence over technical considerations in determining the character of research activities. In many retail products, for ex- ample, the package is likely to be at least as important as the product and the elements of appearance and style are given much attention. 80 National Resources Planning Board In general it can be observed thai the small company creates a unique place for itself by renderinp; through its research a specialized technical service to larger companies or supplies a distinctive product to a select market. For the most part its research activities are characterized bj' "organized fact finding" of an immedi- ate and practical sort not necessarily set apart in a functional unit, while those of large companies arc of a continuing and more intensive nature, carried on m specially organized departments or laboiatories and encompass in certain instances advanced research which the small companv' can rarely afford. Character of Research Activities In fields where the art has become well established with less prospect of consequential technical change, organized fact finding assumes the aspect of those engineering activities essential to the improvement of product or process. In attempting to measure the magnitude of research among small enterprises, the intent was to determine the highest type that was essential for a company to maintain its competitive position. Of course, these companies engage as well in the supplementary technical activities of a lesser order down to those of a routine or practical nature. Tlie research activities of small comjianies tend naturally to be individualistic. In 6 instances a genius of the inventor type is the moving spirit in developmentiil work, under whose direction a few techni- cians carr\" on llir ronlitie tasks. More fref|ii('ntly, as mSii^l '^IPC,^ Figure 11. — Laboratory for Developing and Testing Refrac- tories, General Refractories Company, Baltimore, Maryland in 11 companies, research centers in a close group of technically trained operating executives. In 9 other cases a technical staff has been built up, the members of which are individually responsible for specific activi- ties to the line executives, rather than constituting a distinct engineering department. Although there is no clear-cut line of demarcation, there is evident a correlation between the size of the company and the kind of unit to which it trusts its research. Separate engineering departments are found in 15 companies of our sample of 50, and these com- panies employ between 150 and 500 wage earners. Departments which engage in both engineering and research are found in 10 companies which range in size from 200 to \J^()0 workers although 3 companies with smaller personnel have similar units. Separate units devoted solely to process engineering appear in 17 companies. These 17 cover a considerable range of size, but the greater number of these units are in fairly large companies. Facilities for Research The number of experts, engineers, and technicians employed in research b}' small companies varies without regard to size. For example, in the group of companies employing about 100, there is 1 concern with 12 experts and technicians and another with 1."^. The number in this group, however, is more likely to run between 3 and 6. At the other extreme, 1 company employing l.-^OO has only 10 experts and another with a personnel of 1,200 has but 15. By contrast still another company employing 1,200 has but 58 in research. The factor which determines the need for research workers is obviously not the size of the plant nor of its business, but its character. In some cases the technical activities are a responsibility delegated to operating executives, shop superintendents, or foremen, while in others separate staffs are set up and their ninnbers run, as we have seen, from 3 to 58. In 12 companies sales engi- neers constitute an important part of the technical organization. Size likewise in no way distinguishes the number of technical fields represented by engineers or experts in tlic employ of small companies. The technical activi- ties of 11 companies fall wholly into 1 field, while those of 22 companies relate to 2 major fields. Nine com- panies, in turn, have occasion to delve into 3 such fields, while of the remaining 7, G operate in 4 fields. All of these companies are scattered over the whole range of size, and there is no apparent relation between size and the number of fields. Mechanical and electrical engineering, together with metallurgy or chemical engineering, were the technologies most frequently en- countered in the study. Of course other fields were represented in specific cases, but the variation in Industrial Research 81 number appeared to depend most on the state of the art m the industry, that is, on tlio age of its establish- ment and on the degree of its coniplexitj'. While 14 companies have no specialized facilities for research or experimentation, they carry on such activi- ties to the extent that opportunities in the plant permit. Fifteen companies have laboratories for routine testing, out of which come ideas which are further studied through other means. A model shop is mauitained by 6 companies and an experimental unit forms a part of the technical activities of 7 others. Specialized research equipment has been installed by 5 companies, scattered throughout the whole range of size of small companies studied. The continuity of activity was marked testimony to the dependence of the small enterprise on research. Twenty-nine companies claimed that, having built up an effective teclmical organization, they could not afford to diminish its activity. It is only the routine members of sucii units that are allowed to vary. In fact, 8 com])ani('s pointed to the steady growth of their technical units. Only among 10 companies where the art was relatively well established did the number of trained engineers vary with the needs of the business. It is notable that, for small companies able to cite figures, research expenditures ranged somewhat above 5 percent of net sales for those having more than 200 factory employees and as much as 8-10 percent for those with fewer wage earners. In contrast to the organized research of large cor- porations, individual elfort characterizes the technical activities of the small company. For the most part, individuals arc given the responsibility for specific technical work and only informally exchange ideas or knowledge with their associates. Thus the technical requirements of 20 companies come more witliin Ihc area of individual ingenuity and accumulated practical experience. Fifteen of these companies spoke of en- FiGURE 12. — Strips of Light-Polarizing Film Hanging in the Luljorutory of Ihc rulaiuid Cur|jur;t(iuij, Cauibriiit; The Strips Are Transparent Unless Two Are Crossed at Right Angles Massachusetts. 82 National Resources Planning Board couraging such cooperative exrliaiige of information, while only 7 recognized that collaborulion was essential because of interlocking technology. Because the small company tends to carve out for itself a unique technical position, the engineering work of 11 such companies has become more highly specialized, while 19 companies are faced by an increasingly complex art. For the most part, the small company as represented by 34 of the 50 companies studied prefer to hire men with broad engineering training, while 5 had occasion to emploj^ scientifically trained experts. Nine other companies, however, look primarily to one of the owners or a chief executive who is of the inventor type or genius for their technical inspiration and developments. On the other hand, 14 companies rely largely for their technical persomiel upon long-service executives, while 19 draw much of their technical material from practi- cally trained technicians or trade school graduates. Twenty companies emphasized the importance for their purposes of brmging men up through the ranks with company training, rather than drawing upon the sui)ply of college-trained engineers, which is the resource of technical personnel for 1 1 other companies. Thirteen companies make a specific point of periodically brmging in new blood in the form of graduates fresh from engineering colleges. Dependence Upon Outside Research Agencies In spite of the fact that the small company recognizes the importance of research to the extent of training its own specialists or hiring engineering talent, the near- term objectives of all their research activities preclude their being totalh" self-sufficient. Naturally, the neces- sity for being unique in its field demands that the small company be self-sufficient in the matter of immediate product or process developments. However, it is for the longer-range type of development, anticipating the trend in the art or creating new knowledge, that these companies must turn to outside research activities.^ Onl3- 15 companies have found it advisable to adopt such long-term policies with regard to outside research. Of the 22 companies which in supplemonling tlieir research efforts turn to the ou(si(l(\ 1 1 liav(> acquired inventions from individuals, while in 12 instances inventions or technical developincnts wore taken over from the companies of origin. In 3 cases new develop- ments were acquired from teclmical institutions. For the most part, companies prefer to buy outright such developments, although to clarify the art or to obviate the duplication of research, 9 companies were willing to take licenses. Not infrequently the research staff may be regarded as a sieve for ideas Ijroiight in by > Industrial research laboratories of the United States. liuUetin I0(. 7lh cdltian. Washington, D. C, National Research Council (IMO). others, and as such it enables the company to pay most attention to the more promising ideas. Since the small company cannot for the most part devote time to advancing the art or acquiring technical knowledge for itself, it not infrequently turns to es- tablished research agencies or technical institutions. Only 8 were in such specialized fields as to have no occasion to do so; their fields were considered so uniquely their own that they knew them better than any agency to which they could turn. Wliile 6 companies employed the services of an expert consultant, 13 made inter- mittent use of private laboratories. Twenty-four of the small companies in our sample had had recourse to the faculty and laboratories of engineering colleges, whereas 3 had turned to research foundations. The cooperative research carried on by trade associations had proved to be a resource for 1 1 companies where processing technique or technical problems common to an industry predominate. One company made use of governmental research activities through the National Bureau of Standards. The nse by small companies of the afore-mentioned research agencies appears to be more of the nature of intermittent consultation as evidenced by the experience of 19 companies. Twelve companies have periodically employed experts on retainer, while 10 have sponsored specific projects on a fee basis. Only 2 have financed longer-term fellowships through research foundations. Professional-society activity proved to be a particular resource for the technical personnel of 19 companies whose participation the management activeh' encour- aged. It is significant that the more self-reliant com- panies made a particular point of their dependence on following closely the current literature coming from the technical press. Benefits from Cooperative Research Activities A particular resource to the small company is the exchange of technical information and the accumulation of new ideas that comes through the informal contacts between engineers in their technical work or in the direct line of business. Twenty-seven companies spoke particularly of the technical activities that grew out of their relations with customers as a partictdar resource fornewdevelopments. Similarly S concerns had derived benefits in working out teclmical problems with their dealers. Thirteen companies had found a partic- ular resource in the research activities of noncompeti- tors in allied fields, wherebj' they could adopt new developments to supplement their own technical activities and avoid the unnecessary duplication of research. On the other hand, 9 companies readily availed themselves of the opportunity to visit about through the plants of noncompetitors to keep them- Industrial Research 83 selves informed about new methods of production which would have a bearing upon the improvement of their own operations. In G instances companies wiiose busi- ness was largely on a contract basis and less dependent upon a specialized technology were not averse to discuss- ing broad technical problems of the industry with competitors, or even to taking licenses for the use of specific technical developments. Of marked significance is the resource that small companies find in the research activities of their sup- pliers and those from whom they purchase manufactur- ing equipment. Thirtj--eiglit companies stressed partic- ularly the advantages that come tlu-ough the contacts with supplier's engineers or representatives in working out the specifications for raw materials particularly suited to their needs or in the advice given regarding the use of specially designed mechanisms, electrical appara- tus or controls, or the like, which are necessary to the ultimate product but which are foreign to the company's own field of development. Likewise, the technical activities of equipment manufacturers have proved to be a resource to 13 companies where the mechanization of process is becoming more highly specialized. Never- theless, the manufacturing requirements of 14 com- panies were sufficiently unique for them to design their own specialized machines. In 10 cases companies actuallj' built their own machinery. Significance of Research to the Small Enterprise In brief, the picture presented by the small enterprise is, because of the necessity for uniqueness, that of a concern rendering a specialized technical service to larger units of iiulustry, to discriminating customers, or to selected markets through the manufacture of a distinctive or quality product. This research aspect of such enterprise is strikingly borne out by the intimate customer relationship maintained in almost every instance where the proprietor, the active top executive, or a corps of sales engineers works closely with the engineers in other companies to develop new products or features particularly suited to the latter 's require- ments. Thus research, whatever may be the extent of organized fact-finding, is an indispensable resource to the small company through which it holds its place in the face of competition. ^liile their executives and teclmical personnel have become experts in some specialized branch of tech- nology tlirough continually having to meet new situa- tions, the circumstances under which the majority of small businesses must operate preclude a long-range policy toward their technical activities and force them to look to the outside to replenish their teclmical resources and to keep abreast of progress in the arts and sciences. Accordingly, in spite of being manifestly Figure 13. — Fiber Preparation Laboratory, John A. Manning Paper Company, Incorporated, Troy, New York 321835 — 41 7 84 National Resources Planning Board sclf-sufliciciit in its own field of tcchnolofry, the small compan}- must turn from time to time to consultants, private laboratories, and technical institutions for new knowledge, new developments, and advice on the application of allied tcclmology to their immediate problems. An even greater teclmical resource is found in cooperative research or the informal exchange of infonnation between their engineers and those of non- competitors, supphers of material or special apparatus, and manufacturers of process equipment. Participa- tion in professional-society activities and resort to current technical literature appear to be most fruitful avenues for the small company to profit from the research of others. Thus, research is in reality a triple resource to the small company. It acquires new technical facility from research conducted by outside agencies or allied industry; through its own organized fact finding it creates its specialized teclmical field; and by catermg to the requirements of its customers it renders a unique teclmical service to industry and the community. SECTION II 3. COORDINATION BETWEEN INDUSTRIES IN INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH By C. G. Worthington Secretary, Industrial Research Institute, Chicago, III. ABSTRACT This is a survey of the present cooperation between companies as to (1) joint activities in research, (2) the exchange of information, and (3) the publication of research findings. It is based on the activities of com- panies which represent many of the industries and industrial areas of the country. Joint research carried on by industrial companies takes the form of (a) cooperation in the research activities of technical societies, trade associations, and the like, (6) cooperation with other companies in the development of a new product, a new process, or a new raw material which all the companies are interested in commercializing, and (c) cooperation in financing in- dustrial research in universities and in government resoai'ch foundation, and private consulting laboratories. Research information is exchanged among industrial concerns through members of their staffs participating in the meetings and serving on the committees of technical societies, trade associations, and the like. The general policy is to encourage the publication of research findings which contribute to teclmical knowl- edge unless such a step would jeopardize a company's position or reveal proprietary secrets. Information about the organization, management, and administra- tion of research in industiy is exchanged at group meet- ings of industrial executives and of research directors. Joint Activities in Research Scientific and engineering societies and trade associa- tions conduct many investigations which are so broad in scope and so general in interest that no one company would be justified in making the necessary expenditures for them. A nmnber of interested concerns, however, will cooperate as a group in financing and supervising such investigations. They ai'e generally conducted in imiversity, government, or piivate laboratories and are usually concerned with (1) obtaining fundamental scientific and engineering data, (2) the development of test procedures and analytical methods, and (3) to some extent with finding new applications for raw materials. Several companies may also engage in a cooperative research program directed toward the development of a new product, a new process, or a raw material. Most of the joint activities of this nature are earned on by a company and its customers or its suppliers of raw materials and equipment. This is a logical activity as each concern stands to profit from the successful com- mercial utilization of the new product, process, or raw material. Such cooperation is quite general among industrial concerns though it does not often represent a large part of their research activities. It is distinct from sales service or trouble shooting. Within the past few years there have been many notable examples of products developed as the result of the joint research efforts of a number of companies. Among these are the sealed beam headlight for auto- mobiles, in the development and production of which a nationally known electrical manufacturing company joined with equally well-known glass, rubber, and other companies. Another is the bullet-resisting tire, recently announced by the Ordnance Department of the United States Army, which has been a cooperative develop- ment of such major rubber companies as Firestone, Goodrich, Seiberling, Goodyear, and United States Rubber. Many companies which carry on research cooperate with imiversities. Such cooperation generally involves either (1) fundamental scientific studies in the general fields of the company's interests, or (2) specific investiga- tions with definite objectives and of a nature directly related to the operations of the company. The industrial concern usually provides only the funds for the work while the university provides the research facilities, personnel, and supervision. Fundamental scientific studies are generally set up as fellowships for students working for advanced degrees. Specific in- vestigations usually require full-time trained personnel and administration with frequent reports to and con- 85 86 National Resources Planning Board fercnces with the industrial sponsor. A number of concerns in addition employ faculty members as consultants. Industry also supports research programs in private consulting and industrial research-foundation labora- tories. These projects are generally of a specific, confidential nature with a definite commercial objective requiring energetic attack and early solution of the problem. Such laboratories as the Mellon Institute for Industrial Research, Battelle Memorial Institvitc, Arthur D. Little, Inc., are typical of such agencies. There is some small degree of cooperation in research between industrial concerns and govermnental labora- tories. The projects are usually of general scientilic natm"e and of interest to a nmnber of concerns, all of whom contribute to their support. In the field of agri- cidture some national and state experiment stations cooperate dirccth^ with one or more concerns in the development and testing of new raw materials or of industrial products that may have applications in agriculture. Some companies spend as much as 10 percent of their research budgets on cooperative research programs with university, private, and government laboratories. The usual figure, however, seems to be nearer 2 to 3 percent. There is occasional exchange of personnel on projects and of course considerable exchange of infor- mation in the form of conferences and reports. Exchange of Information The most general means of exchanging research infor- mation among industrial concerns is tlu-ough participa- tion in the meetings and technical committee work of technical societies, trade associations, and the like. Many members of the industrial research staffs belong to technical societies and present their findings of technical value at the meetings of such societies. These societies and associations also sponsor a great deal of conmiittee activity which benefits industry as well as the technical professions and the public. This work is directed toward the formulation of industrial standards and specifications, testing procedures, analyt- ical methods, and related subjects. New scientific and engineering data are also obtained through their cooperative research programs. Industrial concerns are well represented in the membership of these com- mittees, contributing the time and expenses of their representatives as well as much of the information needed. Policies on Publication of Research Findings The general policy of enlightened companies seems to be to encourage their staffs to publish research find- ings when (1) these results are of broad interest and represent real contributions to technical knowledge, and when (2) such publication docs not jeopardize the company's patent position or reveal proprietary secrets. Many research results appear first in patents and are later generalized either in articles in the technical press or in papers presented before technical societies. Technical items of current interest are also published in some 90 industrial research laboratory house organs as listed in the National Research Council's Bulletin No. 102 entitled "Industrial Research Laboratories of the United States." The Industrial Research Institute As indicated above the most usual type of information that is exchanged among the research organizations of industry is of a technical nature. Within the past 3 years, however, a new activity has appeared for the exchange of information on the organization, manage- ment, and administration of research in industry. This work is being carried on by the Industrial Research Institute, affiliated with the National Research Council. Its purpose is to promote, through the cooperative efforts of its members, constant improvement of methods and more economical and effective manage- ment in industrial research. Industry as a whole has been convinced of the need for doing research but still has much to learn about how best to do it. Little information or experience is available on how to organize and manage research so as to obtain results in the most efficient and economical way. A research organization has peculiar charac- teristics of function, operation, and personnel that do not easily lend themselves to customary business man- agement methods. Company heads are nevertheless justified in demanding results with economy from their research organizations since their operations are con- stantly gi-owing in terms of capital investment, annual expenditures, and number of personnel. This situation led a group of research directors to seek the aid of the National Research Council about 3 years ago in forming an Industrial Research Institute for the cooperative study of common problems of research management. Maurice Holland, director of the Division of Engineering and Induslrial Research of the Council, has been largely responsible for develop- ing the idea and organizing and guiding the Industrial Research Institute that resulted. The institute started with 14 company members and now numbers 33 that are widely representative of types of industry and of the industrial areas of the comitry. The institute is designed primarily to serve the middle-sized research organizations rather than the largest ones, whose prac- tices are fairly well developed. The laboratory staffs of most of the member companies number imder 100 persons Industrial Research 87 The institute has found that the best means of accompHshing its objects is through periodic meetings at which comnion problems are discussed in an informal manner. Such matters as organization, persomiel management, project selection, scheduling and control, budgeting and accoimting, selling research, university relations to management, suggestion systems and patent procedure are considered. E.xtended studies are frequently made by members of the institute or by its staff on subjects of special interest. Tours of member-company laboratories are often a featui-e of the meetings. The institute meets 3 or 4 times a year. The romid table method of discussion is used to promote informality, and the proceedings are confidential. The institute provides practically the only source of up-to-date information on the organization, manage- ment, and policy problems of mdustrial research organizations. Tlirough its programs and the close personal associations made possible by its meetings, the members gain help in solvmg current problems, confirm their present procedures, or leam better ways of doing the job. This exchange of information and experience directly leads to more efficient operation of research organizations and consequently to better and more tangible results in shorter periods of time and at less cost. These results in turn mean that research activities are more fruitful and timely and hence financial returns are realized more quickly than would be the case otherwise. The processes, methods and materials used success- fully in one industry' may often be adopted satisfactorily in an industiy of quite different characteristics. The institute provides its members with an opportunity to learn of such possibilities as it is made up of a variety of industries whose representatives confer frankly with each other. Activity in the institute is also a constant soiu'ce of encouragement and inspiration to the members in the better conduct of their jobs, gained from association with other men of attainment, responsibility and broad vision. Bibliography Holland, Maurice. Industrial research institute. Science, 87, 324 (1938). Weidlein, E. R. Progress through cooperation; history and development of laminated safety glass. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, SI, 563 (1939). SECTION II 4. TECHNICAL RESEARCH BY TRADE ASSOCIATIONS By Charles J. Brand* Executive Secretary and Treasurer, The National Fertilizer Association, Washington, D. C. ABSTRACT Successful research by trade associations should bene- fit both association members and the consumers of the members' products. Trade associations use various agencies for conduct- ing research. A large number of associations maintain their own well-equipped, ably staffed laboratories; many use commercial research laboratories; some rely on university fellowships or financial grants to educa- tional institutions; and others obtain the assistance of Government agencies having research facilities, such as the National Bureau of Standards. Many other methods are available and used. Among important research projects now being carried on by trade associations and, according to a recent survey, in the order mentioned as to frequency, arc the search for additional sources of supply of standard materials or for new materials, efforts to improve stand- ard products, investigation of outlets for the industry's products, and search for new products that the in- dustry can successfully manufacture and sell. A great variety of useful work has been done. The teclmical research activities of the American Institute of Steel Construction, the National Canners Associa- tion, The National Fertilizer Association, the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, the National Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Association, and the Na- tional Sand and Gravel Association, are briefly dis- cussed, however, as typical examples of the great volume of research being carried on by trade associa- tions. A major problem confronting trade association technical research is that of financing. Unless imme- diate practical results permit prompt returns to the industry, interest in research projects wanes and financ- ing becomes increasingly difficult. Fundamental re- search is seldom of such a nature that the problem can be quickly solved. Financial arrangements shoidd insure reasonable continuity of research projects for periods sufficiently long to permit complete exploration of the possibilities involved. It should be financed, whenever possible, from the general funds of the associ- ation in order that all members may have equal rights in the results. The results of trade association research should be made available to the members and the public as rapidly and completely as the definite findings warrant. Statistical valuation of the results obtained is not possible, but a great amount of benefit to the public at large has been obtained. The special equipment and trained personnel of trade association research organiza- tions will be quickly and efficiently available to serve the people in any national emergency. •Mr. Fred S. Lodee, technical staff assistant of tlie association, has rendered valu- able assistance in the collection and preparation of material. Technical research is undertaken for the purpose of producing new or better articles of commerce, reducing their cost, or finding new raw materials, or new or increased uses for finished products. Trade association technical research, to be of the most value in our na- tional economic program, must, of necessity, produce results beneficial to the public as well as to association members. Naturally, assistance to association mem- bers must be the first objective. Unless members receive some tangible benefit, it is impossible to obtain their continued financial support for research. The determination of a trade association to engage in technical research is customarily made only after careful study and consideration of the many problems involved. Each project selected for investigation 88 must be of interest and potential value to each member of the association. Great care must be taken to see that the results to be expected from some particular line of research are not of such character as to benefit only one member of, or a select group in, the associa- tion. Trade associations include member companies that have developed widely varying yet long-established business principles. Executives of these companies range from rule-of-tluimb operators who have risen from the ranks of manual workers to specially trained and highly educated scientists. The opinions and psychologies of men so varied in training and experience arc likely to be very difficult to reconcile initiidly. If technical research is to be maintained, the first necessity, and the ever-present problem before the trade associa- Industrial Research 89 tion executive, is the establishment and maintenance of a ground of common interest in research activity that is acceptable to a majority of the members. That which benefits the producer benefits the con- sumer. The producer may be enabled through teclmi- cal research to reduce costs or to manufacture a superior article at the same price. In the latter case the customer benefits directly by receiving better value for his money. In the former, the customer will even- tually receive the benefit of cost reduction, and com- petition will probably operate to make reasonably certain that he receives it promptly. Unless the consmner benefits from the result of teclmical research, an incentive to increase consumption is laclcing, and this is one of the main objectives of trade association activities. While trade association technical research must always be designed to render its greatest benefits to the members of the association, and to their consumer customers, other members of the particular industry involved almost always benefit to some degree. Any new, better, or cheaper method of production can at best be restricted to association members only in part. Even if the exact product or process caimot be dupU- cated legally by nonmembers, for whatever reason, such competitors are stimulated to substitution or imitation. Oftentimes the substitute or imitation equals or sm-passes the original. The general plane of quality is raised and the Nation benefits. Technical research carried on by one industry may vitally affect other apparently entirely um-elated indus- tries. Substitutes for standard commodities produced by one industry may be developed through tecluucal research in another. Stainless steels, for uistance, have almost completely supplanted some nonferrous metals and alloys for many uses where ordmary corrosion is an important factor. An industry may suddenly find that the entire outlet for its product has been captured by some other industry that it did not previously regard as in any sense competitive. The partly sup- planted industry must find other outlets, better its methods or its products sufficiently to compete, or lose its market. Its entire economic existence may be at stake. The balance is upset and must be reestablished. Often such an industry must turn to cooperative asso- ciation research of one kind or another in order to solve its new problems and continue its operations. This situation is evidenced in the relation the artificial refrigeration industry bears to the natural and artificial ice industries. The expense of individual research effort is often prohibitive; a pooling of the laiowlcdge, the experience, and the resources of an entire industry may be essential to the maintenance of its research activities. Types of Research Any research project that has for its object the devel- opment of a new source of a raw material important to an industry, or of a new raw material usable by all members of the association, presents an acceptable undertaking. It might well be that an individual association member would not elect to avail himself of such a new source or new material and would thus seem not to reap a benefit. In such case, however, I Figure 14. — Laboratory and Headquarters of the American Pharmaceutical Association, Washington, D C. 90 National Besources Planning Board competitive purcliasiiifr pressure would be transferred from his raw material source of supply insofar as his competitors' purchases were diverted to the new source or material, and he would benefit proportionately. As reported in a survey of trade association activities made by tlie Trade Association Department of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, technical research on materials already in use, or on the use of new mate- rials, was carried on by 90 of the 330 trade associations reporting. New Products Developed Trade association research is approaching the field of private endeavor when it concerns itself with new prod- ucts, imless such new product can be made generally by the members of the association from raw materials ordinarily used or easily obtainable. However, research that may lead to the development of a new product which logically can be produced in conjunction with current operations of industry members in general may be of inestimable value to an industry and, if practical for use by all operators, presents a legitunate type of research for trade associations to imdertake. Research projects of this character, carried on by associations of the coke and gas producers have been instrumental in salvaging volatile products from coal that were formerly wasted into the air, and from which are produced innumerable new and useful chemical compounds. The sale of joint products or byproducts thus obtained reduces the cost of manufacturing the major product. That trade associations recognize the value of research aimed at the discovery of new and improved products is evidenced by the fact that, in the United States Chamber of Commerce survey already mentioned, 84 associations report themselves engaged in research of this character. The National Lumber Manufacturers' Association early in its research work discovered that projects directl}" financed by members had to be limited, for practical reasons, to such as had rather immediate commercial application. In 1933 the association founded as an auxiliary the Timber Engineering Com- pany. This company acquired certain patents and was constituted not only to develop and license the use of the devices covered by these patents — mostly timber connectors — in construction practice throughout the United States, but also to engage in research to develop improved methods and devices for timber construction. This activity has continued, and as a result the Timber Connector System of Construction, unknown in this country prior to 1933, has been successfully used in more than 10,000 structures of various kinds in this country, as well as in foreign countries. This type of organization, operating separately though controlled by the association, has assured con- tinuity of research projects requiring several years to complete. The income from the licensing of patents furnishes funds for additional research. In the case of the Timber Engineering Company, it has already repaid or is in position to pay from its net working capital all the funds originally furnished to acquire the patents and initiate the activities of the company. Of greater interest, however, to the lumber industry is the fact that the system of construction controlled and improved by the Timber Engineering Company has been instrumental in increasing the sales of lumber many hundred million feet. This combination of connncrcial activity and research through the trade association is a particularly satisfactory one. All members of the industry and the public benefit from the research on equal terms, and consumption of the industry's product is increased. Another research activity of interest in the building and construction industry is that carried on by the American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc. Hav- ing as a goal reduction in the cost of steel buildings, bridges, and other steel structures, its early efforts were designed to bring about standardization of steel shapes and sizes. Intelligent standardization of this type must include a great deal of physical research into the properties of the various steel shapes and their reactions under stress so that those selected as standards will most efficiently carry the strains and stresses of the structure of which they are a part. The best prod- ucts of engineering design were subjected to testing- laboratory proof. The National Bureau of Standards and the testing laboratories of certain engineering colleges collaborated with the Institute in this work. Other work was carried on in collaboration with the same institutions in connection with the strength of riveted steel rigid frames and welded steel rigid frames. The institute's research program of welding research has resulted in the development of an economical steel floor design which greatl}' reduces the dead weight on bridges and other steel structures using floors of that type. Incidentally, better fireproofing qualities have been obtained. The rigid frame type of construction developed by this research permits a reduced perimeter for a building with a given vertical clearance and a given clear floor space; more economical provisions for wind stresses; greater speed and lower cost of erection; more economical hoist installation, and re- duced maintenance costs. All of these improvements ultimately benefit the steel consumer either in the form of a lower investment cost or a cheaper upkeep. The institute issues bulletins giving detailed specifi- cations of welding practices in building construction so as to permit the construction industry- to make the best possible use of its research findings. Industrial Research 91 Quality Standards Improved Kesearcli concerning the improvement of standard products is one of the least controversial projects that trade associations can undertake. Almost without exception, manufacturers will agree that anything which raises the general quality level of an industry's products will benefit members. Nothing promotes public appreciation and approval so much as a reputa- tion for excellent quality in an industrj-'s goods. Thus the unquestioned acceptance of all commodities packed in tin cans is an excellent example of the effect that can be achieved bj' association research to improve quality. Again, research by the Underwriters Laboratories has been of such high character as to make their certifi- cation of fire-fighting and fire-prevention equipment acceptable as standard by the public, by official bodies, and by insurance companies. New Uses for Products Another most appropriate type of research work for trade associations is the development of new outlets for standard industry products, \^^lenever an in- dustry's production or even its capacity for production equals the demand for its product, the competitive struggle of that industry becomes intense. Any new outlet for its products relieves the pressure due to over- production and tends to stabilize the industry. A well-known example is the use of the modern synthetic plastics, of which Bakelite is an example, to displace the various kinds of insulators used in makmg electrical equipment. These same plastics are also replacing many ornamental metal stampings, metal caps and seals, corks, glass covers, and innumerable other prod- ucts. Association research is not believed to be re- sponsible for the development of these new uses of synthetic plastics, private research is to be credited for their discovery and utilization. Trade association research has, however, been forced to undertake the development of new outlets for the products supplanted. Of the 330 trade associations reporting in the Chamber of Commerce survey, 54 include in their research pro- grams the search for new uses for present products. It must be remembered that technical research is only one branch of association research on such a problem; business research, studies of marketing conditions, and of consumer resistance, and the like must accompany the practical teclmical solution of the problem if an industrj^ is to benefit. Research on industrial processes and methods usually can best be undertaken by trade associations when comparative uniformity of production methods exists. The canning industry furnishes a typical example of such possibilities. In the main, canned foods are packed in airtight containers, and preservation of the contents depends on sterilization after packing. The quality of the contents and the suitability and attractiveness of the package largety determine competitive success or failure. The goal to be achieved by proper processing is the protection of human health. The industry, through its trade association, has not hesitated to provide adequate funds to support a well-equipped laboratory. Technical Research Agencies Trade associations carry on technical research in a variety of ways.' In selecting the type of agency best suit- ed to carry on an industry's technical research, the nature of the problems to be solved must receive careful consideration. If only improvement of product or proc- ess is contemplated, perhaps the most effective plan is the establishment of an association laboratory. If standardization of members' products is the goal, coordinated study and research within the members' own laboratories may be sufficient. If an entirely new field of fundamental science is to be explored, if expen- sive precision equipment must be used, if policy requires scientific sponsorship more authoritative than that of the technicians of the industry, then the laboratory of some well-known university may afford the best agency to use. If a particular problem can be solved, as many can, by oft repeated trial and error methods, one of the best available organizations is the commercial consulting laboratory, the analytical acciu-acy and techniques of which make them peculiarly suitable for this type of research. If the answer is obtainable only by means of accurate determination of mmute variations in physical measurements, some agency such as the National Bureau of Standards at Washington may be the best choice. If the problem is that of meeting State or Federal regulatory requirements, grants of financial aid to some governmental agency for research in that field may not only furnish the solution but may result in official recognition of the residts. I The foJlowing News Letter was recently issued by the National Association of Manufacturers: "Thirty-one percent of the National Manufacturing Trade associations in the National Industiial Council conduct scientific research activities, according to a survey just completed by the Council in cooperation with the N. A. M. Advisory Committee on Scientific Research, of which Dr. Karl T. Compton, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is chairman. "Charles J. Brand, executive secretary of The National FertiUzer Association, is chairman of the N. I. C. Committee in charge of the survey. "Of the 113 associations in the national manufacturing trade group 35 conduct research activities and 11 have their own laboratories or cooperate with others in supporting laboratories. The average armual reseaich budget of 27 associations re- porting specific figures was $36,960. The median budget was $25,000. Two associa- tions spend more than $100,000 a year. "An average of 10 persons ate employed in the laboratories operated by the associa- tions reporting. "Twenty-one of the associations finance research projects at universities, 7 at re- search foundations, and 3 at commercial laboratories. "Most of the laboratories reported were established in the decade between 1920 and 1930. ". "Approximately 34 percent of the associations take out patents on the pioducts of their research activities. In the most instances, the patents are assigned to the association. "Ten associations distribute information on the results of their research to members only and 25 make the lesults known to the public generally." 92 National Resources Planning Board Trade Association Laboratories Imhistries confronted with many technical problems are inclined to support technical research generously. Trade associations within such industries generally maintain their own research laboratories. These can usually handle most of the types of research mentioned. We find recorded in the Chamber of Commerce survey that at least 36 trade associations maintain their own research laboratories. These laboratories are manned by staffs having a combined personnel of over 425 chemists, physicists, and engineers, and about the same number of assistants without technical education but with excellent experience and training in laboratory technique. These laboratorj' staffs vary from some numbering only a tcclmologist and one helper up to others employing 116 scientists with a large number of assistants. Research Promotes Consumption of Canned Foods The National Canners Association affords an excellent example of industry and public benefit derived tlirough research carried on in an industry's own laboratory. This trade association laboratory, founded in 1913, was one of the first to engage solely in research. This association maintains a central research laboratory in Washington, with branches in the canning areas on the Pacific coast and a traveling laboratory for use wherever needed. In the early days of commercial canning, spoilage of canned food was all too common. It was ordinarj^ practice to add some chemical for the purpose of preventing bacterial growth and resulting decomposi- tion. The canning industry met and solved success- fully difficult problems that arose from the fact that a few types of canned foods seemed particularly sus- ceptible to contamination by so-called "food poisons" that were occasionally serious in their effects. When the canning industry established its research laboratory, one of the ablest food chemists of the country was placed in charge of it. This scientist had until then been in charge of one of the Government laboratories engaged in food research and regulatory administration. Intensive studies were at once ini- tiated on the methods necessary to insure the steriliza- tion of canned foods without recourse to chemical pre- servatives. Length of cooking and the temperatures necessary to obtain complete sterility of containers of every size were carefully determined for each type of food product packed. Variations necessary in the processing of acid as compared with nonacid foods were carefully worked out. Lacquer linings for many types of tin cans were investigated and individually developed for use with each canned j)roduct likely l<> ad'ect ordinary cans. Chemical changes occurring during canning and processing were studied with particular reference to the vitamin content of the various foods. The industry quickly availed itself of the association laboratory's findings and put its recommendations into effect in processing. Spoilage of canned foods virtually has become a thing of the past. The industry has benefited in many ways; the expense of replacing spoiled goods has been eliminated, and canned food products of reputable manufacturers are now universally accepted as sound and wholesome. The public has benefited through having made available a very wide variety of wholesome foods at lower costs, with danger to health or life almost completely eliminated. No better example of the value to be obtained from a trade association's operation of its own technical research laboratory can be cited. Paint and Varnish Research Another typical example of trade association research is the work carried on by the scientific section of the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association, Inc. This association has its home in an historic mansion in the center of Washington wdiich contains its offices and laboratories. Research in this organization follows four principal lines: (1) Determining the actual causes of claimed failures of the industry's products; (2) investigating new oil-bearing plants; (3) examining new raw mate- rials such as pigments, resins, and balsams; (4) evalu- ating finished products of the industiy as to durability and other physical properties in order to develop new fields of use and to increase consumption. Analytical work, publicity through lectures, and compilation of pertinent references in the technical literature are also a part of the scientific section's activities. The research work of this association is done by a staff of eight members under the guidance of an advisory committee of the association. It affords an illustration, too, of some of the additional work that naturally eventuates from research work. In 1939 the staff wrote some 9,000 letters generally in answer to techni- cal inquiries and entertained some 1,500 visitors, many, if not most, of whom wished to discuss their technical problems. Commercial Research Laboratories Numerous excellent commercial laboratories have been established in this country. Their activities cover not only the control of technical processes in privately operated establishments, but research on practical operating jjroblems and the conduct of independent scientific research as well. Many important technical processes have been discovered and perfected in commerciiil laboratories. The alloy of nickel and chromium, composing the heating elements of most of Industrial Research 93 our household electrical appliances, is the result of re- search in such a commercial laboratory. Some 24 trade associations reported in the United States Chamber of Commerce survey that they utilize this type of organi- zation to carry on their technical research. University Fellowships and Grants Fellowships at technical schools and universities are sponsored by 21 trade associations. These fellowships are generally founded in an institution where some member of the faculty is known to be especially versed in the particular research problem involved. The fel- lowships are usually extended to graduate students working for higher degrees. For a relatively modest sum, half of a fellow's time is obtained and, in addition, the consulting services of the professor are available. Such arrangements arc particularly effective if the boundaries of the problem arc well defined so that a planned line of procedure can be laid down. They are not as effective in fields where the problems are ill de- fined. Similar to these fellowships arc money grants made to members of university faculties to enable them to pay for supplies, apparatus, and laboratory assist- ants for research on problems submitted for study. In such cases it is often not possible to arrange that a specific amoxmt of time be devoted on projects under- taken. Usually such research is secondary to the regu- lar university work of the researcher and must be done by him as time permits. The National Fertilizer Association, for example, has employed these methods for research with excellent results. Funds for fellowships in agronomy were made available to a number of universities where the college of agriculture and the State agricultural experiment station were jointly operated. The problems selected for these research activities were not only of scientific interest to the faculty, but their successful solution also promised benefit to agriculture in general. The problems naturallj^ concerned some phase of plant feed- ing because the fertilizer, or plant food, industry was supplying the necessary funds. In carrying out some of the projects, grants were also made for traveling and other expenses to representatives of the United States Department of Agriculture who cooperated and assisted in coordinating the various studies. At least a dozen such projects were supported, some of them lasting several years, and in some years several thousand dol- lars were appropriated. The most extensive and probably the most important research carried out under these plans was the study of the proper methods for applying fertilizers to various crops in order to produce the most effective results. A number of fellowships and grants were established for this purpose and, in addition, research projects covering Figure 15. — National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association, Washington, D. C 94 National Resources Planning Board some particular crop or particular phase of fertilizer application were suggested to other colleges and agri- cultural experiment stations. As the investigations proceeded, other interested organizations — the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, American Society of Agronomy, American Society for Horticultural Science, and Farm Equipment Institute — joined The National Fertilizer Association in forming a National Joint Committee on Fertilizer Application to assist in the program. The project has grown from four experiments on two crops in 1929 to 152 experiments at 73 locations in 23 States on 29 crops in 1939. Information of incalculable value to the farmers of the Nation has resulted from this extensive research project and has been disseminated to them through all available channels. Governmental Research Agencies The Federal Government maintains a large number of research laboratories from which help may be ob- tained in conducting research along lines that promise results redounding to the public good. For instance, the laboratories of the Biu-cau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering have been most helpful in working out problems of general interest. The four new regional research laboratories now under construction by the United States Department of Agriculture will no doubt be anxious to render similar assistance under suitable cooperative arrangements. The Government agency most frequently called upon to aid trade-association research is probably the Na- tional Bureau of Standards. This agency, as its name implies, is most important in standardization research, but arrangements can bo made with it to supply re- search associates for work on particular industrial problems. More often, however, a grant in money is made to the Bureau to provide funds for a specified task. One particular!}' important phase of the Bureau's work is the preparation and distribution of standard analyti- cal samples and standard test specimens. The analyses and physical properties are carefully determined by the Bureau so that they can be used by individual labora- tories to check the accuracy of their own methods and determinations. For many years the National Sand and Gravel Association has sponsored research in connection with the use of the industry's products. Comprehensive studies have been carried on concerning the size, shape, porosity, and other physical characteristics of the aggre- gates used in concrete, in order to determine those qualities best adapted to particular types of construction. The ever increasing importance of the construction of concrete highways in the defense program of the Nation undoubtedly would have made this particular research project one of public necessity if the trade association had not already instigated it. The Public Roads Administration and the Bureau of Mines are Federal agencies that have cooperated extensively in solving these research problems. The building indus- try, the landlord, and the home-owning public have all benefited in better, safer, and more economical buildings as a result of this trade association research. Collection and Distribution of Data One very important research service that a trade association can render to its industry and the public is the collection and dissemination of research data per- taining to the industry and its products. Thousands of research organizations or workers are scattered over the world. Often their findings are published only in some foreign periodical or in some obscure or inaccessible medium. Even if the work is mentioned in one of our scientific abstract journals, the significance of the data may be lost by an abstractor who is, himself, unfamiliar ^vith the problems of the particular industry. Some trade associations review all available domestic and foreign publications that appear to have even remote application to their industry and keep their members advised of any new research data or developments that seem worthy of consideration. In addition, experimental research agencies on occa- sion make new data available even before publication. Frequently the association is able to pass such informa- tion on to the industry. An excellent example of this type of trade-association research activity is a publica- tion just issued by the Bureau of Raw Products Researchof the National CanncrsAssociation. Thisbul- letin of 143 pages summarizes the recent research work done by all the State agricultural experiment stations on all canning crops. Such subjects as cultural meth- ods, varieties, fertilization, pest control and diseases are included in the abstracts presented, bringing into one book all the results of research along these lines from the 48 stations. Financing Research The proljlem of financing a technical research pro- gram for a trade association is often very difficult to solve. The earlier research projects were usually financed by voluntary subscriptions from the larger enterprises in an industry. This sometimes proved unsatisfac- tory, the donors often felt that the results should be reported only to them and hence objected to noncon- tributing members receiving the benefits of the research. Such methods are still used in some instances, however, where the contributing members have enough confidence in the project to believe they will receive sufficient bene- fit to warrant the expense, even though others also benefit. In other cases, manufacturers of raw materials Industrial Research 95 or other basic supplies for a second industry engaged in processing and distribution may provide funds for re- search to the trade association of the second industry. The solution of the research problem thus financed would be expected to result in increased use of the ma- terial and hence in increased production by the donors. The manufacturers of tin cans, for instance, lend sub- stantial financial support to the Canners Laboratory of the National Canners Association. In general, research appropriations should be allocated from the general funds of the association and results shoidd be made available to all members. Care must be taken to see that funds so allocated are sufficient to finance the laboratorj' or other research agency adequately for the work it is to undertake. Seventeen trade associations out of thirty-six, an- swering a question in the Chamber of Commerce survey as to what was their greatest handicap in pursuing successful research, stated that it was lack of sufficient funds. A deficient budget may cause delay or even abandonment of a project when ultimate success seems nearly assm-ed and a small additional expense promises the solution. Contributors are likely to become dis- gruntled and withdraw their association support when such a condition exists, instead of having the broader vision to carry on. Research — A Long-Range Activity In considering the funds necessary for research, thought must be given to the time element. Very few research investigations can be completed in one year. Reasonable assurance that funds will be made available until a piece of research can be completed is very desirable. The scientist can then plan the thor- ough and complete program that is so often necessary for the successful solution of a problem. If he must work under the handicap of feeling pressed for time, knowing that in so many months his work must termi- nate wdiether successful or not, he will be apt to take short cuts and may miss the necessary step that will insure a satisfactory product or process. If time is all important, sufficient financial provision should be made immediately to sustain as large a staff of scientists and technical aides as can effectively work on the project. If a mass of collective experience is necessary to "prove" the process, a well-organized corps of workers is often successful in saving much time. In many types of investigation, however, continued individual endeavor is the only practical method of approach. Such types of research may require many years to complete, and if undertaken by trade associations, the time require- ment must be thoroughly understood and appreciated by the members. Trade associations that are carrying on research projects satisfactorily attribute their success largely to adequate financial support both in amount and duration. Coordination of Research In most trade associations individual members will be found who ai'c carrying on private research. Coop- eration with them is essential to prevent needless dupli- cation. This does not necessarily mean that the indi- vidual member must divulge the valuable results of successful private research. More often it means that private research has developed negative results along some apparently possible line of approach to a problem, and an unnecessary expenditure of eft'ort and funds by the trade association research staff can be avoided if this fact is made known. In many cases, too, private industry will be willing to share its research results with the trade association in order to hasten progress and promote the general welfare. The extent to which this is feasible naturally depends on the particular competitive commercial advantage involved. In general, it is believed that there is much greater exchange of this type of informa- tion than formerly was customary. Private enterprise is more inclined at present than in the past to encoiu-age its scientists to publish the results of their technical studies. The mutual problems of industrial scientists are more freely discussed by them before the meetings of their respective scientific societies than formerly. Publica- FiGUEB 16. — Laboratory for Invf.stigatioii of Length C ii;uim- Concrete, Portland Cement Association, Cliicago, Illinois 96 National Resources Planning Board tion of patents often reveals information of general interest and value. Perfected analytical technique makes possible much more intelligent investigation of raw materials and products. All of these factors are taken into consideration and are used by trade associa- tion research agencies in furthering their owti work through deciding what not to undertake as well as what path to follow. The Trade Association Research Committee One important factor in the coordination of trade association technical research is the research committee of the association. This committee should be charged with the direction of the research laboratory if there be one, the stimulation of pertinent research by State and Federal research agencies, and the dissemination of in- formation regarding research. The director of research, through the executive officer of the association, acts as the agent of the committee in these activities. The membership of a research committee should include representation from the outstanding teclmical, produc- tion, and sales executives of the association membership. Only by such broad representation can the research program be properly envisioned and prosecuted. Re- sults of technical research are commercially worthless if they cannot be utilized practically in production, or if the resulting products cannot be sold. Members of this committee should be able to see beyond the particular problems of their own enterprises and to understand the necessity of considering problems common to the indus- try. The research committee must have frequent meet- ings with the director of research and members of his staff so as to stimulate and direct the work along lines of most value to the industry. Another function is to evaluate the research results practically at periodic intervals so as to decide what information already obtained is of sufficient importance to be disseminated to members, and in what manner it can best be utilized. State engineering and agricultural colleges and ex- periment stations and many other educational organiza tions are often eager to have worth-while research prob- lems suggested to them that will afford opportunities for thesis research by undergraduate and graduate stu- dents, or for more extensive institutional research. This provides a splendid opportunity for a research committee to function and to be of great assistance to its industry in establishing sound public relations. The Plant Food Research Committee of The National Fertilizer Association is made up of competent agrono- mists and chemists employed in the industry. This committee meets frequently to discuss the unsolved agronomic problems facing American agriculture and to plan ways and means of attempting their solution. In some instances the committee has sponsored research on its own account. More often it has been instru- mental in arranging for studies to be undertaken by such agencies as State agricultural experiment stations. The committee often provides fertilizers and fertilizer mate- rials and other aids in carrying on the work. - Patents The question of patents does not often rise in trade association technical research. So many individuals are usually involved in any piece of such research, through suggestions, advice, or contributed experience, that even a new process or product can scarcely ever qualify as the patentable idea of any one individual or group. If a patentable feature should be developed during a piece of trade association research and a patent is granted, all members of the association would, of course, be privileged to use the patent without any royalty or fee. Others should be permitted to use the patent under license and appropriate fee uidess such use would be definitely contrary to the interests of association members who bore the necessary expense of conducting the research involved. Access to Research Results The results of trade association teclmical research must be made freely and fully available to all members of the association. As discoveries are made, the facts should be made known to all members alike as soon as their practicability is determined. If a laboratory is maintained, members should have free access thereto for the purpose of first-hand demonstrations or con- ferences. Care must be taken that only such informa- tion is given out in personal inter^^ews as has already been circulated to members, at least in general terms. To report a discover}' to one member in advance of others, or to sequester information from any members, would manifestly be unfair and would very quickly disrupt the research program. After a general an- nouncement to members of a research achievement, it seems perfectly proper to discuss anj- details thereof with an}' member who may take the trouble to visit the laboratory or WTite for further information. The method of acquainting members with research progress can best be determined by the research committee. If the association membership is large and its research activities are extensive, it may be desirable or necessary to publish printed bulletins to be kept for reference. These may be supplemented by mimeographed letters or releases. Keeping the membership informed of research progress, either achievement or failure, is essential if their support for the research program is to be maintained. Inditstrial Research 97 Figure 17.' — Laboratories and Offices of the American Institute of Laundering, Joliet, Illinois National Emergency In any national emergencj- trade-association teclmical researcli facilities can be converted to Government use easily and immediately. Researcli committees, being already organized and functioning, can render im- mediate, competent service in making technical surveys of the industry or in assisting in the conversion of non- essential industries to the production of munitions and war materials generally. The trained personnel of laboratories in operation would be particularly valuable in imdertaking special research along their speciaUzed line, or along similar lines. The staff and facilities of trade-association chemical laboratories, if necessary, could easily be utilized in the small-scale production of special chemical products or medical preparations needed for war use. Engineering and other types of laboratories could be used likewise along their special- ized lines. Inasmuch as trade-association research laboratories are, as a rule, not connected with any particular factory or manufacturing enterprise, their mobilization into emergency work would not have the effect of reducing industrial production. Teclmical research by trade associations has become a great national asset. It is as yet inadequately devel- oped. Potentially, the research facilities of trade associations are of major importance to national mobilization. In the event of national emergencies, facilities owned by production enterprises should be interfered with as little as possible in order that maxi- mum production and expansion may take place. In trade-association laboratories may be found able scientists with efficient, trained assistants whose im- mediate work can, without permanent loss, be tempo- rajily discontinued that their efforts may be devoted to the common cause. They may be made our first aiLxiliary line of technical defense. In closing this discussion the author wishes to make it altogether clear that in mentioning or describing as examples the research work of a few associations, no derogation of the fine work of many others is intended. Only space limitations and lack of complete knowledge are responsible. Bibliography Books American Institute op Steel Construction. Annual report, 1939. New York, 1939. 68. Bra.md, C. J. The stimulating of research activities by trade associations. In American Trade Association Executives' Addresses, Twentieth Annual Convention, Rye, N. Y., Sep- tember 20-23, 1939. National Canners Association, Washington, D. C. Bureau of Raw Products Research. Agricultural research relating to canning crops. Vols. 1-5, 1936-40. Washington, D. C, 1936-40. Sparagen, William. Trade association research. {In Ross, Malcolm, ed. Profitable practice in industrial research. New York, Harper and Brothers, 1932. p. 182-203. Journal Articles Chamber op Commerce of the United States, Department OF Manufacture. Cooperative industrial research. Wash- ington, D. C, 1925. 38 p. Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Trade As- sociation Department. A classification and statistical survey of the activities and services of 330 associations. Washington, D. C, 1938. Davis, R. M. Research — its cash value. Factory and Indus- trial Management, 76, 712 (1928). Hamor, W. a. Industrial research in 1939. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (News Ed.), 18, 1, 49 (1940). National Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Association, Inc., Washington, D. C. Special circular, October 1939. SECTION II 5. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH IN INDUSTRY By Charles M. A. Stine Vice President, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del. ABSTRACT Fundamental research is a quest for facts about the properties and behavior of matter, without retjard to a specific apphcation of the facts discovered. Funda- mental research in industr)' is a sound business policy because (1) it provides a basis for future processes and products; (2) it is a logical approach to the more difficult or complex "practical" problems; (3) it is an assm-ancc of continued leadership in quality and economy of production. In addition, there are several important secondary factors residting from industrial fundamental research, namely: (1) Fundamental research creates consulting specialists within a company, readily accessible to those engaged in applied research; (2) it broadens and strengthens relations with university research; (3) it attracts to a company university graduates having distinct aptitude for research; (4) it provides an opportunity within a company for placing personnel who might otherwise be misfits. In the du Pont Company each of the operating de- partments and subsidiaries has a research division. Many problems of interest to two or more operating departments, however, are handled by an independent central research department. The fundamental re- search staff is within the administration of the central resoarcli department. The fundamental research staff of the du Pont Com- pany now comprises about 45 men, including full-time group leaders and other supervisory personnel. The investment in research facilities is approximately $10,000 for each scientifically trained worker. The operating expense is approximately $7,000 to $8,000 annually for each scientifically trained worker. Fundamental research should be undertaken only as a long-range effort, rather than on a year-to-year basis. Significant results seldom appear in a year's program. It is desu'able, too, to assure personnel generous com- pensation and security of employment. For these reasons fundamental research in industry is somewhat limited to companies of considerable size, seasoned experience, sound financial condition, and demon- strated faith in research generally- But a small com- pany may participate in fundamental research and profit from it, particularly by obtaining assistance out- side its owi\ organization. The du Pont Company's program of fvmdamcntal research has been in operation 12 years. Substantial results have been achieved in the following lines of work: Giant molecules, or "superpol3'mers" (nylon); chemical engmeering unit operations ; organic synthesis, including studies of acetylene polymers resulting in neoprcne chloroprene rubber; cellulose derivatives; catalyst studies; and pigments and particle size. Although pioneering applied research may enlarge existing fields, fundamental research broadens the whole field of chemical industry, and from it flow new l)roducts and new processes. These new products exhibit not onty the properties expected b}' their dis- coverer, but, as so frequently happens, new and unex- pected properties which result in new uses not envi- sioned for it when the product was merely a dream in the mind of the inventor. Introduction Fundamental research and what may be termed "pioneering applied research" should bo differentiated. The distinction is based principally upon the scope of the work and the extent to which it is limited by certain recognized practical objectives. In general, research undertaken upon some broad general subject, such as the structure of cellulose, belongs to the category of fundamental research. 98 On the other hand, if a company engaged in the production of textiles coated with cellulose derivatives, or in the manufacture of photograpiiic film, or of other products utilizing derivatives of cellulose, undertakes research aimed at the development of new cellulose derivatives, in the hope of developing such derivatives as might exhibit useful ju-operties fitting them for appli- cation in manufactured products, the work becomes pioneering applied research. After the discovery of a Industrial Research 99 new cellulose derivative and the evaluation of its prop- erties, the next step might be actually to manufacture it, whereupon the investigation assumes the complexion of ordinary applied research. The investigation of monomolecular fdnis by a pro- ducer of electrical equipment might he fundamental research, whereas the investigation of monomolecular films by an oil refiner engaged in the production of lubricants might be largelj' in the field of applied re- search. Thus, the classification of the research depends upon the character of the problem and the nature of the agency carrying on the investigation. Reasons for Fundamental Research in Industry Why fundamental research? The answer is clear; industry should learn today in order that it may be prepared for tomorrow. Thus, there is an implied monetary motive for fimdamental research in industry. To put it another way, fundamental research in the technical laboratory is not a labor of love. It is sound business policy. It is a policy that should assure the payment of futine dividends. More specifically, funda- mental research in industry aids in achieving the follow- ing thmgs: (1) Fimdamental research provides a basis for fu- ture processes and products. For example, a sub- stantial proportion of the operations of a certain company is based on the raw material cellulose, and it is likely that the company will continue to use cellulose in large quantities every year. Consequently, such studies as "chemistry of cellulose," "particle size of cellulose derivatives," and "physical structure of cellu- lose derivatives" are a part of the fundamental research effort. It is believed that some of the discoveries being made inevitably will lead to new cellulose products. (2) Fundamental research is a logical approach to the more difficult or complex "practical" problems, such as the design of equipment for chemical and physical processes. After a process has been carried through the laboratory stage, what then? Unless the process is conventional — which it rarely is — the steps which ensue comprise semiworks operation, followed by the design of a full-scale factory, all of which require such data as coefficients of heat transfer and empirical formu- lae for absorption and fluid flow. If the plant operates according to prediction, there is a general sigh of relief. ^Yhile there is a body of knowledge called chemical engineering, there are many open spaces in that knowl- edge, as the designer of chemical factories will testify. Therefore, in the hope and belief that guesswork in plant design can be diminished, fundamental research in chemical engineering should embrace studies in fluid flow, distillation, absorption, crystallization and evap- oration, heat transfer, and the like. 321835 — 41 8 (.'■!) FunchuiU'utal research assures continued leader- ship in quality and economy of production. Paint, for instance, is an old product, so old one might think there is not much room for improvement in quality. But research is destined to cause much more than con- tinued improvement in present types of paint. New types of paint will be evolved. Significantly, a paint is judged partly by the way it fails; whether by chalking, cracking, blistering, etc. Short life — from 1 to 5 years — is an accepted quality. So, witli these facts in mind, fundamental research especially on pigments is in progress in the paint industry. Such properties as particle size and size distribution are being studied, using the ultracentrifuge as a tool. Fundamental laws are being discovered, and these discoveries will permit a control of the optical properties of pigments. As a result, paints having vastly improved durability may be expected. (4) Fundamental research creates specialists within a company, readily accessible for consultation with those engaged in applied research, or themselves to undertake applied research with assurance of a broader foundation than otherwise would have been laid. Experience indicates that the consulting function does not interfere seriously with the research function; on the contrary, contact between the two research groups is mutually beneficial. Or alternately, fundamental research may be an excellent prelude to pioneering applied research. (5) Opportunity for fundamental research attracts to industry university graduates having marked aptitude for research. This is important, because in a large technical research organization, the recruiting of mem- bers for the junior technical staff is a major responsibil- ity. The research results of tomorrow depend upon the quality of personnel employed today. Stated another way, the scientific prestige of a company is a major factor in attracting suitable men, and this prestige often rests on the company's reputation for fundamental attack. Organization for Fundamental Research In one company in which fundamental research has been practiced a number of years, each of the oper- ating departments and subsidiaries has a research division. To that extent, research is decentralized. Many problems, however, especially those of pioneering applied research are of interest to two or more opcratmg departments or for other reasons are handled most effectively by an independent research staff. Conse- quently, there is also a central research staff. The fundamental research staff appears most logically to be a part of the central research department and, in fact, is administered therein. Actually, there is no sharp subdivision of organiza- 100 National Resources Planning Board tion, since certain individuals engaged in fundamental research report to supervisors who also have responsi- bility for pioneering applied research. This has proved quite satisfactory and ensures fraternity among the applied and fundamental groups. Any appearance of having set up an aristocracy of fundamental research is carefull}- avoided. All research is considered to be equally important to the company's welfare; similarly there is no inequality of status as between an employee engaged in an abstract study of the cellulose molecule and one trying to make better photographic film from that same cellulose. The fundamental research staff of the company now comprises about 45 men, including the full-time group leaders and other supervisory personnel. Cost of Research In this same company, the investment in research facilities is approximately $10,000 for each scientifically trained worker, whether engaged in fundamental research or in applied research. This includes all capital facilities, such as land, buildings, and equip- ment. The operating expense is approximately $7,000 to $8,000 for each scientifically trained worker. This includes the worker's salary and his overhead — such items as rent (or the equivalent of rent), heat, light, power, supplies, insurance, clerical, and mechanical services, administration, and travel. Conditions for Successful Fundamental Research Everyone experienced in fundamental research knows it should be undertaken only as a long-range effort. Accordingly, a management should understand that, in all probability, significant results will not be forth- coming in a year's program. Fundamental research should be underwritten for a term of years, rather than on a year-to-year basis. One program in the writer's experience was underwritten initially for a term of 5 years, and when this term ended, the results were suf- ficiently tangible to warrant continued appropriations. A second factor is the lines of work to be imdertaken. "Lines of work" rather than "problems" are specified, because problems were not specified when the program was initiated. In one company, for example, there are a number of major lines of manufacture, and under- lying these are cellulose chemistry, catalytic reactions, a group of organic syntheses, a group of inorganic sjmtheses, also certain physical phenomena, as for example, those related to paint manufacture. Clearly, it is good policy to try unceasingly to improve existing products tlxrough applied research and to develop new products through pioneering applied research. Having organized applied research to the best advantage, the possible additional benefits to be secured by fundamental research should then be con- sidered. Finally, if fundamental research is conducted on the broad lines underlying the various industries, facts that sooner or later will be valuable are most likely to be discovered. A third factor is personnel. Individual ability is even more important in fundamental research than in applied research. Reaching a clearly defined objective in applied research is not difficult if proper supervision is provided. If this were not true, applied research would not have achieved virtually universal acceptance as an everyday business tool. Of course, someone has to supervise fundamental research. However, the supervisor's principal task is to contribute suggestions and constructive criticism, to see that working condi- tions are favorable, to inspire his men, and to maintain close touch with the progress of each group member. The success of the work is largely dependent upon securing for fundamental research the highest grade of men obtainable for each of the principal lines of work and then affording them a wide latitude. It is desirable to compensate these men so generously that they will regard themselves as "career men" with a company. Once a man has demonstrated his ability for work in fimdamental research, security of employ- ment and fair compensation ought to be assured inso- far as possible. The foregoing considerations indicate at once why fundamental research in industry virtually is limited to companies of considerable size, seasoned experienced, sound financial condition, and demonstrated faith in research generally. To put it another way, no com- pany should undertake fundamental research unless it is both willing and able to sustain it indefinitely, through depression as well as prosperity. In this con- nection, it should be pointed out that the lapse of lime between the conception of an idea in fundamental research and its eventual emergence as an industrial process or product is rarely less than 6 to 10 years. Results Achieved Fundamental research is not new in industry. It has been practiced with marked success by the chem- ical industry on organic syntheses, catalysis, and poly- merization ; by the electrical industry on acoustics, sur- face films, and atom smashing; by the iron and steel industry on creep; by the paper industry on the prop- erties of lignin. Even a gasket company has carried out basic research on the laws affecting leakage without having in mind specific commercial problems. Indicative of the range of fundamental research in industry, the following examples are cited. These ex- amples were contributed especially for inclusion in this report, as a result of the author's contact with a num- Indtistrial Research 101 ber of companies, the cooperation of whitli is hereby acknowledged. American Cyanamid Company Physical laboratory. — "A spectroscopic study of atomic arrangement and structure of organic compoimds in tlie spectral range between 2,200-A and 120,000-A. New instruments and tecluiique have been developed and a catalog of the spectral bands of molecular group- ings is being compiled. Some very valuable applica- tions, particularlj- m the analyses of imknown organic mixtures, have resulted." Chemical laboratory.— "A comprehensive study of or- ganic nitrogen compounds, particularly derivatives of cyanamid. This has resulted in the production of many new products, several of which are now commer- cially available in the class of organic bases, resin form- ing compomids and intermediates for pharmaceutical and dye production. Much new physical and chemical data relating to the properties of these complex com- poimds have been registered." Biological laboratory. — "Organized research on the nature and behavior of globulin proteins leading to a better understanding of the complex constitution of serums. We are now able to produce certain antitoxins and toxoids free from certain side reactions when introduced into the human system, and with better understanding of the principles involved, the application is being extended rapidly to a wider range of tliose biologicals." Bell Telephone Laboratories Electron dijfraction. — "Up until 1927, electrons were thought to be discrete particles; their mass and charge had been determined, and their behavior under all the more usual circumstances was known. Studies in Bell Telephone Laboratories, however, showed that elec- trons also have the character of waves. This was proved by projecting a stream of electrons against a nickel crystal. Instead of penetrating or being blocked by the nickel crystal, the electrons arc diffracted, and leave the crystals at various angles from the line of the beam, much as a beam of light is diffracted when it falls on a fine mesh screen. This result was in conform- ity with certain theories developed shortly before, and has been one of the important factors in creating the 'new' physics that has come into prominence in recent years. Since this original work, the diffraction of electrons has proved a useful tool in studying the nature of material surfaces." Electron emission. — ^"Studies have been carried on over a number of years to determine the fundamental Figure 18. — High-Speed Motion Pictures of the Human Vocal Cords, Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York, N'ew York 102 National Resources Planning Board physical and chciniral factors involved in emission of electrons from heated surfaces. The broad objective has been to improve the uniformitj', efficiency, and life expectancy of vacuum tubes. At the time these studies were initiated, Wehnelt or oxide coated cathodes, were known but their behavior was erratic and their prepara- tion difficult. As a result of extended researches, the principles involved in electron emission have been greatly clarified. The role of metallic barium in oxide coated cathodes is now understood from these studies, and this knowledge has facilitated the development of manufacturing processes for the production of more uniform and efficient tubes of longer life. Both the efficiency and life of vacuum tubes have been increased many fold as a result of these studies." Corning Glass Works Shrunk glass.- — "The development of 'slirunk' glass might be taken as an instance of a commercial result of fundamental research in an industrial laboratory. "It had been observed that prolonged heat treatment in the annealing region seriously affected the resistance of certain glasses to attack by water and chemical re- agents. With no immediate practical application in view a study of the phenomenon was undertaken. After work extending over a period of years it was found that certain chemical compositions were particularly susceptible to heat treatment, the result of which appeared to be the separation of the glass into two phases, one consisting almost entirely of silica and the other of boric oxide, alkali, and other constituents. Extraction with acid then gave an article of the original size, microscopically porous and consisting of some 96 percent silica, which on firing contracted in volume about 35 percent and yet retained with remarkable fidelity its original shape. "It has thus become possible to produce from a glass melted and worked by conventional methods ware which in its properties approaches fused quartz. The expansion-coefficient of the 'shrunk' glass, for instance, is 0.0000008 where that of fused quartz is 0.0000006. Electrical properties and resistance to chemical attack are also close to fused quartz. "The glass is now on the market in the form of labo- ratory ware and in other special applications." Eastman Kodak Company Distillation in high vacua. — "A very typical example of the application of fundamental research is Dr. Hick- man's process of distillation in high vacua, which resulted from a study of the design of vacuum gauges and pumps. This was undertaken originally as a purely fundamental research, without any particidar application in view and has enabled us to design and build molecular stills and to carry on the commercial distillation of vitamins from fish oils in a subsidiary company formed for the purpose. Figure 19. — Pure Research Division, Stamford Research Laboratories, American Cyanamid Company, Stamford, Connecticut Industrial Research 103 There are many other applications of this distillation process to the treatment of vegetable and animal oils, all of which are developing from Dr. Ilicivman's work on high vacua." General Electric Company High-pressure arc work. — "High-pressure arc work (electric discharges in high pressures of gas, up to 50,000 pounds per square inch) has taught us how to improve air circuit breakers so that an air circuit breaker may now be made as compact as an oil circuit breaker for the same service." Hot filaments. — "At a time when X-ray tubes con- tained no fdaments, researches on phenomena connected with hot filaments yielded the clew to a new type of X-ray tube, so superior to former types as completely to supersede them." Monsanto Chemical Company Ferric sulfate. — "Fundamental study of the system Fe203 — SO3 — HoO, out of which rose efficient manufac- turing methods for ferric sulfate." Synthetic resins from petroleum. — "Study of the reac- tions of olefins with diolefins and aromatics resulting in the development of resins from petroleum." Organic phosphates. — "Study of the reactions of phosphoric anhydride with organic compounds resulting in the development of alkyl phosphates." Standard Oil Development Company Lubrication studies. — "In connection with a study of lubricating oil behavior it was found that a new syn- thetic material had the effect of reducing the pour point of lubricating oils. Manufacture of this material was started within the company and it is now sold in the form of an oil solution as 'Paraflow.' The production of this material has been a quite successful commercial enterprise." Polymerization studies. — "In connection with exami- nation of the constitution of petroleum fractions, it was found that the hydrogenated polymerization product obtained from treating refinery C4 cut, with moder- ately strong sulfuric acid, at essentially room tempera- ture contained octenes other than 2,2,4-tri-mcthyl pentane, normally known as iso-octane. Up to that time it had been felt that the only product of the reaction was the polymerization of isobutylene to di-isobutylene which would be converted to 2,2,4-tri- methyl pentane on hydrogenation. Discovery of the presence of other octenes stimulated work on the modi- fication of the polymerization process which led to the development, so far as the Standard Oil Development Company is concerned, of the 'hot acid' process for production of mixed octenes by polymerization of isobutylene with normal butylenes. Development of this process more than doubled the supply of aviation gasoline blending agents that could be obtained from refinery C4 fractions as compared with the earlier 'cold acid' process. This work made possible the production of high octane number blending agents for aviation gasoline on a scale large enough to warrant wide appli- cation." United States Rubber Company Research on latex. — "Shortly after the close of the last world war the United States Rubber Company began importing latex from its plantations. It appeared im- mediately that latex could be used for a number of purposes, including the direct manufacture of rubber goods, which up to that time had been made from the coagulated and dried rubber shipped from the East. "In order to develop such processes and operate them on a satisfactory basis a large amount of fundamental research work was carried on. Among other matters, studies were made of the viscosity of latex in relation to its concentration, pH, and the effect of nonrubber materials, including compounding ingredients. "As a result of this work we are now able to make reproducible latex compositions and to maintain the properties of these compositions over considerable periods of time." Some of the practical applications of this work are the following: Latex thread (Lastex). — This is widely used in the manufacture of elastic fabrics and garments. Latex wire. — This product is superior to wire insulated by the older methods using dry rubber, in that the wall thickness is more uniform and the dielectric properties of the rubber are superior. As a result, wires made by this method have a smaller over-all diameter for the same service than wires made by the older method. Latex foam sponge. — This material is coming into wide use for cushions for automobiles, furniture, and mattresses. Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company Electric discharge phenomena in gases. — ^"In the elec- trical industry, there has been considerable fundamental work in the ionization, conduction and deionization of gases and this fundamental work has led to valuable commercial products such as lightning arresters and circuit breakers. "It might be pointed out also that the early funda- mental work, partly in industry and partly in the imiversities, on conduction in gases at reduced pres- sures has resulted in quite a long trail of useful products such as X-ray tubes, mercury vapor lights, mercury rectifiers, radio and industrial tubes, fluorescent lights, photocells, sterilizing lights, etc." 104 National Resources Planning Board General Motors Corporation Improvement oj antiknock quality oj Juels. — ^"This research program was started in an effort to eliminate detonation in gasoline engines. Detonation, or 'knock- ing,' results in low economy and prevents the use of high compression ratios with consequent performance increases. The General Motors Research Laboratories found that the addition of tetracthyl lead to gasoline raised its antiknock value so that engineers could use the advantages of high compression in engine design. To use letracth^d lead without causing lead deposits inside the engine, it must be mixed with a bromine derivative, ethylene-dibromide." Improvement in quality oj gasoline. — "The General Motors Research Laboratories engineers, cooperating with the oil companies, have about doubled the yield of gasoline from crude oU. The inherent antiknock value of gasoline has been greatly increased and, in addition, the chemists have found many ways to use petroleum as a raw material." Fuel economies. — "In 1939 about 75 percent of the gasoline sold in this country contained ethyl fluid. The annual gasoline bill of the United States is about 4 billion dollars. Engine improvements made possible by better antiknock fuels have about doubled the power and economy without increasing the size of the engine. Refiners now soil better gasoline at a lower cost to the public and in addition have found ways to make alcohols, solvents, acetylene, plastics, resins, artificial rubber, and a host of other things, using petroleum as the base material. No quantitive measurement can be applied to the over-all benefits of fuel research, but they may be largely credited to the forward research policy of General Motors." FiGCRE 20. — Fundamental Research in Reaction Kinetics, Emeryville Laboratories, Shell Development Company, Emeryville, California I Industrial Research 105 E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company Nylon. — In the 12 j'cars of operation of fundamental research, substantial contributions have been made to the company's progress, as indicated by the following description of the nylon development: The first study undertaken in fundamental research program was directed to a better understanding of how and why certain molecules unite to form giant molecules, such as those found in rubber, cellulose, and resins. Chemists have long been vitally interested in giant molecules, or "superpolymers," and in learning every- thmg possible about the mechanism of polymerization. Out of the study of polymerization begun in 1928, fundamental information of much importance was devel- oped and was made public in the form of scientific papers. It was demonstrated, for example, that cer- tain small molecules could be made to unite in such a way as to form giant molecules of great length, known as linear superpolymers. However, after this fundamental research had been un ler way for about 2 years, it was noted that the molten polymer could be drawn out in the form of a long fiber, somewhat like that of silk, and that, even after the fiber was cold, it could be further drawn to several times its original length. Wliile this original fiber was not very strong or elastic and was softened by hot water, it, nevertheless, sug- gested the possibility that some related type of super- polymer might give fibers which would possess the char- acteristics desired for use in textiles. Further research was accordingly directed to the synthesis of a super- polymer from which strong, elastic, and water-resistant fibers would be drawn or spmi. Practical research directed to the synthesis of a superpolymer from which fibers could be drawn suitable for textile purposes did not bear immediate fruit. Numerous superpolymers were synthesized. Some of the resulting fibers were deficient in strength and elas- ticity, while, others, although sufficiently strong and elastic, softened at quite low temperatures, or were sensitive to water. They did not possess the properties required of a textile fiber. Finally a superpolymer of a different type was pre- pared, a polyamide, from which fibers spun by hand were found to possess such characteristics as to warrant extraordinary efforts to bring the development to com- mercial success. Much work was yet to be done, however, between that day when the first polyamide fiber was extruded through an improvised spinneret made from a hypodermic needle, and the announce- FiGURE 21. — Ultracentrifuge for Determination of Molecular Weights of Colloidal Materials Such as Proteins, Cellulose and Rubber Experimental Station of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Delaware 106 National Resources Planning Board ment of nylon several years later. Many dilFerent polyaniidcs had to be synthesized before supcrpolymcrs having the desired characteristics were found; it was then necessary to investigate sources of raw materials for the intermediates needed in making these super- polymers, and to devise practicable processes for nialv- ing the intermediates. Late in 193S, there was announced the development of a group of new synthetic superpolymers from which, among other possible applications, textile fibers could be spun surpassing in strength and elasticity any previously known textile fiber, whether cotton, linen, wool, silk, or rayon. This new family of materials was named nylon. Fundamental Research by Small Companies The small industrial organization has been variously defined. Certainly with respect to the largest com- panies, one wliose not worth is 1 million dollars would be considered small. Such an organization on the average would have a gross income of 1 million dollars annualh^ and could support a research staff of about 5 scientifically trained personnel. On the other hand, a company whose net worth is 5 million dollars ceases to be small (if engaged in manufacturing) and might be termed medium-sized. It could sup{)ort a research staff of 20 scientifically trained personnel. The question is, Wliat can a company do — in this category of less than 20 research men — in the field of fundamental research? Its managers probably feel that its resources should be conserved for projects that promise relatively definite and prompt return; that fundamental research should not be undertaken unless there is reasona])lo assurance of financial support over a period of years; and that the successful pursuit of fundamental research requires a staff possessing widely diversified, higldy specialized talents. Finally, they may feel that fundamental research is a variety of "white man's burden," to be borne by the imiversi- ties, research foundations, and large industrial com- panies. Such reasoning does not, in the writer's opinion, close the case, as there are ways by wliich a small company may participate in fundamental research and profit therefrom. For example, it may sponsor a project in a university, or establish a fellowship at an endowed research institute at which admirable staff and equipment are available for the small as well as the large organization. It may participate in trade association research or in cooperative group research. It may retain a firm of competent research consultants. Fundamental Research and Foreign Affairs In the light of world jjolitics as this is written, the importance of maintaining and expanding research activities in America becomes particularh'' clear. Our ability as a Nation to hold and develop foreign trade and to provide adequate defenses will depend in no small degree upon our research activities, including those of the most fundamental character. Twenty-five years ago Germany was supreme in dyes, pharmaceuticals, and nitrogen fixation, simply because she had built efficient industries upon a broad base of fundamental research that dated back 10, 15, and 25 years. No imagination is required to appreciate what this supremacy meant in her world commerce and in preparedness for war. Fortunately, our woeful state of chemical insuffi- ciency in 1914 is one lesson America took to heart. And, if we are to survive as a democracy in a world seething with predatory powers, then our defenses must be made secure, literally dowTi to the last atom.. Whether or not we relish the idea, our leadership in science must not be relinquished if we are to be in- vincible in the arts of war as well as in the bloodless but nonetheless vital struggles of world commerce. Bibliography Books Boyd, T. A. Research, the pathfinder of science and industry. New York, London, D. Applcton-Century Company, Inc., 1935. 319 p. "Pure research and applied," p. 13-21. Dreaper, W. p. Notes on chemical research, an account of certain conditions which apply to original investigation. 2d ed. Philadelphia, Blakiston, 1920. 195 p. "Definition of research," p. 26-28. Fleming, A. P. M., and J. G. Pearce. Research in industry, the basis of economic progress. London, Pitman, 1922. 244 p. "Character of research," p. 11-22. Mees, C. E. K. The organization of industrial scientific re- search. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1920. 175 p. "Introduction," p. 1-21. National Resources Committee. Technological trends and national pohcy. (Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1937.) 388 p. "The interdependence of science and technology" (E. C. Elliott), p. 93-94. Ross, Malcolm, ed. Profitable practice in industrial research; tested principles of research laboratory organization, admin- istration, and operation. New York, London, Harper and Brothers, 1932. 269 p. "Fundamental and applied chemical research" (C. M. A. Stine), p. 104-118. "Research in pure science" (W. R. Whitney and L. A. Hawkins), p. 243-261. Weidlein, E. R., and W. A. II amor. Science in action; a sketch of the value of scientific research in American industries. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1931. 310 p. "The groundwork of industrial research," p. 3-16. Industrial Research 107 Journal articles Dunn, J. T. Academic research and industry. Chemical Age (London) U, 553 (1924). Dunn, J. T. Tlie services of science to industry; jubilee memo- rial lecture. Chemistry and Industry, 56, 478 (1937). Langmuir, Irving. Fundamental research and its human value. General Electric Review, 40, 569 (1937). Mees, C. E. K. The production of scientific knowledge. Indus- trial and Engineering Chemistry, 9, 1137 (1917). Rice, E. W. The field of research in industrial institutions. Journal of the Franklin Institute, 199, 65 (1925). Steinmetz, C. p. Scientific research in relation to the industries. Journal of the Franklin Institute, 182, 711 (1916). Stine, C. M. a. Debunking research. Nation's Business, 17, No. 2, 31 (Feb. 1929). Stine, C. M. A. Place of fundamental research in an industrial research organization. World Power Conference, Chemical Engineering Congress. Transactions, 4, 699 (1936). Stine, C. M. A. Structure of an industrial research organiza- tion. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 21, 657 (1929). SECTION II 6. CAREERS IN RESEARCH By W. A. Gibbons Director of General Development Division, United States Rubber Company, Passaic, N. J. ABSTRACT Success in industrial research depends primarily on human effort, therefore, a discussion of the qualifica- tions of industrial research workers is important. It is believed that a discussion of this subject from the stand- point of the individual will be of interest to the uni- versities, to employers, and in particular to prospective research workers. The report is intended to state some of the results of experience, and in order to make it representative it has been reviewed by a large number of research directors, whose suggestions have, as far as possible, been included. A number of qualifications are discussed, with ex- planations as to why they are important. Some of these qualifications are inherent; others may be acquired by training. It is emphasized that no attempt is made to state the degree to which these various qualifications are necessarj'. The field of research is so broad that it is not possible to draw specifications for any standard type of individual. If it were possible, it would not be desirable, because different types of work require different types of ability. Formal training of one kind or another is practically a mandatory requirement for one who hopes to become proficient as a research worker. It is achieved usually with the aid of a properly organized and equipped uni- versity. Emphasis should be put on the broad funda- mentals of the chosen field rather than on specialization. The importance of mathematics in connection with a scientific training is discussed. Training in oral and written presentation of facts is generally held to be of extreme importance to the industrial research worker. As to duration of training, it is the consensus of opinion that for a lifetime career in research, training equivalent to that required for the degree of doctor of piiilosophy is highly desirable. On the other hand, for development work or for work which is regarded as a training for some other field of industrial activit}^ a shorter period of training may be adequate. Graduate work should train a man in research methods. One of the most valuable features of graduate training may be 108 the close association of the graduate student with a brilliant leader in science. The relation of academic standing to success in indus- trial research is discussed, with the conclusion that while success cannot be predicted on the basis of aca- demic standing, it is generally believed that to succeed, a student should be in the upper half or even in the upper fourth of his class. It is also agreed that good academic standing is no substitute for other qualities, and is in itself no guarantee of success. In the selection of a position it is desirable for the applicant to secure as much information as possible regarding the requirements so that he may determine whether his qualifications and aptitudes are suited. It is pointed out that the research history of the company is also a matter of interest. Management policies, organization, and procedures are discussed, with particular reference to how these relate to the individual. Specific topics discussed are the acquisition of experience, evaluation and utilization of ideas, leadership, ability to complete as well as start work, planning, essentials and nonessentials, and execu- tion. It is pointed out that work in a research laboratorj' may provide training for positions in other parts of the company. As to compensation, it is believed that the scientific men in industry fare as well, on the average, as men of comparable age, experience, and abilitj' in other in- dustrial activities. In addition, there are a number of other important compensations. A low-paid appren- ticeship is ordinarily not required. A man who possesses the qualifications of a scientist will probably be happiest if he is doing this type of work, also, he will derive satisfaction from the fact that his work may be of great and lasting importance. Most mdustrial Inboratories permit workers to publish the results of tiieir work where such publication will not be prejudicial to the interests of the company. It is generally agreed that industrial research in tiiis country will experience a large growth. Industrial Research 109 Introduction Tho resources oi the United States for industrinl research are measured by the personnel available to carry on this work. This statement may seem an exaggeration because there is a tendency to regard the achievements of industrial research as resulting from physical equipment such as laboratories and apparatus. Wliile these are essential, they arc of little use without the proper personnel. In the last analysis the achieve- ments of industrial research are the results of human efTort. For this reason it is highly important to con- sider carefull}' the question of scientific personnel — what kinds of men are most suited to industrial re- search, and how they should be trained. While a number of previous writers have discussed the qualifications required for research work, this has been done largely from the standpoint of informing the prospective employer as to what sort of men he should seek. Furtheiinore, in many cases emphasis has been placed on one or two qualifications. It is therefore believed that a study of this subject should be of value. One possible benefit of such a discussion will be that prospective research workers will have a clearer idea of the desirable qualifications so that they will be better able to prepai'e themselves for a career in research. It may also attract men who would be admirably suited for industrial research but who do not realize that they possess the proper qualifications. It is hoped that this discussion will be of use to the educational institutions of the country, which have the responsibility of training the men who man our research laboratories. A fuller understanding of these problems should assist the universities to select and encourage men who have the necessary qualifications, to a con- siderable degree at least, and to train them. It is not intended that this report should be taken as a homily addressed to young men about to engage in a career. The purpose is to state some of the results of experience and not to pronounce dogma. Sugges- tions are made on those subjects where experience has shown that improvement is possible by conscious effort. Great pains have been taken to make this report representative. It was prepared in cooperation with research directors of companies employing a large pro- portion of the industrial research personnel of the country, and their criticisms and modifications have, as far as possible, been adopted. Where diverse views are held, an attempt has been made to include these. A research director who has reviewed this report saj's: In industrial research there is a great deal of research activity which I classify as applied research that is carried on in close cooperation with mill operations and is, in effect, more in the form of development work in mill operations making use of the results of intensive, more fundamental laboratory effort. I think this type of work is quite often overlooked and yet I classify it quite definitely as research. It is perhaps what might have been called in older days, Yankee intuition or Yankee cleverness applied to mill problems. In larger organizations wliich can finance large research laboratories and also large development laboratories, there is opportunity to carry the results of fundamental research through rather large scale operations in a development laboratory, but with smaller or- ganizations it is necessary to make the jump sometimes rather drastically from small scale "test-tube" experiments to mill operation, and this jump takes a lot of courage and careful application of fundamental knowledge combined with knowledge gained from practical experience together with a good measure of common sense and intuition. Oualifications for a Career in Research The field of industrial research is so broad and diverse that there is no standard type of individual worker therein for whom specifications can be drawn. It is possible, however, to state and explain a number of desirable qualifications, some of which have as their basis natural aptitude, while others may be acquired by training. It is not, in most cases, possible or desirable to make any definite statement as to the degree or extent to which these qualifications are present, and the degree to which they are present is probably not the same for any two individuals. One reason for this is that we lack the means to measure and evaluate these qualities. Another reason is that the field of research is so broad that various qualities are desirable, in vary- ing degree, for different kinds of work. This point will be discussed in more detail in the summaries which follow the sections on qualifications and training. Personal Qualifications Intellectual integrity. — This is one quality that should be possessed without any qualifications as to degree. It is the sine qua non of the scientist. By this term we mean not only the willingness but also the ability to recognize the truth. It is vitally important that a man who plans to do research work be capable of distinguish- ing truth from untruth, and of being able to differen- tiate that which may be true from that which has been verified. In the words of T. H. Huxley — "The man of science has learned to believe in justification, not by faith but by verification." Possession of this quality imphes the ability of self-criticism, and an objective rather than a subjective attitude toward facts. Scientific curiosity and creative urge. — These have been the motive forces behind many of our great scientific advances. The scientist who possesses a high degree of scientific curiosity is prepared to seize upon the most meager clues. Small clues have some- times led to far-reaching and unexpected results. For example, argon was discovered as a result of an obser- vation that atmospheric nitrogen prepared from the air no NationcU Resources Planning Board had a slightly greater density than nitrogen prepared by chemical means. A high degree of scientific curi- osity is one of the sources of that driving energy which is so essential to creative work. Enthusiasm and receptiveness to new ideas. — These qualities, which are closely allied, are matters of the spirit, and have characterized all great scientists. The man who lacks them will find it difficult to succeed in research and, in most cases, should be encouraged to adopt some other calling. On this type of individual an important research executive says: In selecting and dealing with researcli and development men for a number of years I liave come to recognize a type which seem to me disqualifies them, no matter how well trained they may be or how promising tliey may otherwise appear. Tliis type is the man who always seems to have a negative reaction to everything which is suggested. Wlien he concentrates at all it is to bring liis entire mental macliinery into action on the negative instead of the constructive side of a proposal. He uses up all of the time of his directors and associates in an attempt to con- vince them that the thing won't work. He spends ten times as much time trying to prove that it will not work as would be required to try the experiment. He drags his feet in the sand on every program with which he is connected. Ambition and diligence. — These characteristics are standard practical virtues, but we use the terms here in a somewhat special sense. The term "ambition" im- plies particularly the intense desire to accomplish well the task in hand, "a worthy eagerness to accomplish some- thing great and good." Diligence does not mean merely keeping busy, but the application of one's whole attention to the task. The exercise of diligence requires mental as well as physical activity, both focused on essentials. For success in research, there is no substi- tute for hard work. The men who succeed pay little attention to the clock or the calendar so far as working hours are concerned. One research director writes: The developments which advanced American industry to its present point were not made by men who worked 2,000 hours a year (including hoUdays) , out of a total of 8,760 hours available. It would be interesting to know how many hours and for how many years the directors of industrial research worked (and probably still work) at their jobs during the years in which they accompHshed the results which put them and their industries where they are today. Ability to cooperate. — Writers on the qualifications for industrial research personnel have laid particular em- phasis on the need for cooperativeness. Cooperation between individuals in the research organization and between the research organization and other units or divisions of the company is essential. In industrial research work, as in many other fields of endeavor, it is difficult if not impossible for an individual to succeed by his own efforts. The research worker frequently has to seek the advice and assistance of his fellows who have had experience that may be useful to him, and he must be prepared to reciprocate in turn. It is also necessary to secure the assistance of persons and facilities in other parts of the company, and this nmst be done through a spirit of cooperation. Cooperativeness should not be negative, but positive and rational. It should not take the form of mere acquiescence as that is of little value to the orgamzation and is harmful to the infiividual. Positive and rational cooperativeness preserves the independence of the individual and is beneficial to both parties. It is in this sense that we use the term. Perseverance. — The will to succeed will prevent the scientific worker from being too easily discouraged or deterred from his work by unsuccessful results or by the pessimistic views of others. This quality should be exercised with judgment. Much useless effort has been expended in the past by workers who were too persevering, too optimistic, too slow to face the facts, or who even refused to face the facts. A person with these qualities properly balanced will know when to persevere along a fixed line of endeavor and when to persevere toward the same objective but by a new route where results indicate that a change in plans is necessary. Courage and self-confidence. — Scientific research re- quires courage and self-confidence. These qualities will prevent the investigator from being deterred from entering new fields because they are new and particularly because others may have failed in similar attempts. Courage and self-confidence will enable a person who possesses these qualities to form and hold liis own con- clusions as long as facts justify doing so. He will hold these conclusions even in the face of opposition which is based on prejudice. He will also have the courage to give up his opinions when facts no longer justify their retention. Judgment. — Judgment has been defined as "the power of arriving at a wise decision or conclusion on the basis of indications and probabilities, when the facts are not clearly ascertained." This meaning of the term is here relevant. In technical work, some of the neces- sary facts are usually understood and others are not. A man of sound judgment will take both the known and the unknown into consideration and will make a particu- lar effort to include everything that may be important. He will not waste his time on nonessentials. He will also have a proper regard for the relationship between the advantages and disadvantages which may result respectively from a right or a wrong decision. The ability to observe, associate, compare, and analyze forms the very foundation of research work, whether academic or industrial. Imagination and ingenuity. — These qualities form the basis for the more creative tj'pes of research that produce inventions relating to new products and new processes. These result much more frequently from Industrial Research 111 the exorcise of imagination and ingenuity than from accidental discovery. In work of tliis type these quaUties are regarded as essentials. Resourcefulness in experimentation is an important practical embodi- ment of these qualities. Practicality. — ^This characteristic is one which, accord- ing to some nontechnical critics, scientific men fre- quently lack. This discussion is limited to a definition of om- meaning of this term and the extent to which it is important. It is desirable for an industrial research worker to be practical in the sense of recogm'zing as important not only the purely scientific aspects of his work but also its practical consequences. These include the cost of doing the work and the commercial effective- ness of the results. While, in some instances, useful work may be done by persons who disregard these considerations entirely, in most cases it is desirable that the research worker be practical to this extent at least. One measure of practicality is the pertinence and applicabihty of results. Common sense. — Conimon sense is a quality just as essential in research work as in other walks of life. The scientific man who has common sense and exercises it wiU give proper weight to the opinions of others even though these are not expressed in tcclmical tenns. He will be tolerant and will be more interested in the spirit of things than in the letter. In a discussion or argu- ment he will regard liis point as being won when an agreement has been reached on essentials. Personality. — The scientist frequently is supposed to be deficient in personality. It is not our purpose at this time to argue that question, but it should be pointed out that a good personality is a distinct asset to the industrial research worker. A tactful person- ahty will assist the individual to secure the cooperation of others, which is a matter of great importance in industrial work. The qualities above mentioned are not substitutes for technical abihty nor for other important attributes, but they help to make those other qualities effective. It should be stated here that there is considerable difference of opinion as to the amount of emphasis that should be placed on personality. There are many instances of men who have made a great success in research, and in other walks of life, who, in the opuiion of their fellows have not possessed a normal pereonality. Some organizations insist on a pleasing personality — others say that it is of minor importance. Training For a career in industrial research sound training in one of the sciences and its related subjects, in research methods, and m certain nonscientific subjects, is gen- erally held to be essential. Industrial research labora- tories are for the most part staffed with men who have had such training. Also, whether this ability is derived from training or otherwise, an industrial research man should know how to work. The first scientists in industry were, in many cases, self-trained or had received only rudimentary training from an educational institution. As manufacturing technique has become more precise as a result of com- petition and scientific advances, the training require- ments for industrial scientists have become more exact- ing. Therefore, definite and comprehensive scientific training is, in practically aU cases, necessary for one who aspires to a career in industrial research of the type with which this report is concerned. We are not considering here those who are primarily inventors. There are innumerable instances of brilliant inventions which were made by persons having little or no formal training. Genius of this type is recognized and its value fully appreciated, but research work requires considerable organized knowledge of the facts, principles, and methods of science, and of their applica- tion. This knowledge can best be obtained at a properly organized and equipped university. It is not germane to propose cm'ricula, but rather to indicate the con- sensus of opinion as to what a man who has had graduate training in science should know and be able to do when he leaves the university. The discussion includes not only scientific training, but also certain types of non- scientific training which are considered to be particularly useful. Scientific training. — The basis of a satisfactory train- ing for industrial research is a thorough grasp of the fundamentals of the chosen science. The term "funda- mentals" as used herein may requu'e further definition. By it we mean those classical principles which have been the basis of a gi'eat expansion of our scientific knowledge, with the emphasis on the applicability of the principle rather than on its philosophical significance. A thorough grasp of the fundamentals also implies a working knowledge of them. There should be a recognition of how these principles may be involved in any new problem or in the explanation of new phenom- ena. There should also be an understanding of how to apply these principles to the solution of the problem and how to carry out this application in the laboratory. The head of the department of chemistry in one of our most important universities' made the following comment on these observations — Insistence on a thoroiigli working knowledge of fundamental principles is entirely sound but insufficiently appreciated. The route to such a knowledge is through the substitution of problem solving courses and recitations instead of the descriptive courses which serve too often to mislead the student into believing he has attained comprehension when he has merely acquired a little specialized scientific jargon. The graduate research should also be a "pure" science subject for the reason that the methods and technique of pure science 112 National Resources Planning Board are tlie models which all practical applications follow more or less closely. There is also llic added reason that science is advancing iiicomparal)ly more rapidly today than it was twenty years ago and the youth who is not to be scientifically outmoded in a decade must be prepared the better to follow the advances of science per se. One of the commonest criticisms of graduate students who apply for positions in industrial research is that they are weak in their gi-asp of these fundamentals and lack a working knowledge of them. A broad training with particular emphasis on these classical fundamentals is more desirable than a highly specialized training in some one teclmiquc, the utility of which may be limited. It is also of far more value for research work than a training in the specific industrial apphcations of science. Related sciences: Scientific training for industrial research must include education in sciences closely related to the specialty chosen. AVliile the greatest amount of emphasis should be placed on the particular branch of science selected for specialization general familiarity with related fields is often of considerable value. For example, chemists, particularly the phys- ical chemists, should have considerable familiarity with physics, and physicists, with chemistry. While these related sciences arc usually required, their usefulness in later work particularly in borderline fields may not always be recognized at the time the courses are taken. On this point one research director remarks that a knowl- edge of related sciences is particularly important for a man who works in a comparatively small organiza- tion which has a wide field of problems. Mathematics: A training for industrial research work should give due attention to mathematics. An under- standing of this subject is not only necessary for an understanding of physical sciences, but in recent years mathematics in the form of statistical analysis has been applied to a considerable extent in the planning of experiments, in the analysis of experimental data, and in the control of production. On this point a prominent professor of science says : The discipline of mathematics is much too long delayed in public schools. In England and France a child is well grounded in geometry, algebra, and trigonometry at the age of sixteen, fully two years earlier than here. The subject is also one of the best as a partial means of differentiating between levels of students. Nonscientific training. — Science students tend to shun courses intended to cidtivate facilitj' in the \vTittcn and oral presentation of facts. This may be because they are more interested in substance than in form. For several reasons, it is particularly important for the sci- entific man to be able to write and speak clearly and effectively. Research work requires more WTiting than other fields of industrial work. The subject matter of the work is such that its clear presentation is frequently a matter of some difficulty. Before the results of re- search work can be used, they must be understood and appreciated by others. Therefore, instruction m oral and written presentation should be regarded as a most important part of training for research work. In addi- tion, the habit of taking pains in WTiting and speaking should be cultivated. "Easy writing makes hard read- ing." Knowledge of cognate subjects is essential. Social contacts. — Extra curricula activities also have their place in the training schedule. Social contacts, for example, may serve a useful purpose. The time is past, if indeed it ever existed, when there was any rea- son for the scientist to look and act differently from his fellow men. The prospective worker in industrial re- searcli may proi)erly regard social contacts as part of his training. These can do much to develop a satis- factory personality and an understanding of human nature, which are so important in cooperative work. Duration of training. — Opinions differ as to the proper duration of training for a scientist who desires to enter an industrial research laboratory. There are numerous instances of men who have achieved great success in industrial research with little or no graduate training. In certain types of development work a bachelor's or master's training is held by some to be sufficient or even preferable. This is particularly true for those men who desire to work in an industrial research lab- oratory in preparation for a career in some other activity. For a lifetime career in research, and particularly for work in fundamental research, the training required for a doctor's degree is believed desirable by most of the research directors who discussed this section of the report. In some cases, particularly for fundamental research, post-doctorate training is desirable. Postgraduate work should give the student training in research method, and should develop the research attitude. One commentator remarks, "It is not so nuich an opportunity to specialize in a chosen subject as a chance to develop the technique and capacity for specializing in any research problem which may later be encountered." Postgraduate work permits a relatively informal asso- ciation of the student with the research professor who has demonstrated his research ability. It is through this association that the student's faculties for attack- ing research problems are developed. In fact, the belief is widely iiclil that the most important training the graduate student receives is obtained in this way. The history of science from its earliest beginnings offers many examples of brilliant teachers who have produced brilliant students. One research director states: I agree that the great value of post-graduate training is in the association with the progress of work and thought of aole leaders. By Corollary, post-graduate work in a scliool which is simply filling out the gaps in an already established programme where Industrial Research 113 no new conceptions or creative thouglit is evident, is not of great value. In that event an industrial research laboratory is likely to prove more dynamic and provide better training. Relation of academic standing to success in industrial research. — There is no general rule by means of which success in industrial research can be predicted on the basis of academic standing. Academic standing tends to measure the student's abiUty to study, to under- stand, and temporarily to remember, and is silent on the highly important question of creative ability, and on other qualifications. Another reason for this dis- crepancy is that the terra "industrial research" is quite elastic and the personnel requirements differ between organizations. This subject was discussed by a number of research directors. It was general!}' believed that to succeed in research a student should be in the upper half or even upper fourth of his class. Some laboratories have aca- demic standards controlling the employment of new men, particularly men who have received the bachelor's degree. In several cases it was beheved that the fact that a man was permitted to work for a graduate degree was a sufficient evidence of proficiency in studies. But there was general agreement that, although a good academic standing is desirable, or in some cases essen- tial, it is no substitute for other essential qualities, and is in itself no guarantee of success. Resume of qualifications and training. — In the pre- ceding pages we have discussed the various quahfica- tions including training, which are believed to be im- portant for a successful career in industrial research. The hst is formidable but without minimizing the im- portance of these attributes it should be realized that they are important in varj'ing degrees. Just which ones of them are most important in any given case depends on the nature of the work and type of organization. For fundamental research work more emphasis will probably be placed on those qualities and attaimnents which are usually associated with purely scientific work, and less on such quahties as personality, cooperative- ness, practicality, and common sense. On the other hand, problems of a development type, such as the perfection of a new process, may emphasize these quali- ties, and demand less in the way of scientific curiosity, imagination, and an intensive training in pure science. In other words a paragon is not required for industrial research. This summary is written as a result of studying a large number of suggestions from research directors who have read the foregoing section. As far as possible, these suggestions have been included in the final revi- sion of the section. The replies indicated, however, a considerable diversity of opinion as to the relative im- portance of certain qualities, and this diversity exists largely because the inquiry embraced such a great variety of industries whose research activities cover a wide range of problems and rcsponsibihties. Selection of a Position A candidate for a position should secure as much information as possible about exactly the qualifications required and siiould compare them with his own. The applicant will probably be on the safest ground if he secures a position that requires the training in which he specialized. While there are many notable exceptions, it is generally true that the best training, for example for organic chemical research, is speciaUzation in organic chemistry. If the candidate feels that he has a special aptitude for some particular type of work, he will do well to con- sider this as a desirable, although perhaps not an essen- tial factor in selecting a position. For example, a man who much prefers to do fundamental research may find it worth his while to secure a position of tliis type in an industrial laboratory. Most large laboratories carry on work of this sort though only a portion of the staff is devoted to it. The applicant should consider a number of othei points relating to the particular organization with which he may become associated. The matter ol fmancial terms is only one of these factors. He should also consider the record of the company and of the industry. Industries and companies which are well established and which have demonstrated that researcli is profitable to them, offer considerable promise from the standpoint of stability. In such cases the probabili- ties are that the work will be thoroughly organized, and that for the first few years, at least, the new employee will have considerable assistance in the way of training from those who have experience in the technical phases of the business. The situation is somewhat different with respect Lo industries or organizations wherein research is fairly new. In these, while a field for research will probably exist, the course is not so well charted. Matters that have been in the art or handicraft stage will need to be reduced sooner or later to technical terms. Policies for carrying on technical work will not be so definitely established. In general, a position of this sort will offer considerable opportunities to the right men since they will be among the first to enter a new field. Both types of work have advantages and disad- vantages, and it is not the purpose here to recommend either in preference to the other, but merely to point out the difference that may exist and of which the prospective research worker should take account. He should consider the record of his prospective em- ployer from the standpoint of the ability of the organiza- tion to utilize the results of research, since no industrial 114 National Resources Planning Board research organization which is unable to get its results into commercial use can be regarded as successful. The candidate should give consideration to the type of stafT the prospective cmploj'cr already has in order to determine how his qualifications and methods of working would fit into the organization. In most organizations great emphasis is placed on the careful selection of teclmical personnel. The teclmical men are usually selected by the heads of the research organization, and in practically all cases a personal interview is involved. This may give the candidate an opportunity to secure information on some of the points we have discussed, and he should regard this interview as of equal interest to himself and to his prospective employer. It gives an opportunity for each party to become acquainted with the other. He should not hesitate to answer fully any questions, whether personal or technical, and should not hesitate to ask questions. In some cases the interview may develop into a techni- cal discussion which may appear to the candidate to be suspiciously close to an examination. In most cases these discussions are not carried on to reveal deficiencies in the candidate's knowledge. The purpose is rather to ascertain the lines of work for which the candidate is best suited. Careers in Research Organization In this section we shall discuss the research organiza- tion from the standpoint of the individual. There is no standard form of research organization. The variety of the work, its changing character, and the fact that research work depends on a peculiar combina- tion of individual yet cooperative creative effort, make it unwise to attempt to apply any standardized form of organization. One of the objectives of organization in a research laboratory is to augment the efficiency of the individual worker with the knowledge and experience of others who in most cases have had more experience in some phases of the work. The young man entering a research organization may have knowledge of the newer develop- ments in science which the older men do not have; they in turn have a considerable amount of knowledge regarding the problems to be solved, and have had experience in applying science to their solution. The young man will probably be assigned to a group headed by an older, more experienced man who will direct his work as far as objectives are concerned, advise him regarding methods of attaining these, and contribute materially to the proper utilization of results. Another objective of organization is the coordination of work. Most projects require for their completion the solution of a number of problems. These may be quite separate scientifically, but they have to be considered in relation to each other from the stand- point of time, cost, and technical results. Therefore, it is essential that the various persons working on the separate problems act as a team under the leadership of someone in charge of the entire project. The piu'pose of the organization, then, is to insure these objectives, to define responsibility, and yet to leave to the individual as much scope for his initiative as his ability and experience seem to justify. Usually the research men will be assigned to work with a group on some problem that has been selected by the management because it is important to the company and because the probabihty of its solution is sufficiently high to justify the effort. If the worker possesses the necessary qualifications he will have, to a considerable degree, the quality of imagination and the creative urge, and therefore may have ideas of his own, not relating to the problem in hand, on wliich he would like to do some work. But if he also possesses the qualities of practicality and cooperation, this situation will not cause him concern. In most organizations men are encouraged to have new ideas, and to present them in written form to the management. In some cases the management's policy may be to have some preliminary work done by workers on such ideas. In other cases, definite authorization is required for any such work. The decision will depend not only on the organization but also on the immediate importance of the work in hand, and on the apparent value of the new idea. An objective and practical attitude toward this matter is necessary, with an effort to consider it from the standpoint of the management, without, however, losing interest in the desirability of having the idea evaluated whenever this can be done. When the worker's idea relates to the problem in hand, he will usually find that it is given early con- sideration, but here again a somewhat objective atti- tude is desirable, including a careful consideration of the point of view of others who may have relevant knowledge. Dilenunas of this sort are brought about by the existence of one of the qualities which underlies the ability to do useful research, namely, the creative urge, and a proper solution of such dilenimas is of the utmost importance to both the worker and the organization. Aids to the worker. — The scientific research student in a university laboratory in most cases has to do prac- tically all the work relating to liis problem. Particularly in the larger industrial research laboratories, he will find a different state of affairs. Library facilities will be available to assist in literature searches and the prepa- ration of bibliograpliies. Koutine tests and analyses will be made by service departments. He will thus be Industrial Research 115 able to work more effectively and to concentrate his efforts on planning: and experimentation. These service facilities are not, however, a substitute for experience. He will as rapidly as possible familiar- ize himself with the principles underlying them, and with the special techniques of his industry. In some organizations the importance of this is recognized by having all new research workers serve a brief apprentice- sliip in the service departments. Another important aid to the research worker is discussion with othei-s in his organization, including particularly those outside the technical unit. Such conferences give him an excellent opportunity to ac- quire knowledge regarding the practical and commercial I)hases of the problem. They also help develop the important arts of discussing technical matters in ordi- nary EngHsh, and of presenting ideas and facts clearly. Progress of the Research Worker The purpose of this part of the discussion is to outline the possible progress of the research worker, with par- ticular reference to the role played by the various quahties and abihties discussed earlier. Subordination versus assumption of responsibility.- — Here we are stating the subject as a dilemma, and the solution depends on a nimiber of circumstances includ- ing the degree to which the worker and his superior possess a number of the qualities discussed under "Qualifications for a Career in Research." A properly qualified superior will encourage those working with him to take responsibility to as great a degree as possible. A properly qualified research worker will accept responsibility to as great a degree as he is per- mitted. This being the case, the only question then is what is meant by "possible." Someone must be responsible for the success of the entire project and the final decision rests with tliis incUvidual. This situation may be clarified by the following method of approach. The worker is spending the em- ployer's money in an endeavor to solve a problem. This expenditure includes, in addition to the worker's salary and materials used, part of the salary of those who supervise him, particularly his immediate superior. He is therefore entitled to a reasonable amount of assist- ance from his superior, but he will become a more efficient worker to the extent to which this need is reduced. An equally good approach was suggested by a com- mentator. I have frequently heard reference to the desirability of a man learning to distinguish between the three cases; first, a decision which he is entitled to and should make on his own re- sponsibility; secondly, a decision which he should make but of which he should inform his superior; and third, a decision requir- ing the authorization of his superior before it is consummated. If a man in research can learn to distinguish as to these three 321835—41 9 cases, he will increase his own responsibility and function effi- ciently as a member of the organization. As the worker progresses he may find that he is faced with two types of responsibility. In the first place it may be his responsibility to carry a project through to successful completion, then later he may be faced with the responsibility for supervisory and executive work. It is here that other qualities such as leadership, com- mon sense, and judgment will become increasingly important. Acquisition of experience. — In industrial research, experience plays a role of peculiar importance. The scientist who has done research work in connection with his postgraduate course knows the importance of thoroughly studying the literature on a subject before he starts to work on it. Wlien he enters an industrial research organization he will probably find that the same necessity exists, but that the facilities for acquiring this information are quite different and more complicated. Most of the process industries, at least, did not have technical origins, but started as arts or handicrafts. Progress in the early stages was largely empirical and was in many cases the result of inventive ability rather than thorough study. To make liis efforts of the great- est usefulness the research worker must familiarize liimself with those parts of the industry which are related to his work. He must not assume that because a process cannot be explained or a material described in precise scientific terms it is outside liis field of inter- est. Much of the work of an industrial research labora- tory consists in the wise application of technology to just such situations. It has frequently been found, however, that too much experience in a field may blind a person to the possibihty of doing something quite different and better. Information derived through experience should be treated as the best information available at that time, but subject always to further change. Evaluation and utilization of ideas. — As the worker progresses in his career he will find that his ability to evaluate and to utihze ideas is a matter of considerable importance, whether the ideas are his own or come from another source. Tliis ability depends in part on his training and experience, and in part on temperament. He should cultivate the habit of taking a constructive rather than an instinctively destructive attitude toward new ideas. By "constructive" we do not mean blind optimism but rather an attitude of examining an idea carefully and making a conscientious effort to use whatever is good. If part of the idea is unsatisfactory he may attempt to replace it with something better. He should not make undue use of scientific facts or principles to destroy new ideas. He should particu- larly remember that the principal use of scientific theories is to suggest action and should not get into 116 National Resources Planning Board the habit of developing theories for (lie purpose of dis- couraging action on new ideas. "A destructively critical attitude will discourage others from giving ideas." Leadership. — As the research worker progresses in the organization otlier technical people are usually assigned to work with him. The word "with" is used advisedly, because in most research organizations the emphasis is on cooperation rather than subordination. His attitude shoidd be that of giving encouragement and assistance to such men as have been assigned to work with him and of giving them every facility to do their work with as little interruption or digression as possible. To get the best results he must be scrupu- lously careful to make sure that his men get full credit for what they do. He should study his personnel care- fully, because much of the success of a scientific organ- ization, whether large or small, depends upon having men do the work for which they arc best suited. His studies should relate not only to the abilities of his men but also their temperaments. He should inspire his men with confidence. They should not only be confi- dent of his ability to direct their work but they shoidd also be confident of their owti ability to do it. To secure this result he must know how and when to en- courage or criticize, and his manner of doing this should be adapted to the peculiarities of the person with whom he is dealing. Ability to complete as \t)ell as start work. — Young men in business are frequently criticized because they seem to be much better at starting work than at finishing it. Industrial research workers are no exception, and this difficulty is not confined to the young. It appears to arise in part from the incompatability of certain of the qualifications discussed in the first part of this report. Self discipline will help to correct this tendency. Some men, particularly in their earlier years, find it difficult to pereevere toward a definite goal because their imagi- nation and creative urge continually present to them new and therefore more attractive ideas that divert their attention. In other csises, flic worker will tend to become interested in one particular phase of his work, the subject matter of which may appeal to him for its own sake. In both cases the remedy is for the man to have a clear appreciation of the objective of his work and a realization that the objective is the im- portant tiling to attain. In other rases the worker may tend to spend too much lime on one particular phase of a subject because he feels that there he is safe, and because he lacks the courage to do something new and unorthodo.x. In still other cases, the difficulty may relate more to the problem than to the man. As problems progress, factors are frequently involved which are outside the purely scientific domain in wliich the rosonrrli worker is primarily trained. For example, forms of apparatus that have been used in laboratory experimentation may have to be modified or even replaced by something quite different. Economic questions may become important. Here it is that adaptability and versatility enter. The usefulness of the research worker will be greatly en- hanced if he has sufficient perspective to recognize the importance of these problems and is sufficiently versatile or resourcefid to assist in solving them. This is true, even though he may not be primarily responsible for the larger scale development. If the research man finds that he lacks the proper training to permit him to cope with these factors he should acquire it by outside read- ing and by conversation with those who have such training. Planning.- — The first step in the successful solution of a research problem is to have an objective that is properly defined, stated, and understood. Much of the work done in imiversities by graduate research workers consists of finding new facts. While the objective may be apparent in many industrial problems, insofar as approach is concerned, it is not so simply stated. The work frequently arises from some need, and the objective is to meet this need, subject to certain requirements. In other cases, the purpose may be to apply new facts to existing conditions, to effect an improvement, or to find a use for new facts. These are the broad objectives of many industrial problems, and an understanding of them is desirable. It is especially important for the worker to have a thorough understanding of the purpose of the particular part of the work for which he is responsible, including the application of the results to the company's needs. A clear understanding of the immediate objective of his work will assist him in laying his plans and in executing them, and in bringing out details which might otherwise be overlooked. If he constantly keeps the objective in mind he will be less likely to digress into bypaths or waste time on nonessentials; he will realize that everj' step and every experiment should be so plaimed that its successful accomplishment will bring him nearer his objective. On this point a reviewer makes the following pertinent comment. It is of interest from time to time to estimate the period tliat would have been required to complete a problem if uo experiment had been wasted. That is, once we have Bnally completed a research project, how much time would be necessary to conduct the essential work to prove the given point. Frequently, this would be a very small fraction. Hence the incentive to careful planning. Another pertinent comment on this section was made by a research director. The important side is entirely mental and experimentation is for the purpose of confirming the ideas. Successful research does not depend upon the volume of experiments but upon clear Industrial Research 117 thinking, planning and observation so that maxiniuni iiifdrniation is obtained from pach experiment. Essentials and nonessentials.— In doing sciciit ilic woik in industry there is frequently a temptation to spend more time than is necessary on certain features of the work. This may be because the subject matter of this portion of the work appeals to the worker or because facilities or ])revious experience are avaihihle. Here again a i)roper appreciation of tlie objective will serve as a guard against this type of inefBcient planning. E.xperiments should be so planned that the results will be, as far as possible, unequivocal. In plaiuiing research work there slioukl i)e du(> appreciation of the relationship of the cost of the work to its ultimate value. The cost of planning work is generally small compared with the cost of doing it, and it may pay to spend considenible time in carefvd jilan- ning. In most cases progress is made by consecutive steps, that is to say, one set of experimeiits will lead to one conclusion and further work will be based on this conclusion. Expense will be reduced if work is laid out so the experiments will be carried out in logical order. Execution. — While it is not possible, of course, in a report of this sort to make any detailed suggestions regarding the execution of research work, a few points warrant mention. One of the problems that frequently faces the indus- trial research worker is that of suitable apparatus. In many cases the standard forms of apparatus are not suited to the work, and special apparatus has to be pro- vided. Means of secm'ing this differ with the organi- zation, but it is true that in many cases considerable time may be required. The extent of refinement de- manded should be in proportion to the needs of the case. If the first experiments are of a preliminary nature the research worker may find that by canvass- ing the available facilities of the establishment, discuss- ing the matter with his fellow workers, and using his own ingenuity he can secure equipment adequate for the immediate purpose with comparatively little effort. Important developments have often been started with makeshift apparatus. Another suggestion is that full- est use should be made of related information. This has been emphasized previously in connection with the acquisition of experience. Future of the Research Worker In most research organizations it is felt that a career is offered in the organization itself for the right kind of man. Experience in a research organization may also give a man a training that will qualify him for positions involving great responsibility in other parts of the company. Frequently men are transferred from the central research organization to positions in the operating and sales departments. Whether or not this occurs depends on tlu; ((iialidc!) lions and i)rcfercnces of the individunl. There is a growing tendency in some industries to fill positions in other departments with men of research training. This is particularly true of industries built on research, and whose products are used by other in- dustries. Compensations of the Research Worker Industrial research offers to the properly qualified man an opportiniity to make a good living. Although accurate and complete data on financial compensation are not available, it is believed that, on the average, scientific men in industry fare as well in this respect as men of comparable age, experience, and ability in other industrial activities. This statement is made with some reservation owing to the great differences which exist, especially between industries. On this point one lab- oratory reports: "Our salaries in this laboratory run 5 to 10 percent above those in our engineering dei)artment for men with corresponding training and experience." A chemist or engineer is rarely required to serve a low-paid apprenticeship comparable with that required of a doctor or lawyer. It would be difficult to make any definite quantita- tive comparison, as to financial compensation, between industrial research and other activities. After the initial start, compensation is a highl3' individualistic affair.' One survey of a number of laboratories led to the conclusion that — so far as tliis particular group of laboratories is concerned, any- thing even approacliing a common ground of agreement as to the market value of any particular type of research work, any particular educational background or any particular amount of experience, skill or qualities of character, simply does not seem to exist. This is probably because research itself is an indivitlual- istic affair, and the usefulness of an individual to an organization cannot be expressed in terms of any simple standards, such as age or experience, applicable to a large group of individuals. One research director points out that there is a lower tm-n-over of research workers than of men in other business activities. Although quantitative data are not available, it is certainly to the interest of all that this should be procured. In addition to financial compensation, there are a number of other compensations derived from a career in industrial research which are frequently overlooked. One of these is the satisfaction a man derives from his vocation. A man who possesses the creative urge and scientific curiosity to a high degree, and this has been characteristic of the great men of science, will probably be happier in scientific work than in any other activity. I From a report of the Industrial Research Institute. 118 National Resources Planning Board This is true whctluT tlic man is interested in finding new facts to extend our houiidaries of knowledge or in the development and application of new techniques, or lias an urge to discover. Another compensation is the satisfaction derived from doing work that may be of lasting benefit. If his work results in a new product, the research man will derive ultimate satisfaction from the fact that this product lias not only been of benefit to his own organi- zation but has supplied some public need. If his work has led to the establishment of some new scientific truth, the use of this bj- his fellow scientists will be an inspiration to him. It is important that men who have made valuable contributions receive from their employ- ers proper and timely recognition for their work. Compensation also results from the feeling that one's work, although on a small scale, may have results of enormous economic imjiortance. The young research worker will frequently play an important role in work of more lasting and objective importance than the young man with a similar period of experience in another occupation. The desire to receive public recognition of one's work is very natural. Formerly one of the principal dis- tinctions between scientific workers in universities and those in industry was that the former were permitted to publish their work, whereas it was generally believed that the latter were not. At the present time most industrial research laboratories not only permit, but encourage, workers to publish the results of their work when such publication will not be prejudicial to the interests of the company. Probable F"uture of Industrial Research as a Career Any discussion of industrial research as a career should properly include a consideration of the future. Research has been a part of our industrial structure for about 40 years, but during the first two decades of that period it was barely getting under way. Most of the expansion has occurred during the past 20 j-ears. Although the results have been most impressive, it is not yet a large factor in our uidustrial life from the standpoint of the number of persons employed or of the expenditures relative to the value of products manu- factured. There is ample margin for growth. Some of the reasons for further growth are: (1) The growmg realization by industrialists and investors that research pays; (2) the pressure of competition both from within and from without an industrj-, which supplies an incen- tive to develop new and improved methods, and im- proved products; (3) the desire for expansion and di- versification of products, which leads to work on new products; (4) new discoveries and inventions, including particularly new raw materials. All indications point to the permanence of industrial research and to its future growth. Based on the expe- rience of the past few years, it appears likely that the rate of growth will increase. One commentator makes the prediction that — the saturatiiin point i.s not likely to be reached until all iiidustri', on the average, spends about three percent of its efifort on research and development. This would allow for a manifold increase within the period of time we can roughly foresee now. Instead of fifty thousand employees in research, one million is not too many to look forward to over the period of the next forty years. Bibliography Books Boyd, T. A. Research, the pathfinder of science and industry. New York, London, D. Appleton-Century Company, Inc., 1935. 319 p. Fleming, A. P. M. Industrial research in the U. S. A. London, Pub. for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research by H. M. Stationery Office, 1917. 60 p. "Selection and training of research men," p. 46-47. Holland, Maurice, and H. F. Pringle, Industrial explorers. New York, London, Harper and Brothers, 1928. 347 p. Kellogg, Vernon, ed. Opportunities for a career in scientific research. Washington, D. C, National research council, 1927. 139 p. Mees, C. E. K. Organization of industrial scientific research. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1920. 175 p. "The staff of a research laboratory," p. 90-105. Ross, Malcolm, ed. Profitable practice in industrial research; tested principles of research, laboratory organization, adminis- tration, and operation. Now York, London, Harper and Brothers, 1932. 269 p. Weidlein, K. R., and W. A. Hamor. Glances at industrial research. New York, Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1936. 246 p. "Opportunities for the young chemist in industry," p. 117-123. "Industrial research and education," p. 124- 132. Weiss, J. M., and C. R. Downs. The technical organization, its development and administration. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1924. 197 p. "Selection and develop- ment of personnel,": p. 1-34. "Organization," p. 35-59. Journal articles Bacon, R. F. Some principles in the administration of industrial research laboratories. Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, 35, 18 (1916). Benger, Ernest B. The organization of industrial research. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, S3, 572 (1930). Carty, .L J. Relation of pure science to industrial research. American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Proceedings, 55, 1411 (1916). Clarke, B. L. The role of analytical chemistry in industrial research. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, S3, 1301 (1931); Journal of Chemical Education, I.',, 561 (1937). Coolidge, W. D. Research as a career. The Technology Re- view, 36, 341 (1934). Freeth, F. a. Industrial research. Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, J,S, 1086 (1929). Holland, M. Bridging the gap between university and industry in industrial research. Journal of Engineering Education, S6 384 (1935). Industrial Research 119 Jewett, F. B. Industrial research. Mechanical Engineering, 41, 825 (1919). Jewett, F. B. Finding and encouragement of competent men. Science, 69, 309 (1929). Jewett, F. B. The place of research in industry. Avierican Petroleum Institute. Proceedings, 12, Sect. Ill, 27 (1931). Langmuir, I. Fundamental research and its human value. General Electric Review, J,0, 569 (1937). Langmuir, I. Science as a guide in life. General Electric Review, 57, 312 (1934). Meldola, R. Education and research in applied chemistry. Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, 28, 554 (1909). Mills, J. S or D. The Management Review, 20, 67 (1931). Mills, J. A balanced ration of work. The Technology Review, 36, 56 (1933). Mills, J. The making of industrial physicists. Journal of Engineering Education, 28, 132 (1937). Moore, W. C. What a young graduate will encounter in indus- trial research. Journal of Chemical Education, 16, 386 (1939). Perry, J. H. Man location. Chemical and Metallurgical En- gineering, J,S, 68 (1936). Philip, J. C. The training of the chemist for the service of the community. Chemistry and Industry, 55, 701 (1936). RossMAN, J. Stimulating employees to invent. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 27, 1380, 1510 (1935). Spooner, T. Father of invention. Electric Journal, 36, 92 (1939). Stine, C. M. a. The place of fundamental research in an industrial research organization. American Institute of Chemi- cal Engineers. Transactions, 32, 127 (1930). Walker, W. H. Education for research. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 7, 2 (1915). Warren, H. Industrial research as a career. Engineering, 147, 75 (1939). Weidlein, E. R. The administration of industrial research. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, IS, 98 (1926); Mechani- cal Engineering, 48, 182 (1926). Weidlein, E. R. American industrial progress through scien- tific research. Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, 34, 209 (1927). Weidlein, E. II. Industrial research methods and workers. Journal of Engineering Education, 21, 139 (1930). Weidlein, E. R. Various results of being researchful. Science, S2, 553 (1935); Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, 54, 1032 (1935). Whitney, W. R. Encouraging competent men to continue in research. Science, 65, 311 (1929). Whitney, W. R. Organization of industrial research. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 32, 71 (1910). SECTION II RESEARCH AS A GROWTH FACTOR IN INDUSTRY By Joseph V. Sherman Fiduciary Counsel, Inc., New York, N. Y. ABSTRACT Research is receiving increasing recognition from industrial management as a means of expanding earning power through the (k>veIopnient of new products and processes. That it has played an important part in the growth of many companies and industries can readily be demonstrated. To the investment analyst, the research expenditures of various companies therefore constitute an important factor in determining their long-term outlook. Because of inade((uate data, it was neccssar}' to estimate such expenditures based upon the number of workers engaged. A survey was made of a cross section of American industry to determine the average expenditure per worker and this was applied to the number of workers reported to the National Research Council. The estimated aggregates by indus- try were related to the value added by manufacture in 1937. The results showed wide variation among indus- tries in research expenditures per $100 value added by manufacture, indicating vast opportunities for profitable research in many industries in which it is at present relatively neglected. Scientific research is one of America's fastest growing industries. That it plays a vital role in the develop- ment of new products and processes has in recentyears received increasing recognition from those who occupy positions of responsibility in practically all lines of production. The rapid growth of industrial research laboratories and personnel in the United States over a period of years has been clearly demonstrated ; it remains only to translate these findings into dollars and cents. Those who direct the flow of capital have been a little more remote from industrial operations, where science's discoveries and inventions bear fruit, than those who actually supervise production, and it is not surprising that they have been a little slower to grasp the impor- tance of research. But what they have lacked in prompt- ness they have made up in enthusiasm and today we find the case for research being presented by many companies in their annual reports to stockholders. The widening acceptance of the thesis that research promotes the growth and increases the earning power of companies is based upon records of a great nund)er of cases where this has occurred rather than on any com- prehensive analysis of data for industry as a whole. It has been noted that those industries which have been most active in research have shown the best growth trends. Wlmt has been true of industries has also been true of individual companies. Generally speaking, those com- panies which are outstanding in their research activities 120 are those which shape up as the best managed and suc- cessful enterprises. The ability to take advantage of the possibilities of research in expanding sales and otherwise increasing earning power is a ver\- good indi- cator of the alertness of management. The vital role of research in the chemical and other rapidly expanding lines, where the em])hasis is on the continuous development of new jjroducts, has been pointed out frequently. Tiiat research deserves a large part of the credit for the steady growth of the leading chemical and electrical e(|uipment companies is widely recognized. It is also well known that the rapid growth in con- sumption of aluminum, nickel, vanadium, tungsten, chromium and molybdenum, and other light or alloy metals is due largely to research in developing new uses for these metals. Research holds forth similar possi- bilities for magnesium, beryllivmi, and many of the lesser-known metals. The possibilities of research in the more seasoned industries, however, are not so obvious. Yet there are numerous cases of companies which have been enabled to make a better than average showing or even covmter- act an unfavorable trend in their established lines through the development of new pi-oducts. This was strikingly illustrated in the agricultural equipment field during the past decade. For some time it looked as though the mechanization of the farm had gone aboiit as far as it would. Then one Industrial Research 121 company surveyed the agricultural scene and found tliat mechanization had not been extended to the small farm of less than 100 acres. It brought out a 1-plow tractor and a 5-foot combine, which the trade ijrcdicfod would not sell. They not only sold but substantially increased this company's share of the market and competitors were soon in the field with new models of their own design. The influence of research on the growth of industries has been clearly shown in the development of the Diesel engine. For j^ears the apphcations of the Diesel engine had been limited to stationary power and marine uses. Gradually the light-weight, high- speed engine was developed. In recent years, the Diesel was applied in trucks, tractors, and locomotivc- imits and the companies which developed thes(^ new uses have notably bettered their comi)etitive positions in their various fields. The accumulation of many such cases almost forces the conclusion that there is a positive correlation be- tween research expenditures and growth in earning power. This, however, is rather difficult to measure because of the lack of a generally accepted definition of research, the secrecy on the part of many companies regarding expenditures and the time lag between such expenditures and an earnings return. Research ex- penditures represent a sacrifice of immediate earnings in anticipation of a gi-eater return later on, the time lag bemg greater in the case of pure research than in the case of product development. In view of the importance of research as a factor in the growth of companies and industries, it was (h^'ided to tabulate the size of research personnel ami expendi- tures for a number of leading conipanies representing a broad cross section of American industry. Accord- ingly the following letter was directed to a selected list of companies: As an investment counsel organization, we are making a study of research expenditures in various industries. Will you be good enough to give us the following information with reference to your company: "The approximate amount spent for scientific research and development of products in each of the past few years and the number of men engaged in such work." While it is our intention to make the conclusions drawn from our study available to industry generally, we shall treat any information pertaining to your particular company confidential, if so requested. Since the primary purpose of the inquiry was to obtain whatever data on research might be available, the request was worded in very general terms, leaving it to the individual companies to determine such ex- pendittires in accordance with their accounting policies. It soon became obvious that there was wide variation in the definition of research and that such data had little value for comparing the activities of individual companies. Furthermore, many companies which had reported their research personnel to the National Researcli Council, refused to give out any information on expenditures. Obivously, a statistical tool was needed for estimating expenditures on a comparable basis. The first figure sought was the average research and development expenditure per worker, including both salaries and the pro rata cost of supplies, equipment, and overhead. Once this was obtained, it would be possible to estimate the expenditures for each company and also for industry as a whole, based on the number of workers reported to the National Research Council, which data arc ])robal)ly more nearly comparable than any other. From all the I'ejjlies received, those were selected which stated both the number of personnel and ex- penditures for research and development. While there is un(iouI)te(lly consiileraide difl'erence of computa- tion among companies, the ratio between the number of workers and expenditures for any one company is highly significant, since they both come under that particular company's definition of research, whatever it may be. Although replies were received from a great many additional companies, which gave incomplete data, 31 companies reported both the personnel and expenditures for research and development in 1937. This is sum- marized in the following tabulation, without revealing the names of the individual companies, which furnished this information in confidence. Reported lexearrh ixpenditnies and personnel for representative CO nipa nies — 1937 Company No. Reported re- search ex- penditure Reported number of reso.irch workers Research ex- penditure per worker 1... 2 3 4 . 5 6.. 7.. 8 9 :o .. $9,363,000 5,000,000 3.821,956 2,625,613 2,600,000 1, 800, 000 1,600,000 1,600,000 1. 250, 000 1,000,000 1,000,000 750. 000 740.000 600,000 600, 000 557,000 .500,000 442, 000 434. 000 400,000 375,000 300.00(.> 300,000 248, 400 200,000 200,000 1.59. 000 78,000 77,000 60,000 20,000 2,000 1,500 1,504 686 600 400 650 225 .303 195 165 286 177 200 80 189 200 145 166 75 40 ISO 60 .36 60 .50 20 17 22 10 3 $4,682 3,333 2, .541 3,682 4,167 4,500 2.909 6,667 4,125 5, 128 11 12. 13 6.061 2.632 4. 181 14.. 15 16 17 18. 19 3.000 7.500 2.947 2. ,500 3,048 2.619 20 - a, 333 21 9.375 22 2.000 23 6,000 24 6,900 25 . 3,333 26 4,000 27 7,950 28 4. .588 29 3,600 30 6,000 31 6,666 Total 38, 400, 969 10,113 3,797 122 These 31 companies in tlie aggregate reported for 1937, resourcli and development expenditures of $38,400,969 and pereonnel of 10,113. The indicated average e.\i)eiiditnre per worivcr ^vus $3,797. There was considerable variation among companies in the average expenditure per worker, wliich ranged all the way from $2,000 to over $9,000. Althongli there was no definite relation between size of company and aver- age expenditure, there was a tendency toward larger average expenditures in the cases of the smaller com- panies. The sampling represents approximately one-fifth of the total 49,564 research workers in the United States in 1938, reported to the National Research Council. Inasmuch as there is a preponderance of large compa- nies in the sampling, the average expenditure per worker is probably a little low. For all industry, it is probably close to $4,000. The sampling by various industries was not sufficient to warrant any conclusions as to variations by industry, although such variations may be considerable. Some corroboration of this figure is obtained in the case of the steel industry for which data on both research personnel and expenditures are available. The American Iron and Steel Institute reported that the industiy spent in 1939 a total of $10 million for research and employed nearly 2,550 chemists, metallurgists, physicists, and other trained scientists full time and 1,300 others on a part-time basis.' This would be equivalent to $3,922 per full-time worker. If half of the part-time workers are added, however, the average expenditure would be reduced to $3,125, which seems too low. The higher figure is quite close to the average obtained for the 31 companies representative of all industries. On the basis of $4,000 per worker for 49,564 reported as engaged in research in 1937, the total e.xpoiiditure in all industrial research laboratories would have been approximately $200 million. This represented 0.29 percent of national income produced of $70 billion. On the same basis, research expenditures were esti- mated for each of the major industrial groups and shown as a percentage of the "Value added by manu- facture" in 1937 (U. S. Census of Manufactures).^ This was facilitated by the fact that the Work Projects Administration National Research Project ' generally followed the Census classification of industries. National Resources Planning Board Estimated research expenditures by industrial groups Estimated Number Number research of research of research expeudi- workers, workers, tures (in ture (In cent value added by manufac- ture u classi- as ad- thoasands thousands fied justed! of dol- lars) of dol- lars) MANUFACTI'RINO INDUS- TRIES Food and kindred prod- ucts 1,424 1.S93 6.372 t3, 354. 242 0.19 Textiles and their prod- ucts - - 3fl7 411 1,644 2.972,485 .06 192 215 860 1.265-600 .07 Paper and allied prod- ucts 752 842 3.368 852.695 .39 Chemicals and allied products 9,M2 10.678 42.712 1, 793, 583 Z38 Petroleum and Its prod- ucts 5.033 S,«32 22.528 •2,001,002 1.13 Rubber products 2,250 2.518 10,072 368, 772 2.73 Leather and Its manufac- tures- .- 78 87 348 592,043 .06 Stone, clay, and n^ass products - - . . 1,404 1,571 C,2S4 872, 746 .72 Iron and steel and Iheir products not including machinery 1.531 1,713 6,852 3,432,674 .20 Nonferrous metals and their products 1,197 1,339 5,356 856,759 .62 Aericultural implements dncludinE tractors) 1.805 2,020 8,080 278,265 2.90 Electrical machinerv. ap- paratus and supplies . 4.114 4.604 18,416 1, 102, 134 1.67 All other machinerv --. 2.320 2,596 10.384 2.086,705 .50 Motor vehicles, bodies and parts 1.953 2,185 8,740 804,945 1.08 All other transportation equipment-., 131 147 588 1,081,189 .05 Miscellaneous manufac- turing 1.703 '1,973 > 7. 892 I 1,078,432 (•) Total above indus- tries 40,124 160.496 24.894,272 .64 NO-NMANUriCTlKlNG IXDrsTRIES 4,202 4,702 18.808 1 utilities (gas, light, and 1 000 1 119 4 476 Consulting and testing 2,6(53 571 2 980 11.920 639 2,556 Total nonmanufac- turing Industries 8.436 9,440 37.760 44,292 49.564 198,256 ' steel industry's 1939 research expenditures total $10,000,000. Steel Fadt, No. 35. 4 (August 1939). * U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Biennial census of manufacturers— 1937. Washington, U. S. Government Printing OlTice, 1939. • Perazlch, G., and Field, P. M. Industrial research and changing technology. Philadelphia, Pa., Work Projects Administration, National Research Project, Report A'c. Af-4, 1940. ' Classification reported by W. P. A. National Research Project, based on data compiled by National Research Council has been adjusted for various groups to bring total workers to 49,564, which had been reported for all industry but not classified. ' Sum of $1,513,340,000 value of rrude petroleum at wells in the United States -, Cambridge, Mass.; Chairman, Advisory Committee to the National Association of Manufacturers, Committee on Patents and Research ABSTRACT A suniinary of fiiidiiinjs on the relation of research expenditures to annual gross sales income in 181 companies. Break-down by sizes of companies Conipanies reportiiiK research expenditures (number) 181 Usable returns as related to capitalization (number) 151 Member conipanies of the National Association of Manufactiiror.<5, in a letter dated April 2, 1940, were asked : What percentage of your normal aiiiiual gross sales income do you spend for researcli? The letter accompanied a questionnaire prepared by the National Research Council for its Survey of Research in Industry with which the National Associa- tion of Manufacturers cooperated. Responses received numbered 892, of which 203 included reports of research expenditures. The sample reporting expenditures represents about 8 percent of the knowTi industrial researcli laboratories. The median expenditure of the companies for indus- trial research was found to be 2 percent of gross sales income. The percentage was highest in small com- panies. The chemical and allied products industries, on the other hand, ranUtd the highest in percentage of gross income for research. Following is a summary of the leplies: Companies reporting research expenditures (number) 203 Usable returns on relation of research expenditures to sales (number) 181 Median expenaiture (percent) 2 Number of Distribution: companU, Less than 1 percent. . 43 1 to 2 percent. 49 2 to 3 percent 36 3 to 4 percent 22 4 to 5 percent 3 5 to 6 percent 13 6 to 7 percent 4 7 to 8 percent 0 8 to 9 percent. 1 9 to 10 percent i 10 to 11 percent.. 7 11 to 12 percent 1 12 to 13 percent 1 124 Capitalization Number of companies Median oi- pendlture for research $20,000 to $75,000: 1 to 2 percent _ 1 2 1 Pacini 8 percent Total 4 S $100,000 to $500,000: Less than 1 percent 5 B C 2 4 1 to 2 percent 2 to'3 percent „ . 3 to 4 percent . 6 to 7 percent .__ 10 to 1 1 percent . . 12 to 13 percent Total 27 2M $-.00,000 to $1,000,000: Less than 1 percent 3 4 3 4 2 1 1 to 2 percent... .„.,. . 2 to 3 percent .' 5 to 6 percent . . 6 to 7 percent Total... 17 2M $1,000,000 to $2,000,000: ■ Less than 1 percent 7 10 12 8 1 •J 1 to2pcrcent 2 to 3 percent 3 to 4 percent 5 to 6 percent (i to 7 percent-.. 10 to 11 percent Total 41 2 $2,000,000 to $5,000,000: Less than 1 percent 3 li 3 2 1 lto2percent 2 to 3 percent... 3 to 4 percent Total IS IM $5,000,000 to $10,000,000: 5 3 1 1 1 to 2 percent 3 to 4 percent ........ Total 10 1 $10,000,000 to $50,000,000: Less than 1 percent 10 8 3 1 Total 22 1 $50,000,000 to $100,000,000: Less than 1 percent 4 2 1 1 1 to 2 percent _ 2 to 3 percent Total-. - 8 Less than 1 Over $100,000,000: Less than 1 percent ... .- 4 1 2 to 3 percent 6to 6 percent Total 7 Less than 1 'In this cal«Eory were included all companies reported by Dun 4 Dradstreet as bavins capitalization "over 1 million dollars" but tor whom specific BEures were not available. Industrial Research Break-down by types of industries 125 Industry Number of companies Median ex- penditure Chemicals and allied products: Less than I percent i Percent 1 to 2 percent 4 2 to 3 percent 7 3 to 4 percent 7 5 to 10 percent 4 10 to 13 percent _ 4 Total- - 28 3 to 4 Miscellaneous industries: 1 to 2 percent 1 2 to 3 percent 4 3 to 4 percent 3 5 to 6 percent _ __. 2 Total ._ 10 3 Machinery, not including transportation equipment: Less than 1 percent 6 I to2percent-. 13 3 to 4 percent . 8 5 to 6 percent . . . _ 4 10 to 11 percent _ 2 Total 47 2 Transportation equipment, air. land and water: I to 2 percent _ 6 5 to 6 percent _ 2 6 to 7 percent _ 1 9 to 10 percent 1 10 to 11 percent- 2 14 2 1 2 Less than 1 percent 3 5 to 6 percent . 1 Total 8 1 Printing, publishing, and allied products, 1 to 2 percent: Total 3 1 3 Stone, clay, and glass products: Less than 1 percent 5 1 to 2 percent _ _ . .7 2 to 3 percent 4 :i to 4 percent 3 4 to 5 percent I Total 20 m Iron and steel and their products, nut including machinery: Less than 1 percent 12 1 to 2 percent 7 ■,: to 3 percent 5 3 to 4 percent I 4 to 5 percent- -__ 1 Total— - 26 Xonferrous metals and their products: Less than I percent _ 1 1 to 2 percent — _ 3 Total 5 . Break-down by types of industries — Cont iiued Industry Number of companies Median ex- penditure Food and kindred products: Less than 1 percent . 4 - 1 . .-. 1 Percent 2 to 3 percent- Total. 6 Hof 1 i 2 Textiles and their products: Less than 1 percent I to 2 percent 4 to 5 percent Total - 7 Hot I 2 I 1 1 Products of petroleum and coal: Less than 1 percent 1 to 2 percent Total 3 Hofl Rubber products: Less than 1 percent- 1 to 2 percent _._ __ Total 2 li of 1 Leather and its manufactures: Total. 1 Moofl Summary of break-down by types of indiislries Median expenditure: indmirit, 3 to 4 percent Chenjical.s and allied product.-. Miscellaneou.s indiustries. 2 percent Machinery, not including trans- portation equipment. Transportation equipment, air, lanil, and water. I'"oiest products. 1 percent Paper and allied products. Printing, publishing, and allied products. Stone, clay, and glass products. Iron and steel and their prod- ucts not including ma- chinery. Nonferrous metals and their products. I.e.ss than 1 percent Food and kindred products. Textiles and their products- Products of petroleum and coal. Rubber products. Leather and its manufactures. While broad generalizations cannot be made from this small sample, it is particularly significant to note the relation of expenditures to sizes of companies and to types of industries in the cases reported. SECTION III EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH IN INDUSTRY Contents Page 1. Research in Aeronautics 129 General Discussion 129 Historical 129 International Competition in Research 130 Government Influence on Research 131 Research of the National Advisory Com- mittee for Aeronautics 134 The Institute of the Aeronautical Sci- ences 136 Society of Automotive Engineers 136 The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Advancement of Aeronautics 136 University Laboratories 137 Independent Workers 137 Conclusion 137 Progress from Improvements 137 Research Results Leading to Improvements 139 General Aerodynamics 139 Airplane Design 141 Engines 141 Propellers 142 Materials 142 Accessories 142 Military and Naval Research 142 Bibliography 143 2. Research in the Petroleum Industry 144 Introduction 144 Technical Problems Involved 145 Production 146 Motor Fuels by Cracking 147 Synthetic Fuels 149 Lubricants 150 Addition Agents 150 Corollary Effects of Petroleum Research 151 New Discoveries and Conservation of Crude Supplies 151 Effect on Automotive Developments 151 Other Industries Affected 152 General Effects on the Public Economy 153 Effect on Employment 154 Page Research Methods and Policies 155 How and Where the Research is Done 155 Relation to the Universities 156 A System of Free Competition 156 Research in the Iron and Steel Industry 157 The Role of the American Iron and Steel Industry in the Development of Research 157 Contributions of England in the Nineteenth Century 158 Contributions of the United States in the Nineteenth Century 158 Contributions of Other Countries in the Nineteenth Century 159 World Research in the Iron and Steel Indus- try, 1900 to 1930 159 Comparison of Research in the World, 1900 to 1930 160 Outstanding Developments in the World Iron and Steel Industry, 1900 to 1930 161 Present Status of Research in the Iron and Steel Industry 1 62 Purpose of Research in the American Iron and Steel Industry 162 Organization of Research in the Steel Industry 163 Cost of Research 164 Research Personnel 164 Metallurgical Education 164 Cooperative Metallurgical Research in the Iron and Steel Industry of Germany and England 166 Cooperative Metallurgical Research in the Iron and Steel Industry of the United States 166 Contributions of the Manufacturers of Alloy- ing Metals to Research in the Iron and Steel Industry 167 Research for New Markets by the Manufac- turers of Alloying Metals 168 Economic Significance of Research in the American Iron and Steel Industry 168 127 SECTION III 1. RESEARCH IN AERONAUTICS By J. C. Hunsaker Professor in C:harge, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technologj', Cambridge, Mass. ABSTRACT Tlie rapid development of an important industry from the Wright Brothers' original invention is attrib- uted to the increasing usefulness of the airi)lane as successive improvements took place. These improve- ments residted from research largely controlled by the Government. Research, conducted at Government expense, has supplied the industry with general infor- mation from which industry's own applied research has developed improved aircraft. The airworthiness and safety requirements of the Civil Aeronautics Authority and the competition fostered by the Anny and Navy procurement policies have the effect of directing applied research along lines desired by the Government. Competition for superior i)erfonnance has tended to concentrate the mainifacture of airplanes and engines in flic iiands of a few large concerns that mainfain out- standingly able engineering and research organizations. There is nothing in the patent situation to restrict tlie number of concerns in the industry. General Discussion Historical The aeronautical industry which has grown to adult stature in one generation is a romantic example of technological change profoundly affecting communica- tions, transportation, and national defence. By the begimiing of the century, applied science had prepared the ground for the airplane and all of its elements had been experimented with by the pioneers. They knew about the monoplane glider, the trussed biplane glider, the internal combustion engine, the screw propeller, and the launching catapult. While the pioneers had experimented with various means to control flight in a heavier-than-air vehicle, it remamed for the Wright Brothers to apply the fiiaal and necessary control about the three axes of space required to perfect a practical flying machine. The Wright airplane, demonstrated for the first time in public in 1908, was a 40-mile-per-hour biplane able to fly with two men for barely an hour. Its safety was precarious and its utility of an extremely low order. No one then inquired about safefy. Today transport planes cruise at 200 miles per hour with large loads of passengers and mails, and air-transport lines span oceans and continents with a high degree of safety, com- fort, and reliability. Air transportation has become an important business, employing thousands of men directly, and many more in the manufacturing industry that supplies its equipment. The parallel development of the airplane in the national defense, has produced pursuit airplanes that exceed 400 miles per hour in speed, and military bombers that can carry a ton or more of bombs at 300 miles per hour. Naval aircraft include high-performance fighting and observation air- planes carried on vessels of the fleet and large flying boats operating independently as a striking force. The least thoughtful must observe that air transpor- tation is profoundly changing the geographical factor in our social and political isolation, while the military use of the airplane has created the new concept of air power. The first chart shows the chronological increase of speed of specially built racing planes since 1910, with a forecast of what may be possible in the next 5 years. These world's records seemed fantastic when fii'st set up, but today's transport planes fly faster than the world's record in 1921, and pursuit planes now exceed in speed the world's record of 1932. The improvement of the airplane has gone on con- stantly since the first Wright biplane. No other tech- nological innovation ever had such public support. AVhile the airplane became the object of intensive study and experimentation by governments, young men witli the vision of things to come learned to fly and to build improved airplanes. Teachers of science encouraged their students to investigate the new art. Societies were formed to encourage the exchange of information and to promote research and experiment. The growth of the aeronautical industry in its manu- facturing aspect is shown in table 1 in which war fears after Mimich are clearly reflected. The charts fol- 129 130 A^ational Resovrces Planning Board lowing table 1 reflect increasinp; public acceptance of improved service of our airlines. International Competition in Research The beginning of organized research was the forma- tion in England of the Advisory Committee for Aero- nautics in 1909 under the leadersliip of the great physicist, Lord Rajdeigh. Government research labo- ratories were later established in France, Germany, Italy, and in the United States. From the first, the best scientific brains throughout the world have helped perfect the airplane. During the First World War the airplane grew in importance and, bj' the time of the armistice, multi- engined bombers were making night raids, pursuit airplanes carried cannon and machine guns, and flying boats were making all-day patrols at sea. Command of the air became an objective of national efTort. The modern airplane is the result of increasing knowledge of the aeronautical sciences, applied to the Wright's original airplane. Advances in airplane per- formance and utility have followed, somewhat discon- tinuously, new knowledge in aerodynamics, metallurgy, structural design, fuel technology, and engine and pro- peller design. The steps are sometimes abrupt as in- ventions or applications occur, such as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics cowl and wing engine location, as well as the variable-pitch propeller, and high-octane gasoline. W^ith every such step in advance, the industry has expanded and employment increased. The growth of the industry under com- petitive conditions has accelerated the improvement of the airplane. Manufacture in this country has now become concentrated in strong concerns that maintain outstandingly able engineering stafTs, with ample experimental budgets and superlative test equipment. For example, high-power aviation engines are currently made by tliree concerns only and propellers by two. In 1939 large air transports were sold by but three firms. This concentration of skill and facilities has come about because of free competition in an art that is rapidly advanced by research. I » — I r I I I I I II I I I I I I I I 1— I r- 600 SOO 4-00 500 ZOO too WORLD RECORO FOR /^AX/MUM speeo O O lANOPL/Kf^es O- - -O S£/\ PL/\N£S I I I /9/0 ZO IS 30 'ss- Figure 22. — World Record for Maximum Speed 4-0 '4-5 Industrial Research 131 Government policy has also iiitoiisiliod the trend toward concentration because the safety of human life is so dccidedh' involved that only the very best design and workmanship can be certified as "airworthy" by the licensing authority, and because the procurement Table 1. — United Slates aircraft production, 1926-40 ' Year 1929. 1930. 1931. 1932. 1933. 1934. 1935. 1936. 193S. 1940. Product /Planes. . . \Engines.. f Planes... \Engines.. t Planes. .. \Engines.. rPlanes. . . \Engin6S.. fPlanes. .. \Engines.. f Planes. . . \Engines.. f Planes. . . \Engines.. f Planes. . . \Engines.. f Planes. . . lEngines.. /Planes... \Engines.. fPIanes. . , \Engines.. f Planes. . lEngines.. fPlanes. . . 'lEngines.. /Planes... \Engines.. I/Planes... jlEngines.. Units Number 1,186 842 1,995 1,410 4,346 3,496 6,193 6,S04 3,437 4,356 2,800 3,864 1,396 1,959 1,324 1,830 1,615 2,545 1,568 2, 965 2,700 4,237 3,230 6,084 Dollar value (including parts} DoUars 13,000,000 4,000,000 20, 000, 000 10, 000, 000 43,000.000 20,000.000 62, 000. 000 25, 000, 000 35,000,000 22,000,000 33,000.000 14,000,000 20, 000. 000 14,000,000 23,000,000 9.000,000 26,000.000 16,000,000 22, 000, 000 13, 000, 000 40, 000, 000 22,000,000 56,000,000 30, 000, 000 ! 115,000,000 ' 225, 000, 000 " 500, 000, 000 ■ War Department restrictions prevent issuing details of production Tor last 3 years. ^ Planes and engines. 3 Estimated planes and engines. policy of the Army and Navy awards contracts for the best performance rather than for the lowest price. When the volume of orders is based on performance resulting from engineering development, a great pre- mium is placed on intensive research. Only the success- ful bidder recoups his engineering expenses and is in a position to extend his facilities. The result is naturally to concentrate manufacturing of a particular type of airplane in the hands of the most competent firms. There is nothing to prevent a new concern going into the business, but the new concern must have ample capital and very competent engineers, and be prepared to spend both time and money on applied research in order to offer a product to compete in performance with the leaders. A new concern may begin as a design and research group and continue as such until it can offer an important improvement. There is nothing in the basic patent situation to prevent more airplane firms being started. The air- plane of today is fundamentally the concept of the Wrights, and their jia tents have e.xpired. While a large number of patents cover modern methods of airplane construction, these are pooled with the Manufacturers' Aircraft Association in a cross-licensing agreement open to all mnnufacturers who wish to join. Government Influence on Research The dominant position of research in aeronautics is essentially no difl'erent from its position in other fields TOTAL ROUTE MILES 1926 8.2S2 1927 8,845 1928 15,590 1929 24,874 1930 29,887 1931 30,451 1932 28,550 1933 27,812 1934 28,084 1935 28,267 1936 28,874 1937 31.084 1938 35.492 1939 36,477' -At o( Jun» 30. (qjq SO 40 THOUSANDS OF MILES DOMESTIC INTERNATIONAL Source. Air Commerce Bulletin 1926 152 1927 257 1928 1,077 1929 1 1 ,456 1930 19,662 1931 19,949 1932 19,980 1933 19,875 1934 22717 1935 32,184 1936 32,658 1937 32,572 1938 35707 1939 47,355' - Ai of Jun« 10. "9J9 THOUSANDS OF MILES FionKE 23.— Total Route Miles 321835—41- -10 132 National Resources Planning Board TOTAL PLANE MILES FLOWN 1926 4,258771 1927 5,779,863 1928 10,400,239 1939 32,380,020 1930 31,992,634 1931 42,755,417 1932 45,606,354 1933 48771,553 1934 40,955,396 1935 55,380,353 1934 63,777,226 1937 66,071,507 1938 69,668,827 1939 81,466,900' - D*<*«b«r, 1999, •(tlMiatvd- DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MILLIONS OF MILES 0 0 10 CALENDAR YEARS 1936 59,316 1937 90,636 1938 373,311 1939 2761,479 1930 4,952>9 1 1931 4,890,990 1932 5,565,533 1933 6,106,461 1934 8,109,377 1935 8,487,345 1936 9,834,544 1937 11,331,858 1938 11,389,300 1939 11,879,000' 3 - L«il * monlhi vitimalaj. 60 70 eo MILLIONS OF MILES FiQChE 24. — Total Plane Miles Flown TOTAL PASSENGER MILES FLOWN 1 1 1926 Not Available 1927 1928 1929 1930 84,014,572 1931 106,442,375 1932 1 27,038,798 1933 173,492,119 1934 187,858,629 1935 313,905,508 1936 435740,253 1937 476,603,165 1938 557719,268 1939 736,001,700' Oxsmbvf, >4lq, vtl-malad' DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL BOO 70O 600 MILLIONS OF MILfS 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1 1931 1 1932 ■ 1933 ■ 1934 ■ 1935 ■ 1936 ^ 1937 ^M 1938 ■1 1939 ^H Air Co Bulletin CALENDAR YEARS 1926 Not Avoiloble 1927 1928 1929 1930 19,732,677 1931 1 4,680,402 1932 21,147,539 1933 26,283.915 1934 38,792,228 1935 48,465,412 1936 58,543,618 1937 76,045,424 1938 77,836,916 1939 103,989,000' 600 700 SOO MILLIONS OF MILES Figure 25. — Total Passenger Miles Flown Industrial Research 133 PASSENGER REVENUE (DOMESTIC) MILLIONS OF DOLLARS 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 19 / / 1931 4,123,347.60 ■ 1932 5,602,72050 1933 8,520,148 67 1934 8,631,37016 1935 15,811,53398 - 1936 20,935,158 78 1937 21,791,763.01 1938 24,876,622.00 1939 34,174,000.00 Est. > , . y^ ■ J / So Af> Mail Contractors Only. / IJI.I, f 26 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 Figure 26. — Passenger Revenue (Domestic) PASSENGERS CARRIED (DOMESTIC) 100000 PASSENGERS (REVENUE AND NON-REVENUE) IB 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 > 1926 5,782 1927 8,661 1928 47,840 1929 159,751 1930 374,935 1931 469,981 1932 474,279 1933 493,141 1934 461,743 1935 746,946 1936 1,020,931 1937 1,102,707 1938 1,343,427 1939 1,877,700 Dec. Es / / A ority / <; oufce. &vi7 A eronautics Auth f ^^ ^^^^ -*«. ^ 19 26 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 19 39 FiGURK 27. — Passengers Carried (Domestic) 134 National Resources Planning Board AVERAGE PASSENGER FARE PER MILE (DOMESTIC OPERATIONS) Souici- Cf^>l AeronnutKi Authontv CENTS PER MILE '^ \ V ^ L 10 - S - e - 4 - 2 - ^ \ 1916 toil i9Jr oio6 I919 O't 1919 Oil I9IO 0093 1931 0.06T 19)1 0 06l I91> 0.06t I93« 0.039 I9« O0S7 1936 O.OJ7 I93T O.OS6 1919 OOSI )9>9 O.OJt ••t \ > k. \ ^^ — ^^ ■■" ^^ ^^ ■ • III CAL 1926 27 2$ 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 1939 YEARS Figure 28. — Average Passenger Fare Per Mile which exploit a new technology, but is very difrerent in operation owing to the Government's paramount interest. An industry grows naturally from discovery as applications prove their utility. Examples can be found in chemistry, metallurgy, radio, and many sorts of special machinerj'. But in all of these fields, re- search is conducted liy the induslry for itself and is un- coordinated, except as a trade association or patent pool may assist members. Such private research is not given formal direction by its customers. On the other hand, the aeronautical itKhistry, in its research, experi- ments, designing and testing, is led by the Government by three compelling strands. First, the Government, through the Civil Aeronautics Authority, permits no civil airplane to be flown without technical inspection and a license as to air worthiness. For example, landing and take-ofl" performance, as well as control and stability requirements may be changed from time to time by the C. A. A. as a result of experi- ence (accidents perhaps) or as a result of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' research. Secondly, the Army and Navy, as purchasers of air- craft in volume, set the trend of design by their speci- fications to bidders. No recent design competitions have failed to procure airplanes of superior performance as compared with the last competition. The Govern- ment's requirements are set somewhat ahead of the ex- isting state of the art, and are based on the tactical needs of the services. Naturally, the industry is under compelling pressure to direct every efTort through re- search and development work to meet the requirements of the competition. The Army might decide that per- formance will be judged at high altitude. Research men would then have to work on superchargers for engines, pressurized cabins for personnel, jiropellers geared for take-ofT at ground level, speed at altitude, and a host of other difficult problems. Similarly, the Navy might stress low landing speed on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and research men would be put to the study of high lift devices for wings and means to provide control at the stall. I>ikewise, tactical requirements maj' de- mand dive bombing, involving terrific speed and ac- celeration at the pull-out, and the research group will then have to study compressibility efTects caused by high speed, and clastic problems of wing strength. Thirdly, the Government leads and, to a large degree coordinates, research in the industrj' through the N. A. C. A. This Committee consists of 15 men ap- pointed by the President under the authority of a 1915 Act of Congress. Nine members represent Gov- ernment departments directly concerned with aero- nautical progress and 6 arc appointed from civil life but must be "acquainted with the needs of aeronautical science, cither civil or military, or skilled in aeronautical engineering or its allied sciences." The members serve without compensation. For many years the chairman has been President Joseph S. Ames of Jolms Hopkins University, recently relieved by Dr. Vannevar Bush, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The Committee receives annual appropriations from the Congress "to supervise and direct the scientific study of th(> problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution." It makes an annual report to the Congress via the President. The annual appropria- tions, since th(^ inauguration of the Committee, total about $25,0()0,non. (S(^e tabic 2.) Table 2. — Approprinlions of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, 1915-40 Fiscal year General research purposes Construc- tion Fiscal year General research purposes Construc- tion 1915 $5,000 6.000 18,515 87,600 167,000 170,200 184,450 188.900 210.600 307, 0(10 437.000 436, 785 613,000 62.5,0110 623,770 1930 $745,000 886,000 1,051,070 915,000 709,260 766,530 1, 177, 550 1,177,550 1,380,8.50 1,600.000 223,980 1, 849, 020 $763,000 1916 . . 1931 435,000 1917 $69,000 24,600 38,000 4,800 1,5,6.50 11.100 1.5,000 1932 1918 1933 1919 1934 > 247,944 1920 1935 > 478, 300 1921 1936 1937 1922 1,367,000 1923 1938 1939 1939-40 1940.. Total.— 353,000 1924 200,000 1925 33.000 97, 216 2.140,000 1926 2,330,980 1928 25,000 5,000 16,261,520 8,653,389 1929 1 .\llottnt\nt from Public Works Administration funds. Research of the National Advisory C^ommittec for Aeronautics Research laboratories and staff are maintained at Langley Field, Va., on a site made available by the War Department. The Committee's research activity w-ill be practically doubled by a new laboratory now being built at Moffett Field, Calif. The N. A. C. A.'s work is primarily concerned with those fundamental problems of flight which are basic to the entire industry. Such research does not concern Industrial Research 135 PAYMENTS TO DOMESTIC AIR MAIL CONTRACTORS AND AIR MAIL POSTAL REVENUE (fiscal years) 20 15 - JI4 6IBOOO 1 519 400 000 $5 7J8 000 ACTUAL PAYMENTS TO CONTRACTORS ESTIMATED POSTAGE REVENUE Source. Post Office Depiftment $16 326 40C 1929-30 1930-31 1931-32 1932-33 1933-34 1934-35 1935-36 1936-37 1937-38 1938-39 Figure 29. — Pavmcnts to Domestic Air Mail Contractors and Air Mail Postal Revenvie PAYMENT PER POUND-MILE DOMESTIC AIR MAIL MILLS 5 V FiMol Yeofi Pavmenli Ending Per Pound ttile June 30iK (■n.lltl 1932 3.18 1933 4,01 1934 2.69 1935 1.30 1936 1.24 1937 1.03 1938 1.04 1939 1.10 ' / \ - > V \ ..^ ..^^ OUeCE Sb«c.o1 -abulalion. P 0 Ds 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 Figure 30. — Payment Per Pound-Mile Domestic Air Mail 136 National Resources Planning Board a specific design of aircraft, nor is research conducted in fields of aeronautical science already adequately covered by the industry. For example, the Committee's own research does not deal with the metallurgy of aluminum and steel, refining of gasoline, and materials generally. Nor does it design engines, air|)lanes, nor accessories such as radio. These matters are known to be in good hands. The Committee conducts scientific labonilory and free-flight research in the broad field of aerodjTiamic structures, and publishes results of value to designers affecting wing profiles and body forms, stability, and control, propellers, and methods for predictmg airplane performance. Tt conducts theoretical and experimental research and, in general, seeks facts and principles where knowledge is lacking. This includes matters of structural strength, the combustion process and cool- ing of engines, and answers to many fundamental ques- tions arising from the use of airplanes by the several Government agencies. Besides its own research re- sults, the Committee makes available to the Army, Navy, Civil Aeronautics Authority, and the industry itself information obtained from abroad. For this purpose it maintained an Office of Aeronautical Intelli- gence and a full-time teclmical assistant in Europe sta- tioned at the American Embassy in Paris. The aeronautical industry is supplied with basic scientific information for its own design and research groups to apply. The results of N. A. C. A. research at Langley Field could not have been acquired by the industry independently, as the cost of the necessary equipment is far beyond the means of a young industry. It is largely by the intelligent application of N. A. C. A. aerodynamic findings by clever designers, that this vigorous industry has been able to advance so rapidly. Naturally this information, when a])plied by foreign competitors, would produce equally beneficial results except that the more important results are not pub- lished until American industry has had an opportunity to study them. American designers, guided by their owTi research groups, seem to have been prompt and skillful in the application of such results and have had, perhaps, greater confidence in the trustworthiness of the N. A. C. A. reports. The N. A. C. A. conducts fundamental research at public expense, which, in effect, constitutes a sub- stantial subsidy to the industry. Such a subsidy may be looked on as a small part of the cost of procuring rapid progress in an art vital to the national defense. Civil aeronautics benefits directly from the N. A. C. A. research, and our air transport system now leads the world in every aspect of good service. The N. A. C. A. performs a coordinating function by means of subcommittees consisting of experts from the Government agencies and from various branches of the industry. Research projects are initiated or approved by appropriate subcommittees. Some projects are assigned, by contract, to university or other laboratories where special facilities or qualified personnel exist. As a result of N. A. C. A. leadership, research in the industiy has become applied. Tlirough N. A. C. A. grants, most of the research in university laboratories is coordinated with that at Langley Field. Through Army and Navy procurement policy and Civil Aero- nautics A\ithority regulatory functions, applied research in the industry is likewise directed along lines desired by the Federal Government. We, therefore, have the unique example of an in- dustry, exploiting a new field of technology, for which fundamental research is conducted for its benefit by the Government. Applied research is conducted by units of that industry, but under conditions that give the Government effective control. The Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences An important factor in stimulating research efforts of individuals was the formation in 1933 of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences. This organization of teclmical people includes specialists in aerodynamics, structures, engines, metallurgy, meteorology, radio, piloting, i)hysiology and all of the sciences applicable to aeronautics. By means of national and regional meetings and by the publication of a monthly scientific journal, research problems are subjected to critical examination. Society of Automotive Engineers The Society of Automotive Engineers, primarily concerned with automotive engines and vehicles, has had a strong influence on the development of airplane engines and their special steels, fuels, lubricants, and standardized parts. It should be noted that the first publications dealing with the baffling of air-cooled cylinders and the cowl with trailing edge flaps appeared in the Society of Automotive Engineers' Journal. The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Advancement of .\oronautics In many sciences, important advances have been stimulated by the great foundations. In aeronautics the stimidus given by the late Daniel Guggenheim is still felt. In 1926, he established a fund of $2,500,000, later increased to $3,000,000. which was all expended by 1930 in aid of aeronautical progress. Substantial grants were made to eight imiversities for aeronautical laboratory buildings on condition that the university authorities maintain courses in aeronautical engineer- ing, and in addition an airship institute was es- tablished. These Guggenheim schools have been Industrial Research 137 extremely effective in supplymjr the cnf^ineerinp; and research personnel needed for the expansion of the aeronautical industry between 1930 and 1940. Projects started by the fund which have had a significant effect were: Research on ice formation (W. C. Geer); model airway weather service and introduction of air mass methods in meteorology (C. G. Rossby); blind-landing research (J. 11. Doolittle); Safe Aircraft Competition ($100,000 prize to Curtiss Tanager); publication of the Encyclopedia of Acro- djmamic Theory (W. F. Durand). University Laboratories The part of university research is an important though secondary one in the growth of the industry. University laboratories train the research workers who staff both Govermncnt and industrial research orgaiii- zations. University laboratories dealing with problems of aerodynamics, radio, acoustics, physics, metallurgy, chemistry, electrical engineering, meteorology, struc- tures, materials, fuels, lubricants, engines, etc., are frequently employed by the industry or by the Gov- ernment to work on special projects. There are also, as woidd be expected, somewhat infrequent spon- taneous contributions from imiversity laboratories which prove of some importance. For example, university laboratories have made valuable contribu- tions to current methods of analysis both m aerody- namics and structures, methods of vibration elimmation, and instrumentation for the precise measurement of many phenomena from fuel detonation to propeller stresses. In general, research in university laboratories is not so closely coordinated as is the case in Britain or Ger- many, but no doubt in time of war the N. A. C. A. could effect the necessary organization to utilize the available personnel and facilities effectively. The principal difficulty seems to lie in the fact that the university research worker does not often know the relative importance of the many problems of scientific interest, nor which problems are already being worked on elsewhere, and cannot be allowed to know the status of many problems of importance to the national defence. Independent Workers The university laboratories should remain free to work independently on research problems of their own selection without censorship or regimentation. Too close control, enforced in an effort to effect close co- ordination, can result in such regimentation that a research project may be suppressed completely. If the coordinating office be prejudiced or lacking in imagination, progress can be greatly delayed. The air-cooled engine, when first proposed, was of no interest to one branch of the Government, but, fortunately, another branch insisted on its development. Individ- ual workers, in the aeronautic field as in others, have been the source of many good ideas. We need only to recall the fundamental work of Lanchester or Bryan in England and of Prandtl in Germany. In this country, especially, we should never forget that the airplane itself came from two completely independent persons, the Wright brothers. In more recent times organized research has built up the basic information from which inventions develop. The practice of the N. A. C. A. in publishing its research results makes a great store of knowledge available not only to the technical groups in the industry but also to the university laboratory and the individual scientist. Conclusion Government research is largely responsible for re- markable progress in the development of the airplane, but it alone could not have made the improvements from which a healthy industry has developed. Basic research results had first to be extended and applied by the research groups in the industry, incorporated in designs, and tested in competition with the existing art. While Government research and requirements have dominated the growth of the industry, in its general effects the (ioveinmeut's activity has been wholesome, probably because the industry was left with plenty to do for itself, and also because airplanes and engines are not designed by the Goverimient. There is no Government competition with industry. The Govern- ment sets standards of quality and offers help in the form of research information toward attaining such standards, and money prizes in the form of purchase orders for the survivors of competition. By a combination of circumstances, but principally because of the importance of improved airplanes to the national defense, the function of research in the aero- nautical industry has been paramount. The lesson seems to be that where research is so placed, technical progress is rapid and commercial success follows. Evidence of sound progress is given by the downward trend of rates charged for service rendered as shown on figures 28 and 29. Passenger fares have dropped from 12 to 5 cents per mile, while the rates paid by the Post Office for the carriage of air mail dropped 75 percent. The result is a profitable industry, able to create further improvements and more business. Progress from Improvements To seek the cause of the rapid progress of the aero- nautical industry it is only necessary to trace the improvement of the airplane in performance and utihty. The obvious steps in this improvement have sometimes 138 National Resources Planning Board been abrupt, bill apparent periods of stngnntion merely indicate times when research results are accumulating while application is blocked at some point. At any one time there is no lack of good ideas but the ideas may be impractical imtil advances have been nuule in related fields of science and teclmology. A tecluiical advance comes only when the time is ripe. High-compression engines could not be adopted until high-octane fuel was commercially available. Landing gears could not be retraced \mtil thick cantilever wings were in use, and it was not worth-while to retract them until the speed of flight became gi'eat enough to put a premium on saving the drag of such exposed jiarls in spite of the increased weight and cost of the retracting mechanism. The airplane flies in accordance with aerodynamic piinciples which govern the phenomena of air flow. Advances in aerodynamic knowledge set the trend of design and stimulate the adoption of nonaerodynamic features, which in themselves may load to further im- provements in performance. Likewise, the engine and propeller are fimdamental to the mechanics of flight and improvements in the power plant are reflected in improved airplane performance. Pilotmg is also an essential element, and improvements in aids to naviga- tion, in weather forecasting, and in radio have been important stimulants to the growth of the industry. The effect of improvements arising as a result of research is easily traced in the growth of air transport from a daytime air-mail service in 1924 to the overnight transcontinental sleeper service we have today. For the year 1939 the air-transport planes, on domestic air routes only, flew approximately 80,000,000 miles. This development in only 15 years could never have happened unless the public patronized the planes with increasing confidence as the service improved. Dr. Edward Warner, in his Cabot Lectme of 1938 at Norwich University, noted five major steps in air trans- port's technical development: 1925-29, increased wing loading; 1925-26, multiengined airplanes; 1929-33, N. A. C. A. cowling; 1930-36, high-octane fuel; 1933-34, controllable-pitch propeller. Each of these steps was marked by the general adoption of a specific design feature wliich had a great effect in improving the performance of the airplane and consefjuently the service offered by the common carriers. None of these features appeared at a single stroke, but resulted from years of research and experiment with a few false starts and failures. To consider these five steps in order, let us inquire as to increased wing loading. The weight per sciuarc foot carried by the wing increased only from about 8 pounds in 1918 to 10 pounds by 1925. Smaller wings for the same weight of airjjlanc mean more sj)eed, less dead weight, and a smoother ride. The wing loading for a given safe landing speed increased after 1925 very slowly, but in 1929 the Guggenheim prize was won by a macliine using wing flaps temporarily to increase the lift when landing. By 1933 such flaps were in general use on air transports, permitting a wing loading of 15 pounds per square foot. Research had, in the mean- time, shown how to design them and to ])redict their effect. Wing loading has since doubled with a corre- sponding reduction in wing area. The second major improvement in air transport planes came with the introduction about 1925 of Ford, Fokker, and Jimkei's midtiengined planes. Multien- gined bombers had been used in the First World War but were notoriouslj' inefficient, and needed all of their engines to l;ee]) in the air. By 1935, however, inii)roved engines and aerodj'uamie qualities permitted these new transports to fly with one engine stopped. Results of research allowed the use of this design feature that greatly increased safety and, at the same time, made it possible to build larger airplanes to carry greater loads with lower cost. With the general adoption of multi- engined transports, the industry expanded to handle the increased traffic that resulted from reduced fear of a forced landing. No passengers arc now carried on our air hiu's in singlc-engincd machines. The third major step in improvement and in the industry's growth had its origin in the construction in 1927 by the N. A. C. A. of a wind timnel large enough to test a fuU-scale airplane with its regular engine and propeller. AVith this equipment, it was discovered that a very large part of the head resistance of the airplane was due to the radial air-cooled engine. The engine had to be exposed to the wind to keep it eool, but in such a position, the air flow was spoiled for part of the airplane behind it. Systematic research disclosed means to smooth ovit the flow by means of a cowling to lead air to and away from the cooling fins of the engine. The cowl devised bj' Fred E. Weick, now known as the N. A. C. A. cowl, reduced engine drag 75 percent. This important saving permitted a sharp increase in speed and economy of transport planes. By 1933 the N. A. C. A. cowl and radial engines were standard on all United States air lines, as well as in militarj' service, ft is estimated that the fuel bill in 1939 for United States domestic air lines was about $5,r00,000 and for the Army and Navy at least $f),250,nC0. Ken oving the N. A. C. A. cowls from a typical transport plane or bomber would increase the drag approxin'ately 30 percent or reduce the speed 10 percent. To maintain the same speed, the national fuel bill would be increased $3,375,000. This sum represents an aimunl recovery of many times the cost of the research. The N. A. C. A. cowl when first applied to single- engine airplanes increased speed approximately 15 per- Industrial Research 139 cent, but when applied to the tliree-engiiicd airplanes of that day resulted in no increase in speed. This let! to a fundamental investigation by the N. A. C. A. to de- termine the cause and to find the remedy. By a comprehensive survey of the net efficiencies of various engine nacelle locations, the optimum position in the wing was found. This N. A. C. A. ( Lcscohier, D. D. The place of the social sciences in the trainioR of cnRincers. See footnote 14, or Journal of Engineering Education, H, 414-21 (FebrUMry 1934). llGURE 42. — Vacuum E.xlractiou Apparatus for Control of O.xidcs in tilccl, Republic Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio 166 National Resources Planning Board stressed by Stoughton, the y the industries concerned and by the Government, each contributing about half. Publication is possible only by permission of both industry and Government. • Only a small number of the problems investigated are metallurgical. Cooperative Metallurgical Research in the Iron and Steel Industry of the United States In the United States, most cooperative metallurgical research was, until about 1925, carried out by the var- ious technical societies, either alone or in cooperation with industry or with the National Bureau of Standards or the United States Bureau of Mines. The most im- portant and best-known work undertaken in this way was that on the corrosion of sheet steel in the atmos- phere, by the American Society for Testing Materials, and that on the effect of temperature on the properties of metals, by a joint committee of the American Society for Testing Materials and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Another such valuable coopera- tive project is the study of soil corrosion of pipe, which has been under way for 10 years at the National Bureau of Standards with the cooperation of the pipe manu- facturers. The iron and steel industry cooperated in these projects by supplying materials and the services of technical men and, in some cases, by contributions of money. There is one large endowed organization, Battelle Memorial Institute, which is equipped to under- take a variety of research problems for trade associa- tions or uadividual companies — who supply most of the funds, while the institute supplies the facilities and the supervision — and its endowment permits it to undertake considerable misponsoreil metallurgical research. There are three relatively large cooperative research projects in ferrous metallurgy in this country which have received much favorable comment throughout the world. The first of these, established in 1926 and completed in 1934, was organized to supervise research in steel manufacture; this was conducted by the Metallurgical Advisory Board. Most of the funds were supplied by the steel industry; research facilities and scientific and other personnel were supplied by the United States Bureau of Mines and by the Carnegie Institute of Technology of Pittsburgh. Work done under this project on the physical chemistiy of steel making has been recognized as one of the most valuable fundamental researches in steel making ever attempted. The other two projects, .(Vlloys of Iron Research and Welding Research, were organized by The Engineering Foundation and sponsored by the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, and by the American Welding Society and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, respectively. These two proj- Industrial Research 167 ects are financed largely by industry, by research institutes, Government bureaus, and by relatively large appropriations from The Engineering Foundation's income from endowment. Alloys of Iron Research is a project for reviewing the important research work of the world on carbon and alloy steels and plain and alloy cast irons, as reported in the technical literature of all coujitries, and for sum- marizmg and correlating the data in a series of 15 monographs, of which 11 have been published. The cost of this project, which was started in 1930, is about $25,000 a j'car. Several hundred metallurgists have contributed enough of their time to review and criticize before publication chapters of the monographs dealing with subjects in which they are especially expert. The primary object of the monographs is to eliminate long and costly searches of the literature by research workers, to obviate duplication of research work which has been reported in obscure or inaccessible journals, and to encourage research to fiU the gaps in our knowl- edge of ferrous materials. Welding Research, also under the direction of a technical committee, is reviewing the literature on welding of ferrous and nonferrous materials, but unlike Alloys of Iron Research it is publishing its literature survey as frequent brief digests of a specific field. It sponsors and supervises laboratory research in welding which is being carried out in a number of universities and plants. Its budget is appro.ximately $20,000 per year. Contributions of the Manufacturers of Alloying Metals to Research in the Iron and Steel Industry The several comj)anies in the United States — and in other countries as well — which produce nickel, chromi- um, molybdenum, tungsten, silicon, copper, titanium, and other alloying elements, either as the relatively pure metals or as ferroalloys, and sell these materials to the iron and steel industry for the manufacture of alloy steels and cast irons have been large contributors to the advancement of knowledge in the iron and steel in- dustry. All these manufacturers maintain well- equipped research laboratories, staffed by competent men, and carry out a large volume of important research work. Research by the manufacturers of alloying metals is directed primarily toward finding new uses for their metals, in other words toward selling more of their product. All of them, however, have a liberal policy of publication of the results of their research in the technical journals, thus inviting discus- sion, not only by metallurgists of steel manufacturers but also of competitors. Figure 43. — Apparatus for Spectrographic Kxamination of Steel, Bethlehem Steel Company, Betliiehem, Pennsylvania 168 A'ational litsources I'lanning Board Most of llie maiiufacliircMs of alloying: metals publish moiitiily niagnziiics wliicli alToid prompt and wide (iissemiiialion of data of value to metallurgists in the iron and steel industry. Most important, however, are the handbooks published by the manufacturers of alloying metals and b}' some of the steel companies. These books arc unique in advertising, because they are important sources of valuable data obtained by research. The role of these publications in the Ameii- can iron and steel industry is stated accurateh' by Gillctt: '« The ultimate purpose of handbooks of this tj'pe is to sell steel, and specifically the steels made by, or using the elements sold by, the firm that prepares the book. Po.'^sibly there comes in also the a-speet of self-protection against complaints that would be avoided by more understanding of fundamentals and hence, more intelligent use by the purchaser. At any rate, the dissemination of sound technical information is considered so important that such handbooks have ceased to be mere catalogs and reiterations of the virtues of "Three Star Double Extra" brand, and contain not only data but discussions of metallurgical principles that are often far from being kindergarten subjects. These di.scussions must be brief, clear and correct, for the presti((.e of the firm is involved. Few text books are written with the care for correct phraseology that one meets in these books. Consequently, the student as well as the practicing metallurgist values them highly — and they deserve to be highly valued. Research for New Markets by the Manufacturers of Alloying Metals As noted in a previous section (p. 164), approximately 50 percent of the money appropriated for research by the iron and steel industry of the United States is spent for developing new products and new uses and markets for old products; during the past 20 years, practically all the money appropriated for research by the manufacturers of alloying metals has been spent for this purpose. Almost immediately after it was discovered that nickel and chromium increase the strength, hardness, and resistance to impact of carbon steels, steel contain- ing these two metals was used for armor plate and ordnance and caused a revolution in ofTensive and defensive naval warfare in the first decade of this century. The expanding armament programs of all nations, which culminated in the First World War, demanded such large quantities of these alloying metals, especially nickel, that the primary object of practically all research before 1920 was to increase production and to reduce cost. Nickel production increased from 10,000 short tons in 1900 to 50,000 short tons in 1917, about half of which went into armament. With the end of the war came the collapse, and world ])roduetion of nickel ilropped to about 10,000 tons, the 1900 level. It became painfully apparent about 1920 that no permanent benefit would be derived, either by the manufacturers of the alloying metals or by the steel industry as a wliole, from metals whose most important application was armament. As a result, extensive research was begun to find new and peacetime uses for these metals. That this research has been successful is apparent from a study of the statistics of production of alloy steels in the United States during the period (1920-35) when practically no armament was made. In 1920 alloy-steel produc- tion was 1.5 million tons, in 1937 it was 3.2 million tons, which went into automobiles, railway rolling stock, ship-building, oil-refining equipment, power-generating machinery, tools, agricultural equipment, architectural trim and building construction, electric-heating appli- ances, and many other products. Between 1920 and 1937, The International Nickel Company alone spent approximately $18,750,000 in development and research to create peacetime uses for nickel." During that time, the yearly production of nickel increased from 10,000 to 125,000 short tons, of which only 3 to 5 percent was used in steel for arma- ments between 1920 and 1935. Even in 1937, when Europe had begun to rearm on a large scale, less than 8 percent of the world's supply of nickel was used in armaments.^" Research by The International Nickel Company and by manufacturers of other alloying metals has developed peacetime uses for their products to the point that complete world disarmament would not cause a ripple in their yearly production; it would, in fact, even be welcomed because, as Stanley pointed out,^' "organization for war has had a depressive rather than a stimulating effect on total nickel consumption, since the loss which results from the dislocation of normal industrial routine is in no sense compensated for by the tonnage consumed in armaments." Economic Significance of Research in the American Iron and Steel Industry The principal advances, especially in processes and materials, that have resulted from research in the American iron and steel industry have been discussed briefly in previous sections and have been outlined in greater detail elsewhere in this book;" hence, only a brief summary is necessary here. As already indicated, the first and most important accomplishment is the improvement in quality with no n Gillctt, n. W. D. S. S. carlllo; steels. MelaU and Alloyt, 10, MA 186 (March 1939). " Stanley, R. C. Address tn shareholders. The Inlernational Nickel Co., March 29. 1938. '• I'mprietary nickel alloys. Chemical Aqc. Mdallurtical Stdlon, S8, 8 (February 5. \'j:«). " Stanley, KoIhti C. The nickel indmlry In 10.TS. .-l/timinum and NunFerrniis Rtcim, i. «-6 (1938-39). n Olllett, H. W. Metallurrical research as a national resource. This volumr, pp. a-fS-SOS. Industrial Research 169 significant increase — indeed in some cases with a decrease — in cost. This has been especially evident in the past decade and has affected all branches of the industry. Pig iron is more uniform in composition and quality than ever before; precision melting in the basic open-hearth process, with instrument control, with slags of carefully adjusted composition, and with regulated deo.xidation to produce steels of specific grain size, is now common. New methods for exact control of the Bessemer process and for improved slag practice are being used, and good quality free-machining steel with 0.30 to 0.40 percent of sulfur is made regularly. Improvmg the quality of steel without a significant increase in cost to the consumer is an accomplishment of considerable magnitude as the stricter metallurgical control necessary raises the basic cost of the material. According to White," unalloyed steel containing 0.25 percent of carbon, made without modern metallurgical control and testing, cost $43.04 a ton in 1936. The same steel made with complete metallurgical control and testing, costs as much as $60.48 a ton, a possible increase of $17.44, of which $3.23 represents the cost of the metallurgical control and testing, and the remainder, $14.21, represents the increased cost of the various manufacturing operations owing to more rigid quality requirements. The continuous rolling mill has been responsible for a reduction in the price of 20-gage sheet steel for auto- mobile fenders from 6 cents a pound in 1923 to 3K cents in 1936; it has improved the quality with the result that the deformation possible m drawing a fender crown has increased from 2% inches in 1923 to 16 to 18 inches in 1936. Today, only the nose of the fender is polished, "White, C. M. Technological advances in steel production. (Yearbook of the American Iron and Steel Institute.) New York, American Iron and Steel Institute, 1937, pp. 105-28. and the paint consists of one coat of primer and one coat of finish; in 1923, three polishing operations and four priming and finishing coats were necessary.^* Research in corrosion and in protective coatings, and the development of alloy steels, have more than doubled the average life expectancy of all iron and steel m the last 50 years. In 1890, the average life was 15 years, in 1910 it was 22 years, and in 1935 it was 35. A considerable part of this increase is due to higher and more uniform quality, with fewer early failures. The development of low-alloy steels, which cost between 3J^ and 5 cents a pound as compared with 2% cents a pound for unalloyed structural material, has had — and is now having — a great effect on the design and construction of railway rolling stock. A hopper car constructed of low-alloy steel weighs 30,000 pounds and carries 139,000 pounds as compared with a weight of 44,000 pounds and carrying capacity of 125,000 pounds for the conventional car. This is equivalent to converting 7 tons of dead weight into revenue- producing capacity. Savings accompanying the use of higher temperatures and pressures in power generation and in oil refining are even more spectacular and are due almost solely to the development — much of it in the United States — of alloy steels which resist de- formation at high temperatures. These are only a few of the advances in the iron and steel industry of the United States in the past 15 or 20 years which have resulted from research. The list could be extended almost indefinitely; enough has been said, however, to show that research in the iron and steel industry — which has certainly only begun — has had a strong stimulative effect on general industrial progress in the United States. 2' Steel makes possible new styling of 1937 mudcl automobiles. Sleet Facts, No. 16, 3 (December 1936); Quality of steels has increased more than price in recent years. No. 24. 4, 5 (February 1938). SECTION IV LOCATION AND EXTENT OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ACTIVITY IN THE UNITED STATES Contents Page Location and Extent of Industrial Research Activity in the United States 173 Introduction 173 Extent of Research in All Industries 174 Growth and Present Status of Research Employment 174 Distribution of Research Persoimel by Professions 176 Establishment of Research 177 Geographical Distribution of Research Laboratories 178 Extent of Research in Individual Industries 178 Present Research Employment in Various Industries 178 Comparative Research Employment in Various Industries: 1927-1938 178 Relation of Research to Corporate Size 179 Distribution of Research Establishments by Corporate Size 179 Distribution of Research Persomiel by Corporate Size 182 Relation of Research to Sales and Net Income 183 Summary and Conclusions 185 Bibliography 187 171 SECTION IV LOCATION AND EXTENT OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ACTIVITY IN THE UNITED STATES By Franklin S. Cooper Director of Research, Haslcins Laboratories, Inc., New York, N. Y. ABSTRACT An extensive questionnaire survey relative to indus- trial research has been conducted by the National Research Council. The results have been analysed and various correlations found. A total of 2,350 companies reported 70,033 persons engaged in technical research in American industry. Tliis is a 41 percent increase over the personnel reported 2 years ago. Slightly more than half of this increase represents real growth. The remainder is due to the increased cover- age of the present survey. The current data are combined with earlier data to give an historical chart of the growth of industrial research during the last 20 years. This is amplified by a grapliical representation of the "birth rate" of industrial research since 1890, showing the rapid establishment of research during the twenties but a marked slump in recent years. The relative numbers of professionally trained, tech- nical, and nontechnical personnel in industrial research is found to be approximately as 2:1:1. Most of the professionally trained workers are chemists or engineers. Charts showing the research personnel in the various iiidustrios serve to illustrate the very great disparity between industries, and also the rate of growth of research witliin a given industry. Correlations are established between the financial size (tangible net worth) of corporations and the number of research personnel employed. These illus- trate clearly that although there are a substantial number of small and medium-sized corporations engaged in research, the total research efforts measured by number of workers, is relatively small. The bulk of the industrial research effort is supported by a com- paratively small number of large corporations. Further correlations are estabhshed between the number of research personnel and the sales or net income of corporations. If one can assume an "aver- age company," and that the total cost of research is approximately $4,000 per man-year, the ratio of research expenditures to sales is 0.6 percent and the ratio to net income is 6 percent. The material is presented in graphical form witli a brief summary at the end. Introduction In this section ' will be presented a factual descrip- tion intended to answer questions as to the extent of industrial research at the present time, and as to the statistical record of its growth to present stature. The information on which the several tables and charts are based has been provided by industry itself. The data have been collected by means of questionnaires submitted by the National Research Council to all companies known to maintain research laboratories, and to a large number of other industrial orgamzations. The survey was assisted by the splendid cooperation of the National Association of Manufacturers, which also ' Detailed procedures of handling the data for this section will be described in footnotes, where this is considered essential to a proper interpretation of the material presented; and further, where this treatment differs from that used in the prepara- tion of Industrial Research and Changing Technology (Perazich, G., and Field. P. M. Industrial research and changing technology. Philadelphia, Pa.. Work Projects .Administration, National Research Project, Report No. M-4, 1940). Since the report just cited contains thorough descriptions of the statistical procedures, these will not be repeated here. submitted the questionnaire to its membership. The individual returns reflect the diversity of research activity tlirougliout the country, and illustrate, among other things, the looseness of definition of the term "research." ^ The data collected in this way are, of couree, not complete. Many organizations doing research have not been reached, nor are the returns received always comparable. However, it is believed that the coverage is quite adequate to yield a representative and qualita- tively correct picture of present day industrial research. In one respect, the information available is not precisely of the nature most desirable for the correla- tions attempted. E.xpenditurcs for research are usually expressed in terms of money, and it would be desirable to present the survey data in the same terms; however, ' The distinction between research and nonresearch personnel was left to the individual company answering the (juestionnaire. In some cases this resulted In the Inclusion of personnel engaged in control and te-ting; In other cases even develop- ment engineers were excluded. 173 174 National Resources Planning Board the information available from the questionnaire ' does not permit this, and research expenditures througliout this section have been given in terms of man-years. Broadlj' speaking, this is translatable to dollar expendi- tures, although the conversion ratio will differ from company to company, and industry to industry. Several estimates of the cost per man-year of research have been made in the hterature, and this subject has received some further investigation in other sections of the present survey. The generallj^ accepted figures lie in the region of $4,000. In a few cases, dollar expendi- ■ The questionnaire used by the National Research Council has been reproduced In Industrial Research and Changing Technology, p. 55. Sec footnote 1, p. 173. Some slight changes were made between 193Sand 1940, the principal effect of which was to modify and tocxtend somewhat the classes of research personnel Included in the totals. Question 8 of the 1940 questionnaire reads as follows: "8. Total number of laboratory personnel (sum of a, b, and c below) : "(a) Number of professionally trained members of the scientific staff (including Director of Research): . Cbemists: . Physicists: . Engineers: . Metallurgists: . Biologists and bacteriologists: . other professional personnel (classified, if convenient): . "(6) Other technical personnel not included above: . "(<;) Administrative, clerical, maintenance personnel, etc. ." In general, the classifications of research personnel reported in 1938 and 1940 are the same, except for those companies which in 1938 limited themselves to the equivalent of classes a and b of the 1940 questionnaire. ture scales appear in the following charts, in addition to the man-year scales, but ui general, it was felt wiser to present only the data as collected, and leave the inter- pretation to the reader. Extent of Research in All Industries Growth and Present Status of Research Employment Perhaps the most significant measure of the growth of research is the number of workers cnagaged in this activity. That this is so merely reflects the fact that research is a handicraft industry and, while the quality and quantity of achievement coming from any one person or from any single gi'oup may differ within wide limits, the fact remains that the producing unit is the individual worker. In a very general way, the technical training of the individual is also a secondary consider- ation, since the achievements which may be expected from a given group of higlily specialized men depends on their being implemented by an adequate corps of technical workers. The ratio of professionally trained workers to teclmical assistants will, of course, vary from laboratory to laboratorj', but, assuming that each PERSONNEL EMPLOYED IN INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH: 1920-1940 60,000 50,000 40,000 z z o U) (E o- 30,000 < 20,000 10,000 _L _L I 1920 1921 1927 1933 1938 1931 OATES OF NRG SURVEYS NOTE THE UPPER CURVE SHOWS TOTAL RESEARCH PERSONNEL AS REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (SEE HOWEVER FOOTNOTE 4) THE LOWER CURVE SHOWS THE CORRESPONDING DATA FOR A SAMPLE GROUP OF 200 IDENTICAL COMPANIES WHICH REPORTED THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD 1940 FiouaB 44. — Personnel Employed in Industri&l Research: 1920-40 Industrial Research 175 has arrived at the optimum ratio, the net achievement to be expected may still be estimated roughly from the total number of workers. In figure 44 is shown the growth of research employ- ment for the years 1920-40, as reported to the National Research Coimcil. The "Research Personnel" repre- sents the total number of employees reported as engaged in or assisting with technical research, except as noted below.* The upper curve relates to all of those com- panies which reported in the various surveys, and represents therefore an over-all figure for research employment. The lower curve of figure 44 indicates the trend toward increased research staffs in existing laboratories. It shows the number of research employees ° of 200 * These figures are drawn from questionnaire surveys conducted by the National Research Council in 1920, 1921, 1927, 1931, 1933, 1938, and 1940. In a general way, these surveys are comparable. There has, however, been a continuing increase in the number of organizations covered, particularly during the period 1921-27. Slight changes in the wording of the questionnaire in 1938 and again in 1940 have resulted in the inclusion of previously unreported classifications of research personnel. Con- sequently, the data shown in figure 44 for 1938 and 1940 have been adjusted to reflect the actual growth in those classifications reported in previous surveys. This has been done by the exclusion of the classes of personnel first covered in 1938 and 1940. The resulting totals will be referred to as "comparable totals." The data utilized in the preparation of figures 44, 47, 49, and 50 has been drawn in part or entirely from tabulations published in Industrial Research and Changing Technology (see footnote 1), which is based on the National Research Council surveys of 1920-38. • The number of employees in 1938 and 1940 have been adjusted for comparability, as explained in footnote 4. identical companies which reported throughout tho period 1921-40. This group of companies contains representatives of all industrial classifications. Both curves show a rapid increase between 1920 and 1931, a considerable drop between 1931 and 1933, and further increases between 1933 and 1940. The total for all companies (upper curve), deviates sharply from the total for identical companies during the early years, duo principally to the effect on the upper curve of the increased coverage of later survej's. The over-all rate of growth between 1921 and 1940 is approximately 10 per- cent per year for all companies (upper curve), and 5 per- cent per year for the identical companies (lower curve). The over-all growth (upper curve of figure 44) can be broken into four components: (1) The increase in per- sonnel employed by those laboratories which have main- tained and reported research tliroughout the period covered; (2) The increase in personnel due to the estab- hshmcnt of new laboratories; (3) the apparent increase in personnel resulting from the increased coverage of succeeding surveys; (4) the apparent increase in person- nel due to the inclusion in recent surveys of additional classifications of research workers. Components (3) and (4) represent an apparent rather than a real growth." ' However, component (4) has been excluded from figure 44. See footnote 4. THE INCREASE OF RESEARCH PERSONNEL BETWEEN 1938 AND I940i RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS TOTAL RESEARCH PERSONNEL 70,033 49,467 1940 1938 1 REAL GROWTH INCREASED STAFF OF PREVIOUSLY REPORTED LABORATORIES PERSONNEL OF LABORATORIES ESTABLISHED 1938-1940 APPARENT GROWTH PERSONNEL OF LABORATORIES FIRST REPORTED IN 1940 NEW CLASSIFICATIONS OF PERSONNEL TOTAL INCREASE 20% OVER 1938 1% OVER 1938 11% OVER 1938 9% OVER 1938 41% OVER 1938 Figure 45. — Tbe Increase of Research Personnel Between 1938 and 1940; Relative Importance of the Various Components 176 National Resources Planning Board The relative importiincc of those four components in accounting for the 41 percent increase of research personnel between 193S and 1940 is shown in figure 45. Shghtly over half of the total increase represents real growth. It is evident that this is due almost o.xchisivclj' to the increase in size of staff of existing laboratories. It might be expected that newly organized laboratories would be started with comparatively small staffs. Furthermore, such laboratories are easily missed by a questionnaire survey. Even so, the very small showing made by newlj' organized laboratories suggests tliat industrial research, considered as a resource, is not being expanded in one of the two ways in wliich growth might be expected, namel}', the extension of research to new industrial organizations, as contrasted with the expansion of research where it already exists. This will be discussed further in connection with figure 46. Distribution of Research Personnel by Professions The relative importance of the various professions in industrial research is a subject of some interest. It should be of particular significance in assisting universi- ties to guide their technically minded students into fields where there is expected to be a demand for workoi-s. Studies on this subject have pre\-iousl3- been made,' and tiie results presented iierewith do not dilfer significantly', but do serve to bring the subject up to date. Table 1 contains an analysis of the professions repre- sented in industrial research, and shows both the number and the relative importance of various pro- fessions.* The very large role played b}' chemists and engineers is clearly significant, even though it may be debatable whether the number of chemists and engi- Table 1. — Occupational classification of industrial research personnel Typo of personnel Professionally trained: Cliemists Physicists Engineers Metallurgists Biologists and bacteriologists Other professional.. Total professional other technical Administrative, clerical, maintenance, etc. Total : Number 15,700 2,030 14,980 1.955 979 909 36,553 16,400 17,080 70.033 Percent 22.4 2.9 21.4 2.8 1.4 1.3 52.2 23.4 24.4 ' Industrial research and changing technology, pp. 11-14, 78-79. See footnote 1. ' For convenience, the number of workers in table 1 has been adjusted to equal the total number of research personnel reported for 19<0. by computation from the percent distribution. The latter Is based on the following representative sample: 1,699 companies employing 43,748 personnel, comprising 62.5 percent of the folal personnel reported in 1940. THE "BIRTH RATE" OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH 100 z o ^ > Z 3 X u t- Ui o a. a: o o a: lU CD Z => z 1900 Figure 46 —The "Birth Rate' 1920 of Industrial Research 1940 Industrial Research 177 ncers in industrial research indicates unusual opportuni- ties in these fiehls or whether it represents a compara- tively large supply of trained workere from which men are drawn for jobs not strictly in line with their training. It is perhaps worth noting that the total number of professionally trained pei-sonncl is in excess of the number of other technical and nontechnical people engaged in research.' Whether or not this represents the actual situation may be open to some question, but it does suggest that the data used for this study relate rather closely to a high grade of technical work, and that the research emplojTnent data have not been over- loaded with nonresearch personnel. Establishment of Research If one turns from the personnel engaged in research to a consideration of the number of laboratory units involved, the data show that some 2,350 companies have reported a total of 3,4S0 laboratories.'" A number of these companies are subsidiaries of other corporations ' The distribution between professional and nonprofessional personnel as shown in table 1 dISers from tha,t reported in Industrial Research and Changing Technology. See footnote 1. The difference is due principally to inclusion in the 1940 survey of classifications of research workers not included previously. See footnote 3. and, grouping these, there are 2,210 corporate units " which consider research to be a recognized policy of the management. The history of industrial research in the United States is, in large part, the history of the establislmient of research by these managements. This is shown in figure 40 as the number '^ of corporate imits which intro- duced research as a recognized function in each year since 1890. It is obvious that the character of research has varied consid(>rably since the early laboratories were established. This should not obscure the fact that, well before 1900, a certain nimiber of industrialists had concluded that organized technical fact-finding was a desirable activity for their organizations. Nvi- merous cases have been reported where the original <' In this connection, "laboratory" is interpreted as the physical unit in which re- search work is done. Major divisions of the research activities of a large company have been counted as separate laboratories. It should be noted that the distinction between "company" and "division" is frequently merely a formal one. For the above reasons, the data jiiven for numbers of companies and laboratories should not be interpreted ton literally. '1 I. e.. The parent company together with all subsidiaries. I* Testing and consulting laboratories and trade association laboratories have not been included in figure 46. With this omission, the total number of corporate units reported is 1,789. Of these, figure 46 includes 1,338. The sample appears adequate to Indicate trends. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES EfiC-" D0~ c = s = :5e.jTS ONE LABQPATOP' Figure 47. — Geographical Distribution of Industrial Research Laboratories: 1940 178 National Resources Planning Board laboratory was little more than a raw materials and factor}' control proup, but has since developed into a "research" prroiip of the highest caliber. There is an unmistakable peak in the rate at wliirli industry became research-conscious beginning with the war years, and extending into the 1930's. That this rate of establish- ment has dropped off in more recent years is equally apparent." The reasons for this decrease in the rate of adoption of research by new managements are not entirely clear. They may relate to general business conditions, to a saturation of the demand for research, or to entirely different causes. The trend might possibly be inter- preted as a saturation of the opportunities for research, were it not for the small fraction of industry which is so engaged. In any case, here is a possible opportunity for constructive effort in broadening the base of industrial research. Geographical Distribution of Research Laboratories The map, figure 47, indicates very clearly the con- centration of industrial research laboratories near the large industrial centers, with special emphasis on the Eastern seaboard. Each dot represents one laboratory. Divisional laboratories of the same company are shown individually wherever they are geographically separate. Extent of Research in Individual Industries Present Research Employment in Various Industries A comparison of the relative amounts of research in the various industries reveals some striking contrasts. In figure 48, the individual bars represent the expendi- tures for research measured in man-years by various industrial groups." A rough estimate of the dollar expenditures can be made by using $4,000 as an average for the total cost of research per man-year. Outstand- ing examples of research-minded industries are the chemical, petroleum, and electrical groups. Motor vehicles and rubber, considered together, also rank high . » As mentioned on page 176 the method of collectinp data for this survey tends to underrate the number of small companies which have recently established research laboratories. On the other hand, the 1940 survey ha-s pone far beyond any of the previous surveys in an attempt to discover companies not previously reported. In fact, an attempt was made to canvass all of the million-dollar (and larper) manufac- turing companies in the country. Ilence, it Is reasonable to conclude that the small number of recently established laboratories is not primarily duo to incomplete data, except in the case of companies under a million dollars (capitalisation). '* The in<]ustrial groups follow, in penoral, the United States Census of Manufac- tures classification (U. S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Biennial census of manufacturers. Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office). There are, however, some difTerences. The exact composition of the groups is discussed in Industrial Research and Changing Technology. See footnote 1. Some of the in- dustrial groups might appropriately be consolidated, as for example, "radio apparatus and phonographs" with "electrical communication." This was not done in order to present the present data on a basis strictly comparable with that of the eailier and more detailed report cited above. Comparative Research Employment in Various Industries: 1927-1938 The rate of growth of research in the various in- dustrial groups is showTi by figure 49, which compares research employment " for the 2 years 1927 and 1938. This permits also an examination of the extent of research in various industries at each of these two dates. Of the industries prominent in research, petroleum shows by far the most rapid growth during this eleven year period. Radio and foods have also rapidly expanded their research staffs. Both figures 48 and 49 represent the total research expenditure by the industry, but without considering disparity in size between industries. If one wishes to compare one industry with another on the basis of rcsearch-mindedness alone, the differences in size should be taken into account. This has been at- tempted in figure 50, wliere the bars represent research expenditure '" as a percentage of the dollar value of the products of the industry. This is perhaps a crude method of adjusting all industries to the same base, but the errors introduced in this way are small as com- pared with the actual differences in the degree of utilization of research. It is interesting that some of the industries which lead in researcli employment drop to somewhat lower ratings when the size of the industry is taken into account, whereas other industries such as radio and stone, clay and glass appear to better advantage. Summarizing the above data on the distribution of research by industries, the one outstanding fact is the enormous discrepancies in the extent to which research is utilized. Without question, the opportunities and the needs differ from industrv to industrj', but it is difficult to believe that the differences in opportunity can be so large. Moreover, the examples of rapid re- search expansion which have recently been set hj such long established industries as food and paper indicate that the industrial research technique is widely applica- ble. It would appear that fertile fields for increasing the Nation's wealth might well be developed by the encouragement of research throughout the entire industrial structure. "In comparing figures 48 and 49 the heights of the bars of figure 48 should be reduced to the mark near the top of the bar. This Is because figure 48 represents total employ- ment, whereas figure 49 shows the "comparable totals" referred to lo footnote 4. The latter totals are indicated in figure 48 by the mark on the bat. i> Research expenditures were computed on the basis of $4.(X)0 total cost per man- year. This is oiwn to the obvious objection that the figure used applies, strictly speaking, to 1910 and not to either 1938 or 1927. Even (or 1910 It represents a rough average for all industries, leveling the dillereneos between individual industries. The choice of the dollar value of output rather than the value added by manufac- ture as a basis of comparison between industries is oix-n to the same objections as the common method of expressing research in terms of sales, namely that certain indus- tries handle large amounts of materials but perform only minor manufacturing o|>eralions on these materials, whereas in other industries, the reverse is true. This objection is valid only to the extent that research Is a more valuable tool for perfecting manufacturing procedures than for eflecting economies and Improvements In materials. Industrial Research 179 Relation of Research to Corporate Size certain minimum of financial resources before its cost Distribution of Research Establishments could be justified. With research, however, there are by Corporate Size numerous cases where manufacturing is a direct out- The research function, Uke many other speciaUzed growth of product or process development so that the corporate acti\"ities, might be expected to require a research function appears in comparatively small INDUSTRY FOOD AND KINDRED PRODUCTS TEXTILES AND THEIR PRODUCTS FOREST PRODUCTS PAPER AND ALLIED PRODUCTS CHEMICALS AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PETROLEUM AND ITS MANUFACTURES RUBBER PRODUCTS LEATHER AND ITS MANUFACTURES STONE, CLAY.AND GLASS PRODUCTS IRON AND STEEL AND THEIR PRODUCTS, EXCLUDING MACHINERY NONFERROUS METALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS INCLUDING TRACTORS ELECTRICAL MACHINERY, APPARATUS AND SUPPLIES RADIO APPARATUS AND PHONOGRAPHS ALL OTHER'MACHINERY MOTOR VEHICLES, BODIES.AND PARTS ALL OTHER TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION UTILITIES GAS,LIGHT,AND POWER CONSULTING AND TESTING LABORATORIES TRADE ASSOCIATIONS MISCELLANEOUS TOTAL RESEARCH PERSONNEL : 1940 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 y'fjjj 'rrfnffrffnfftrf>}rff ' z//y/x/xxx.x^x^x///y/'X'/y^;^/^///y^/vy^^^^ 661 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 FiGTRE 48. — -Research Employment in Various Industries: 1940. The marks on the bars indicate values comparable with those of figure 49. See footnote 15. 321 R3.- — Jl 13 180 National Resources Planning Board organizations. Moreover, the technology of certain industries requires the services of liiglily specialized control and development personnel, and these are fre- quently reported as engaged in research. " St« footnote 1 1 for dennltlon. » Since the research-flnandal relationsbips of commercial laboratories and trade associations differ so markedly from those of Industry In general, these organliatlons have been excluded (rom figures SI to S3. The relative numbers of corporate units " " utihzing research are shown in figure 51, grouped according to "financial size," i. e. tangible net worth." '■ Tangible net worth ratings were derived from balance sheet data given lo Moody's Industrials (1939). The rating equals net worth (reserves excluded) less Intangible assets (patents, goodwill, etc.). lo most cases Involving subsidiary com- panies, the consolidated balance sheet for the parent company was used, considering this to represent the floanclal strength of a management which malotaioed resrarcb RESEARCH PERSONNEL: I927an» . . . 8. Some industries, even these with long-established 11. Assuming the average total cost of research to technologies have shown a very rapid rate of growth, be $4,000 per man-year, the ratio of the research expen- suggesting that industrial research is more nearly ditures of an "average company" to its sales is 0.6 universally applicable than its present use in some percent, and the ratio to its net income is 6 percent, other industries would seem to indicate. This is an average for all industries. THE AVERAGE RESEARCH STAFFS MAINTAINED BY VARIOUS CORPORATE UNITS DISTRIBUTED ACCORDING TO SALES AND TO NET INCOME 1,000 100 o n: 10 - - - - - - - / - N ET INCOME^^ / V ■ - - - - - - - - - - - - ■ - I 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 DOLLARS NET INCOME-SALES 10,000,000 100,000,000 1,000,000,000 Figure 55. — The Average Research Stafl's Maintained by Various Corporate Units Distributed According to Sales and to Net Income: 1938 Industrial Research 187 12. In general, viewing industrial research as a national asset, its rapid growth in those areas where it is already established is most gratifying. The rate of expansion into additional areas appears to be de- creasing rather than increasing. There remain a number of industries to which research methods could almost certainly be applied with profit on a larger scale than they now are. Finally, the total volume of indus- trial research being conducted by small and medium sized companies is relatively small, as measured in terms of personnel. The above are some areas in which further investiga- tion might discover opportunities for assisting the growth of a most valuable national resource. Bibliography Books (Fairchild, I. J.) Organizations cooperating with the National Bureau of Standards. Issued April 2C, 1927. Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1927. 11 p. (Bu- reau of Standards. Miscellaneous publication, No. 96) National Bureau of Standards. Directory of commercial testing and college research laboratories. Issued July 25, 1936. Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1936. 55 p. National Research Council. Industrial research laboratories of the United States. Sixth Edition, 1938. Washington, Na- tional Research Council, 1938. 270 p. SECTION V RESEARCH ABROAD Contents Page Research Abroad 191 Introduction 192 Research in Belgium 192 Research in France 194 Government 194 Endowed Institutes 195 Learned and Technical Societies 196 Industry 196 Research in Germany 197 Government Research Institutes 197 Universities 198 Industry 199 Scientific and Technical Societies and Publications 202 Research in Great Britain 203 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research 204 The Fighting Forces 206 Universities 206 Industry 207 Societies 207 Research in Italy 207 The National Research Council 208 Government 209 The Pontifical Academy of Sciences 209 Universities 209 Publications and Societies 209 Industry 209 Research in The Netherlands 210 Research in Scandinavian Coimtries 211 Research in Switzerland 212 Research in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 213 Research in China 215 Research in Japan 216 Research in Canada 217 Bibliography 219 189 190 National Resources Planning Board, Industrial Research SECTION V RESEARCH ABROAD By Dexter North Washington, D. C, Representative, Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Mass. ABSTRACT Industrial research is being actively pui'sued in the major industrial nations and to a lesser extent in the smaller nations of which certain Latin-American countries have made substantial progress recently. In the totalitarian States the emphasis of research is on the national economy and preparedness. These nations also are characterized by the large extent of government support and coordination of research. The Government of Great Britain also actively sup- ports industrial research. Its trade association re- search laboratories, for which the Government matches grants made by industries, are unique among methods of supporting industrial research. Industry in Great Britain has been slow to recognize the importance of research under its own auspices but has made rapid advances in recent years. Research in France has been better known for its accomplishments in pure than in applied science. Cooperation between industries and universities has been limited. With a few exceptions, industries have been slow in applying research to practice. Industrial research in Belgium and the Netherlands has followed rather closely the needs of their basic industries and development of colonial raw materials. Germany was one of the first nations to recognize the importance of industrial research, which was largely responsible for the remarkable development of her in- dustries in the quarter century prior to 1914. Close cooperation between universities and industries was an important factor in this development, the former engaging principally in fundamental research, and in- dustries in applied research. The Institutes of the Kaiser Wilhehn Society also were of material aid to industry. Under the Nazi regime emphasis on research in all three groups was changed from fundamental work to problems of more immediate national interest. The increase in university enrollments and research, resulting from unemployment dinging the depression, was reversed under the program of National Socialist Government so that a shortage of research workers eventually arose. The self-sufficiency program of the Government has multiplied problems of research workers many fold. In Italy industrial research is entirely under the control of the Fascist Government and is directed pri- marily toward self-sufficiency and preparedness. AH new research as well as industrial projects must be approved by the National Research Council. Switzerland has directed much of its industrial re- search to the needs of its specialized industries, and the development of intermediate and semi-finished products formerly imported. The Scandinavian countries have been noted for their cooperative efforts in research, and adhere rather closely to development of their own natiual resources. Industrial research was practically nonexistent in Czarist Russia. The universality of research as an important part of the Bolshevik theory has been demon- strated by the large number of research institutes built in the Soviet Union, and by the huge scope and the detail of research programs in both applied and fundamental fields. The quality of Soviet research has not been uniformly good. Japanese occupation has dealt a crushing blow to industrial research in China. Establishment of small industries in the remote interior has been accompanied by a limited amoimt of research. Japan was quick to realize the important role which research played in the industrial development of western nations and adopted these methods for her own ad- vancement. The resulting scope of industrial research has been broad. The Japanese Government subsi- dizes research to a considerable extent. Many research institutes have been established, somewhat along the plan of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society in Germany. In addition to carrying forward the self-sufficiency pro- gram, the resources of Chosen, Formosa, and Man- chukuo are being actively developed through research. Canada, while relatively new as an industrial com- monwealth, is advancing rapidly in application of science to industry. Certain manufacturing establish- ments owned or controlled by American or British interests receive the benefit of research conducted by the parent organizations. The Canadian Government has been active in motivating and directing industrial research. 101 192 National Resources Planning Board Introduction This paper describes briolly llie urf^uniziiLioii and extent of industrial research, and of government and university activity in this field, in the principal indus- trial nations abroad. Because of the many changes in the nature and extent of industrial research which have occurred in most of these countries since the out- break of the present war, treatment is confined for the most part to the period preceding September 1, 1939. Portions of the statements on several countries have been drawn from unpublished reports in the files of the National Research Council. Valuable assistance both in supplying information on significant aspects of re- search abroad and in reviewing this paper was rendered by Dr. William A. Hamor, Assistant Director, Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, by Dr. William F. Zimmerli, of the R. and II. Chemicals Department, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Dr. Ernest W. Reid, Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation, and Dr. M. J. Kell}', Director of Research, Bell Telephone Laboratories. Doctor J. W. Peter Debye, Director, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany, and Visiting Professor of Chemistrj^, Cornell University, was ex- ceedingly helpful in contributing first-hand information on observations of industrial research in certain Euro- pean countries. The nations whose industrial research is discussed are Belgium, France, German}', Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, China, Japan, and Canada. It is recognized that important industrial research is being carried on elsewhere but limitations especially of time and space have precluded inclusion of such countries. Particular mention should be made of the recent considerable expansion of indus- trial research in Latin-American countries, notably Brazil. Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa are also reported active in industrial research. Outside of the United States research has been con- ducted most actively in Great Britain, Germany, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and Japan. Opin- ions differ as to how these nations should be ranked in industrial research. No attempt has been made to give such a rating nor to compare the research stand- ings of these countries with that of the United States. It is indeed significant that three of the four foreign nations most active in research are totalitarian states. It is even more significant that the research policy of each has been concentrated on self-sufficiency and pre- paredness. Under conditions existing in the world today the influence of such policies on future research may well be profound. Industrial research in the principal foreign countries differs in other respects from that in the United States. In contrast to the virtual absence of coonlinulion and complete freedojn from governmental control of re- search in this country, coordination and government control has been carried to the liighest degree in Ger- many, Italy, the U. S. S. R., and Jai)an. Such a policy has been the natural development of totalitarian philosophy. Although it may eliminate duplication and assist in concentration of efforts on matters of national import, it can scarcely be said to encourage freedom of activity on the part of the individual research worker, or to promote the best interests of pure science. In all countries industrial research has been done confidentially, but in var>-ing degrees. The principal difference has lain in whether research results which were not patentable or wliich must be maintained confidential because of their nature were not pulilished at all or were published after adequate patent protec- tion had been secured. Residts of industrial research have been published more openly and freely in the United States than elsewhere. Other differences in degree of privacy of industrial research have existed in restraints ijnposed on attendance of research work- ers at scientific and technical meetings, and in general in the willingness and freedom of researchers to discuss their problems. The cartel system, as practiced internationally, has been cited as a restraining influence on industrial re- search by reason of its tendency to produce more or less static conditions in an industry. Markets and prices are usually fixed; hence profits are less dependent on advances made through research. Exchange among nations of scientific and technical information in applied fields has been fostered in indirect ways, principal among which have been meetings of in- ternational societies and congresses such as the Inter- national Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the World Power Conference; wide circulation of scientific and technical publications in countries other than those of publication; services of government and industrial agents in foreign countries; issuance of patents; and more recently through licensing abroad of processes and manufacture of new products. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, an outgrowth of the International Congress of Applied Chemistry, has for its purpose the encouragement of international chemical science and the fostering of knowledge in industrial chemistry. Many notable papers have been presented at its sessions. Research in Belgium Science in Belgium has traditions dating back to the great period of the seventeenth century. The course of science in Belgium, unlike that of many of her con- Industrial Research 193 tinental neighbors, has been influenced not by that of Germany, but by that of France and to a lesser degree of England. The National Foundation for Scientific Research, the universities, and private organizations have been the principal agencies conducting research in Belgium. The P'oundation is an outstanding example of the impe- tus given research by the Belgian Government in recent years. Let us consider first the activities of Government in research, either through direct participation or indi- rect inspiration; then in turn consider the work of educational and industrial organizations. The Belgian attempt at government research or gov- ernment subsidized research was largely inspired by the successful plan of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in England. King Albert was the first to give national emphasis to the importance of scientific research. His eloquent appeal in 1927 for the foundation of a national research institute resulted in the formation of the National Foundation for Scien- tific Research (Fonds National de la Recherche Scien- tifique) with a capital of 120 million francs (about $4,000,000) subscribed to by banks, industrial and com- mercial organizations, and private individuals. Al- though the Government did not lend financial assistance, it sponsored the scheme. The Foundation has been actively and exclusively concerned with basic research. Assistance to industry has been limited to scientific investigations susceptible of promoting industrial development, thus excluding work directed primarily to perfection of industrial processes. The principal fields investigated in recent years by the National Foundation have been: Disinfec- tion of plants; production of new varieties of flax; behavior of metals at high temperatures; hydrogenation of coal tar for production of fuel and lubricating oils; production of phenolic resins for insulating purposes; rubber vulcanization to avoid scorching; study of the viscosity of drawn glass leading to improvement in the manufacture of window glass; alloys; Diesel motors; electric welding; wireless telephony; leather; brewing; adhesion of enamels; electrochemical chlorination of benzene. Profits derived from these researches are said to have considerably exceeded the subsidies granted for their undertaking. Several commissions and committees coordinated the work of the Foundation with that of university, indus- trial, and national agencies. The Commission Science- Industrie, with an annual budget of 1,000,000 francs (about $33,000) examined over 1,000 apphcations and granted 86 research subsidies in the first 10 years of its existence, representing a total of 6,564,760 francs ($215,000). It also passed upon subsidies for scientific research granted by the OSice de Redressment Eco- nomique (OREC). A plan for Government participation in scientific research was initiated in 1937. The OREC was established to aid economic recovery and was em- powered among other duties to grant subsidies for research to industrial or agricultural concerns. Thus research bearing more directly on industry was dealt with by the Government, and scientific research by the National Foundation. Following i-evaluation of gold holdings a 15 million franc credit was allocated for research over a 5-year period, of which 5 million francs was for scientific research, anil 10 million for the creation of national institutes and laboratories of industrial research, the performance of technical tests, and for the issuance of certificates. Beneficiaries of subsidies were required to match the amount of any subsidy granted. By the end of 1938 the Government was faced with such financial and political difficulties that no further credits for research were granted and OREC ceased to exist. Feeling existed in some quarters that the increased governmental activity was tending toward nationaliza- tion and that research was a means to this end. State controlled research was not well received by industry and abandonment of Government effort was viewed with satisfaction. The only laboratory established of several contem- plated with funds earmarked from the gold revaluation was the National Silicate Laboratory, a nonprofit or- ganization for testing raw materials and finished prod- ucts of the Belgian silicate industry. Of the original subsidy of 1 million francs, half was for a building and equipment and half for an operating fund. The laboratory endeavored to replace empirical methods in manufacturing with scientific control. All projects were treated anonymously, and although results were not published, they were wadely disseminated among members. Firms receiving material benefits from such research were expected to reimburse the laboratory for expenses incurred in their behalf. Fifteen research subsidies totaling 1,500,000 francs ($49,500) were approved by the Commission Science- Industrie and the OREC between August 1937 and June 1938, when the latter went out of existence. The principal investigations carried on concerned: Dielec- tric properties of insulating materials; mechanical stresses in pressiu-e vessels, and standards for machine tools; fruit preservation on an industrial scale; classi- fication of Belgian arable land; pilot apparatus for measuring radio interference from electrical devices; properties of Belgian clays; nutritive value of special fodders; disinfection of plants and soils. The Ministry of Economic Affairs maintained an establishment for testing firearms, research in ballistics, and other scientific work, which was open to use by firearms manufacturers. Late in 1939 the Ministry 194 National Resources Planning Board of National Defence established a Bureau of Scientific Research to serve as a liaison organization between the National Defence Department and the research estab- Hshments of universities and industries. Thus much of the work in research in Belgium in recent years has been undertaken, or at least greatly influenced by the Government. Let us now briefly consider the work of other agencies — foundations, universities, and indus- trial organizations. La Fondation Universitaire was founded in 1920 for the advancement of science, but more specifically for aiding Belgian students of insufficient means to enter institutions of higher learning, and to the development of scientific methods in industry, giving support to scholars, researchers, and students of demonstrated ability. The Fondation Francqui was established in 1932, for development of advanced education in Belgium, com- plementing in this respect the Fondation Universitaire and the National Foundation for Scientific Research. One of the aims of the Belgian-American Educational Foundation, Inc., was to assist scientific research. Since it was primarily an industrial country, it has been necessary for Belgium to be progressive in order to compete successfully with other nations. Compared with several European countries, it has been more favorably situated with respect to foreign exchange and therefore has been able to import substantial quantities of raw material for conversion into finished products. Research by Belgian industry was similar to that in France, the industries being basic in nature with little departure from them. Some work was done on ma- terials of the Belgian Congo, notably copper, radium, tantalum, and copal. Technology was probably more advanced than in France. Secrecy concerning new developments was the usual practice but perhaps less extreme than in France. AppUed research in general was not well advanced. Union Chimique Beige, Socidt6 Anonyme, largest chemical company in Belgium, engaged in considerable applied research, but information on whether or not it did fundamental research is lacking. Well equipped research laboratories were also maintained by numerous other industries and groups, including: Comitfi Electrotechnique Beige. Laboratoire de Recherches du Groupment Professionel de Fabricants des Ciments Beiges. Socint was in Prussia. The state, through the Prussian Ministry for Science and the Arts, largely controlled important scientific and research personnel b}' such means as financial support of research fellow- ships, consultation fees, and guarantees for lectures. Following the lessened ability of industry to bear its share of financing research and the consequent burden placed on the state in the post-war period, the char- acter of German research changed, and the vohune di- mmished somewhat by 1924. During the depression with its attendant unemployment, the proportion of scientific research done in institutes of technology, uni- versities, state bureaus, and industry became; high, and the trend of industrial research turned from new process developments toward improvements in old processes. The attitude of National Socialist Germany toward research is indicated in the following preamble to the law of March 16, 1937, establishing a National Research Council (Reichsforschungsrat) . The great undertakings which the Four- Year Plan has set for German science make it necessary that all the forces of research which can contribute to the fulfilling of these tasks be centrally coordinated and set in motion. The principle of free inquiry will not be interfered with by this direction of certain branches of science toward the goals of the Four- Year Plan, nor by the centralized allocation of research funds, nor by the systematic assignment of problems, since freedom of inquiry is based not, on an arbitrary choice of problems, but on the independence with which the research process is carried out. At an liistorical moment like the present, when scientific investigation has the task of reaching goals on which the existence of the whole Nation depends, it is needless to explain why research must devote itself to this type of problem, and thus at the .same time pos- sibly have to neglect less important and less urgent problems — even when these latter may be more in keeping with the investi- gator's previous work and with the usual dispensation of funds. The policy of giving a political coating to the scien- tific pill has been applied alike to Government, uni- versities, research institutes and industry, to individual scientists, and to organized groups. The scientist has to demonstrate his usefulness to the nation. Government Research Institutes There are numerous research institutes in the various ministries, both of the Government and of the principal States. These cover a wide range of subjects from the physical and natural sciences to the social sciences and the humanities, and in numerous instances the work is supported in part by industry. Among the most important of these are the Physikal- ische Technische Reichanstalt, leading research bureau of the State of Prussia, which is equivalent to our National Bureau of Standards. The Staathches Ma- terial Priifungsamt is the testing materials laboratory for Prussia. The Chemical Technical Institute is concerned with chemical and physical problems relating to general chemistry, explosives, metallurgy, and materials testing. The German State Council for Research (1937) has as its object the coordination of scientific research, including activities of industrial research laboratories. One of its most important duties is furtherance of the Four- Year Plan. It cooperates with the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes. Fourteen departments had been organized in 1937 as follows: Physics, including mathematics, astronomy, and meteor- ology. Chemistry and physical chemistry. 198 National Resources Planning Board Power materials. Organic industrial materials, artificial products, rubber, textiles, etc. Nonferrous metals. Geology, including mineralogy and geophysics. Agriculture and general biology, including zoologj' and botany. Forestry and timber research. Military science and technics. Electro technics. Mining and smelting. Iron and steel. Medicine, including race research and race biology. Military medicine. The Government of Germany did not fully appre- ciate the importance of scientific and industrial research until in 1911 von Harnack, a disciple of von Humboldt, stimulated the interest and secured the financial back- ing of Kaiser Wilhelm II by pointing out that unless provision were made for research facilities Germany would lose its leadership in science and research. Thus was founded the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Ad- vancement of Science. In 1937 it consisted of a group of 37 research institutes in the fields of physics, chem- istry, biology, medicine, history, law, and the humani- ties. At that time the membership was about 675, and the number of investigators upward of 1,100. The various institutes have been started, fostered, and maintained by the Government and industry jointlj' and by private endowments, although most of the support has come from private industry and the Government. The endowments were entirely lost during the period of inflation, and the Government, being financially embarrassed, could not help them. Industry undertook 95 percent of the support of the various institutes. Again during the severe economic crisis beginning in 1929, some of the institutes experi- enced difficulty in continuing their research. The National Socialist Government granted the Society substantial and regular financial aid in return for which the Society promised loyal support to the new Govern- ment. According to the new statutes the President of the Society alone assumes all responsibility and is assisted by an Advisory Council. The newly elected Senate of the Society consists of representatives of science, industry, and Governiuciit. Under the National Socialist Party the Society has been described as "the general stafl of German science in our peaceful campaign for the spiritual, cultural, and material development of our people." Keccnt reports of the Society have stated that its activities were widely increased for solution of problems related to the Four- Year Plan and that it enjoyed very generous Govern- mental support. It has been reported, however, that activities of some of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes have been curtailed since the outbreak of the war. Universities The remarkable industrial growth wliich Germany experienced up to 3 or 4 years ago was in large measure due to the fruits of the system of research in the uni- versities and its coordination with industry. In scientific achievements and in benefits both to university and industry this plan excelled that of any other nation. It was stimulated by the ancient traditions and ideals of the universities which developed men of international fame in many fields. The backbone of fundamental research in these universities was the industry sponsored system of post- doctorate research assistants to professors, who some- times directed the work of as many as 20 or 30 men. Their number had been reduced by two thirds by the spring of 1939, with losses still mounting in the fol- lowing summer. Owing to the unemployment situation in Germany up to about 1935 the universities were crowded with FiGDRE 57. — 'Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Iron and Steel Research, Diisseldorf, Germany Industrial Research 109 students and it appeared that German industry would not be able to absorb all of the graduates. At that time there was serious tallv of reducing the number of students enrolled by selective examination. As the self-sufficiency program developed, unemployment was practically eliminated and the demand for technical men absorbed all the unemployed with a resulting shortage in technicians. The 3 j'^ears of combined military and work service required of all J'oung men, together with the rather unattractive economic stand- ing of university graduates, tended to decrease the number of students in universities, thus aggravating the shortage of technically trained men. Race purges and discouragement over the future outlook in the academic field also contributed to this shortage. Student enrollment in nearly aU university courses decreased in 1936-37 to 57.8 percent of the 1932-33 figures. Those in engineering sciences dropped from 14,477 to 5,188 students, and in mathematics and natural sciences from 12,591 to 4,616 students. The decrease in the number of students has continued and with the outbreak of war some of the universities closed or courses were eliminated. The university courses, including those in technical subjects, have largely been reduced from 4 to 2 years. The research strength of universities has been weakened In other ways. Heads of universities, if not members of the National Socialist Party, have been replaced for the most part by members appointed largely to prevent subversive activities. As faculty chairs have become vacant for normal causes or other reasons, they have been filled with men chosen primarily for their party records and secondarily for their profes- sional qualifications. A generation may be required to restore these faculties to their former high planes. Capable assistant professors have become discouraged at not being advanced to these posts. Students have engaged in party activities with the result that studies became of secondary interest. Since the outbreak of the war the Government has brought pressure to bear on universities as well as industry to confine research to problems concerned with national defense. Illustrative of the shift of university research from one fundamental field of endeavor to another in co- ordination with the progress of industry is the change of work from dyes to biological chemistry. Prior to 1914 a very large part of the research on dyes was carried on in the universities under the sponsorship of industry. After the war the dye industry increased at such an amazing rate that manufacturers had to take over most of the research. University research workers turned their efforts to biological chemistry, thus starting Germany's remarkable era of development in such fields as vitamins, hormones, pharmaceuticals, and tanning materials. This situation was comparable to that existing in dyes before 1914. Industry may eventually take over research in biological chemistry, as it did in dyes. Industry Germany has a framework for industrial research unequalled except in the United States and up to 1939 its research organization was developing more rapidly than ever. Most of the large manufacturing industries, particularly metals and chemicals, have been backed by strong, well integrated research staffs which were frequently larger for a given production than those in the United States. Characteristic of German industry, especially in chemicals, have been the large number of small and moderate sized companies employing up to 50 research workers. In recent years there has been a very marked trend away from the so-called "closeted" research, more especially with the larger companies, but not to the extent to which it has been carried in the United States. The present regime appears to recognize the im- portance of well organized industrial research, the efforts of which are being directed toward self-sufficiency and preparedness. In some research, including that concerned with electric communications, biological chemistry, and certain types of alloys, Germany excels the rest of Eiu-ope, but is second to the United States in most if not all of these fields. More people were engaged about 1937 in laboratories for electrical com- munication development and research in Germany than in the United States, almost wholly on specific develop- ments and designs immediately required. The develop- ment of tools of research, in which Germany was preeminent, is continuing, as witness outstanding work in X-rays, electronic diffraction, optical instruments, and other fields. Its engineers are equal to the best in applying the results of research to practice, although mechanization of industry is reported to be less de- veloped than in the United States. Recent years have witnessed a pronounced decline in the number of patents under the new regime, and foreigners have experienced increasmg difficulty in securing patent protection. In the past decade Germany has tended to license concerns in other countries for the utilization of new processes and manufacture of new products. These licenses are only given on processes or products on which an export trade could not be reasonably de- veloped. This trend is due to the fact that since the war of 1914-18 German export potentialities have been reduced because of the well developed industries in former export fields. Tariffs or embargoes in these countries have made the export of chemicals, with the 200 National Resources Planning Board exception of specialties, almost impossible. To obluin foreign exchange the only recourse was to license processes. A number of German manufacturers main- tained representatives in other countries for negotiating such licenses. Conversely, manufacturers in Germany liavc been granted licenses to use processes develojied in the United Stales and other countries. Usuallj' these licenses include technical assistance in getting processes into commercial production. Recent examples of licensing between Germany and the United States are those involving production of Buna rubber in this country and of nylon in Germany. Exchange of tech- nical information between the United States and Germany in this manner and other waj'S has materially aided technological development in both covmtrios. The largest industrial research organization in Germany is that of the Interessen Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie I. G., commonly known as the German I. G. Originally, this organization was a con- solidation of well integrated competing plants each with well organized and complete research facilities. Cen- tralization of research facilities was extremelj- difficult but has made great progress in recent years. While not entirely limited in scope of research, the large laboratories of the I. G. have been placing thoir nmiii emphasis on problems related to plant activities. In cases of conflicting interests, problems have been fre- quently assigned to or divided among the laboratories best suited to handle the work. A definite proportion of fundamental research has been carried out in all the laboratories. It is of interest to note that at the Oppau laboratory 300 chemists were said to be working at one time on development of catalysts for high pressure synthesis. These laboratories may be roughly classified as follows: I.«verkusen — vat dyes, rubber chemicals and buna service, inorganic chemistry. Ludwigshafen — Azo dyes, plastics and synthetic rubber. Elberfeld and Hoechst — ^pharmaceuticals. Wolfcn — Bitterfeld — cellulose, rayon, synthetic fibers and photography, aluminum and metals. Oppau and Merzeberg — nitrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrogunation of coal (high pressure). The I. G. Farbenindustrie has lost many of its key research men in recent years, partly because of the necessity of transferring technical men to manufac- turing, partlj' because of race purges, and for other reasons. In some instances replacements have been as high as five young graduates for each experienced re- search man. In other instances the post-doctorate Figure oS. — Laboratory of the German Interessen Uesellschaft Farbenindustrie IncOTpcTiittii Industrial Research 201 assistants of professors have been calletl in, to the detriment of research in universities. In recent years an unusually large number of outstanding research men reached tlie age limit and have been retired. To maintain continuity in researcii traditions and to profit from their experience these men have been retained as consultants and in many cases deliver lectures on tiicir research experiences to the younger personnel. Tlie experience of the I. G. is believed to be typical of many other firms maintaining large research staffs. German research in electric communications, par- ticularly in television, surpasses both i:i volume and quality tiiat of any other European country. Some of the work is done in Government laboratories, such as that of the Reichspost, in telephony, radio, and tele- vision; some in Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes, as on mag- netic alloj-s, magnetic measurements, and metallurgy; and a very important part by industry itself. The Siemens-Halske and Siemens-Schuchert combine, one of the largest electrical manufacturers in the world, does much research in electric commimications other than wireless, telephony, and electric power. In 1937 this or- ganization was credited with a staff of 2,000 scientists. The AUgemeine ElectrizitJits Gesellscliaft (German General Electric Company) engages in researcii princi- pally on electric power. In 1939 Telefunken Gesell- schaf t and Fernseh (Bosch and Zeiss-Ikon interests) were doing 90 percent of the research in television, with re- search personnel larger than tiiat of any other country. Other great research laboratories are in the iron and steel industry (Krupp, Rochling Iron and Steel Works, Vereinigte Stahlwerke); glass (Schott and Genossen, Osram); nonferrous metals (Metall Bank A. G.); coal (Ruhr Chemical and others) ; photography (Zeiss-Ikon) ; textiles; shipbuildmg (Deutsche Werke); electric insula- tion (Hemisdorf-Schomberg) ; potash (several potash producers and a trade association); inorganic chemicals (Goldschmidt laboratories); general chemicals (Degusa- Hiag); fine chemicals (Chemische-Pharmazeutische, J. D. Riedel-E. de Haen); synthetic camphor and menthol (Schering-Kahlbaum). Many trade associations in Germany maintain ex- tensive research laboratories, of which those in the coal, potash, cement, textiles, porcelain, varnish, and paint in- dustries, among others, are doing the most outstanding work. In contrast to the American practice of organiza- tion of trade associations by the industries themselves, trade associations in Germany are organized by and under the control of the Government. A comparison of research in the German coal industry with that of the United States reveals the sharp con- trast in conditions which motivate research in a given industry. In the United States the coal industry, not having prospered relative to other industries, is little able to engage in extensive research. In this country coking of coal is done principally by steel and gas companies, whereas in Germany the coal industry itself engages in tliis operation. Research by coal interests here has been directed primarily towards stokers for the utilization of coal as is, while in Germany and England efforts have been toward utilization of the higher value products of coal carbonization with such developments as low temperature carbonization, utiliza- tion of the new types of tar therefrom, synthetic motor fuel, and chemical utilization of byproducts. Research of this nature in the United States is conducted mainly bj' the steel companies and the tar distillers. In recent years a shortage of research workers, especially in fundamental lines, has arisen in Germany, not only from causes previously mentioned but as well from the smaller number of university graduates and the greatly stimulated tempo of industry. These con- ditions, together with the trend in universities from fundamental to applied research objectives, hold dim prospects of being alleviated and are causing industry concern about the future supply of fundamental research workers. Industry's desire to place emphasis on fundamentals so as to provide a training ground for future personnel is hindered by reason of Government demands for research promising inunediate results. Should normal conditions again obtain, a long period will be required to train a new generation of research workers to the high order of experience and ability which characterized pre-Hitler Germany, thus render- ing post-war recovery more difficult. Yet this shortage of research workers should not be taken to mean that industrial research in Germany has deteriorated, although some observers are of the opinion that it has become more superficial with the change of emphasis under the dictates of political exigencies. Germany's plan for self-sufficiency necessarily brings upon herself the tremendous disadvantages to be ex- pected from an economy based on internal rather than international considerations. In development of sub- stitute materials and products from domestic resources so as to reduce the volume of imports to a minimum, it is obvious that the extra demands on Germany's raw material, labor, and energy resources, not to speak of its research resources, are huge. There must be more labor to produce the extra products of the mines, the fields, and the forests, more equipment to move and to process them, in turn requiring more labor, more chemicals, more energy, and so on almost ad infinitum. Shortages exist all along the line. The problems of applied research workers are thus multi- plied manyfold. Before permission to build new plants is granted, projects must first be demonstrated as in the interests of self-sufficiency or national defense. Then permits must be obtained for necessary buildmg materials, 202 National Resources Planning Board equipment, raw materials, and labor. Dclaj's in de- livery of equipment arc common. The time required to complete new projects is said to be about twice the normal. The very insistance upon use of domestic raw materials has delayed completion of some projects by several years because of the necessity of research on the use of prescribed materials. An example of such delay is production of the cobalt catalyst required for the Fischer-Tropf coal hydrogenation process. Scientific and Technical Societies and Publications A statement on research in Germany should not omit mention of the important role which licr scientific societies and publications have played in the dissemina- tion of scientific and technical information. The societies have assisted materially in dissipating the secrecy which formerly surrounded so much of German research. The leading chemical society, Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft, is comparable to our own American Chemical Society. The meetings of local «f' organizations of regional universities and institutes of technology have served a very useful purpose. These semiannual meetings of young men in university facul- ties (Privat Dozenten Sitzungen) afford opportunities for the younger researchers to present papers covering their work to their colleagues and heads of departments. The discussions serve to stimulate and guide the men in further research. The meetings serve as recruiting giounds for the advancement of worthwhile men. Such a plan might well be considered for adoption in the United States. The symposium plan by which a few leading scien- tists or technologists are invited to address gatherings, and at which discussion and interchange of ideas are freely engaged in, has been successful in Germany and to some extent in England and other European coun- tries. By this means university and industrial re- searchers in both fundamental and applied fields are brought more intimately into contact than is possible, for example, at the large meetings of some of the professional and technical societies in the United States. Figure 59.- Ptioto. Grrman LtbTw -Bacteriological Analyses by Students, Institute of Kesearcli, Berlin, Germany Industrial Research 203 A beginning towards the symposium plan has been made in this country. In most of the sciences Germany has pubhcations of world-wide reputation. Its Chemischcs Zcntralblatt, abstract periodical for chemistry and related sciences, can be compared only with our own Chemical Ab- stracts and the British Chemical Abstracts. Research in Great Britain Industrial research in Great Britain differs from that in most important industrial nations in several re- spects— some favorable and some unfavorable by comparison. The outstanding featm-e in Great Britain is the active Govermnent participation in and subsidy of research through the trade association system, the special boards and committees representing numerous industries, and the Government's own research labora- tories. Less obvious are the contributions which British scientists in applied fields have made through systematic publication of critical survej^s of technical knowledge. British industry has been slow in recognizing the importance of industrial research, but the First World War caused significant advances to be made in the application of science to industry. Research in uni- versities has overcome to a considerable extent the stigma which once attached to work in applied fields. Lack of social and employer recognition of the profes- sional status of research workers in industry has like- wise been overcome to a marked degree. The former absence of cooperation between universities and indus- tries has been replaced by a growing frequency with which professors serve as consultants to industry and by industry's grants to universities for fellowships. Government research in science is directed mainly by three bodies which are directly responsible to Com- mittees of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (1915), the Medical Research Council (1920), and the Agricultural Research Council (1931). The Roj'al Society also assists in making the research resources of the nation available to the Government. The University Grants Committee of the Treasury makes large grants to universities, the research activ- ities of which share in the benefits. Several of the Dominions maintain research organi- zations similar to those in England, cooperation with which is afforded thi'ough the executive council of the Imperial Agricultural College (1929) which is composed Figure 60. — The \\ ellcome Research Institution, London, England 204 National Resources Planning Board of nominees of llie United Kingdom, tlie Dominions and India, and the Colonial Oiricc. This executive council administers several bureaus which act as clear- ing houses of research information. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research The Departuient of Scientific and Iinlustrial Research . . . was tlie outcome of a widely felt need for action to remove the defects in . . . industrial organization revealed at the outbreak of the Great War. The object of the Government was stated to be "to establish a ix>rmanent organization for the promotion of scientific and industrial research" throughout the I'nited Kingdom ... in peace, even more than in war — thougli for the time being the claims of the defence were paramount.' The directing agency of the Department is an ad- visory council, but actual supervision is by special boards or committees. The functions of the council arc to institute specific researches to establish special institutions, to study problems in particular industries or trades, and to administer research studcnlships and fellowships for recruiting scienlilic and technical j)ro- fessions. The expenditure of the Department in 1937- 38 was £872,127 gross or £037,200 net. Total receipts in that year amounted to £234,927, of which fees for paid work were £80,486, contributions to cooperative research £17,966, payments by other Government De- partments for services rendered £81,923, and the remainder from miscellaneous sources. The Department maintains 8 special research estab- » Heath, Sir Frank. Government and scientific rcscarcii. London and tlie ad- vancement of science. T>ondon, British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1831, ch. 5, pp. 205-206. lishmcuts and some 30 boards or committees, and cooperates with some 20 industrial research associa- tions, the Medical Research Council and the Agri- cultural Research Council. About 20 Government agencies have liaison representatives in the Depart- ment. The special research establishments are: National Physical Laboratory, Teddington. Geological Survey and Museum, London. Fuel Research Station, Greenwich. Low Temperature Research Station, Watford. Forest Products Research Station, Princes Risborough. Chemical Research Laboratory, Teddington. Radio Research Station, Slough. The boards and committees are: Building (Materials and Construction) Research Board Committee on Testing Work for the Building Industry Chemistry Research Board. Food Investigation Board. Committee of Management, Low Temperature Station for Research in Biochemistry and Physics, Cambridge. Metallurgy Research Board. Road (Materials and Construction) Research Board. Water Pollution Research Board. Atmosjiheric Pollution Research Board. Dental Investigation Committee. Gas Cylinders and Containers Committee. Illumination Research Committee. Lubrication Research Committee. Road Tar Research Committee. Steel Structure Research Committee. Committee on the application of X-ray Methods to In dustrial Research. The trade associations are: jg^s igso Jg27 ■-.I ■V Figure 61. — The Paint Research Stuliun, Teddington, Kugland The British Cast Iron Research Association. The British Iron and Steel Fed- eration (Iron and Steel Indus- trial Research Council). The British Refractories Research Association. The British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association. The British Scientific Instru- ment Research Association. The British Association of British Paint, Colour, and Varnish Manufacturers. The Institution of Automobile Engineers Research and Standardization Com- mittee The British Cotton Industrv Research Association. The Wool Industries Research Association. The Linen Industry Research Association. The British Launderers' Re- search Association. Industrial Research 205 The British Leather Manufacturers' Research Association. The British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades' Research Associ- ation. The Research Association of British Rubber Manufacturers. The British .Association of British Flour Millers. The British Association of Research for the Cocoa, Choco- late, Sugar, Confectionery, and Jam Trades. The British Food Manufacturers' Research Association. The Printing and Allied Trades Research Association. The British Colliery Owners' Research Association. The British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association. The British Coal Utilization Research Association. The British Pottery Research Association. A few trade associations have conducted research without benefit of Government subsid}' and have made important contributions to the advancement of their industries. Among such organizations are: The International Tin Research and Development Council. The Gas Research Board (sponsored by the Institution of Gas Engineers and the British Gas Federation). The Shellac Research Bureau. Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers, Ltd. Institute of Brewing. The Government research laboratories have many notable accomplishments to their credit. While they have lagged somewhat behind in industrial research, the application of their results to industry will probably be further extended. The National Physical Laboratory performs both research and development work. It plays an important part in cooperation with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, which supports a considerable volume of the research activities. Its aerodynamics laboratory, supported almost entirch^ by the Air Ministry, is the most important center of aviation research in the British Empire and is engaged in much war work. The laboratory is understood to be doing considerable research for other departments of defense. Its gross expenditures in 1937-38 were £252,209, and receipts £141,302. The work of the Fuel Research Board corresponds closely in many respects to that of the Coal Division of the United States Bm-eau of Mines, its main object being the application of science for better utilization of British coal resources. Its gross expenditures in 1937-38 were £103,240 and receipts, £8,458. The Chemical Research Laboratory has numerous achievements to its credit, a recent interesting one being the application of certain forms of synthetic resins to purification of water. The trade association plan of cooperative research has not been free from certain disadvantages and criticisms. The principal difficulty has been the equitable distribution of the results. The larger companies equipped with laboratories apply the results of fundamental investigations and gain a com- mercial advantage. It has been a problem to devise a plan by which the smaller concerns can participate in the results of cooperative research for which they have paid their proportionate share. One solution has been to encourage the small concern to u.se the laboratory as a school for foremen in the study of new processes.^ Sir Frank Healh, former secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, has pointed out other difficulties in the system. Firms have failed to use discoveries. A discovery made by one research body may be useful to another industry, yet be neg- lected. New devices have been "still-born," either because plant and staff necessary to translate them to commercial practice were lacking or because funds were unavailable. Instances of the iiuibility of certain industries in need of research but unable to raise the minimum of £5,000 per year necessary to receive Government support have been numerous. The plastics industry has secured what service it can from the Chemical Research Labora- tory at Teddington. For the same reason research on hard fibers has been combined with that on linen, and that on silk with research on cotton. The rayon in- dustry formerly had its own laboratory, but transferred its work to the cotton laboratory. The necessity for meeting the £5,000 annual quota has compelled some of the association laboratories to devote most of their time to routine testing and trouble shooting in order to keep the industries sold on the value of the work, and some research car- ried out in these laboratories has been done almost surreptitiousl}'. It is obvious from a review of the work undertaken, that the Department (of Scientific and Industrial Research) furnishes research personnel and facilities for the work of industries and associations having an insufficient volume to justify separate organizations of tlieir own.' When the British Government, after the war, began the creation and maintenance of state-subsidized research labora- tories for certain industries, it cannot truthfully be said that industry in general in England was research conscious.* This situation has undergone great change, especially in recent years, according to numerous authorities. In 1937 it was said that "industry in England is 'research minded' and apparently feels that the future prosperity of their own companies and the nation depends upon the results of research." ^ In the same yenv it was re- ported that the keynote of organized research in England was — Speed-up and extension of industrial research in the national program . . . particularly the scientific refinement of existing 2 Holland. Maurice. Research in Europe. A comparative study of the national and industrial organization. Presented before the Division of Engineering and Industrial Research of the National Research Council, November U, 1924. ' Harris, R. C. European laboratory tour impressions. What we found behind the scenes in European research, 1937. * Alexander, E. R. Research consciousness among leading indt}str:al nations. Broadcast over Station WABC August 12 1937. ' Sec footnote 3. 206 National Resources Planning Board processes and technology and the fullest utilization of the natural resources and advantages which it now possesses.' Bernal ' states that it has been extremely difficult to raise money for cooperative research by trade associa- tions, giving as reasons that the chief competitive value of research is lost if carried out cooperatively, and the lack of appreciation of scientific research in any form. Nearly all the reports of the Department of Scientific and Industiral Research have shown difficulties in per- suading industries to take up research. Much of Eng- lish industry consists of small factories, employing from 20 to 100 men. Most of these firms do not have the resources to undertake research and many have diffi- culty in maintaining useful contacts with national research projects through their trade associations. Fur- thermore, the Government has been reluctant for polit- ical as well as economic reasons to take active part in the application of science. It cannot exploit or sell the results of its research except in war emergency. The Fighting Forces Prior to 1914-18 there were no systematized efforts to study the service which science could render to the national defense. After the outbreak of the war of 1914- 18, technical research in the fighting services, except for that carried on secretly in military establishments, was conducted in cooperation with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Coordination was through the directors of scientific research from the Admiralty and the Air Ministry, and from the War Office by various boards and committees. Medi- cal research, however, came under the medical directors general of the three fighting services, and was in close cooperation with the Medical Research Board. The three fighting services jointly maintain the Research Department at Woolwich for research on explosives, metallurgy, and radiology. In addition each service has one or more specialized research establishments, and uses facilities of industrial concerns. At Porton Field research in chemical warfare has been particularly important. During the present war and until the surrender of France, liaison between the Advisory Council on Scien- tific Research and Technical Development was effected through the Mission scientifique franco-brittanique which was in contact with the entire French wartime scientific organization. A direct link was also estab- lished between the Ministry of Supply and the French • Holland, Maurice. Higb^spot Impressions of significant trends in research in England. France, Qermany. What wc found behind the scenes in Euroiwan research, 1937. ' Bemal. J. D. The social function of science. London, O Roullodge and Sons, Ltd., 1S39. Minislerc de I'Armement, the facilities of which were available to the Advisory Council on matters relating to scientific invention through an officer of the Ministry of Supply located in Paris. An advisory research council has been formed by the Council of the Chemical Society, the principal purpose of which is, when approached, to call to the attention of specialists research projects which may be of aid to the nation during the war. Universities Research in universities in England is principally fundamental in character. Until a few years ago aca- demic research was more desirable from a social stand- point than industrial research, so much so that industrial laboratories were unable to recruit men of the highest abilities in graduate work at the universities. This condition has improved greatly in recent years, however, and in fundamental fields has become less surrounded by secrecy and restraint. It was also formerly con- sidered in bad taste for the academic researcher to let his findings be applied in industry, but in the early part of the last decade professors in universities began to cooperate with industry by serving as consultants. Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., was instrumental in starting this movement, which has proceeded with increasing momentvmi up to the present. These uni- versity research workers have performed excellent serv- ices, at the same time maintaining their social standings. Some changes were made in the curricula of technical courses to meet requirements of industry, and some universities initiated courses in chemical engineering. Chemical engineers heretofore had been self-made — often mechanical engineers associated with chemical enter- prises. Closer cooperation between universities and industries has also been fostered by the establishment of fellowships and the donation of research grants to professors by industries to assist in purchasing materials and equipment. With some exceptions imiversity laboratories have operated under the disadvantages of small size, in- adequate equipment, and interference of teaching with research. The large grants made to some university laboratories for fundamental research have been extremely helpful in remedying these conditions. There has been no organized direction of research in universities. British university scientists are rendering yeoman service for the national defense, notablj' in military gases. A number of British universities have been active in applied research, among which shoidd be mentioned Cambridge, Oxford, and London for their work in chemistrj', Leeds in textiles, Birmingham in fuels, and Sheffield in iron, steel, and ferrous alloys. The Industrial Research 207 universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow have hkewise been doing considerable applied research. Industry The development of industrial research owes much to the professional attention accorded in England to the cultivation of knowledge in a systematic manner. This began in an important way toward the close of the nineteenth century, but in special fields had its begin- nings earlier. Engineering as we know it had its birth in England about 1750. Since that time, and especially in the last 50 years, applied science has been cultivated to a constantly increasing extent. The British were leaders in industrial development prior to the research era in industr}^. Cliemical engineering, as it concerned the design, erection, and operation of plants in chemical and related industries, had its birth in England, the concept of unit operations having come later in the United States. Professional recognition came to be enhanced by publication of critical sm-veys of technical knowledge, of which prominent examples have been Guttmann's work on explosives, Sir Boverton Red- wood's masterpiece on petroleum, Cross and Bevan's classic on cellulose, and Lewkowitsch's compilation on oils and fats. With one or two exceptions, however, including Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., Eng- land probably is still excelled by Germany in skill of translating results of applied research to commercial practice. Results of research by British industry are generously published although not so openly and freely as in the United States. Research executives commonly attend technical meetings but their subordinates do not to the extent practised in this country. Concurrent with the change in attitude toward applied research by universities a similar transformation occurred in industry, which placed more stress on research and endeavored to make up for lost time. The social disadvantages attaching to industrial research have been largely but not wholly removed since the First World War. The practice of purchasing processes and products developed abroad, however, still prevails and is a natural outlet for idle capital. It is diiBcult to estimate the number of industrial research laboratories in England: Industrial Research Laboratories, prepared by the Association of Scientific Workers, is far from complete. Of 450 industrial firms conducting research, only 80 replied to inquiries. Many of the most prominent laboratories are omitted, among them those of British Distillers, Ltd., Anglo- Iranian Oil Company, Unilever, British Celanese, Courtalds, J. Lyons and Company, Buroughs-Wellcome, the Gas, Light, and Coke Company, South jSIetro- poHtan Gas Company, Mond Nickel Company, the British Aluminium Company, most of the laboratories of Imperial Chemical Industries (which had 18 research stations operating or authorized in 1938), and others. Bernal ' saj's, however, that four-fifths of industrial research, other than that carried on by the Govern- ment, is undertaken by no more than 10 large firms. He estimates the number of firms maintaining research laboratories as between 300 and 600, and the total money spent on industrial research as perhaps as much as £2,000,000 (exclusive of Government expenditures). It is possible, however, that routine testing is included in the research personnel. The research organization of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., is outstanding and has received many favorable comments. It has a technical development committee and an executive committee on develop- ment, which is tied up with a sales committee, to make decisions on research in progress. The ability of I. C. I.'s engineers to convert the results of research to practice has been outstanding. Societies The scientific, professional, and industrial societies represent influences tending to improve conditions sur- rounding research both in fundamental and applied fields. The opportunities afforded at their meetings for presentation of papers on new subjects and sub- sequent discussion thereof, personal contacts, and ex- change of ideas, have assisted materially in dispelling the secrecy which formerly characterized much of the research especially in applied fields. In chemistry and chemical engineering the Society of Chemical Industry, the Institute of Chemists, and the Institution of Chemical Engineers have been particularly prominent and have done much to elevate these professions to positions of national importance. The symposiimi plan, developed to the highest degree in Germany, is perhaps next most advanced in England, the meetings of the Faraday Society being a particularly good example. The Royal Society of London, founded in 1640, stands in close and important relationship to the Goverimient by reason of the nominations which it has become a function of the society to make for scien- tific positions in the Government, and also because of the special research problems which it imdertakes for the Government from time to time. The Royal Insti- tution (1799) maintains a library and laboratories and promotes research in connection with the experimental sciences. Research in Italy As in other totalitarian states the national economy of Italy is directed toward self-sufficiency and pre- paredness. Italy is so lacking in material resources ' See footnote 7 208 Ndlional Resources Planning Board and her population is so predominantly agricultural that her aims toward self-sufficiency have been realized only in relatively small degree. One of the principal directions which these efforts have taken is the manu- facture of chemical and related products hitherto im- ported. Other major activities include motor fuel from agricultural materials, low-temperature distilla- tion of lignite, new sources of cellulose, new fdiers, and development of colonial resources. More recently de- velopment of metallic and nonmetallic minerals and certain coal deposits has been contemplated. Mussolini and high-ranking officials are keenh- aware of the importance of research in following this plan. The national economy program places emphasis on applied rather than fundamental research, as in Germany. The National Research Council The National Research Council of Italy was first set up in 1921, but with its peculiar organization was unable to yield the results expected of it. The National Government, recognizing the benefits which might accrue from such an institute, however, reorganized it about 1928. Under a better-defined legal status the council became a permanent consulting agency of the head of the Government and of the Ministry of Public Instruction for all problems concerning the develop- ment and progress of scientific activity at home and abroad. The council is also charged with the control of scien- tific apparatus and biological and scientific products. Its approval is required of Government loans for plant expansion, new equipment, and capital accounts, in connection with which it gives technical advice and lends assistance through Government and university research. Representation of Italy at international scientific and technical meetings is controlled by the council. The National Research Council is supported by funds appropriated by the Government, by the Minis- tries which call upon it for services, by industrial concerns which utdize its facilities, and by royalties from patents held by it. The National Research Council is organized along lines similar to the coimcil in the United States. The scientific and technical divisions correspond closely to our own. Committees are charged with specific research problems in such fields as industrial develop- ment, public health, engineermg, and agriculture. FiGCRB 62. — High-Speed Wind Tunnel, Government Aviation Research Center, Guidonia, Italy Hamilton \\'right Phot i Industrial Research 209 Its functions are manifold. It seeks to eliminate injurious industrial competition throu!j;h research, equipment, and personnel. The montldy research programs of aU mdustrial, miiversity, and Government research laboratories, which are required by the State, are reviewed by the council for the elimination of un- necessary duplication and the assignment of specific problems to appropriate laboratories. It compiles and disseminates technical and scientific bibliograpliies so that the work of Italian scientists may become better known abroad, and studies means for develoi)ment and application in Italy of inventions made in foreign lands. Government The Ministry of Corporations performs duties similar to but with authority extending far beyond those of our Departments of Commerce and Labor. Close cooperation is maintained with industry through individuals and committees on problems of production, labor relations, and improvements of processes and products. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, an international organization, was organized in 1937. In its first year of existence an inquiry was instituted among members to determine what its most useful fmiction would be. Replies indicated that the academy should not restrict its activities to publications of individual scientific communications but should take advantage of the freedom of action guaranteed by its scientific inde- pendence of race or creed to strengthen the bonds between the various sciences. Universities Research in Italian universities was formerly devoted principally to fundamental research and hence did not result in training men entirely suitable for industry. In recent years the industrial progress produced by the self-sufficiency program has caused the scientific and technical schools to concentrate their efforts on training men better qualified to meet the enlarged demands of the industries. This change has had a noticeable effect on the type of research being carried out at the uni- versities, most of which is now in connection with industries. The Government has given financial support to research in universities, five having received grants for industrial research in 1939. Examples of typical ap- plied research in some universities are: At the Poly- technic Institute of Milan, a new process for production of water gas by the reaction of steam on oil gas, and utilization of lignites; at the Institute of Electro- chemistry, investigation of the electrochemical recovery and extraction of copper, nickel, and tin; at the Uni- versity of Milan, work on volcanic gas; at Turin Uni- versity, a number of specific organic chemical projects; at Padua University, preparation of iron oxides and mineral colors; at the University of Naples, develop- ment of alpha cellulose from Italian raw materials; at the University of Rome, problems of high-pressure synthesis. Publications and Societies Excellent scientific and technical journals are pub- lished in Italy. In the chemical field Gazzetta Chimica Italiana and Giornale di Chimica Industriale ed Applicata, and in biology Giornale di Biologia In- dustriale, Agraria, ed Alimentare have presented many fine contributions. Likewise the scientific and tech- nical societies, as for example the Italian Chemical Society and the Society of Applied Science, have made substantial contributions to the advancement of the several disciplines in both fundamental and applied fields. Industry The growth of nationalism in the development of the self-sufliciency program had as its goal the restriction of trade among the nations of Europe. The capacity for the manufacture of chemicals and other products required in Evu'ope was more than sufficient to supply normal demands. Nationalism required that Italy, as well as other nations not normally industrial, develop complete chemical industries within their borders. This necessitated use of facilities, resources, and trained personnel for the development of the necessary tech- niques which were well established in other countries. In trying to accomplish in a short time the efficient results achieved by gradual development in other countries, processes were developed which were not always economically sound. In diverting trained per- sonnel to this type of work very little real research in new fields has been carried out. In 1934 an Italian professor estimated that there were about 60 industrial research laboratories in the northern Italian industrial area and 200 in the entire country. Like all projects for new manufacturing plants, new industrial research laboratories must be approved by the National Research Council. The Montecantini Company, by far the largest chemical manufacturer in Italy, maintains one of the largest if not the largest research staff in the country. In accordance with Fascist policy of self-sufficiency, most of its research is in applied fields, and in the past 210 National Resources Planning Board decade the company has initiated production of many chemicals not previously produced in Italy. Recently the company allocated a sum of 20,000,000 lire for expansion of research facilities in a new center called the Institute Scientifico per Ricerchc e Spcrimentazioni Chimiche. It is reported that the laboratory will be the most comprehensive in Italy. One of the materials of which Italy has a serious shortage is cellulose. Much effort has been directed toward utilization of such cellulosic materials as straw, cornstalks, and esparto, and in the development of rayon including staple fiber and other fibers. Produc- tion of cellulose from straw has been successfully de- veloped, but the extent to which it has relieved the shortage in cellulose is not indicated. Italy has been a leader in Europe in development of rayon and new textile fibers. Chatillon S. A., Cisa, and Snia Viscosa have conducted research in rayon including admixture with other fibers. The latter com- pany developed the woollike casein fiber Lanital, the virtues of which as a substitute or supplement for wool, both oconomicallj' and in practical use, have yet to be fully demonstrated. Most of the requirements of casein for this new fiber are imported. Societa Boracifcra di Larderello has acliieved con- spicuous success in the development of boron and iodine products and utilization of steam from volcanic fimia- roles. Ufficio Tecnico Ammonia Casale, S. A., is noted for its development of the Casale process of nitrogen fixation. Film-Fabrichc Riunite Prodotti is also active in research. The Pirelli Rubber Company has been engaged in developing a process for manufacture of synthetic rubber of the Buna type, but as late as last summer no decision had been reached as to whether the German process based on acetylene from calcium carbide would be used, or the former German process now used by Russia employing eth3'l alcohol as a raw material. It would be necessary to import the coal for manufacture of calcium carbide. Among other industries which have been developed recently are aluminum, magnesium, cadmium, chemical pigments, dyes, varnishes, pharmaceuticals, electro- chemicals, and photographic materials. Plans for cul- tivation of guayule to supplement requirements for latex have been pushed. Engineering developments in power, including use of natural steam of volcanic origin, and clearing of swamplands, such as the Pontine Marshes, where a model town has been built, have typified activities in other directions. The Institute of Ceramics has been investigating the substitution of domestic for imported raw materials in the ceramics industry. The Scientific Institute of Industrial Research, Milan, has done research in various fields. A recent undertaking was the study of a new enzymic action on broom plant for production of fiber. Research in the Netherlands While the amount of industrial research in the Netherlands has been limited, from the standpoint of the size of the country, it has been outstanding both in amount and quality. The Phillips Laboratory at Eindhoven, engaged in activities similar to those of the General Electric Company, is one of the most outstand- ing in Europe as regards personnel and quality of work in electronics, radio, television, and related fields. Its laboratories are especially well designed for carrying out industrial-research programs. The Shell Company has noteworthy accomplishments to its credit in petroleum, and in the summer of 1939 was planning extensive addi- tions to its laboratories in Amsterdam which were ex- pected to make them among the largest petroleum-prod- ucts research laboratories in the world. The States Mines, although Government owned, has done consider- able research on coal, paid for from profits of the organ- ization's commercial operations. Cooperative Super- phosphate Works and Koning and Bienfait are also actively engaged in industrial research. The work of Kog! and of Jansen in biochemistry is particularly to be noted. Important work has been done on enamels and chrome leather. As much of Netherlands' trade is dependent upon colonial materials, a considerable portion of the research activities is focused on these. Industrial and medical research in the Netherlands Indies has been notable. Netherlands has led the world in research on cocoa and chocolate and has made valuable contributions to knowledge of cinchona, rubber, and shellac. Small companies not maintaining their own labora- tories have procured research services by means of fellowships or by retaining as consultants university professors who have thus served two or three concerns and sometimes have been directors in them. Several companies have cooperated in the building or equipment of such laboratories. The universities in the Netherlands have generally been well endowed and possessed potentialities for excellent research work, the outlook for which, however, has been said to be less favorable than 20 years ago because of the higher costs. The universities of Amsterdam, Delft, Groningen, and Leiden have been particularly active in research. The Van der Waals Laboratory at Amsterdam is noted for Prof. Michels' exceptional fundamental research involving very high pressures. The Amsterdam Academy of Sciences is similar to our National Research Council, and there are many professional and scientific societies in the Netherlands. Industrial Research 211 Research in Scandinavian Countries The industrial research of Norwify and Sweden revoh^es largely around the utilization of their natural resources — iron ore, cellulose, arsenic, pyrites, hydro- electric power, and other less important materials — rather than in dissipation of efforts toward attaining self-sufEciency. These countries are more noted not only for their engineering sldll but also for their recent accomplishments in basic research. Sweden produced Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, and de Laval, inventor of the centrifuge. Svedberg, developer of the high-speed centrifuge, and his assistants at the University of Uppsala are doing the most outstanding work in the world on the centri- fuge and its application in biological and chemical fields. The Academy of Science in Stockholm has constructed a modern and well-equipped physical-research institute. The laboratories are equipped with a fine cyclotron and one of the best ruling engines for diffraction gradings. Here is being conducted under Professor Seigbahn im- portant physical research of a very high order, including X-ray and nuclear research. Cellulose is a product which Norway, Sweden, and Finland each has in abundance, and each has been competing with the other on improvements in processes of recovery. Sweden has been conducting much re- search on utilization of lignin from pulp operations, but the results are said not to be encouraging. Some 20 mills producing alcohol from sulfite waste liquors, how- ever, have benefited by research. Production of "tall" oil from sulfate pulp waste is mainly a Swedish develop- ment. Production of gasoline substitutes from wood has been under investigation there. Sweden is famous for its iron-ore deposits and its steel. She has been conducting much research in this field, including alloys. The pyrites deposits of the country have yielded sufficient arsenic as a byproduct to exert a depressing influence on the world market for that product. Faced with legal restrictions on disposal of arsenical residues, Bolidens Mines has conducted intensive research on new outlets for arsenic and par- tially solved the problem by use of arsenic in preserva- tion of wood poles and piles. Industrial research laboratories which have been particularly active in Sweden include those of the Allmanna Svenska Elektriska AB. Viister§,s (electric equipment), Allman Telefen AB. L. M. Ericsson (tele- phone equipment wires and cables, etc.), AB. Bofors (ordnance forgings and castings, tool steel), Bruks Korcerne AB and Stora Kopperbergs Bergslags AB, two of Sweden's leadmg iron works, Svenska Cement- forsaljnings AB, an association of Swedish cement manufacturers, and Reymersholms Galma Industri (phosphates, heavy chemicals). The Aga Company in Sweden has done applied re- search on a variety of equipment for household and commercial uses, such as stoves, refrigerators, and sweepers. An important activity of the Consumers' Cooperative Union in Sweden has been in applied research on products which it manufactures for use as rubber goods, vegetable oils, rayon, fertilizers, food- stuffs, and some heavy chemicals. The Swedish Iron Masters' Association, composed of most of the Swedish mining companies, has done much valuable work for its members, and has assisted them both by loans and tlxrougli cooperation with the Acad- emy of Engineering Sciences. A proposal has recently been made to the Swedish Riksdag for centralization and rationalization of scien- tific and industrial research. The central institute would become a foundation supported financially by both Government and industry, with the Academy of Engineering Sciences as the neutral party. Committees and institutes which would be parties to this plan are as follows: Committee for the Study of Couplings in High-voltage Electric Wires and Cables. Association for Rational Textile Washing. Forest Scientific Committee. Welding Committee. Corrosion Board. Gasgenerator Board. Air-Conditioning Committee. Cool-Technical Committee. Aeronautical Committee. Shale Committee. Committee for Domestic Motor Fuel. Fuel-Technical Committee. Swedish Iron Masters' Association- Swedish Cement Association. Steamheat Institute. Charcoal Laboratory. Cement Laboratory. Technical X-ray Central. Laboratory for Boilers. Electroheat Institute. Central Testing Institute. Royal Building Board. Norway had its Birkeland and Eyde, codevelopers of the arc process of nitrogen fixation. The enterprise and vision of these men, together with Norway's ample supplies of hydroelectric power have placed that country high in the world's nitrogen and electrochemical indus- tries. To be sure the arc process for fixation has been replaced by synthetic ammonia, but Norsk-Hydro con- tributed a method of obtaining the soda of synthetic sodium nitrate from sea water. More recently comes news of this company's process for recovery of potash from the same source. Industrial research in Nonvay has been more limited than in Sweden. Although the Aluminum Company of America and Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation o2is;;3 -41- 212 National Resources Planning Board each have plants in Norway these companies have con- ducted little or no research there otiior than on trouble shootuig and plant problems. Norway has been the largest producer of cod-liver oil in the world. The Norwegian canning industry has been conducting research for the fishing mdustries, and recently determined the vitamin D potency of different fish and fish products. As Denmark is a small and predominantly agricul- tural country, the extent of research has been compara- tively small. Nevertheless in some fields outstanding work has been done. Most notable perhaps has been the work at the laboratory of Professor Niels Bohr in Copenhagen on atomic structure and biophysics. P. A. Hansen's work in zymologj^ at the Biotecknisko-Kemish Laboratory is world famous, as are S. P. L. S0rensen's researches in the same field and in hydrogen ion concen- tration at the Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen. The University of Copenhagen and the Polytechnic Institute in Copenhagen have been doing splendid work in pure and applied science. Research has advanced the Danish dairy industry to a high degree of excellence. Danish hydraulic engineers are credited with many notable accomphshments in their field. The chemical industry is small but research has accomplished useful ends in certain branches such as fertilizers. No research has been carried on in Den- mark in the electrical communications field. The Carlsberg Brewery was bequeathed by its found- ers to the support of scientific research and art. Amiual revenue from the source devoted to science is 1,300,000 kroner, a substantial sum for a small country such as Deimiark. In general, support of industrial research by the gov- ernments of the Scandanavian countries has been un- R. Hchudd Photo FlQUUB 63. — Jungfrau Institute for Scientific Research, The Jungfrau, Switzerland important but in recent years such aid has increased substantially. In Sweden, for example. State grants in aid of research as a whole did not average over 40,000 cro\v7is annually up to 1935, but were increased to 500,000 cro^vns in the 1938-40 budget. In addition the Swedish Aeronautical Committee received an appropri- ation of 2,500,000 crowns for experimental work and the erection of laboratories and other buildings. The extent of cooperative effort has been one of the more prominent featiu-es of research in Scandanavia. Research in Switzerland Industry in Switzerland, being almost wholly de- pendent on imports for its raw materials, has been able to compete in international trade by concentrating on the superior quality of its products, and on certain specialties. Foremost among its industries are watches, dyes and pharmaceuticals, perfumes, electrochemical products, certam textiles, machinery, and foods. In recent years, and particularly under the strained inter- national relations which have prevailed, considerable efforts have been devoted to make the country less de- pendent on imports of certain intermediate and finished products, as for example, alloy steel for watch springs, and high-temperature glass for use in X-ray tubes, electronic devices, and high-energy incandescent lamps. This nation has been a leader in research in the phar- maceutical field and in power engineering. The rela- tively high level of education and freedom from political preoccupations have been important contributing fac- tors in developing a high level of both fundamental and applied research in Switzerland. Characteristic of Swiss industry are the many small firms which conduct research. Most manufacturers using research have their own staffs for the purpose, but the watclmiakers have a central research group which works on metals, alloys for watch springs, tools, new materials, and new processes for watchmaking. Among the leading firms conducting industrial re- search are : Society of Chemical Industry of Basle (dyes and pharma- ceuticals) . Chemische Fabrik vormals Sandoz (dyes and pharmaceu- ticals) . J. R. Geigy, S. A. (dyes and pharmaceuticals). Hoffmann-La Roche & Co. Chemical Works (pharmaceu- ticals). Soci6t6 de Produits Chimiques, Vetilron. Aluminium-Industrie A. G. (aluminum). Brown, Boveri & Co., Ltd., of Baden (electrical machinery). Nestle and Anglo-Swiss Consolidated Milk Co. (chocolate). The Polytechnic Institute at Zurich, only postgradu- ate national teclmical school in Switzerland, conducts industrial research for the benefit of the nation as a whole. At the polytechnical school there is also a Industrial Research 213 small but highly competent group engaged in pure physics research activities. It is especially well equipped for work in the field of nuclear research. Re- search has been conducted for some years there on coal, which is significant because Switzerland imports all its coal. The pm-pose of the coal investigations is to limit imports by selection of those kinds which most cheaply satisfy the particular uses for which they are em- ployed. The institute recently erected a laboratory for industrial research to aid the development of Swiss industries. As in the Netherlands, university professors often act as research consultants for manufacturers, who purchase the equipment and pay for such additional assistance as may be necessary. The Swiss Government does Uttle industrial re- search although it is active in agricultural research. The military technical service maintains a munitions testing unit and a laboratory for the study of war gases. The number of scientific and technical societies in Switzerland is large. Research in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics In Czarist Russia science was encouraged by the Government to a limited extent for its own needs in- cluding those of the army, and to present a showing to the rest of Europe, but to the great mass of the popu- lation it was nonexistent. Russia has produced great scientists, such as Mendeleef, famous for his work on the periodic law of the elements, and more recently Ipatiev, whose researches are the basis of hydrogenation of petroleum. The great scientists, however, accomphshed their work largely because of their own interest and without recognition of science by the Government which depended for its needs m this field principally upon the work of Germany and France. Many foreign scientists and technicians were employed as consultants and all scientific apparatus was imported. Handicaps of publication of research results were great in the Czarist days. Before the revolution industrial research was practically nonexistent although noteworthy work had been done in platinum and petroleum. Scientific education began to be sought and new educational facilities served to train some of the first Soviet scien- tists. Many of the graduates, however, escaped from the country during the period of the First World War, the Revolution, and the civil war, and others refused to cooperate with the new system. Under the Soviet regime science and research became part of the plan for the upbuilding of the new state. The initial problems of creating a Soviet science and technique, while at the same time solving the urgent needs of reconstruction, were exceedingly difficult. But ample money was provided and men were made avadablo although for the most part poorly trained. Many foreign technicians and consultants were em- ployed to assist in starting up new industries. Edu- cational facilities were increased, many scientists finally cooperating upon realization that the new Government intended to permit them much greater freedom and im- portance than they had ever enjoyed previously. In the decade from 1927 considerable progress was made. Science and industry were closely coordinated, new teclmical schools, universities, and government research institutes were established. More recently, in accord- ance with the Soviet-German agreement, German scientists and technicians have been rendermg services in production and technology, particularly in the ferti- lizer, textile, and petroleum industries. The first basic difl'erence between research in the Soviet Union and in Western Europe is its mtegral re- lationship with social life rather than any peculiarities of technical methods. The primary object of Soviet science is the welfare of the workers rather than an in- creasing profits from production. Workers are en- couraged to assist actively in the application of science to industry. The second important difference mheres in the high degree of integration of Soviet science. The problems are not faced separately but as an intercon- nected whole. Science is synthesized into a unit — not compartmentalized — in its attack upon them. The relations of laboratories and institutes to universities and industry are carefully planned. The size of agri- culture and industry necessary to produce the material needs of the population during the next 40 years are calculated. Appropriate provision is made for the equipment and research institutes required by each industry after careful study. Coordination of research programs is accomplished by a series of committees, each of which lays out a gen- eral plan for each year. Conferences are held between representatives of fundamental and applied research on the one hand and applied research and industry on tiie other hand, so that a high degree of coordination is maintained between all branches of research and industry. These conferences serve to advance the Soviet policy of rapid introduction of inventions and research findings into industry. The percentage of outstanding research workers in Russia is small. The huge niunber of poorly trained and mediocre researchers results in inefficiency, although the mass effort is bound to produce many useful rcsidts. Some of the contributions of research have been excel- lent, but on the other hand many are known to be unreliable and superficial. In the Soviet plan of organized research the talents of individual research workers receive special conside- ration. For those who show unusual talent and ability, 214 National Resources Planning Board extensive laboratories arc built, equipped, and staffed with as many men ranging from scientists to mechanics as may be necessaiy. Research in the Soviet is not conducted with the expectation of early profits by any industry, conse- quently researchers are not expected to show inmiediate results. On the other hand, the variety of projects undertaken at some institutes renders the discovery of entirely new regions of physical knowledge more difficult than if concentrated on fewer lines. The most outstanding feature of research in the Soviet is the magnitude of its operations. Bernal reports that the budget for science in 1934 was a thousand million roubles, a far greater proportion of national wealth than is devoted to science in any other nation. The detailed and mass manner in which Russia undertakes a research problem is well illustrated by the coal sampling and testing project in the Don River Basin by the Coal Research Institute of Kharkov. These coal beds of many strata cover an area of per- haps 40 by 120 miles. Samples are taken at frequent elevations and submitted to many physical, chemical, and application tests, the number of which runs into millions. The project is costing millions of roubles. A stall of 80 cliemists and physicists are employed on the project at Kharkov besides many field workers. It is difficult to describe the structure of Soviet sci- ence because of the rapid changes that occur in its organization. The highest body in the State is the Su- preme Council. Directly responsible to this body are the State Planning Conunission, the Council of Peoples' Commissars (corresponding rouglily to our Cabinet, al- though some members are responsible to state Supreme Councils rather than to the federal Supreme Council), and the Academy of Sciences, all of which are con- cerned with science and research in one way or another, in accordance with the Soviet policy that science must not be confined to one department but must be universal. The duty of the State Planning Commission is to work out the details of the rational organization of social life so that knowledge may be used with greatest efficiency. It provides a framework for rationaliza- Sovitt Foto Agencii Figure 64. — Hydrogen Liquefierin the Cryogenic Hall of the Institute of Physical Problems of the Academy of Sciences of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Industrial Research 215 tion, anaong other things, of scientific research. An example of its activity is an exhaustive study of the strength of naaterials required for high tension electric lines and high pressure turbines. Such researches also lead to more fundamental investigations into the prop- erties of matter. In the Council of Peoples' Commissars, Commissar- iats ha\-ing most to do with research are those of educa- tion, which is concerned with schools, universities, and science schools together with their laboratories; of health, which has direction over hospitals and medical research institutes; and those of the several industries. The Commissariats of the industries are particularly concerned with research through their control of techni- cal traimng colleges, the various research institutes in fields of pure science, the numerous industrial research institutes, and the factories and their laboratories. Most of the fundamental research in the So\-iet is conducted in research institutes such as the Physico- Technical Institute of Leningrad, the Institute of Chem- ical Physics of Leningrad, the Optical Institute of Len- ingrad, the Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry, the Physico-Technical Institutes of Kharkov and of Dniepropetrovsk. Research in these institutes is con- cerned with the fundamental principles of the physical sciences underhnng the technique of industrial processes. Mam' of the Commissariats of the industries have their own industrial research institutes for carrying on research in the entire field of the industry concerned, such as oil, coal, m'trogen, shipbuilding, ferrous metals, nonferrous metals, chemicals, foods, textiles, and leather. In addition, several Commissariats have research sta- tions or experimental plants for conducting research, including new processes, in the plant itself. Fields of industry in which notable progress is claimed to have been made include aliuninmn from ahmite and nepheline, phosphates from apatite in the Kola penin- sula, potash, sodiima salts at Karabugaz near the Cas- pian Sea, hydroelectric developments, high tension electric power transmission, automobiles and tractors, airplanes, gold mining machinery and technology, phar- macy, photography, rubber, metallurgy, milling and baking, sugar, subtropical products. The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded by Peter the Great about 1724-25. There was no great change in its working organization until about 10 years after the revolution. Upon inauguration of the First Five-Year Plan the Academy was reorganized to advise on the many scientific problems arising from the changes in creating the new form of social life, and the remnants of the Czarist days were destroyed. Now its principal function is to coordinate the scientific activities of all the Commissariats as related to the planned economy of the Soviet. The Academy runs numerous laboratories engaged principally in long term research, and has plans for the erection of many new ones. Among the labora- tories under its direction are the Biological Institute, the Institute of Human Biology and Medicine, and the Physical Institute. Two of the best features in Russian research are the many research institutes which have been built, and as previously pointed out, the coordination and planning among all the agencies engaged in research, but the effectiveness of all this is a question upon which infor- mation is lacking. Research in China A movement for national science in China began about 1925. Since the occupation of a large part of the coimtry by Japan, however, research has suffered a se- vere blow. Most of the capable scientific and technical men have had to devote their energies to other tasks. The development of small industrial units in the interior of China, which has commenced since the Japanese occupation, is not conducive to research, con- sequently the Government and the universities are doing most of it. Nevertheless, in the remote western part, many scientists and engineers trained in the United States are engaged in development of unit opera- tions as short cuts to industrial processes on a small and decentralized scale. In the Government the Depart- ment of Industrial Research was doing important work at Nanking in 1937, since when activities have been transferred to the interior. Metallurgy and motor fuel substitutes have been important subjects of investiga- tion. The Chinese universities are doing considerable work in applied fields and some in fundamental fields where objectives are expected to be obtained reasonably soon and benefiting industries such as leather, paints, and ceramics. The University of Peiping is mentioned in this respect. Several technical and trade associations in China have been active, among them the Cliina Pharmaceuti- cal Society, the China Textile Institute, the National Medical and Pharmaceutical Association, the Chinese Chemical Society (which publishes a journal), and the Chinese Society of Chemical Industry (also publishes a journal). It is reported that the engineering societies in China have lapsed. Among these were the Chinese Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Chinese Engineering Society. The National Academy of China was founded in 1928 for prosecuting scientific research and promoting and coordinating programs in the country. It has estab- lished nine institutes for the following branches of science: Astronomy, meteorology, geology, chemistrj', engineering, psj'chology, history, and philology, and the 216 National Resources Planning Board social sciences. Each maintains a number of research fellows, associates, and assistants to conduct investiga- tions and experiments under the general guidance of a director. In 1937 the appropriation for the Academy was $1,200,000. The Academy is doing much funda- mental research, especially in telephony, radio, meteor- ology and physics. In applied research it is active in glass, aluminum from alunite, paints, sulfuric acid. The National Peiping Academy, also founded in 1928, has two research institutes — for the physical sciences and technology, and for the biological sciences. Other important research organizations in China are the Geological Survey at Peiping, the Fan Memorial Biological Institute, the Biology Institute, and the Science Society of China. Research in Japan The Japanese were not slow to recognize that science and research were responsible for the material progress of the Western nations, and adopted these means to further their own industrial development. The growth of research in Japan has been rapid during this century, especially in the last decade, and has advanced her to the rank of one of the leading nations in research. In- dications point to continued progress in this direction. The research activities of Japan have largely followed the results of others. Emphasis of research has been on applied rather than fundamental aspects. Bernal states that industrial, Govermnent, and insti- tute laboratories in Japan are probably larger, better financed, and better organized in relation to the wealth of the country than those of any other nation, but that the value of the work coming from them is more open to doubt. The organization of scientific research in Japan is based upon institutions and relationships usually found in Occidental countries. From Germany was adopted the plan of research institutes such as those of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. From the United States was used the pattern of our National Research Coimcil but with greatly expanded powers. Industrial research in Japan is extensively supported by the Government rather than by private enterprise. The indirect method of aiding new industries through partial stock ownership by the Government is also employed. The scientific resources of Japan are distributed among many laboratories and institutes in departments of the Imperial Government and of the prefectures and municipalities; the universities and technical schools vnth their associated research institutes; numerous special research institutes, museums, libraries, botanical and zoological gardens; some 100 national scientific and technical associations; and industrial research agencies. Within the Government itself upward of 70 research institutes are distributed under 7 diff"erent departments. Indicative of the broad scope of research activities which the Government supports entirely or in part are the following fields of investigation by some of the principal research institutes: Aeronautics, air navigation, aerol- ogy, meteorology, astronomy, seismology, geophysics, geology, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, horticulture, hygiene, tea, sericulture, zoology, ornithology and mamalogy, biology, chemistry, nitrogen, ceramics, fuels, brewing, steel, military research, naval research, railway research. In fields associated intimately with the life and econ- omy of the nation, Japanese research has accomplished notable results. The work of the Japanese Sericultural Experiment Station ranges from mulberry trees to silk itself. Japan is a leader in research on fisheries and pearls. Valuable work has been accomplished on camphor and menthol. It is interesting to note that at least three commodities — silk, camphor, and menthol, in which Japan had virtual world monopolies — have suffered in recent years from competition of artificial or synthetic counterparts. In two of these, silk and camphor, Japan has been compelled to turn to develop- ment of these new products. She has led the world in rayon production and is endeavoring to develop some of the truly synthetic fibers. Production of synthetic camphor is riunored to be projected. In general, most Japanese research is directed toward self-sufiiciency and preparedness. The last 3 years have witnessed special emphasis on finding substitutes for imported materials and the utilization of larger pro- portions of cheaper native materials with foreign. Manufacture of products not previously made in Japan, especially chemicals, has proceeded rapidlj^. Production of many synthetic products has closely followed foreign developments. Industrial research by trade associations in Japan is very limited, owing in part to the large amount of research for entire industries being conducted in the various institutes. Some of the results of Japanese research are dissem- inated in the form of lectures before technical or scien- tific societies, and some are published chieflj' in the Japanese language but to some extent in English and German. Under existing wartime regulations, prac- tically everything pertaining to industrial development and output is covered by the Military Secrets Law. The number of research institutes in Japan is so large that space limitations prohibit their listing here. Activities of a few of the more important institutes will serve to illustrate the thoroughness with which the nation is employing research. The Japanese Society for tlie Promotion of Scientific Research, founded in 1932, has among its objectives the encouragement and assistance of scientific study, assistance in the training of promising scholars, promo- Industrial Research 217 tion of the use of new inventions and processes, conduct- ing research for the development of industry, lending financial assistance to scientific expeditions, publica- tion of scientific literature, and affording financial assistance for such publications. From 1933 to 1937, inclusive, 2,048,379 yen had been granted by this organization for the pursuance of 1,797 scientific problems, divided 21.2 percent in chemistry, 10.2 in medicine, 10 in physics, 7.7 in mechanical engi- neering, 7.2 in agriculture, 6.6 in electrical engineering, 5.3 in zoology and botany, 4.7 percent in civil engineer- ing and architecture, and the remainder in less technical subjects. Industrial subjects investigated included problems of spinning machines, liquefaction of coal, ship bottom paint, ancraft engines, tools and machines, power engines, chemical instruments, sand iron, mining, radio apparatus, active carbon, armor plate. The National Institute for Physical and Chemical Research is a semigovernment institute established in 1917 with a fund of $2,950,000. Additional support is obtained from government subsidy. A few years ago the Institute consisted of some 27 laboratories for vari- ous subjects, each with its separate budget. Some of the laboratories are located in universities and at other institutions where the investigators are located. Fa- cilities are said to compare favorably with those of such research institutes as our National Bureau of Standards, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in England, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes in Ger- many. Industry defrays the cost of investigations in its behalf or supports fellowships for special work. The Institute is the largest center of industrial research in Japan. Recent activities include a process for man- ufacture of sake or rice wine, soybean sauces, vita- min A from cod-liver oil, and vitamin C from green tea. The National Research CouncU of Japan was estab- lished in 1920 "to encourage and coordinate scientific and technical researches at home and to cooperate with other countries, with the view to promoting national and international researches in these fields." The members, who are appointed by the Government, are grouped in eight scientific divisions — astronomy, geo- physics, physics, chemistry, geology and geography, biology and agi-iculture, medicine, engineering and mathematics, most of which publish journals. The Tokio Research Institute Laboratory, financed by the Imperial Government, coordinates its activities with Japanese industry principally in the develop- ment of new processes and new products. It also has duties similar to those of our National Bureau of Standards. The Imperial Fisheries Institute is supported by the Government for development of the fisheries industry. It investigates all phases of the industry, as zoology, habits and migrations of various species of fish, the nutritive value of fish, shellfish, and seaweeds, utiliza- tion of byproducts, imjirovcments in processing tech- nique, methods of capturing fish, design and equipment of fishing vessels. The Institute also renders educational services. Other government supported research institutes are the Research Institute for Iron, Steel, and Other Metals of the Tohoku Imperial University, and the College of Fisheries at the Hokkaido Imperial University. Development of the resources of Chosen, Formosa, and Manchukuo has been actively pursued by means of exhaustive investigations and researches. Separate organizations have been established for each of these areas. In Formosa work has been conducted on such subjects as pulp from bagasse, vegetable tannins, snake venom, and continues on camphor. In Chosen the production of aluminum from alunite has been investigated, and production of carbon black from acetylene has been developed. The feasibility of growing agricultural products of industrial value has been extensively investigated. In Manchukuo, the sponge iron and aluminum indus- tries and alum shale as a source of aluminum have been under development. New outlets for the recently established magnesite industry have been sought. Rayon pulp from reeds has been developed. The re- search department of the South Manchurian Railroad has been the most active industrial organization en- gaged in industrial development in Manchukuo. It engages in both fundamental and applied research Research in Canada Canada is industrialized relatively much less than the United States, consequently its industrial research is also less developed. The most important industrial research in Canada is concerned mainly with its natural resources and the products made from them. The largest enterprises are in mining and metallurgy, pulp and paper, utilization of agricultural products, and power generation. Consolidated Mining and Smelting, International Nickel Company of Canada, the Alumi- num Company of Canada, Deloro Smelting and Re- fining Company, International Paper Company, the Howard Smith Paper Mills, Ltd., Lever Brothers, Procter and Gamble, and Shawinigan Water and Power Company, Ltd., are important organizations conduct- ing research in these fields. Shawinigan Chemicals, Ltd., a subsidiary of the latter company, is very active in research on acetylene and derivatives, particularly vinyl resins. Imperial Oil Company, Ltd., is the only petroleum company extensively engaging in research. 218 National Resources Planning Board Canada derives substantial benefit from the industrial research of American and British companies which own or control firms in Canada both with and without laboratories. The most prominent example of tliis is Canadian Industries, Ltd., largest chemical company in Canada, which is controlled by Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. The Canadian company is Hcensed to manufacture man}' of the products developed by the other two and receives the results of research carried out by them on such products. Canadian Industries, Ltd., also conducts its own research. The Canadian Pulp and Paper Research Institute at McGill University, was sponsored by the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association which constructed a laboratory at a cost of approximately $400,000, and endowed the university with a fund of $100,000 to assist in carrying out research at the laboratory. The Association also provides additional annual grants for the same purpose, and contributes toward the operat- ing expense of the Pulp and Paper Division of the For- est Products Laboratory of Canada. The Institute has been particularly interested in the utilization of lignin from pulp mills, including its use in plastics. A recent project of unusual interest involves production of liquid wood by a method of hydrogenation. The National Research Council of Canada was organized in 1916 under the pressure of war conditions. Under the Act of Parliament which defines the duties of the Council, it is specifically stated that "The Council shall have charge of all matters affecting scientific and industrial research in Canada which may be as- signed to it by the Committee" of the Privy Council. The President of the Council in his annual report for 1938-39 states that "The National Research Council lends its aid impartially to the producer in need of scientific assistance in the solution of industrial prob- lems and to the consumer whose interests are best served when improved products are made available to him tlirough the application of science to the better- ment of his material needs." The Council undertakes research for industry either cooperatively, as on projects of national interest, or at the expense of the industry concerned, when the work can be done more advantageously in the Council's laboratories than elsewhere. Inventions of the staff are available to industry on a roj^alty basis. The National Research Council of Canada is a cor- poration which receives and administers its funds ac- cording to the act creating it, and in accordance with directions received from the Conunittee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of which the Minister of Trade and Commerce is chairman. Funds for its support are derived from appropriations by the Dominion Government, contributions toward special researches, royalties, fees, and from industrial organi- zations and private individuals. A laboratory costing approximately $3,000,000 was completed at Ottawa in 1932. The Council is divided into six divisions as follows: Biology and agriculture, chemistry, mechanical engi- neering, physics and electrical engineering, research FiGCRE 65. — LahoratuiK's ul iho Naiiduai liiscarcii t'ouncil. Ottawa, Canada Industrial Research 219 plans and publications section, section on codes and specifications. Typical of research projects conducted by the Council in the last year are refractory materials from dolomite and calcium silicates, chrome brick, metallic magnesium, a simple process for extraction of radium fi'om Ca- nadian ore, production of reiuiet casein, production of face pieces for gas masks, corrosion resistance of alumi- num alloys, efficiency of Manitoba bentonites for oil refining, and textile, laundering, and dry-cleaning in- vestigations. Early in 1940 perhaps 75 percent of the work under way at the laboratoi'ies in Ottawa had a war bearing, and over 60 definite war projects sponsored and financed by special war appropriations were in progress there and in outside laboratories. In the last fiscal year 251 persons were employed in all the laboratories, of which number 103 were univer- sity graduates. Two provinces in Canada, Ontario and Alberta, have research councils or foundations. That the Province of Quebec is becoming research-minded is indicated by the formation about 1937 of a commission for scientific research. One of its first duties was to take an in- ventory of the natural resources of the Province. The Ontario Research Foundation was founded in 1928 by the Province of Ontario to carry on research work and investigations for the improvement and de- velopment of manufacturing and other industries, discovery and development of the province's natural resources including byproducts thereof; development and improvement of methods in the agricultural industry; scientific research and investigation for the mitigation and abolition of disease in animal and plant life and the destruction of parasitic insect pests; and generally the carrying out of other research work or investigations which may be deemed expedient. The Foundation is divided into five divisions: Agri- culture, pathology and bacteriology, textiles, engineer- ing and metallurgy, chemistry, and biochemistry. In 1939 the staff's of these departments totaled 34 in nimiber. Total expenditures of the organization in that year were $233,000. The Research Council of Alberta was organized in 1921 along much the same but less ambitious lines as the Ontario Research Council. Its laboratories at the University of Alberta are concerned primarily with fuels and road materials. The Dominion Government is active in research looking toward development of Canadian industries. Principal bureaus engaged in such work are the Bureau of Mines, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the Forest Products Laboratory. In many instances industries contribute to the support of research projects in these bureaus. The Bureau of Mines encourages industry wherever possible, with research and investigative work in geology, mineral technology, and mineral economics. Mining operators mak(! frequent use of the Bureau's ore-dressing and metallurgical laboratories. The Bureau of Fisheries has done nota])le work for the Canadian fisheries industries, as in the development of the pilchard oil industry in British Columbia. Of the Canadian universities which conduct research in applied fields the following should be mentioned: Universities of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan for their research relating to provincial problems; University of British Columbia for its outstanding in- struction of young men in applied sciences, especially chemical engineering; McGill University and University of Toronto for their graduate education in pure science, especially in physics and physical chemistry. The University of Toronto is particularly to be noted for its work on the electronic microscope. Scientific and technical societies are very active in Canada. Among the foremost of these are the Royal Society of Cauda, the Canadian Engineering Society, and Canadian Institute of Chemistry of which the Dominion chemical profession is justly proud. Most American scientific and teclmical gatherings are well attended by Canadians in spite of the distance, and there are in general very close relations between Ameri- can and Canadian scientists of all kinds. The pro- vincial academies of science are numerous and have published much good work. Bibliography Books Bernal, J. D. The social function of science. New York, Macmillan Company, 1939. 482 p. Crowther, J. G. Soviet science. New York, E. P. Dutton and Company, 1936. 342 p. Department op Scientific and Industrial Research, Lon- don. Annual reports. Holland, Maurice. Industrial research abroad. (In Ross, M. H., ed. Profitable practice in industrial research. New York, Harper and Brothers, 1932. p. 119-152). Japan Society for the Promotion of Scientific Research. Annual reports. National Research Council of Canada. Annual reports. Perrin, Jean. L'organisation de la recherche scientifique. Paris, Hermann et Cie, 1938. 54 p. Various Contributors. What we found behind the scenes in European research. New York, 1937. Journal articles American Chemical Society. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry {News Ed.). Passim. Foreign news letters. China year book, The Gregory, S. A., and Fremlin, R. The organization of research in France. The Scientific Worker, 11, No. 2 (1939). Hamor, W. A. Industrial research in 1939; advances in the United States and other countries. Industrial and Engineer- ing Chemistry {News Ed.), IS, 1 (1940). 220 National Resources Planning Board, Industrial Research Hamor, W. a. Industrial research progress here and abroad during 1937. Ibid., 16, 1 (1938). Hauob, W. a. Progress in industrial research here and abroad during 1938. Ibid., 17, 1 (1939). Hartshorne, Edward Y. The German universities and the government. Annals of the American Academy oj Political and Social Science, SOO, 210 (November 1938). Holland, Maurice. From kimono to overalls, the industrial transition of Japan. Atlantic Monthly, I4S, 555 (1928). SECTION VI MEN IN RESEARCH Contents Page 1. Chemistry in Industrial Research 223 Chemistry and Its Field 223 Research 224 3. Incentives to Research 224 The Conduct of Industrial Research 225 Educational Institutions 225 Consultants 225 Government Laboratories 225 Trade Associations 226 Endowed Institutes 226 Research Foundations 226 Costs 227 The Time Factor 227 Organizing for Research 227 New Industries Created 228 Monopohes Broken 228 Improved Products 229 Work \Mth Wastes 229 Cost Reduction 230 New Raw Materials 230 New Uses 230 New Products 231 New Processes 232 Materials for Equipment Construction 232 Promises for the Future 233 Bibliography 234 2. Physical Research in Industry as a National Resource 236 Physics Has Profound Influence on Human Progress 236 The Steam Engine 237 Dynamo-electric Machines 237 Applications of Light 237 Communication 238 The Nature of Physics 238 Physics SpeciaUzes Effectively in the Problems of Individual Industries 238 The Oil Industry 238 The Lamp Industry 240 The Communications Industry 241 Physics Supplies the Instruments for Measure- ments in Industry 242 Physics Prepares Apparatus for Later Applica- tions in Industry 242 High-Speed Centrifuge 242 4. Cyclotrons, Van de Graaf Generators, and Geiger-Counters 243 Color Analyzers 243 Electron Microscope 244 High-Speed Photogiaphy 244 Photoelasticity 244 Electron Diffraction 245 Extreme Pressures 246 Extreme Temperatures 247 Fundamental Explorations Provide the Bases of Future Industries 247 Nuclear Physics 247 Study of the Solid State 248 Solar Energy 249 Faee Physics Contriliutes Indirectly to Progress 249 Bibliography 251 3. The Role of the Biologist in Industry 253 Introduction 253 Industrial Applications 254 The Food Industries 255 Meat and Meat Products 256 Fish and Sea Foods 256 Milk and Milk Products 256 Eggs 257 Fruits 257 Vegetables 258 Fungi 258 Commercial Yeast Manufacture 258 Manufacture of Bacterial Cultures 258 Cereals and Cereal Products 258 Sugar and Sugar Products 259 Food Fats and Oils 259 Spices, Condiments, Unfermented Beverages 259 Fermented Foods 260 Fermentation Industries 260 New Organisms 260 Nutritional Requirements 260 Physical Factors 260 Biological Products 261 Vitamins 261 Enzymes 261 Hormones and Auxins 262 Vaccines 262 Sera 262 Diagnostic Agents 262 Chemical Products 263 Chemotherapy 263 Fungicides, Insecticides, Germicides, Deter- gents 263 Relation of Parasites to Industry 263 Waste Disposal 264 Plant and Animal Breeding 264 Training of the Industrial Biologist 265 Trends in Biological Research and New Develof)- ments 266 Bibliography 266 Industrial Mathematics 268 Introduction 268 Mathematicians in Industry 268 What is a Mathematician? 268 The Place of the Mathematician in Industrial Research 269 Qualifications Necessary for Success as an Industrial Mathematician 270 Employment and Supervision 270 The Mathematical Research Department of the Bell Telephone Laboratories 271 The Mathematician in the Small Laboratory 271 Number Employed 272 Future Demand 272 Source of Supply 272 221 222 National Resources Planning Board Mathematics in Industry Subjects Used Types of Service Performed by Mathematics Mathematics in Some Particular Industries Communications Electrical Manufacturing The Petroleum Industry Aircraft Manufacture Industrial Statistics and Statisticians Statisticians in Industry Statistics in Industry Conclusion Bibliography Metallurgical Research as a National Resource Scope of Metallurgy Economic Consequences of Metallurgical Research Group vs. Individual Research Lessons from the Past Machining and Machinability Joining of Metals Outstanding Work in the Steel Industry Continuous Rolling Continuous Tubing Continuous Forming from the Melt Raw Materials New Viewpoints Copper and Phosphorus in Steels Stainless Steels Clad Metals Hydrogen in Steel The Rare Elements Put to Use Nonferrous Examples Zinc Magnesium Aluminum and Precipitation Hardening Powder Metallurgy Adaptations From Other Sciences — Electron Diffraction Mineralogical Methods Utilized Instruments and Equipment The Pyrometer The Induction Furnace New Arms, New Conquests Provision for the Future Whence Will Come the Fundamental Metal- lurgical Research of the Future? The Supply of Future Workers The Personality of a Research Man The Education of a Metallurgical Research Worker His Development Job Stability Working Conditions The Written Word Cooperative Effort Modes of Joint Research Utilization of Outside Aid in Research Public Funds Not Available for Metallurgical Research Competition vs. Monopoly in Research Research in Relation to Employment Research on Research True vs. Alleged Research Pago I'oge 273 Acceptance of Research 304 273 Summary 304 277 Bibliography 305 238 6. The Chemical Engineer in Industrial Research 306 283 Fields of Application 307 284 Functions in Research and Development 309 284 The Pilot Plant 310 285 University and Institutional Research 310 286 Technological Research 311 286 Economic and Commercial Research 314 286 What Lies Ahead? 314 288 Bibliography 315 288 7. Industrial Research in the Field of Electrical Engineer- 289 ing. 316 290 Introduction 316 290 Evolution of Industrial Research in Electrical 291 Engineering 317 292 The Consequences of the Evolution 318 292 Analysis of our Current Activities 318 293 Measurements 318 293 Electrical Communications 319 294 Electric Illumination 322 294 The Generation, Transmission and General 294 Utilization of Electric Power 323 294 Insulated Electric Cables for Power Trans- 294 mission and Distribution 324 295 Miscellaneous Applications 325 295 Future Promises 326 295 8. Industrial Research by Mechanical Engineers 328 296 Introduction 328 296 Basis of This Report 328 296 Distinction Between Mechanical Engineers 296 and Others 329 296 Process Research 330 Inspection of Raw Materials 330 297 Study of Raw Materials Study of Manufacturing Equipment and 331 297 Processes 332 297 Control of Production 334 297 Management 335 298 Product Research 336 298 Product Development 336 298 Are Design and Development Research? 337 298 New Products 338 New L'ses and New Markets 339 298 Fundamental Research 340 298 Types of Research Organization in Manufacturing 342 299 Research in Operation-Type Industries 342 Materials 342 299 Operation 343 299 New Devices and Apparatus 343 300 Management 344 300 Conclusions 345 300 Bibliography 345 301 9. The Significance of Industrial Research in Border-Line 301 Fields 347 302 Introduction 347 Biochemistry 348 302 Biophysics 352 303 Geology — Geochemistry — Geophysics 356 303 Rheology 359 304 Conclusion 359 304 Bibliography 360 SECTION VI CHEMISTRY IN INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH By Harrison E. Howe Editor, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Washington, D. C. ABSTRACT This brief discussion points out the place of chemistry among basic sciences, distinguishes between the fields of pure and applied chemistry, and lists the following factors as those which motivate chemical research: Desire for new knowledge, dissatisfaction with a product or a process, hope of fulfilling a new need, possibility for utilization of raw materials or waste products. It is pointed out that some industries — being born of research — pursue it as a matter of course and owe most of their success to such a policy. Forward looking executives initiate research seeking the advantages it is known to afford. In addition research is undertaken by those who are continually combatting or actively creating competition, and others obliged by law to do so, for example, those who must dispose of waste which is either a nuisance or a hazard. The facilities for industrial research are discussed. These include laboratories of manufacturers, educa- tional institutions, research foundations, endowed institutes and occasionally those of the Government, the services of consultants and sometimes of trade associations. How research may begin is indicated, and the im- portance of the time element is stressed since this is often overlooked by those just beginning research. A considerable portion of the chapter is devoted to accomplishments of chemical research. Examples in- clude creation of new industries, breaking of monopolies, improvement of products, utilization of wastes, reduc- tion of costs, discovery of new raw materials and new uses for old products, manufacture of new products, and invention of new processes. Future trends are discussed from the standpoint of controlling factors. These include new techniques, competitive situations which may develop, and public opinion. Brief mention is made of fields in which greatest activity is expected in the future. Chemistry and Its Field Chemistry may be defined as the science which deals with the composition of matter and the changes it undergoes under various conditions of temperature and pressure. The chemist is particularly concerned with reactions between elements, their compounds, and mixtures. These reactions produce still other com- pounds, and todaj' much of chemistry has to do with so controlling the direction and extent of these reac- tions as to produce satisfactory yields of predetermined new compounds. Chemistry, physics, and mathematics are the basic branches of science. Chemistry is one of the funda- mental sciences, hence it is but natural that its field of application is one of the broadest. This accounts in large measure for the early application of chemical research to industrial problems, its utilization in the broad fields of biology and medicine, and for chemistry as employed in plant control even where physical rather than chemical changes are involved. For example. chemical analysis is important in determining the prop- erties of metals and alloys used Ln a machine shop where the transformations are almost wholly in the field of physics. The types of research in which chem- istry is employed will be discussed later and in greater detail. Two great divisions of chemistrj' — pure and ap- plied— are still recognized, though often the borderline is indistinct. "Pxu-e chemistry" is the term used to describe work undertaken primarily to expand knowl- edge in the science. It is carried on without reference to the possible practical application of the new truths discovered or of the new data established. It is science for the sake of science, and in the past there have been examples of workers who discontinued a chosen line of study as soon as it became evident to them that what they were doing had some industrial application. The declaration of Millikan that "all research to be justi- fied must ultimately be useful" is recognized as sound by an increasing number of workers in pure science. 223 224 National Resources Planning Board Kettering once said that the principal difTcrcnce between pure and appHed science lies in the fact that a pure scientist is seeking the answer to some problem without any particular urgency, while the worker in the applied field needs his answer and that in a hurry. "Applied chemistry" is a designation reserved for work undertaken with some immediate utilization of the results intended. There is a definite accomplishment, a well defined goal, a practical problem in mind when the work is planned and undertaken. It is supposed to have a more commercial flavor than the so-called pure research. There is no essential difference in the degree of difficulties confronting workers in these two fields and the demand is equally high for training and capability. Much of the best-kno^\Ti and valuable research in the United States has been done by men in industrial labora- tories, and the same high order of accomplishment has characterized industrial research abroad. The line of demarcation is rendered still less distinct because men primarily engaged in pure science share the responsi- bility for applied science by engaging as consultants for industries, and often choosing subjects proposed by industry for the research problems of their graduate students. The arrangement is fortunate, because an insight into practical problems should make possible the improved training of men, the majority of whom later enter industry. Research Research is a scientific method for discovering new information which can be employed to extend Icnowl- edge in pure science and to the solution of industrial Figure bti. — Research and Development Laboratories, Bakelite Corporation, Bloomfield, Kew Jersey. (Unit of Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation) problems. It is a way to learn how to do that which has not been done previously by anyone. Those who un- dertake research should have an intimate knowledge of what has already been accomplished in their particular field, and their search should begin with the acquisition of such pertinent knowledge as is recorded in scientific literature and in patents. It is not uncommon to find research workers devoting as much time to a careful search of the literature as to experiments subsequently conducted in the laboratory. Incentives to Research \Miat gives rise to chemical research in industr}'? A necessary attribute of the successful research chemist is an inquiring mind. This does not imply mere curiosity but rather an intelligent desire for new knowl- edge with a view to its application to theoretical and practical problems. Some unusual phenomenon may have been noted and the man with an inquiring mind desires to ascertain its cause and its possible application. Learning why certain reactions take place usually leads to a knowledge of the factors involved which will enable the worker so to control the reaction as to produce the desired result. Oftentimes dissatisfaction wath a prod- uct or a process initiates chemical research to ascertain what is wrong and how to correct it. The effort to meet a need very often leads to a research project. The researcher realizes that some demand would exist for a new product of certain characteristics. He designs it, and then develops a process for its production. The rapidity with which the market accepts the product is a direct measure of the accuracy in evaluating the situation. The desire to use a certain raw material is another motive for undertaking research. Utilization or prevention of a waste has become an increasingly important motive. Increasing cost of some raw mate- rials is a factor but even more important is the stricter control of industrial operations in growing communi- ties where the number of ordinary means of disposal become smaller. Some wTiters and commentators even place injunction proceedings and law suits in the list of motivations for certain types of research programs in industry. There are stiU other factors that exert an influence in initiating research programs. There are those who are just naturally in research; the chemical industry, for example. Research is its outstanding characteristic. There is a constant effort in the chemical industry in particular to increase yields, to decrease and utilize wastes, to improve products, to lower costs, to introduce something new and useful upon the market, to manu- facture and sell at lower prices and through increased sales still further to reduce costs. All this involves chemical research from start to finish. A forward-looking executive also employs research to Industrial Research 225 meet new competition, to avoid surprise whicli other- wise might seriously jeopardize his business, and to prevent being placed at a great disadvantage should others come to know more about his business than he does himself. In a sense every manufacturer is on the defensive unless his scientific and technical staff is ever alert. A considerable number of conditions can always develop to endanger an industry's position, no matter how strong. There is often the possibility of some new and cheaper raw material. A new process or improved equipment may entirely change the economy of opera- tions. The demand and market for his products can be changed by the introduction of competitive products. New laws or regulations can quickly modify the indus- trial picture. After all, it is these uncertainties that keep business from becoming a rather monotonous game, and research accomplishments in any of these sectors not only result in economic advantages but provide stimulating satisfaction as well. The Conduct of Industrial Research Research in industry is conducted in many different ways, the most satisfactory depending upon varied factors. Many industries prefer to install their own laboratories and to proceed in their own way with or without the help of independent consultants. Some laboratories may be found where one man carries on the work with only the assistance of a laboratory boy to wash the glassware and collect samples. Indeed, in some instances the boy may be absent. The other extreme is a highly successful chemical company which in recent years has spent as much as seven million dollars annually on its research and development pro- gram. There are many research groups of different sizes between these extremes, set up in accordance with the needs of their organizations, well manned, well equipped, well housed, and doing important and profitable work. Educational Institutions Some industrial research is conducted in educational institutions, sometimes by members of the teaching staff who can devote a part of their time to such activi- ties, and sometimes through fellowships maintained by the industry interested. There are certain advantages in this procedure, particularly in the lowered costs for the work and the fact that the holder of the fellowship may in this manner become especially trained to enter the employment of the sponsoring manufacturer upon graduation. However, there are certain disadvantages in that the student cannot receive from his professor all the assistance desirable, the work is not in close con- tact with the plant, and it is not always easy quickly to apply the results or where desirable to avoid prema- ture pubhcity for what has been found. Perhaps the most important disadvantage is that the byproducts, i. e., skill, provocative suggestions, outgrowths, etc., of the research, fail to take root in the business for which the work was done. Patents present a particular difficulty and their control in connection with university work has caused a number of different procedures to be adopted. Consultants Some firms prefer to have most of their research done by consultants on a retainer basis. Ethical consultants seek to avoid complications by confining their attention to a single client in each field of manufacturing at a time, and by carefully respecting all confidences. The manufacturer utilizing the services of consultants can have his work conducted at a minimum of expense, or can invest in the research program as heavily as he sees fit. There is flexibility in the nmnber of those assigned to his work, he avoids large initial expenditures in equipment and gains from the experience of those directing his work. Frequent reports as weU as direct personal contacts with those directing the program can keep the manufacturer closely in touch with progress. Government Laboratories Of late years some industrial research has been con- ducted in the laboratories of the Federal Government through a system of associates. The arrangement obligates the manufacturer to pay the salaries of the men employed on his problem, and perhaps something for necessary materials, and gives him the advantage Figure 67. — Research Laboratory, Monsanto Chemical Com- pany, St. Louis, Missouri 22G National Resources Planning Board of equipment, buildings, facilities, and direction which otherwise might not be available to him. The basis upon which such work is done varies in different depart- ments, but in general the manufacturer has a minimum of control, the results are available for immediate pub- lication, and the nature of the problem is usually determined by its general interest, since otherwise public facilities could not properly be made available. Some of the industrial research conducted in Govern- ment laboratories has been in fields where industrj' has been apathetic and needed to be shown by some prac- tical demonstration the great assistance science can afford. In such instances the intention has been to initiate the work but not to carry it on indefinitely, in the expectation that the industry concerned would see the advantages of maintaining its own facilities for research and control. Trade Associations Oftentimes unsolved problems are so fundamental that their solution should be undertaken on behalf of all the individual concerns engaged in the same line of manufacture. Some of this work has been done successfully through trade associations which have built, equipped, and manned special laboratories for the purpose. The extent to which individual companies have profited or can profit from such enterprises de- pends directly upon the capabOities of their individual staffs. Obviously reports of such research mean little to the nontechnical man, but the company with the best scientific staff is in position to apply the new data at once, and thereby to obtain a substantial advantage over firms lacking good scientific departments. Trade associations have done much good work that has been of particular value to the smaller units in that ti'ade which otherwise might not have profited from applied research. Endowed Institutes The endowed institute is, with one or two exceptions, a recent innovation. Some of these institutes have as a definite objective training men in addition to conduct- ing applied research. This is a variation of the fellow- ship system, usually employs men who have graduated many of them with the highest academic degrees — and who are well paid by the donor to attack definite indus- trial problems under the direction of experienced investi- gators. Engaged on a salary basis, they sometimes have an opportunity to add to that income by a share in patentable results of their own work or by some other plan. If successful with their problem they often proceed to the industry for which it was solved, there to supervise the manufacture of a new product or the operation of a new process along the line of their re- search, or perhaps to continue the work in the private laboratory of the company. Research Foundations Recently, some educational institutions have set up foundations within their ow7i organizations to carrj' on this type of industrial research, any profit augment- ing the university's funds for fundamental research. It is obvious that the success of such plans cannot be uniform and that many factors influence them. Another type of research organization is the research foundations, of which there are several in the United States. These foundations, for the most part, are engaged in fimdamental research, with the advance- ment of science or the good of the public at large as their principal objective. They are well organized, amply financed, and their record of accomplislunent is too well known to require elaboration here. The question naturally arises — to what extent do these various agencies exchange information? Are the results of their work made public? Obviously the work done by trade associations, in certain types of endowed institutions, and certainly the results of research in Government laboratories, become readily available through publication and otherwise to those who have supported the work and frequently, in addition, to those known to be interested. But what about results achieved in private laboratories or sup- ported by individual organizations? It is true that many of these results are not released before patents are granted, or at least until application for patent is made. The reports of some work are not available to outsiders until whoever sponsored it feels justified in taking this step or unless the results are in such form that they will give no material aid to a competitor. That is a perfectly proper and natural business procedure. On the other hand the results of a vast amoimt of research are made freely available to all who are interested. Hundreds of scientific publications throughout the world regularly print such information. There are abstract journals which publish the meat of these articles regardless of the language of original publication. The men who do the work congregate in frequent meetings, discuss papers, and exchange information ui private sessions. The rapid rise in the teclinological and scientific level in some industries can be traced directly to a faltering beginning of open discussion between the research and teclmical men of the industry, who were at first brought together infrequently and who now meet semiannually imder the auspices of the American Chemical Society or the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. There has been a marked increase in the willingness of the larger corporations Industrial Research 227 to share with the smaller companies, usually without charge, some of the results of their own research. The establislmicnt of "teclmical service" by those who manufacture a product or equipment has brought well- trained men into the plant of the consumer and made available to him the results of costly and time-consum- ing investigations. There are even financial organiza- tions which make it their business to help by bringing the small manufacturer into contact with a larger one who is willing to share at least a i)ortion of what he has learned thi'ough research. Advertising agencies have been known to assist manufacturers to improve products or to devise new ones bj' brhiging them mto contact with consultants and other groups prepared to do research. The agency profited by handling an increased advertising account. The manufacturer who has never thought of industrial research as something within his means is frequently surprised to learn of the assistance he can get and the extent to which he can go within the limits of his purse, if he really becomes research-minded. Today there is a far greater exchange of information in the ways mdicated, and in accordance with agreements made to exchange information, than is generally supposed. A ready exchange of information along some lines takes place through the medium of an informally organized group of research directors who meet frequently and discuss a variety of common problems. Costs The manufacturer, large or small, who first ap- nroaches the question of research will ask early in his nvestigations, "What wdl it cost?" The answer must differ in each case. Some types of work can be begun in small quarters with inexpensive equipment. Others may require a large investment in apparatus, much space, and a large staff of trained men. In addition to equipment and space, a cost of between $4,000 and $5,000 per man per year will care for the salary and supplies, including some special laboratory apparatus and equipment, stenographic work, etc. It obviously does not mean that all men will receive the same stipend. It is an average figure for a group. It will be obvious that research is one of those ventures that require much "educated patient money," to quote the late Dr. John E. Teeple. The Time Factor Patience is also needed between the time an idea is conceived and its result is in commercial production. Experienced men differ as to this time factor, but it is somewhere between 5 and 10 years, with perhaps 7 or 8 as an average. Even then it is not likely that per- fection will have been attained, and research continues .321835—41 IG for years after a product has become commercial. Nothing is more discouraging to the research man than to be obliged to work under that type of constant pressure which reflects the cash-register attitude. It is not to be expected that research will begin at once to ring up the profits. Time is always an important element and short cuts to success are infrequent. It has been said that developing a new idea is somewhat like hatching an egg, and a hen cannot be hurried. Organizing for Research In initiating research two principal problems must be solved — preparation of a program of work and the selection of suitable personnel. There must be a care- ful choice of the problems to be attacked. From a large number of problems presenting themselves, those who Ivnow what is to be accomplished and who are familiar with the industry must make a well-considered choice and, having done that, can profitably go over the ground again and again. The president of a large chemical company recently said that, if a half dozen or so out of 200 suggestions initially proposed become really profitable after much time and money are spent in their development, his concern is well pleased. With the problems selected, it is somewhat easier to determine the type of men required and recruit them with their specialties in mind. Specialists alone, how- ever, are unlikely to obtain the best results. In any such group a man broadly trained in fundamental science will be found most useful. Long-established laboratories will usually be found to have teams of investigators prepared to devote their energies to the assignments given them by the director. And after years of work in a particular industry, the laboratory of such a firm naturally becomes adapted tlu-ough a process of selection to the kind of work most likely to confront it. There has been at least one instance where a well- to-do concern tried the plan of employing a considerable number of the best-trained men, most of them with good scientific reputations, in the belief that if such a group were given a well-equipped laboratory and worked there for a time, as seemed best to it, something revolu- tionary and profitable must be evolved. But there was no planned program for this highly trained group, and the undertaking was on such a grand scale that, before anything sufficiently fruitful could be evolved, funds became scarce and the scheme was abandoned. If it ever achieved success, such a scheme would have required years to show a profit. Looking at research for the first time, anyone interested is likely to ask, "Wliat has it accomplished to recommend it to me?" The answer can be a very long story. The rapid rise and expansion of industrial 228 National Resources Planning Board Figure GS. — A Chemical Research Laljoratory, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Incorporated, Wihuington, Delaware America, especially in the last 25 years, can be attrib- uted in large part to the intensive application of research. One important result is that still more research has been undertaken. New Industries Created Alanj' new industries have been created. A modern example is in the growing utilization of fractions of petroleum, and, indeed, of individual hydrocarbons derived therefrom. Butane, propane, and pentane are among those raw materials that have lent themselves to the production of new lines of chemicals and the s^ni- thesis of well-known individual compounds. Today ethylene is made the source of manj' millions of gallons of alcohol, while acetone and even glycerin must be numbered among items S5mthesized from petroleum gases. One of our best examples is the synthetic resin industry, because of its impress upon nearly every other industry. Early in our century the literature revealed some experiments in organic chemistry which had not yielded the product sought by the initial investigator, but which suggested to a reader a new line of research. The result was the synthetic resin, Bakclite, a conden- sation product of phenol and formaldehyde. That appeared in 1907, smce which time whole new groups of resins have been introduced. Application of these materials has involved research and ingenuity almost on a par with the preparation of the resins themselves. New raw materials have been employed, additional characteristics have been imparted to the resins, and manufacturers are now quite likely to inquire first of all as to whether a resin will serve as a raw material before investigating metals, wood, or other substances. The manufacture of rayon in its various kinds is well known as a new industry created through chemical research. Though begun with the pioneer work of Chardonnet in the gay nineties, it is still a subject of intensive research and the improved yarns and fabrics that are offered year by year to the consuming public indicate the success of that continuing program. Other kinds of synthetic fibers are now emerging from the research laboratories. A new industry was created when chemists joined engineers in a search for the reason why internal-com- bustion motors developed a knock, and, having dis- covered the cause, undertook to provide a solution. Thus the manufacture and distribution of tetraethyl lead have become a new industry of great magnitude. The ehlorination of hydrocarbons for the manufacture of new solvents and of chemicals wliich until lately have been almost theoretical, or were at best produced only on a laboratory scale, is another instance of a highly successfid industry built entirely on chemical research. The list of new industries created through chemical research in particular could be made of great length, but the facts are well known, and social planners, economists, and those interested in public welfare have come to regard research as the most hopeful soiutc of newer and bigger industries that would be potent in helping to solve the complex unemployment problem. Monopolies Broken Industrial research is often effective in breaking certain types of monopolies. It is more effective than legislation in accomplishing this end, because it achieves its objective constructively, finding new sources or offering equivalent products rather than destroying those already available. Let the demand be insistent enough or the monetary reward high enough, and research will be initiated to circumvent patents, to produce that which has formerly been a natural national monopoly, or to find a dissimilar material capable of performing the same service. The fixation of atmos- pheric nitrogen, now proceeding in all important coun- tries, effectively destroyed the Chilean monopoly which had existed until 1912. Sir Wilham Crookes' fear of famine due to a nitrogen shortage of fertilizers has long since vanished, and we now have a peacetime world Industrial Research 229 surplus of lixcd nitrogen. The a%'ailability of low-cost synthetic ammonia has given rise to new chemical processes, and the high-temperature high-pressure technique concurrently developed has become the foundation for new industries and the improvement of many old ones. Camphor was the natural national monopoly of Japan until 25 years ago. The high prices during the World War enticed the research chemist to synthesize it, and methods were developed in Europe and the United States. The effort was sufficiently successful to bring the price back to normal. Further improve- ments have led to an abundant supply of both technical and U. S. P. camphor from American turpentine as the raw material, and today even Japan is considering the manufacture of S3'nthetic camphor. Another example is iodine, long a monopoly controlled by Chile and a byproduct in the manufacture of nitrate. Now this useful element is separated from the brines and bitterns of California, and Chile has lost the domi- nation of the market. This is an incomplete list, but serves to show how chemical research in industry can effect changes that are international in their implications. Improved Products From the list of products improved through research, one need only choose examples from the results of the last year or two to emphasize the point sufficiently. Shatterproof glass is of comparatively recent origin. The original cellulose nitrate interlayer was superseded by cellulose acetate which was less liable to discolora- tion, did not lose its transparency, and which could be made by a continuous process with less wastage. This was an improvement, but both these laminating sub- stances were brittle at low temperatures and conse- quently did not then afford the protection expected of safety glass. Acrylic resin and vinyl acetate were also used, but in 1939 a polyvinyl acetal resin was perfected. This resin, which is exceedingly elastic and strong, is sandwiched between the sheets of glass with- out other adhesive, requires no edge sealing, retains its elasticity even at low temperatures, so as to absorb much of the energy of a blow, and objects striking such glass are much more likely to rebound from it than to penetrate it. This accomplishment has come about through cooperative research by several companies and is the reward for constant effort to devise a cheaper laminating material which would not suffer loss of transparency, which would resist discoloration, and remain elastic under a wide variety of conditions. Varnish and similar coatings have been much im- proved by research on film-forming oils like china-wood or tung oil, the oils of other vegetable and plant sources, the most recent of which is castor oil. ^\^len dehy- drated, castor oil becomes an excellent unsaturated drying oil, with properties that permit tiie use with it of optimum quantities of synthetic resins to produce a film of unusual wearing qualities. The story of lacquer is certainly now well known but is an excellent example of improving products through research. Modern lacquers were originally based on cellulose nitrate, and while vast quantities of this material are still used for the purpose, some of the newer alkyd resins are widely employed, and the user now enjoys a wide choice of these coatings to meet special requirements. The increase in the number of lacquers and their improve- ment has been a beneficial, though revolutionaiy, influence in the paint, varnish, and lacquer field. In the textile field improved products have icsuUed from chemical methods for finishing j'arns and cloth. The use of moisture-repellent finishes is now standard practice, and this treatment also confers a substantial degree of stain resistance. The use of certain synthetic resins increases resistance to creasing, and velvets are now produced that withstand crushing far better than previously. Textile printing has been improved by the use of synthetic pigmented resins dispersed in a water emulsion and fixed by brief heating following printing. The improvements in the textiles themselves are generally recognized, and while much of this comes from design in weaving, knotting, etc., chemical research has had its part in improving the raw material itself. Work With Wastes One of the activities of which the research chemist is most proud is the prevention of wastes or their utiliza- tion. While much of this work in the past has been undertaken for economy's sake, it is recognized that industry has some obligations to its community and should refrain from polluting streams, soil, and air. As the density of population increases, satisfactorj' waste disposal becomes a legal requirement in some areas. Cases often arise where the prevention of a nuisance is the sole reward the manufacturer can expect from the treatment of waste, but there have been a few cases where monetary profits have accrued. The economics of waste utilization are too frequentl3' disregarded. One of the best examples is to be found in the utilization of waste corn stalks, cotton stalks and the like, frequently proposed as sources of cellulose to be used in the manufacture of rayon or paper pulp. Anyone skilled in the art knows that chemical cellulose can be derived not only from corn and cotton stalks but from many other cellulose-producing plants. What is not so well known is that to produce a satisfactory grade of cellulose from these sources, including the cost of collection and storage of the raw material, costs much more than cellulose produced from wood and cotton linters. The nature of the latter is such that storage problems are minimized and the high concentration 230 National Resources Planning Board of cellulose in them constitutes an advantage difficult to equal. There have recently come upon the market products from the waste sulfite liquor of the pulp industry. The material of principal value in tliis liquor is lignin, and foundry core binders and materials for highway construction have been two products from it. More recently, one mill has devised a method for the pro- duction of a low-cost plastic from sulfite liquor, and of synthetic vanillin wliich successfully competes in the market with that derived from coal tar. The re- covery of sulfur dioxide and trioxide from smelter fumes from power plants has been successful. Sulfuric acid is the principal product, but if all fumes were so used so much acid would be made that it would become something of a nuisance. Elemental sulfur is also recovered from such sources. The carbon dioxide formerly wasted from fermenta- tion operations now finds sale as solid carbon dioxide or dry ice for refrigeration. The city of Milwaukee for some years has been able so to treat its sewage as to produce a fertilizer, the sale of which has materially lessened the cost of sewage disposal. The sugar in- dustry finds a steady market for its waste molasses wliich is used for the growth of yeast and the production of alcohol. One of the great distilleries has devised a process for treating its waste, which must be kept out of local streams, so that the resulting feedstuff pays the overhead for the entire plant. Furfural, which fmds extensive application in the purification of rosin and the manufacture of lubricating oils, to mention but two uses, is the result of waste product utilization, since it is derived from oat hulls. Cost Reduction The reduction of costs is always important in manu- facturing. Two examples should suffice. In the slightly more than 50 years that aluminum has been a commercial metal, the price to the consumer has been reduced from 10 to 12 dollars per pound to the point where the metal in foil form competes with paper for making milk bottle caps and to provide individual cases for cigars. "Cellophane" cellulose film was intro- duced in 1926 and since then its price has been reduced voluntarily 20 times. Indeed, it has come to be rec- ognized that the philosophy of the chemical industry is constantly to reduce the price to the ultimate con- sumer, for each reduction tends to broaden the market, increase the demand, and make possible a greater volume of production, by means of wliich manufactur- ing costs may be lowered further and sellmg prices reduced again. This is also true in the pharmaceutical industry and many examples could be cited to show how, through the procedure we are discussing, the ultimate consumer has reaped monetary benefit. This was accomplished not only without lowering standards, but generally with improved quality. New Raw Materials Industries are sometimes forced to find new raw materials and always benefit when they are found, if for no other reason than because they have a wider choice of materials and cannot be so easily subjected to price control. The development of deli5^drated castor oil, mentioned earlier, will serve as an example. Its importance has greatly increased since difficulties in the Far East have interfered with the importation of tung oil. Wliile the production of tung oil in the United States is increasing rapidly, the vast quantities required in the varnish industry still make necessary large imports. The dehydrated castor oil replaces much of this tung oil and thereby relieves that pressure. The castor beans for the production of this oil are normally imported — • coming in greater part from South America, with some from India. Wliether they can be produced on a commercial basis in the United States in competi- tion with excellent growing conditions for perennial plants and cheap labor for harvesting the beans re- mains to be seen. A paper mill in New England has developed a satisfactory method for the production of pulp from hardwood, and by so doing has brought into the field of its raw materials great stands of satis- factory woods which, coming as they do from varieties not heretofore so utilized, add enormously to raw material supply. The work that has been done in the South looking to the use of southern pines, par- ticularly for the production of pulp satisfactor}^ to the rayon industry, for the manufacture of kraft, and now for newsprint, is a similar example. One of the most conspicuous instances of finding a new source concerns the separation of bromine from sea water. This became imperative when the greatly increased demands for bromine arose with the use of tetraethyl lead. Until this development, our bromine was derived from the brines of northern Michigan. But this source was thought to be insufficient and, fol- lowing pioneering research on the part of several groups, it is now recovered from the sea. Subsequent develop- ment has been very rapid. New Uses Another service to industry consists in the search for new uses that will increase the market demand for products. The diverse applications of synthetic resins offers one of the best examples. It has been found that urea, originally produced for fertilizer, later used as a raw material for a resin, promotes healing of wounds, and that pectin is efficacious in preventing bleeding at bodily surfaces. Liver, once a waste in the packing industry, has become the raw material for medicinal Industrial Research 231 preparations, as has the pancreas, used in the production of insuUn. And stainless steel has reached a new dignity in becoming the alloy for coinage in one of the European countries. It is also used as the palate por- tion of artificial dentures. New Products When we come to new products, the list could be made most extensive. One great company, reviewing the more important developmental lines over a 10-year period, discussed 12 groups of products, none of which had been in production at the beginning of the period. These 12 lines accounted for about 40 percent of the company's total sales volume for the year reported. Other industries can show variants of this ratio. At the moment we hear most of new fibers like nylon yarn, which has a higher strength-elasticity factor than that of any textile fiber now in common use, whether cotton, linen, rayon, or silk, to offer new competition for natural bristles used in various brushes, to become a coating material, and which will doubtless find many appli- cations in other directions. Vinyon is another of the new fibers, resistant to dilute acids and alkalies, and therefore gaining in popularity as a medium for filtra- tion. Glass fiber with surprising properties when one considers glass as it is ordinarily met is now available in colors and, as a nonflammable, enduring fabric, is pushing its way in competition with Imen and cotton for draperies, table covers, and in the electrical industry as a competitor with asbestos. Kodachrome brings pleasure and instruction to millions, being the most successful of the ])liotogiai)hic films reproducing a scene in natural colors. The vitamins, so mysterious 30 years ago, have been isolated in numbers as research has gone on and, of the 15 now recognized, 8 have been synthesized. Some of these are available at a price lower than when derived from natural sources. Vita- mine Bi, now known as thiamin chloride, is available at such cost that it can be used profitably to aid the root development of plants. It will be used to replace vitamin Bj removed from wheat flour by milling. A high Bi yeast now on the market when used in amounts for leavening will restore the B, of white flour removed by milling. Indole acetic acid and propionic acids also function as synthetic auxins in promoting root develop- ment in vegetative reproduction of plants from cuttings. The new medicinals that have been born of reseai'ch are of greatest importance and comprise a very long list of their own. We hear much of sulfanilamide and its derivatives and rightly so, as measured by the results that have been accomplished. There is reason to believe however, that the further development of these deriva- ■ ^.; %.#■ '''**" iir ^^HHHHBE^^^Bfe^^. B^ ■■in nil N n .. J|ipii"rl /Piiiji .^ .^M . aj|--^ll^ 1 --■SI r Bk^WP^ n 1' rl Figure 69. — Main Library, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Micliigan 232 National Resources Planning Board lives may produce results no less startling than those that are on record. This planned group research is an excellent example of the modern method wherein in- stead of just continuing work with the hope of finding something useful, the objective is definitely outlined and careful plans are made for the campaign whieli sliould end in its achievement. The necessity of finding a nontoxic and nonflamma- ble refrigerant for use in largo systems, not only for household refrigerators but for air-conditioning, led to the development of a family of fluorinated hydrocarbons one of which is dichlorodifluoromethane now called "Freon." This is an instance of an invention made to order to meet a distinct need. The wetting agents and detergents are new products of importance wherever aqueous solutions are employed, whether for textiles, dyeing and finishing, or in the laundries or machine shops for cleansing. The control of surface tension and the prevention of precipitation of the calcium and magnesium salts which cause hardness in water have come within the last decade and are used all the way from the removal of oil films from machine parts and laundering of clothes to dentifrices. The synthetic rubberlike plastics are among the newer and most exciting materials of this sort and have long been sought by the research chemist. Neoprene, Thiokol, Koroseal, and Buna have become common names and represent various materials each of which is superior to natural rubber for some particular service. Butyl rubber, Chemigum, and Ameripol were intro- duced in 1940. So old a material as glass is constantly improved and new kinds made available. One of the latest of these is shrunk glass, produced by dissolving certain constituents from the finished molded ware and then submitting the residtant piece to further heat treat- ment. The final product is approximately one-half the bulk of the initial piece and in the process it acquires many of the valuable properties of fused silica. The field of insecticides is so important in our continuing battle with the insects that advances there are of public in- terest. Investigations showing how to separate and use active principles from heretofore little Imown plants like derris and cube have been very helpful. Research also has devised and continues to discover new organic and inorganic compounds that have proved very efficient against certain pests. New Processes New processes are not uncommon where chemical re- search is being applied. Ethanol, long derived only by the fermentation of sugars and starches, is now syn- thesized by the millions of gallons from petroleum gases. The most recent process for making urea produces that compound from carbon dioxide and ammonia. In 1939 methanol (crude natural) was produced by wood dis- tillation to the extent of 4,659,589 gallons and by syn- thetic process from carbon mono.xide and hydrogen to the amount of 34,255,699 gallons. The contact process for the manufacture of sulfuric acid, using either the platinum or vanadium catalyst, has largely replaced the lead chamber method, and phosphoric acid is produced by new electrolytic proc- esses. It was a new process for the production of phthalic anhydride that made possible at reasonable costs the production of large amounts required. New processes for the production of cyanide arc more than merely interesting in view of the growing importance of that chemical as a raw material for many uses. Acetic acid and acetic anhydride are no longer made as they were even 25 years ago. Conversations with the manager of any chemical plant will reveal the fact that whereas the concern began by manufacturing its prod- ucts in certain ways, marked improvements have been made through research with distinct gains in economy of operations. Simplification of processes and in- creased efficiency are the order of the day. Materials for Equipment Construction Many of these processes have had to wait for better construction materials and praise must be given those whose brilliant work has supplied such needs. Low-cost oxidation of synthetic ammonia to concentrated nitric acid was not possible until the advent of stainless steel. Glass-lined equipment, or that made entirely of special glass or fused quartz has been required for other proc- esses. The ceramic industry has played its part in improving its wares and the production of entirely new equipment from clays and similar raw materials. Auto- matic control, improved methods of heating, the devel- opment of the exceedingly important high-temperature high-pressure technique are among the marvels of our time. Even advances in methods of transportation and improvements in packaging have all plaj'ed their part in rounding out a procedure that has made the chemical industry itself and also as a contributor to other indus- tries, so great and vital to the American people. It well justifies the designation of a "key industry." All of these things are fruits of persistent research conducted in continuity. It is difficult to say in which fields the most has been done. If we use the publication of scientific papers and of patents as a criterion, we may gain some idea of the extent of research activity. If measured by the pub- lished abstracts of such scientific papers, we find first place in pure science belonging to biological chemistry, second to general and physical chemistry, and the third to organic chemistry. Industrial chemistr^^ shows soils, fertilizers, and agricultural poisons first, foods second, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and perfumes third, dyes and textile chemistrv fourth. If we turn our attention Industrial Research 233 to the patent record, the chemical industry and mis- cellaneous in(histrial products stand first, dyes and textile chemistry second, metalku-gy and metallography third, apparatus, plant equipment, and unit operations fourlli. These arc from a list of thirty classifications. Promises for the Future As for the future, we may quote Willis R. Whitney, who said, "The impossible is only what we have not learned to do." Research is planned and carried on toda}' in a manner that affords the outstanding indi- vidual the support of an organized group of which he becomes the leader. An objective having been deter- mined, a campaign is carefully devised to achieve it. Thus some years ago Irving Langmuir became interested in filaments for electric lights and in the electrical con- ductivity of gases and began his experiments accord- ingly. It was in the pursuit of this work that certain new data were established leading to the first of the modern incandescent electric lamps, wherein gases like argon are used in place of exhausting tlie bulb to a point approaching a vacuum. The result has been of enormous economic benefit to lamp users and the re- search has brought still other gains. Dr. Langmuir's work on thin films is another classic example of initial results of research originating with an individual and carried forward by him with the assistance of an appro- priate research group. New methods developed concurrently and in the hands of the well trained researcher offer new possibili- ties in the future. We have come to use procedures calling for infrared rays and X-rays, catalysis, in the solid, liquid, or vapor phase, very high or very low temperatures, not only in investigation but in actual production. New equipment of glass, stainless steel, clad metals, silver, ceramics, resins or any other material required is available as never before, and the giant vessels in which the cracking of petroleum and catalysis are carried on in many industries entitle the steel industry to a word of praise. New theories are no less valuable a tool than are possibilities of new equip- ment. Considerations of monomolecular layers, of atomic structure, of quantum mechanics, and of isotopes are useful and some of them so new that evaluation of their future trends is difficult. The importance of cumulative recorded experience must not be overlooked. Here again the scientific literature takes its place as perhaps the most important tool. The rapid progress of the day can be credited in large measure to the cumulative dividend the present enjoys on the work of the past. It is the recorded accumulation of some 200 years' research that is brought to play on today's problems. Then too there are more and better trained men available than ever before and there is greater fiiith in the possibilities. The change in attitude toward applied research in industry that has taken place in this century is of the utmost significance. It is a change from conducting resean^h in secret, and with some apologies for this evidence of supposed weakness in an organization to pleasure in advertising the fact that the pursuit of science by the best possible means is one of the greatest assets of an industrial organization. Once abandoned in time of emergency, today research is accelerated under similar conditions by farseeing execu- tives. All these are factors in our new progress. It is sometimes asked why so large a percentage of the research workers are in chemistry. This may be ex- plained by the fundamental position that cliemistry holds and consequently its applicability to practically all industry, as well as its utilization in most branches of science. Industry demands the continual develop- ment of new and better products. The industries need exact and specific knowledge of the properties of their materials, whether they are engaged in applied physics or applied chemistry. The methods employed by a manufacturer must be equal or superior to those of his competitors if he is to maintain his place. In all these circumstances chemistry is needed. Figure 70. — Entrance to Research L.iljoratorv, AI>liott Labora- tories, North Chicago, Illinois 234 National Resources Planning Board The chemist has perhaps felt himself to be more a part of industry than have other scientists. In contrast with some other groups he was early engaged as a consultant and as an active worker on manufacturing problems. The pure and the applied scientist in this field have worked together more harmoniously and each has been more willing to credit the other with his con- tributions than in other countries or among other sciences in the United States. Perhaps the advances which it was able to bring about in the early days had much to do with attracting industry to the potentialities of applied chemistry and thus gave it something of a running start in its service to the manufacturer. Further and careful consideration of the types of prob- lems upon which most manufacturers wish assistance seems to indicate that chemistry is and promises to continue to be one of the greatest possible aids. It must be remembered too that the consulting chemist really pioneered in the specialty of being the someone to whom industry coidd go for assistance, and that the earliest popularization or humanization of science was done by chemists. All this must have had an influence on the trend that has resulted in so large a proportion of all those in industrial research having been trained as chemists. May there not also be some relation between the training of these men, who early leani analytical methods, learn how to distinguish between the important and the unimportant, how to watch for those small differences that so greatly dctennine final results, and the alert inquiring mind that characterizes the successful chemist? Trends are influenced by public demands for improved and new products, by the success of new techniques, by competitive situations that call for the production of better materials and ways to circumvent the restric- tions of monopoly, whether in the control of sources of raw materials or in the patented control of materials and processes, and by public opinion in many direc- tions. The type of work discussed here is certain to continue as long as consumers are dissatisfied with present materials, as long as there is a demand for a greater variety of manufactured products and for sometliing new, and as long as the scientist himself is motivated by the desire to know why things behave as they do. Chemistry applied in industry is in only the initial phase of its development. Bibliography Books DoNCAN, R. K. The chemistry of commerce. New York, London, Harper and Brothers, 1907. 262 p. Farnham, D. T., Hall, J. A., King, R. W., and Howe, H. E. Profitable science in industry. New York, Macmillan Company, 1925. 291 p. Haynes, Williams. Chemical pioneers. New Y'ork, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1939. 288 p. Holland, Maukice, and Pringle, H. F. Industrial explorers. New York, London, Harper and Brothers, 1928. 347 p. Howe, H. E. Chemistry in the world's work. New York, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1926. 244 p. .Morrison, A. C. Man in a chemical world; the service of chemi- cal industry. New York, London, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1937. 292 p. Slcsson, E. E. Creative cliemistry; descriptive of recent achievements in the chemical industries. New York, Century Company, 1919. 311 p. New edition, revised by H. E. Howe, 1930. 341 p. Journal articles Baekeland, L. H. Bakelite as an example of the impress of chemistry upon industry. Industrial and Engineering Chemis- try, 37, 538 (1935). Benger, E. B. Rayon industry, economic and technical aspects. Ibid., 28, 511 (1936). Braham, J. M. Developments in nitrogen fixation. Ibid., H, 791 (1922). Bridgwater, E. R. Economics of synthetic rubber. Ibid., 28, 394 (19.36). Brown, B. K. Research and invention in the petroleum in- dustry. Ibid. (.News Edition), 18, 347 (1940). Chemical Industry. Fortune, 16, 83 (December 1937). Cramer, Robert, and Wilson, J. A. Scientific sewage disposal at Milwaukee. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, SO, 4 (1928). Crossley, M. L. Tlie sulfanilamides as chemotherapeutic agents. Ibid. (News Edition), IS, 835 (1940). Edgar, Graham. Tetraethyl lead, manufacture and use. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 31, 1439 (1939). Frary, F. C. Ahiniiiium in the chemical industry. Ibid., 2f>, 1231 (1934). Gann, J. A. Magnesium alloys, recent progress. Ibid., 14, 864 (1922). Gubelmann, I. and Elley, H. W., American production of synthetic camphor from turpentine. Ibid., 26, 589 (1934). Hamor, W. a. Industrial research in 1939; advances in the United States and other countries. Ibid., 18, 1, 49 (1940). Hamor, W. A. Industrial research progress here and abroad during 1938. Ibid. 17, 1 (1939). Hamor, W. A.. Progress in industrial research here and abroad during 1937. Ibid., (News Edition), 16, 1 (1938). Henderson, W. F., and Dietrich, H. E. Cellulose sausage casings. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 18, 1190 (1926). Howard, G. C. Utilization of sulfite liquor. Ibid., 26, 614 (1934). Howe, H. E. Progress in garbage reduction. Ibid., 19, 608 (1927). Hyden, W. L. Manufacture and properties of regenerated cellulose films. Ibid., 21, 405 (1929). KiLLEFER, D. H. Drying oUs. lUd., 29, 1365 (1937). Koch, Albert. Buna rubbers. /6td., 52, 464 (1940). Kraybill, H. R. and others. (Symposium on) Industrial utili- zation of agricultural products. Ibid., SI, 141 (1939). Landis, W. S. Fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. Ibid., 7, 433 (1915). MiDGLEY, Tho.mas, Jr., and Hexne, A. L. Organic fluorides as refrigerants. Ibid., 22, 542 (1930). Mellon Institute. Researches of Mellon Institute, 1939-40. Ibid. (News Edition), 18, 287 (1940). Industrial Research 235 Olsen, J. C, and Maisner, Herman. Catalysts in sulfuric acid manufacture — vanadium. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 29, 254 (1937). Paine, H. S., Thdrber, F. H., Balch, R. T., and Richee, W. R. Manufacture of sweet potato starch in the United States. Ibid., SO, 1331 (1938). Plummer, J. H. Glass fiber, mechanical development. Ibid., SO, 726 (1938). Research Foundation of Armour Institute of Technology. Research Progress at Research Foundation of Armour Insti- tute of Technology 1938-1939. Ibid. [Xews Edition), 17, 622 (1939). ScHANTZ, J. L., and Marvin, Theodore. Waste utilization; land reclamation through chemical industry. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, SI, 585 (1939). Stewart, L. C. Commercial extraction of bromine from sea water. Ibid., 26, 361 (1931). Thomas, C. A., and others. Symposium on automatic control. Ibid., 29, 1209 (1937). Weidlbin, E. R. Progress through cooperation; history and development of laminated safety glass. Ibid., SI, 563 (1939). Wesson, David. Cottonseed and its products. Ibid., 18, 938 (1926). Weston, R. S., and others. (Symposium on) Industrial wastes. Ibid., 31, 1311 (1939). Williams, R. R. The beriberi vitamin. Ibid., 29, 980 (1937). SECTION VI 2. PHYSICAL RESEARCH IN INDUSTRY AS A NATIONAL RESOURCE By L. O. Grondahl and Elmer Hutchisson Director, Research and Engineering, Union Switch and Signal Company, Swissvale, Pa.; and Head, Department of Physics, University of Pittsburgh; Editor, Journal of Applied Physics, Pittsburgh, Pa., respectively. ABSTRACT The profound influence that physics has had on human progress is illustrated by means of the steam engine, dynamo-electric machines, sources of light, and communication. From this is developed a defini- tion of physics, and an orientation in regard to the field that shoidd be included in the discussion. At present physics is deliberately made use of as a tool to help in the development of specific industries. This is illustrated by work in geophysics, in the lamp in- dustry, and in communications. Since physics is primarily a quantitative science, it has a great deal to do with measurements, and supplies practically ail the measuring instruments used in the physical sciences, pure and applied. Many of the in- struments and much of the apparatus that is developed by physics is not immediately applicable, but finds its application in later developments. Numerous illustra- tions of developments that are expected to find such applications are given. Physics is a basic science, and much of the work done in physics is at least originally of a purely theoretical interest. Applications frequentlj^ follow even when the early results seem far removed from anything of a practical nature. Finally, physics contributes indirectly to progress in many lines because it has an effect on the thinking processes not only of the scientist but of people who come in contact with his work. It produces an opti- mistic attitude towards problems, and a conviction that solutions can be found if all the facts are known, and are properly correlated. In the last SO years physics has exerted a more powerful beneficial influence on the intellectual, economic, and social life of the world than has been exerted in a comparable time by any other agency in history. In spite of this fact, however, many people do not know who the physicist is or what he does. The public is continually excited about this or that issue of politics, tariffs, codes, or interna- tional relationships which are of far less human import than the past and future of accomplishments in that body of science repre- sented by — the American Institute of Physics. Its influence has far exceeded that of wars, political alignments or social theories.' Many textbooks of physics begin with a prosaic definition of physics as the science of energy and matter. In fact, the subject is often treated in that mamier, and students find it dull and uninteresting, and believe that like a dead language physics is unchanging and fully de- veloped. It is our purpose here to show that this is far from the truth. Rather, physics is a vital living science, changing and expanding at an extraordinary rate. It enters every phase of our everyday hfe, and in research it offers industry an opportunity for fabulous returns on its investment. The developments of the • Compton, K. T., et al. Symposium. Physics in Industry. American Institute of Physics, 1937, p. ix. 236 New York, past few years have been so startlmg that even a state- ment as strong as the one of President Compton, quoted above, needs but few examples to substantiate its truth. In what follows an attempt will be made first of all to show the place of plu'sics in our everyday existence. Next, typical examples of the application of phj^sics m the lamp industry, in oil prospecting, and in the coni- niimications industry will demonstrate the kind of scientist the physicist is and how he works. Finally, after a review of the use of physical instruments as tools in industry, an attempt will be made, upon the basis of the pure research now going on in university and similar laboratories, to suggest possible trends in the industrial pliysics of tomorrow. Physics Has Profound Influence on Human Progress The true value of physics in the past, present, and future development of our civilization is not easily estimated. Such devices as the wheel, the wheel and a.xle, the wedge, pulleys, time systems and means of measuring time, the compass, and many others were National Resources Planning Board, Industrial Research 237 developed before there were physicists or the profession to which they belong. Nevertheless the work of the inventors and of those who developed these devices was physics. They have beconae such an integral part of our civilization that it is difficult to imagine life without them. The Steam Engine It is difficult also to unagme modern civilization without some of the more recent developments in which the organized science of physics played a part. The early steam engine of Newcomen was very inefficient m transforniing heat energy into mechanical energy and could hardly have become very significant industriafiy. James Watt realized that much more energy would be available if it were possible to let the steam expand in the cylinder before it was allowed to escape. As a result of this simple consideration, the steam engine became so much more efficient that it developed mto a practical device. Because of its convenience as a source of power it contributed in large measure to the uidustrial revolution then m progress. The importance of the steam engine in ocean, river, and railway transportation, and in the production of electric power, gives evidence of the major role that physics has played in the develop- ment of modern industry. Dynamo-electric Machines Similar illustrations may be taken from other fields. The two physicists, Faraday in England and Henry in this country, began a series of purely scientific experi- ments which led to the dynamo-electric machines of today. These machines have made possible electrically powered transportation on both land and sea, electrical ilhunination that allows us to carry on practically all our activities at night as well as in daylight, and power for all types of electrical communication. The develop- ment not only of the elementary dynamo-electric machines themselves, but of their practical forms and of the systems making practical use of them, has been an accomplishment of physics and physicists. Applications of Light In the field of light we have illustrations of a some- what different natm-e. Modern artificial illumination has been made possible as a result not only of the development of the dynamo-electric machines that supply the power, but also as a result of the develop- ment of light sources themselves. The step-by-step improvement of the incandescent lamp, which will be discussed later, with its rapidly increasing efficiency and decreasing cost, has resulted from the application of fundamental physical principles. Many other applications of the science of light occur in industry. In ferrous and nonfcrrous metallurgy, the methods of spectroscopic analysis have become indispensable. These methods are based upon the fact that light can be separated into its component colors. When the source of light is a metal vaporized in an arc the colors can be separatetl still fuilher into discrete lines characteristic of individual chemical elements. By spectroscopic analysis it has been possible to detect impurities in alloys and in supposedly pure metals and even to determine quantitatively the amount of these impurities. The importance of this method of analysis can be understood only by a full realization of the effect of small quantities of impurities on metallic systems and the occasional resultant failures of those systems. Spectroscopy has made possible the accurate, quick, and efficient analyses that are necessary for the control of furnace charges and for the control of alloy compositions. In another type of analysis the invisible longer wave length portion of the spectrum is of use in studying absorption to determine very quickly some of the groupings in organic compounds. By this method it is possible to determine, for instance, the state or the condition of the oils used in paint vehicles, or of various types of gums or of lubricants, without having to decompose the organic compounds and try to put them through an ordinary chemical analysis, which is a very difficult and a long process. Stiidy of progressive changes in organic compounds by this method is of enormous importance, as can be realized when one remembers the many organic materials that have become commercially useful in the last few years, as, for instance, plastic materials, of which there are at present hundreds to choose from, with all sorts of characteristics, and paint veliicles which change gradu- ally upon exposure to increased temperature, variable humidity, or sunlight. The ability to follow the transformations in the formation and aging of such compounds provides an indication according to which the chemist can direct his course. Apparatus used for this purpose may be made to draw a curve which the operator soon learns to recognize, since distinctive shapes are caused by the presence of definite groups of atoms. A very mteresting recent application illustrates the way in which physics has invaded the field that was formerly reserved for the chemist. In the analyses for gaseous impurities, such as carbon dioxide in the air that we breathe, or of poisonous gases, it has been found possible by physical means to determine in a few seconds the quantity of an impurity in any sample of air even if present to the extent of only one part in a million. The analysis may be made continuously with permanent records. The apparatus is selective and can be ar- ranged to read the amount of carbon monoxide, of 238 National Resources Planning Board carbon dioxide, or of any one of a great number of other individual gases entirely independently of the presence of other impurities. In this method also the selective absorption of light by difFcrcnt materials is basic. Communication Other illustrations of the way in which physics has contributed to our everyday life may be taken from the field of communication. In the physics laboratories of 35 or 40 years ago a great deal of work was done on the discharge of electricity through gases at low pressures. From these experiments, physicists learned of the existence of electrons and of their behavior under various conditions. They learned that an incandescent filament is a copious source of electrons and how to control these electrons. These studies led to the devel- opment of vacuum-tube amplifiers, without which our modern communication systems would be unpossible. These vacuum-tube amplifiers form the basis of the communication equipment used in radio, in carrier- current telephony and telegraphy, and in any apparatus in which the current is too weak to operate instruments or apparatus directly. Thus there has been made possible not only longer overland communication but overland and transoceanic communication without wires or cables, the communication from ship to shore and vice versa, communication between trains and stations, between airplanes, between airplanes and their landing fields, and between police offices and police cars. These are all two-way communications. The currents set up in the receiving apparatus in each case are so feeble that their usefulness would be prac- tically negligible without help from vacuum-tubes. It can be truly said that the whole art of electrical com- munication is a product of physics, and physicists have led in its technical advance. The Nature of Physics From the illustrations given above it is possible to develop a definition of physics and to give a fairly clear idea of what a physicist is and docs. In its broadest sense physics includes in its scope the study of all the Figure 71. — Vacuum Tubes for the Production of Ultrashort Electromagnetic Waves, Bell Telephone Laboratories, New- York, Xew York materials and forces of nature. It will have been noted that physics furnished the fundamental principles of the developments which have been described. The physicist also developed apparatus in which these fundamental principles were applied. The investi- gations in physics laboratories proceed from the dis- covery of a new principle and the study of its various applications to the determination of its place in the larger scheme. When this work is successful it gives complete quantitative relations and enables one to predict what will happen under given circumstances and to set up the apparatus to produce desired results. If the phe- nomenon is a new one of wide application, such as the electromagnetic relations that form the basis of the development of dynamo-electric machinery, or such as the physical characteristics of metallic filaments that could be used in incandescent lamps or electronic tubes, the result is the creation of a completely new industry or even of many industries. Physics has been described as the science of energy transfonnations, and if one studies the fields mentioned above it is seen that this definition applies very gener- ally. Dynamo-electric machines, for instance, transform the energy of heat in the steam engine to electrical energy in the dynamo. In the motor, electrical energy is transformed into mechanical energy to be used in the apparatus being driven. In telephony the transforma- tion is from sound energy to electrical energy, and back again to mechanical energy and soimd. In instruments also it can be shown that Ln nearly all cases the action depends upon a transformation of energy from one form to another. In a clock the transformation is from the potential energy of a coiled spring or of raised weights to the kinetic energy of the pendulum and the moving wheels, and finally part of the energy is dissipated as heat through the friction of the moving parts. In all cases energy is transferred from one part of the apparatus to another, and in the transfer it is also frequently changed from one form to another. All such apparatus and instruments are products of physics. Physics Specializes Effectively in the Problems of Individual Industries The Oil Industry In the oil industry one of the problems that has been attacked by physicists is the exploration for new oil deposits. The problem is to find rock structures that are typical of locations where oil is to be foimd. One approach to this problem is based on the fact that different layers of rock have different densities, and any initial deformation in a stratum relative to the other strata in the district will produce a change in the gravi- tational attraction for bodies on the surface of the earth. Industrial Research 239 As a background for this system of exploration there is, first of all, the determination of the general law of gravity, and, secondly, the development of instruments that are delicate enough to be influenced by any small variations In the distribution of the different rock layers. The general principles were known to university physi- cists long before any practical application was made in the oil mdustry. When it was realized that such a practical application coidd be made, the oil industry established laboratories in which groups of physicists were engaged in the work of making this type of explo- ration practical. First it was necessary to calculate from the law of gravity the results to be expected from typical rock deformations that were known to exist in oil-bearing districts. When it had been determined that, because of anomalies in the rock structure, the variations in the gravitational attraction for bodies on the earth's surface were great enough to be read on instruments, the next step was to develop instruments that were sufficiently sensitive and rugged and suffi- ciently quick in operation to be practical for field explora- tion. An instrument that reads gravitational force to 1 part in 10,000,000 must also be rugged enough to be carried on an automobile or a truck, and convenient enough to be set up at any field location and to allow a reading to be taken in a reasonable length of time. This means that the apparatus, among other things, must be insensitive to minor vibrations and to temperature changes that are likely to be encountered in the field. Many types of apparatus were developed which met these requirements, and as a result of this work the amount of gravitational exploration that had been done in the last few years is many times as great as that which has been done by all methods during all the rest of the world's history. After these measurements have been made to deter- mine gravity, it is necessary to map and to interpret them in terms of subterranean structures. Again, a very complicated application of physics and mathe- matics, together with geology, is required. The physics, taken together with the mathematical calculations, describes the possible structures insofar as their densi- ties and locations are concerned, and the geology interprets the structure in terms of the likeliliood that oil is present. These methods can be applied also to exploration for other types of mmerals whenever they are associated in any way with variations in densities and vertical positions of rock layers. Magnetism has been known for many hundred years, especially as applied in the use of a magnet as a com- pass. University and other laboratories have been studying the magnetic characteristics of materials over a long period of time. It has been found that not only iron and compounds of iron, but practically every type of material has measurable magnetic character- istics. It is known that igneous rocks whicii form tlie substratum under all sedimentary rocks are more strongly' magnetic than the latter. Hence it is i)os- sible to use sensitive magnetic apparatus to determine api)roximate depth and slope of the upper surface of the igneous substratum. The story of this tyi)e of exploration is very similar to that mentioned above, insofar as it is absolutely dependent on the develop- ment of sensitive apparatus to make measurements. An industrial physicist is employed to carry the development on from the point at which his academic brother left it. Apparatus is j)roduced which is sensitive, rugged, and relatively unaffected by vibra- tions and temperature variations. The physicist is familiar with this type of development and has the benefit of the work of many predecessors who have overcome similar difficulties in other circumstances. Another procedure used in geophysical exploration is the study of the transmission of mechanical waves or of sound through the subterranean structures. A charge of dynamite is exploded in a hole that has been drilled to the necessary depth to give it adequate con- tact with the rock layers. The compressional wave produced by the exjjlosion is transmitted through the earth and comes to the surface again in other neighbor- mg locations after being bent because of the gradual changes Ln wave speed m underlying rocks or after being reflected at the surface separating rocks of one structure from another having a different wave speed. Here again it was necessary to develop sensitive apparatus not only for recording the arrival of com- pressional waves but also for recording the time that elapses between the discharge of the dynamite and the reception of the wave at a distant location. The data obtained can be used in many ways to determine the subsurface contours of various rock layers, w-hich, together with geological knowledge about the neighbor- hood, give even more direct and useful information than that obtained in gravitational exploration. All three methods of exploration are used by the oil companies at the present time. Although the forma- tions discovered do not always contain oil, the prob- ability of finding oil is considerably increased over that which obtains when wells are drilled at random. The cost of drilling is so great that even a small increase in the probability of finding oil makes the exploratory research carried out by the physicist worth many times its cost. Of the many other applications of physics in the oil industry we mention only two. Until a few years ago it was a common experience that when a deep well was drilled by the rotary method the hole would not be straight. The drill would gradually veer in one direc- tion or the other, so that the location of the bottom of the hole was indeterminate. A physical study of the 240 National Resources Planning Board cause of this uncertainty made it possible to develop a cure. By means of a rigid guide above the drill bit and by the accurate control of the pressure on the drill, holes can now be sunk to any required depth without significant change in direction. Another very important and profitable study that has been made by physicists is concerned with the flow of oil in rocks. Oil is usually found in a variety of porous rocks such as sandstones or limestones. The rate at which it can flow through a porous rock was determined in the laboratory. From these studies the rate at which oil can be removed from deposits of limited area without restricting the total output is now under- stood and may have considerable economic importance. It is perhaps worth emphasizing again that what physics has done in the oil industry is to teach the principles that are applicable, to develop instruments that are sufficiently sensitive and rugged to make meas- urements in the field, and to interpret the measurements in terms of subterranean structure. It has changed oil prospecting from a matter of chance to an exact scientific procedm-e which has enormously increased the availability of sources of oil. The Lamp Industry The application of physics in the development of the various types of illumination in the last 30 or 40 years provides another example of its use in industry. It was early realized that electrical energy may be used to produce light. The simplest and the most direct way to accomplish this is to allow the electrical energy to heat a solid to incandescence. The most convenient form that such a solid could take for tliis purpose is a long, high-resistance filament, and the earliest practicable filament was the carbon filament originally developed by Edison. It had its imperfections in that the tem- perature at which it could be operated was low, its life was short, and the color of the light produced was red- dish. The ambition to produce a more efficient filament from these standpoints stimulated the work on tungsten and other materials. Much of this work is of a physical nature and was carried out in physics labora- tories. Many things had to be studied. Fu'st of all, it was found impossible to draw timgsten into a fine filament. Cooperation between physicists and metal- lurgists finally resulted in the production of ductile tungsten. Then began the most interesting part of the develop- ment. A careful study of the radiation, the effect of the temperature of the filament on the nature of the light emitted and on the life of the filament, gradually pro- vided information that became useful. Originally the filaments were operated in a vacuum. A study of the effect of the presence of inert gases on the evaporation and the deterioration of the filament showed that it was advantageous to surround the filament with such a gas at appreciable pressures. The presence of the gas re- tarded evaporation and permitted the operation of the filament at a very much higher temperature. The higher temperature produced whiter light, and also re- sulted in the emission of a greater portion of the energy in the visible part of the spectrum, giving a higher efficiency. In the construction of these lamps it was necessary to apply physical apparatus and measm-ing instruments in many ways. It was necessary, for in- stance, to study metal-to-glass seals so as to produce a perfectly airtight bulb in which the filament could be housed. This necessitated the comparison of coeffi- cients of expansion of various kinds of glass and metal and the development of combinations of glasses and metals to make seals that were absolutely tight at ordi- nary temperatures and that remained so during the heating and cooling which the lamp experiences in use. The study of the radiation from the filament itself required the use of optical pyrometers, with which it was possible to determine the exact temperatures of the filament at any one spot. To avoid false readings from the surface, the filaments were made tubular and the temperature of the interior was read tlu-ough very minute holes through the side of the tube. Photometric measurements were necessary to deter- mine the light intensity of the source. To obtaLa use- ful information these measiu-ements had to be made in all directions from the lamp, thus enabling one to inte- grate the total radiation either mathematically or by means of integrating photometers. A spherical photo- meter, with which the total amount of light in all di- rections could be determined by a single reading, was one of the physical developments that resulted. It was desirable also to determine the distribution of light throughout the spectrum. This feat was accomplished by applying the photometer to individual portions of the spectrum in an apparatus known as a spectrophoto- meter. In the early stages of the development of the modern lamp, the research laboratory assigned itself the job of finding out everytliing it possibly could about heated filaments. One of the discoveries was that the inert gas used in the lamp formed a sheath around the fila- ment and thus decreased the rate of evaporation. By coiling the filament springwise this protective sheath became more effective, and the efficiency was increased. The rather novel suggestion was then made to coil the coil into sort of a superspring. On trial, it was found that this procedure increased the efficiency still further, and it is done in making most of our lamps of today. This brief history of the research on the incandescent lamp illustrates well how the physicist works. Ordi- narily he is not trying to make minor improvements in design. Instead he studies the fundamental process Industrial Research 241 of converting heat energy into lifi;lil. As a result his progress seems slow. He is not able lo predict before- hand just what he will find or what changes he will make. Yet he can always be sure that the more he knows about these fundamental processes the greater is his chance of producing a major improvement. In the lamp industry each improvement took from 5 to 10 years of research, yet each repaid the company many times over for its investment. Since the time of Edison the efficiency of the lamp has been improved almost a thousand percent. It has been calculated that if Edison's lamps were used to produce our present il- lumination our annual light bill would be $3,500,000,000 greater than it is at present. A more recent development in light sources goes back to another branch of physics; namely, to the electric discharges in gases at low pressures. In the nineties of the last century, experiments with such tubes were very popular in physics laboratories. Although these experiments were performed without immediate prac- tical purposes in mind, it has been found in the last few years that the light so produced may be used as a source of very practical illumination. The color produced by the passage of electricity through a gas depends upon the nature of the gas, and different gaseous combinations give varied light effects. The striking colors produced are used extensively today in advertising. High- intensity mercmy and sodium vapor lamps are used for airport and highway lighting, searchlights, and other purposes. By introducing fluorescent materials into the glass tube in which the discharge is taking place it is possible to produce colored and also nearly white light with extremely high efficiency. The various stages of development from the discharge tube to a practical source of light with an efficiency considerably gi'eater than that of the incandescent filament is a long and interesting story, but in its essentials it is similar to that of the incandescent filament lamp. The Communications Industry The field of commmiication has already been men- tioned as one in which the application of physics has been important. In a wire as in a radio telephone the sequence of operations calls into play an unusual num- ber of physical principles and also a vast number of different types of apparatus used to transform physical energy. The sequence is about as follows: The voice produces disturbances in the air which move the dia- phi'agm of a microphone. The diapliragm produces a change in pressure on the carbon granules assembled in a capsule, and thereby produces modulations of the current through the carbon granules. This current is sent out on the line either directly or else amplified through vacuum tube amplifiers to increase its power. If it is desired to transmit several messages over a pair of wires at the same time, so-called carrier telephony is used, in which the voice current changes or modulates a carrier current of a higher frecjuency. After the modulation it may again be amplified and passed to a teleplione line or cable, or in the radio telephone, to a radiating antenna. If the receiving station is far away there may be vacuum-tube repeaters to pick up the message and transmit it at a higher power level. At the receiving end another filter ])icks one message out of a great number, an amplifier increases its power, a de- modulator separates the voice frequencies from the carrier frequency, and finally an earphone or the loudspeaker directly transmits the sound to listeners. Thus, the telephone is a peculiarly good example of the fact that physics is the science of energy transfor- mations. The following sequence of energy transfor- mations are represented: Mechanical energy of the vocal cords is changed into mechanical energy in the form of compressions and rarefactions in the air, which is then used to energize the diaphragm of the micro- phone. This energy is transformed into electrical energy of the same frequency by the action of the diaphragm on the carbon granules. The electrical energy is amplified, modified, and transmitted over the line or tlu'ough space. During these steps the electrical energy is progressively changed, but it remains electrical or magnetic until it reaches the diaphi-agm of the ear- phone or the loudspeaker. Here it is transformed into mechanical energy again. The diaphram of the loud- speaker agitates the atmosphere and the listener receives the mechanical rarefactions and condensations in the air on his eardrum. The remarkable developments in telephone communi- cation have resulted from the convergence of physical investigations in many different fields. First of all there have been the investigations of sound production by the vocal cords and of the modification of that sound by the shape of the mouth and related cavities. Meth- ods of analysis of sounds, both vocal and instrumental, have been developed to determine their component frequencies, the relative energies in these frequencies, and the ways in which they combine and can be repro- duced and separated out again as a result of the com- pound vibrations or responses of electrical, magnetic, electronic, and mechanical devices. Other investigations that have converged on the effective transmission of sound have been the study of responses of diapliragms and of their construction so as to make the responses as nearly uniform as possible over the audible range, and the study of the behavior of masses of carbon granules, both as regards the resistance of the mass and the variations of these resistances with pressure, and the reproducibility and permanence of such resistance changes. The contributions of the early experiments on electrical discharges in gases have 242 Natioiml Resources Planning Board already been mentioned. As a result of the study of the behavior of hot filaments, the discovery has been made that electrons are given out by incandescent solids, that these electrons will carry currents, that the number emitted depends upon the nature of the hot surface, and that they can be controlled by a very small amount of energy applied to an adjacent electrode. These discoveries resulted in the development of the vacuum- tube amplifier, without which modern loud distance communication would be impossible. Likewise elec- tromagnetic and crystal filters were developed, which enabled the communications engineer to select from the complete range any band of frequencies that he wished. A very important scries of investigations concerned magnetic characteristics of materials that could be used as cores for transformers and for loudspeakers, or ear- phones, and of the permanent magnetic materials that were used in combination in some of the later types of apparatus. These studies of fundamental principles and the devel- opment of materials and apparatus to provide efficient means for the necessary energy transformations are in the field of physics. Thus we have an example in which many different branches of physics have converged to produce one practical accomplishment of immeasur- able value to society. On the other hand, in many cases a single development in physics, the vacuum tube for instance, has produced entire new industries and has found practical applications in almost every industry. Physics Supplies the Instruments for Measurements in Industry One of the many accompHshments of physics has been the development of instruments. For instance, in aviation we have measuring instruments for deter- mining the direction of flying, the orientation of a plane, the location of a landing field when "flying blind," the speed of the plane, the drift of the plane, the distance from the ground, etc. Many different devices have been developed for each one of these purposes, and all are based on a direct application of physical principles. That the instrumentation has already reached a high state of development is evidenced by the remarkable safety records of our commercial air lines. Such applications of instruments and measuring devices in any particular field could be multiplied prac- tically ad libitum. We shall, however, content our- selves with mentioning a few specific instruments which are in regular use at the present time. Noise meters, a development which has been con- tributed to largely by the telephone development described above, enable anyone to determine the level of disturbing noises in an industrial plant or on a street, to determine the origin of the noises and in that way to supply the first essential knowledge toward their elimination. Another interesting instrument that has come into use in the last few years is a vibration meter, which can be applied to any piece of machinery to determine the magnitude, direction, and exact nature of its vibrations and to lay the foundation for the elimination of the undesirable vibrations. X-rays serve many purposes, such as finding blow- holes in castings, faults in rolled steel, or faults in welds. They can be used also for analyzing crystals or deter- mining the exact crystal structure of a material, and even the distances between the atoms in the different layers of the crystal. X-rays are of great importance in metallurgy and in the physical study of structural materials. The cathode-ray oscillograph is a recent addition to instruments that are useful for studying electric circuits. It depends on the action of an electric or a magnetic field on a beam of electrons and makes it possible to observe at a glance the wave form or the nature of the distortion in an electric current produced by any piece of apparatus that is subjected to study. The cathode- ray tube is used in television, position indicators in flj^ing, and in many other applications. The sterilizing effect of ultraviolet radiations of certain frequencies has been investigated by physicists in cooperation with biologists and others and has resulted in the development of a lamp which produces radiations of a frequency peculiarly adapted to destroy- ing infection or undesirable germ life of any kind. It is applicable in medicine, in the food industry, in the purification of water, and in the sterilizing of eating utensils. Physics Prepares Apparatus for Later Applications in Industry Instruments of great value to industry are often born in the laboratory of the pure scientist. In an effort to extend the frontiers of knowledge new instruments or new methods of developing extreme pressures, high speeds, high or low temperatures, etc., are discovered which go far beyond what are considered present needs of industry. It seems profitable to review some of the present procedm-es of the laboratory to find those most likely to be used more extensively in the future in industry. High-Speed Centrifuge High rotational speeds have long held the interest of physicists. Recently, new advances in experimental technique have allowed rotational speeds as high as 20,000 revolutions per second to be obtained. The only reason for this limit is that the rotator flies apart at appreciably higher rotational speeds. The centrifu- Industrial Research 243 gal forces that occur at the edge of such a rotator arc ahnost inconceivably large. A force 8,000,000 times that of gravity is possible. If the force of gravity were as great a dime would weigh more than 16,000 pounds. To obtain such high speeds, the rotor is mounted in a vacuum, supported by an external stream of air and driven through a flexible shaft connected to an air turbine. So far ultra-speed centrifuges of the type described have been used primarily in biological fields. The forces are so great that heavy molecules can be separated from light ones. Thus tobacco mosaic and yellow fever viruses have been concentrated and hormones have been isolated. Wfierever rapid settling of liquids or sedi- ments in liquids is required, the ultracentrifuge has been very useful. So many new lines of work have been opened in biological and medical fields by the new techniques in high rotational speeds that it is practically certain that a multitude of industrial uses will appear as soon as the possibilities are fully understood. Cyclotrons, Van de Graaf Generators, and Geiger-Counters The intensive study of the atomic nucleus by aca- demic physicists during the past decade has led to the development of many new processes and instruments. Perhaps the most striking discovery of all is that high- speed ions are able to transmute one chemical element into another. Many of the materials formed by this transmutation have, in addition to the ordinary prop- erties of the new elements, the characteristic of being radioactive like radium. Thus by bombarding ordinary table salt by high-speed atomic particles a radioactive form of sodium can be produced which for some medical purposes is more valuable and much cheaper than radium itself. Nearly every chemical element can be made radioactive; thus one can have radioactive iron, copper, zinc, tin, etc. Two different types of machines have been developed to produce radioactive elements. In each the essential purpose is to produce high-speed atomic particles which upon striking ordinary elements produce transmutation. One of these machines is the cyclotron, so-called because it makes the atomic particles move in a circle and brings their speeds up to the desired value by a small increase each half revolution. Twenty or thirty cyclo- trons, each costing from $20,000 to $1,500,000, have been, or are being, built in this country. The demand for radioactive materials is so great, however, that many more will need to be built very soon. The second type of machine for producing high-speed atoms is the Van de Graaf electrostatic generator. This is essen- tially a direct-current generator that develops a poten- tial of from 3 to 5 million volts. This high voltage causes charged atomic particles to crash down a tHl)e 321S35— 41 17 with such speed that some of the atoms of any element placed at the end of the tube will be disintegrated. Four or five such machines, costing up to $150,000 apiece, have been built in this country. While their primary purpose is to study nuclear structure they may possible be used inihistriaily in many other ways in the future. For instance, there is much discussion regarding the transmission of power by high-voltage direct current. It has even been suggested that the "atom smasher" of today may be used for the commer- cial transmission of electrical energy tomorrow. Radioactive materials produced by the cyclotron and the electrostatic generator are useful in medical therapy. They can be used in industry for testing thick welds in the same way that radium and X-rays are now being used. Their most important use arises, however, because of a new instrument known as a Geiger-counter, which has been greatly improved in recent years Radioactive elements exhibit their radio- activity because of the continual emission of high speed fragments or high energy radiation. Each of these fragments can produce a discharge in a Geiger-counter, thus enabling single particles from radioactive elements ("tracer atoms") to be counted. If one, for instance, chinks a solution containing radioactive sodium, it is possible by means of a Geiger-counter to measure the time it takes for the sodium to enter into the blood stream and reach the finger or any other part of the body. Likewise calcium can be traced directly from an indi- vidual's food to his teeth. Of industrial importance is the possibility of tracing by radioactive atoms the diffusion of copper atoms in iron, gold, or even in copper itself. There must be many industrial processes in which tracer radioactive elements would be useful. With the modern Geiger-counter the tracing of 1 part in 100,000,000 or even more can be carried out with certainty by simple standard equipment. Color Analyzers Color is used in almost every industry, yet its exact definition is essentially unknown. Manufacturers of paint, ink, cloth, paper, glass, and other commodities give names to colors even though they realize that these names can in no way specify the color exactly. A dye manufacturer who makes one batch of color 1 year cannot match it a year later because his original samples may have faded. To remedy these defects in the specification of color the physicist has designed a colorimeter which draws a curve which is characteristic of each specific color alone. If two samples of materials have the same color curve, they will be found identical in color not only by daylight but also imder all forms of artificial light. This instrument is called technically a "recording spectrophotometer." It measures and records auto- 244 National Resources Planning Board matically the reflecting power or the transmission of a given sample for all wave lengths in the spectrum. Many manufacturers of inks and other materials wherein color must be specified exactly are already using this instrument to make precise colorimetric measurements. Electron Microscope Much research has been carried out in the last few years on the paths that electrons take when accelerated by grids and rings in tubes. It has been found that certain arrangements of electrodes or coils have exactly the same focusing properties for electron beams as glass lenses have for light beams. Thus it is quite possible to build electron microscopes that are superior to optical microscopes for some purposes. This is particularly true where a heated metal is being observed. Such a metal emits electrons which can be accelerated by ap- plying a small voltage. If these electrons impinge upon a flouorescent screen they produce an optical image that shows variations in the composition or condition of the surface of the metal. Since the lengths of the electron waves can be made as small as desired, there is FiGUKE 72. — High-Speed Photographs of Combustion in Gaso- line Engine, General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Michigan no limit to the theoretically possible resolution which can be achieved, as there is in an optical microscope. The electron microscope should have many applications in metallurgical and other fields as its properties become better known. High-Speed Photography For many years high-speed photographs, particularly of sound waves and bullets in motion, have been taken by the light of the electric spark. Until recently this photography has been confined to the laboratory, since it was difficult to obtain sufficient illumination to take ordinary pictures. It has been found, however, that a violent discharge of an electrical condenser through a gas-filled tube provides an intense flash of light of very short duration. With such a flash extraordinary pic- tures of objects in motion can be taken. Striking examples of pictures of a swinging tennis racket, golf club, or other sports equipment have been published in the popular magazines and newspapers. A succession of such pictures show in detail, for instance, how an air bubble is formed by a drop splashing into a liquid surface, or the way in which a golf club is bent in striking a golf ball. Although industrial applications of high- speed photography do not receive the publicity of these other applications, there have been very many useful applications, and there wiU undoubtedly be many more. In the textile industry great difficulty was caused by the snagging of the thread coming off a very high speed spindle. The speed was such that it was impossible to see what made the thread catch. However, a high- speed photograph showed immediately that a loop was being formed as well as how this loop became entangled. In the airplane industry high-speed pho- tography permits the direct measurement of the dis- tortion of a fuU sized airplane propeller. Although the propeller rotates at full speed, it is possible to obtain a precision of 0.02 of an inch in these measurements. The design of silent fan blades was aided by high speed pictures of the formation of vortices using smoke mixed with the air. Photoelasticity With increased competition in industry, the elimina- tion of excess weight has become a very important factor. To determine the size of any part of an engi- neering structiu-e and exclude unnecessary material one must know how the stresses are distributed. The mathematical calculation of the stress distribution in an irregularly shaped member is often so difficult that only a rough approximation can be made. To obtain more exact analysis of the stress distribution a method has been devised making use of polarized light. This method of analysis has received considerable stimulation in the past few years by the introduction of the material Industrial Research 245 known as "polaroid," which enabU>s lart;c beams of polarized light to bo formed at low expense. If one uses two sheets of polaroid with their axes at right angles to one another, no light will penetrate; however, if a celluloid model of a particular engineering structure is placed between those two sheets of polaroid and a load is added, the points of maximum stress become bright with closely spaced bands of color. It has been possible, for instance, to reduce greatly the weight of an eyebolt by cutting away those parts shown under polarized light to be of little use for carrying the stress. By careful measurements with polarized light combined with accurate measurements of the change in thickness, it is possible to make a complete analysis of the dis- tribution and magnitude of all of the stresses. This is particularly easy to do in thin and plane objects, but by recent methods can also be done for objects of irregular dimensions. Electron Diffraction A remarkable discovery was made in an industrial research laboratory a few years ago. This discovery was that an electron behaves as though it has associated with it a wave length in the same sense that light waves and X-rays have wave lengths. When electrons pass through a thin layer of any material or are reflected from its surface and allowed to impinge on a photo- graphic plate, they make a permanent record of a diffraction pattern similar to what one sees when looking at a distant light through an umbrella. The pattern is characteristic of the material placed in the path of the electrons. An electron diffraction camera is a relatively FiouKJi 73. — Photoelastic Pattern of Roller Bearing Stresses Points of Maximum Stress Occur Where the Lines are Spaced tlu' Closest, Timken Roller Bearing Company, Canton, Ohio 246 National Resources Planning Board Figure 74. — Electron Diffraction Pattern of (a) Plated and (b) Stripped Metal Surface (after H. R. Xelson) simple piece of equipment. It is only necessary to have a heated source of electrons and a high-voltage supply to accelerate them in a tube. Since the electrons are scattered primarily by surface atoms, while X-rays are scattered deep in the metal, electron difl'raction is most useful in studying surface properties. It has been used, for instance, to identify various oxide coatings, tarnishes, and other corrosions produced on the surfaces of metals. If one wants to know the structure of an electroplated surface, electron diffraction can usually give the answer. Until recently it has been difl&cult to determine exactly the structure of thin films because X-rays pass through them so easily. Electron diffrac- tion on the other hand tells us a great deal about the structure of these thin films. Polished and buffed surfaces are increasing in importance in industry and electron diffraction provides evidence as to whether such surfaces are crj'staUine or amorphous, and also as to the changes in a surface as buffing progresses. These are only a few of the possible applications of electron diffraction in industry. Wliorever the nature of a surface comes into question, use can be made of this tool. Extreme Pressures A very interesting curve has been drawn showing how the largest obtainable pressure has increased with time. This curve has started upward rapidly in the past few years; in fact, it has more than doubled in about 3 years. It is now possible to study in the laboratory pressures up to 1,500,000 Ib./sq. in. It may be wondered why it is desirable to stuily such extreme pressures, but when one realizes that enor- mous pressures often occur in industry in liypoid gears, ball bearings, glass cutters, and rifles, the interest is understandable. Many strange phenomena occur at extremely high pressures. For instance, chemical reactions that do Jiot take place at ordinary pressures can sometimes be promoted by an increase in pressure. Under high pressures it is possible to bend glass without breaking it, to precipitate colloidal particles from a solution, and to produce many other unusual effects. Studies have been made of the penetration of liquids and gases into solids. It is found, for instance, that under great pressure hydrogen penetrates into steel sufficiently to decrease its tensile strength bj' more than one-half. A recent important industrial study has concerned the effect of extremely high pressures on lubricating oils. In fact, it is only because of the development of lubricants working well at extreme pressures that the use of hypoid gears in automobiles has become possible. In view of the great number of FiGURK 75. — Motion of a Pelton Wheel Frozen with tlie .Aid of lligh-Spced Photograjjliy lafter Harold E. Edgerton) Industrial Research 247 unusual effects produced at extremely high pressures, it is anticipated that such investigations will lead to many applications in industry. Estreme Temperatures Advances in experimental teclmiqucs of all Ivinds sooner or later become useful in industry. It is probable, therefore, that the extremes of temperatures recently attained in the laboratory will find many industrial uses. For instance, recent methods of cooling by using a magnetic field have led to the production of temperatures oidj' a small fraction of a degree above the absolute zero. At these temperatures the electrical resistance of many materials drops to zero so that a current started in a loop of wire will continue for many days without any supply of energy. With such tem- peratures all gases can be liquefied. One type of liquid helium exhibits a very unusual property of having almost zero viscosity; this means that it will flow through tubes under a very small pressure gradient. At the other end of the temperature scale progress has also been made, for instance, in the development of blocks to stand the liigh temperatures that occur in a glass-melting tank. In the laboratory it has been possible to achieve temperatures up to 20,000° for short-tune intervals by exploding fine wires. While these high temperatures have not yet become of com- mercial importance, they offer considerable possibility for the future. Fundamental Explorations Provide the Bases of Future Industries Physics is outstandmgly a practical science and there is very little that the physicist discovers that does not eventually come into practical use. The person who applies the discoveries of the physicist is usually an engineer. \Miile the engineer is making the application, the individual for whom the name physicist is reserved is busy discovering new phenomena which will probably be applied by the next generation of engineers. Thus to learn what kind of physics will be applied in the futui'e one can hardly do better than to observe the fundamental discoveries now being made in the pure research laboritories in the imiversities, in indus- try, and in the large governmental departments. Nuclear Physics In the universities it is quite apparent that much of the pure research is concerned with the atom. Many physicists are engaged in trying to understand the structure of the atomic nucleus. Mention has already been made of the artificial radioactive elements pi'o- duced as a byproduct of these investigations, and which are so useful as tracers. Besides radioactive materi- als it has also been possible to produce gold, silver. helium, and other stable elements by the transmutation of less valuable materials. Although at present it does not seem likely that these processes will develop into practical sources of materials in quantity, the investigations will pay for th<>msolves many times in the uses that have already been mentioned. Other valuable ai)i)lications are very likely to follow. There is still another commercial possibility which may arise from the study of atomic nuchu. It has been discovered recently that when uranium is bom- barded with either slow-moving or very fast-moving neutrons (atomic particles with no charge), elements are produced which have approximately half the atomic weight of the uranium and at the same time a new batch of neutrons is liberated. The new elements arc emitted at tremendously high speeds, and thus have a large amount of energy which can be transformed into heat. This experiment immediately suggests that if Figure 70. — Tlie ".Mom Smasher,' W ' ; l , . i Lal)oratory, East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania search 248 National Resources Planning Board the neutrons can be used to disintegrate more uranium atoms, which in turn will give out neutrons, the process wiJl be continuous and the heat produced may be used as a source of power. The only question is whether enough neutrons can be produced to keep the reaction going continuously. The evidence here is not yet conclusive, and while it looks as if there are not quite enough neutrons produced to obtam power, it is pos- sible that such power could be obtained by the splitting of other atoms. Thus, while a few years ago, the ques- tion of the obtaiumg of power from the energy bound up in the atoms was only discussed speculatively in popular scientific magazines, it has now become a very important practical question to the physicist. It has been calculated that if a method of this kind can be worked out, it will be possible to obtain power at a considerably lower cost than it is now obtained from coal. Study of the Solid State The physicist has also been busy studying the outer structure of atoms. By means of the spectroscope he has been able to identify many atoms by the color of the light they emit. Using this color he can in turn discover the number of electrons and their arrangement in the outer structure of the atoms. Until recently his knowledge was restricted to atoms which were widely separated as in gases. Calculations have now been made to determine the forces that act between atoms and thus hold them together in solids. Such calcula- tions have allowed the elastic properties, the density, and the heats of vaporization of very simple metals FiGDBE 77. — Viscosimeter for Dctertnination of the Absolute Viscosity of Glass, Owens-Illinois Glass Company, Toledo, Ohio Industrial Research 249 like sodium ami i)otassiiim to be calculated theoretically in good agreement with the experimental values. Of course, such metals are not of great practical use, but the physicist has also used X-rays to determine the crystal structure of the metals actually utilized in practice. While complete calculation of the atomic properties of these rather complicated metals has not yet been worked out, there is no question but that in a few years it will be possible to calculate many of the properties of such metals as copper and iron as well as of sodium and potassium. An intensive study of the physical properties of many of the useful metals, and particularly of their alloys, has led to the discovery that there is an internal order in atoms besides the ordinary crystal structure, which has a great deal to do with the physical properties of the alloys. The physicist is even beginning to discuss such questions as the diffusion of atoms in metals, strain and age hardness, and other properties that formerly were considered to be entirely within the realm of metallurgy. By bringing together the knowledge of individual atoms and the forces acting between them with that of the large scale properties of metals such as hardness, tensile strength, etc., the physicist hopes to provide a scientific basis for solving many of the problems now existing in the field of metallurgy. It is to be hoped that in the future the physicist may be able to predict properties of alloys, particularly from his knowledge of the structure of their atoms. Solar Energy An extremely attractive field of research is the better utilization of the energy of the sun. It has been shown that we receive on the earth from the sun about 200,000 times as much energy per day as we are now using from all sources. If a small fraction of the energy thus received every day from the sun could be turned to useful purposes, an enormous increase in the wealth of the world would occur. The standard of living which can perhaps be measured in terms of the power avail- able per individual would be greatly increased at no one's expense. With this in mind large grants of money have been given to two institutions to carry on research in the further utilization of this tremendous source of energy. There are several ways in which a greater utilization of this energy might take place. For in- stance, if it were possible efficiently and economically to carry out in the laboratory the synthesis of com- pounds carried on every day by plant life with the aid of clilorophyll and the sun, a source of energy would be available. One might perhaps, merely by exposing a particular kind of storage battery to light, produce a chemical reaction which would charge the battery. If that could be done, a very convenient source of power would be available. We have all seen small photo- graphic exposure meters which when pointed toward the sun, indicate the intensity of the current that is passing. By investigation of suitable metals, would it perhaps bo possible to make such photocells on a large scale and to obtain large currents that would be useful as sources of power? Still another example in which current is obtained is the thermocouple, in which a temperature difference between two metallic junctions produces a feeble current. Unfortunately the tem- perature rise produced by the sun is not large enough to give us large ciUTcnts from a thermocouple. Per- haps, however, if different metals or new alloys were used in making the thermocouple, larger currents could be obtained. All of these processes need further re- search before anything definite can be said. Even the direct concentration of sunlight by mirrors needs further research before it can be said definitely that, in the future, houses will not be heated or cooled by sunlight rather than by gas or electricity. Research such as this, from which results probably cannot be expected for a long period of time, is best carried on in the universities and in governmental and privately endowed laboratories, but it is quite likely eventually to provide new industries. Physics Contributes Indirectly to Progress In the foregoing discussion tlie direct results of the application of physics in industry have been stressed. There are, however, many indirect effects which, though important, remain intangible. For instance, the exist- ence of a research laboratory in an industrial plant has a stimulating effect upon the mental attitude of the entire industrial organization. The interest of the individual in the plant is broadened and extended beyond his daily task. He begins to make suggestions for improvements in design and technique. Tlie physicist, with his Icnowledge of fundamental principles, can often be of service in directing these suggestions along promising lines. Perhaps the most important indirect result of the application of science in industry is the increased faith aroused in the mind of the industrialist in the fact that nature is orderly and that natural phenomena take place according to definite rules which are known, or may be learned, if research be undertaken. The taking of adequate data under controlled conditions, the analysis of these data, and the final drawing of conclusions with- out prejudice, which is characteristic of the work of a true scientist, gradually have their effect on the think- ing of those with whom the scientist is associated. A discipline is established which influences the attitudes of others not only toward laboratory problems but toward shop problems and any other difficulties that may arise. As a result of this change in attitude many of those problems which "can't be solved" have been 250 National Resources Planning Board < O CO o <0 >- X Q. O liJ N < o tr o > < (D UJ UJ q; 3 0 w UJ tr >- K er UJ UJ _] Q. U- ,« 0 H cn 0 UJ (0 < en UJ o> en cc > UI X 0. X UJ 5 < "> P=. UJ q: CD LiJ UJ ^ ^X °-en , 5 D >2 01 2 •- 0 UJ ^ u_ *^ 2 -" ~ UJ UJ 0 - liJ ° hi 0 V) oil:;; <°en? u. (n _J UJ 1 _i < z O O UJ cd'" UJ < - CD to S'"o UJ z o H to O < u> -1 < 0 1- «t if) 0 < UJ > 0: 0 (0 >- X UJ (/I y UJ ^- UJ ' i t Q. 0 CL H UJ 0 < en o: - tr 0) > X z o 0 ^ tr >-UJ en H D UJ UJ CL UJ 0 U. 0 UJ 1- ien§l- UJ 0 0 Q. z < ys 0 2 < en S 0 ¥^ 2 ^ K UJ eo ■^ i: ^ li? gJ;;'-'^ > Z I UJ ° 5- z 0 UJ I-" 3 0 10 to UI to' UJ < ro 0 en q: UJ m z •5 UI ^ — ' Q. I > Q. 0 1- e3 2 z u. ^Juj tr o^uj z o 1- q: lij < 8 > 1- UJ < S CD t tr Q- UJ m 5 (- o 2 0 0 z _l >■ 1- UJ < CO > o o < 0 1- I i < UJ 0: >- 0 s 2 " UJ ^ en 2 UI 2 en UJ UJ 2 >_ tu Q. 0 0 0 >- tr en < 0 UJ 5i ^ < I- UJ X wen UJ Q. 5: "^ V <8'^x et 0 0 i Q. e^ u. 8^^2 en 0. o < tlJ 1- (/) iiJ en H 0 tij Q UJ eo So ■^2 0- Q. z en □: UJ UJ eD 0 < UI a en u en en ? en UJ 0 0 0 - < 0 0 0 a. 2 V 5: m 0 (o X X en en ^!2 >- , CL or u. 0 en Q 1- UJ tn « Q-O < rO en en 2" a: UJ u. ujoc iHo CD 0 -> (T OS 0 UJ UJ UJ K 5 (n LL Q. UJ ^ « < (/) t~ < S| CD U) 0 q: UJ 5 UJ S _J => eu UJ (^J a: Z CO ^ < s Oi Industrial Research 251 solved. The realization that there is a vast amount of information which may be used, and the experience that when such information is made available solutions are developed, inevitably stimulates an optimism about the possibility of mastering industrial problems and over- coming obstacles generally. It is believed that in the above presentation it has been showTi that the quotation used at the beginning is not an overstatement. The broad basis in facts and principles, in technology and instrumentation, on which industry' is built is predommantly physics and it follows that physical research in industry is one of our most important and most valuable national resources. Bibliography Books Harbison, G. R. Atoms in action. New York, William Morrow and Companj', 1939. 370 p. CoMPTON, K. T., AND OTHERS. Phj'sics in industry. New York, American Institute of Physics, 1937. 290 p. Journal articles APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICS IN SINGLE INDUSTRIES Aeronautics: MiLLiK.\N, C. B. The physicist gets air minded. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 107 (1937). Agriculture: Barton, H. A. Physics in the production and use of bulk crops. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 639 (1937). Harrison, G. R. The application of physics to agriculture. Review of Scientific Instrinnents, 7, 295 (1936). Maxwell, L. R., and Hendricks, S. B., X-rays in agri- culture. Journal of Applied Physics, 9, 237 (1938). Automotive industry: RiCHTMTEB, r. K. Phj'fiics and the automotive industry. Journal of Applied Physics, 9, 350 (1938). Symposium on Physics in the Automotive Industry. Review of Scientific Instruments, 9, 122 (1938). Building: Burchard, J. E. Building, the forgotten child of physics. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 10 (1937). Carbon dioxide industry: Ewell, A. W. Physics in cold storage. Journal of Applied Physics, S, 530 (1937). KiLLEFFER, D. H. The industry of solid carbon dioxide. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 589 (1937). Electrical power: Slepian, J. Some physical problems in the electrical power industry. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 152 (1937). Glass industry: Sullivan, E. C. Accomplishments of the industrial physicist in the glass industry. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 122 (1937). Iron foundry: Vincent, H. B., and Sawyer, R. A. The spectrograph in the iron foundry. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 163 (1937). Lamp industry: Forstthe, W. E. The physicist and the incandescent lamp. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 522 (1937). Metal industry: Jeffries, Z., and Adams, E. Q. Physics in the metal industry. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 48 (1937). Mines: Greenwald, II. P. Further notes on the physics of subsi- dence and ground movement in mines. Journal of Applied Physics, 9, 5G7 (1938). Greenwald, H. P. The physics of subsidence and ground movement in coal mines. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 462 (1937). Oil industry: FoOTE, P. D. Let the plnsicist change your oil. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 19 (1937). Nettleton, L. L. Applied physics in the search for oil. American Physics Teacher, S, 110 (1935). Optical industry: Rayton, W. B. Physics in optical instrument manu- facture. Review of Scientific Instruments, 7, 328 (1936). Paper industry: Samson, E. W. Ph.vsics in the paper industry. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 455 (1937). Pharmacy: McFarlan, R. L. Physics in pharmacy. Ibid., 9, 573 (1938). Plastics industry: Wearmouth, W. G. Physics and the plastics industry. Chemistry and Industry, 57, 1176 (1938). Rubber industry: Busse, W. F. Physics of rubber as related to the automo- bile. Journal of Applied Physics, 9, 438 (1938); India Rubber World,98, 41 (Aug. 1, 1938);5S, 42 (Sept. 1, 1938). Textile industry: Fabr, W. K. Structure of the cotton fiber. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 228 (1937). HuTCHissoN, E. Physics in the textile industry. Ibid., 8 227 (1937). ScHWARz, E. R. Textile research at the Ma.ssachusctts Institute of Technology. Ibid., S, 544 (1937). developments in techniques Beams, J. W. High rotational speeds. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 795 (1937). Buckley, O. E. The evolution of the crystal wave filter. Ibid., S, 40 (1937). Davisson, C. J. What electrons can tell us about metals. Ibid., 8, 391 (1937). Den Hartog, J. P. Vibration in industry. Ibid., 8, 76 {1937). Edgerton, H. E.; Germeshausen, J. K., and Grier, H. E. High speed photographic methods of measurement. Ibid., 8, 2 (1937). Elting, J. P. The place of statistics in textile research. Ibid., 8, 239 (1937). Grabau, M. Polarized light enters the world of everyday life. Ibid., 9, 215 (1938). Hardy, A. C. The physical basis of color measurement. Ibid., 8, 233 (1937). Horger, O. J. Photoelastic analy.sis practically applied to design problems. Ibid., 9, 457 (1938). Johnson, R. P. Simple electron microscopes. Ibid., 9, 508 (1938). Morse, P. M.; Boden, R. H.; and Schecter, H. Acoustic vibrations and internal combustion engine performance. Ibid., 9, 16 (1938). Nelson, H. R. Metallurgical applications of electron diffrac- tion, /bid., a, 623(1938). 252 National Resources Planning Board, Industrial Research Norton, J. T. Uses and limitations of X-ray diffraction meth- ods. Ibid., S, 307 (1937). PouLTER, T. C. The study of extreme pressures and their im- portance in the investigation of engineering problems. Ibid., 9, 307 (1938). Roberts, R. B., and Kuper, J. B. H. Uranium and atomic power. Ibid., 10, 612 (1939). APPLIED PHTSICS AS A PROFESSION Barton, H. A. Report of conference on applied physics. Review of Scientific Instruments, 7, 113 (1936). Conference on Applied Phtsics. Ibid., 6, 31 (1935). Conference on Industrial Physics, 2d Conference. Elec- trician, 118, 411 (1937). Dodge, H. L. Training of physicist for industry, American Physics Teacher, 4, 167 (1936). Grondahl, L. O. The role of physics in modern industry. Science, 70, 175 (1929). Harrison, G. R. The applied physicist. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 569 (1937). Hdtchisson, E. Applied physics. Ibid., 8, 75 (1937). Hdtchisson, E. Conference on industrial physics. Review of Scientific Instruments, 6, 381 (1935). Hutchisson, E. Opportunities in applied physics. Journal of Applied Physics, S, 297 (1937). Industrial Physics; Conference and Exhibition at Leeds; Applications in the Textile Industries. Electrician, 122, 394 (1939); Electrical Review (hondou), 124, \%Z (1939). Mills, J. The making of industrial physicists. Journal of Engi- neering Education, 28, 132 (1937). National Physical Laboratory. Annual report. Applica- tions of physics to industry. Chemical Age (London), S8, 303 (1938). National Physical Laboratory. Annual report. Applica- tions of physics to industry. Chemical Age (London), 40, 255 (1939). Olpin, a. R. Training of physicists for industrial positions. American Physics Teacher, 5, 14 (1937). Physics as Applied to Industry. Institute of Physics Con- ference at Manchester. Chemical Age (London), 32, 329 (1935). Saxl, I. J. Don't overlook the physicist. Nation's Business, 25, 26 (1937). Ulret, D. The physicist — engineer in research and industry Journal of Engineering Education, 27, 782 (1937). descriptions of laboratories Briggs, L. J. The National Bureau of Standards. Journal of Applied Physics, 8, 298 (1937). CooLiDGE, W. D. The research laboratory of the General Electric Company. Ibid., 8, 34 (1937). Langmuir, I. The new laboratory of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. Ibid., 8, 536 (1937). Troller, T. The Daniel Guggenheim Airship Institute. Ibid., 9, 24 (1938). Vagtborg, H. The research foimdation of Armour Institute of Technology. Ibid., 9, 562 (1938). \ SECTION VI 3. THE ROLE OF THE BIOLOGIST IN INDUSTRY By E. B. Fred and C. N. Frey* Professor of Agricultural Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; and Director, Fleischmann Laboratories, Bronx, New York, respectively ABSTRACT Biological science has made rapid strides during the last 30 years, largely due to the impact of the ever- expanding physical sciences. To attempt in a brief summary to point out isolated significant influences which have contributed to the development and the technique of industry is certain to confuse rather than to add to our understanding of the place of biology in the modern world, and especially in modern industry. Rather we must emphasize the contributions of a few fundamental generalizations relying on the proper orientation of certain basic concepts common to all science to give us an insight into the scientific methods which have made the highly technical industries of today possible. The scope of this work can be determined by a study of the Tnble of Contents of the report of biology in industry. A general discussion of the place of biology in science and industry and the work which the biologist can do are given. Some of the most significant industrial applications are briefly dis- cussed. Special attention is given to the food indus- tries and to certain fields such as the fermentation industries, fats, oils, etc. Nutritional requirements of man and animals from the point of view of the newer knowledge are considered. Biological products, hor- mones, vaccines, enzymes, vitamins, receive attention, but one must admit not in the proportion which their great importance merits. Chemical products, chemo- therapy, fungicides, etc., and parasitology, waste dis- posal, plant and animal breeding, are considered briefly, and from these vast fields a few outstanding contribu- tions are listed. The important work of training the biologist, which lies largely in the hands of the universities and the colleges, would merit comprehensive study, but no extensive effort was made to analyze this situation. However, it is pointed out that constant remodeling of the work of the university is necessary in view of the growth of scientific knowledge, in order to meet the changing needs of industry. Trends in biology arc significant insofar as they mdicate the influence which great scientific leaders and great discoveries and developments in the physical sciences have had on the biological sciences. Future development will naturally be dependent on the progress of those sciences which supply biology with special tech- niques, but biology is developing within itself a body of knowledge that will lead to important discoveries. •Appreciation Is oipressed to Dr. Q. Laniiis, of the Fleischmann stafl, for his assistance. Introduction Since prehistoric times biological processes have played an important part in the growth of civilization, but until recently all developments were chance occur- rences, and rule-of-thumb methods controlled industrial procedures. Beginning with Linnaeus in the early eighteenth century, the classification and integration of biological knowledge have fairly revolutionized our industrial biological economy. This systematization of information regarding biology has proceeded apace in four main directions. First, we have developed the concept of organization, embodying the wide aspect of organic evolution; second, we have studied structure, morphologj', and histology; third, has emerged the idea of function, physiology; and fomlh and most recently, we have attacked the problem of mechanism, genetics, biochemistry, and related phases. Application of science in the fields of nutrition, medicine, agriculture, and manufacturing has lifted civilized man from a creature of circumstance to a posi- tion of dominant control of the physical aspects of his environment. Pasteur's biological experiments, based on the best scientific chemical and physical knowledge of the time, led the way for the control and practical suppression of the epidemics and pestilences which had harried mankind for so long. Establishment of his concepts of the nature of life has facilitated the rise of our great food preservation, processing and storage industries, banishing the ancient spectre of famine from the scene of any nation which will intelligently apply them. Recognition of the vitamins and hormones as instruments used in the mechanics of growth and life pro- cesses promises to raise the physical activities of a popu- lation to a degree of efficiency never before conceived. 253 254 National Resources Planning Board As the individual who is to develop and guide indus- trial applications of this stupendous body of knowl- edge, the modern biologist can no longer afford merely to chase butterflies or dig for worms. The heretofore mysterious and occult life processes are now shown to abide by the fundamental laws of physics and chem- istry. But the arrangement and interaction of com- ponents within the cell, of cells within the organism, of individuals within a society superimposes upon physical and chemical phenomena a new and profoundly effective factor; that which we call organization. Not only must the modern biologist, whom for our purposes we might call a "biological engineer," be thoroughly fa- miliar with physics and chemistry and their language, mathematics, but he must also have some comprehen- sion of the possibilities inherent in organization. Biologists find it difficult to qualify in all these respects, consequently modern industrial biological laboratories usually represent several classes of training — chemists, physicists, bacteriologists, endocrinologists, etc., co- operating as best they may in the work of the industry. The revolutionary ideas arising from Wohler's syn- thesis of urea released a flood of biological investigations. The controversy between Liebig and Pasteur, the syn- theses accomplished by Emil Fischer, the contributions made by Lamarck, Darwin, and Mendel, and the recent spectacular researches of Warburg and other contem- poraries on the structure and function of the enzymes comprise a background representing the modern biolo- gist's point of view. Without this background the biologist would be hampered severely in his work. The biologist never has a simple system, since his most important object of study, the living form, is most complex. At first thought, it might be said that the single-celled organism, e. g., a yeast cell, is a simple structure. Quite the opposite is true; it must possess within one cell all the potentialities of a complete organ- ism; and hence is more complex functionally, and often structurally, than any individual cell of a "higher" (i. e., more complex) plant or animal Living matter carmot be perfectly controlled; hence the perfect ex- periment is impossible in biology. Many trials must be made, and often statistics must be invoked to aid in the interpretation of results. The chemist and physicist find it hard to appreciate the difficulties of biological research. The engineer may design a plant perfect in construction which fails in operation because he faded to consider, or science did not have available, the precise laiowledge necessary to control production. This report has been prepared from the information supplied by research directors of a number of industrial laboratories and university men interested in biology. It is hoped that it will point out some of the things that biologists can do for industry. If it appears that the biological investigations lag behind those in other divisions of the natural sciences, it is because biology deals with phenomena which are complicated, variable, and not easily susceptible of experimental manipulation. The investigator must be familiar with the biological system which he is attempting to study — the condition of the living thing. It is clear that certam biological experiments require not only knowledge of physics and chemistry but also a knowledge of the normal living organism, the "biological system." If there is a imique biological viewpoint it is associated with an under- standing of this relationship and the possibilities in- herent m organization. Industrial Applications Industries vary greatly in the extent to which they utilize biological research. The manufacture of vac- cines, antitoxins, and many pharmaceuticals involves the most meticulous biological control. At the other extreme we have the metallurgical industries where the biologist is concerned only with employee welfare or waste disposal. In any event we may define the in- dustrial biologist from the standpoint of this report as one engaged in research on biological material regardless of his previous training. According to the figures obtained by questionnaires, there are about 1,000 biologists engaged in industrial research in the United States, but under the above classification a much larger number would be included. It usually requires the cooperation of many scien- tifically framed investigators to place a product on the market. The sources of raw materials must be care- fully investigated. Their cost and imiformity and the economics of bringhig them to the factory door are matters of prime importance. Once the laboratory has developed a product and controls satisfactorily its mii- formity, flavor, color, consistency, therapeutic or nutri- tive value, and other properties, the cost of elaboration, methods of packaging, distribution, keeping quality, and superiority over competitive products must be considered as important factors. When the product is ready for market a consumer preference test is neces- sary. Ways of utilizing waste products must be de- veloped as these may become important sources of revenue in reducing the over-all processing cost. The knowledge of the "biological engineer" is of great value in the consideration of these problems. The biologist wdl also be consulted in the labeling and advertising of all foods and drugs in accordance with the regula- tions of the Food and Drug Administration (Federal Security Agency) and of the Federal Trade Commission. Modern advertising and labeling of such products must also be coordinated with the Federal and State regu- latory laws. This immense task requires training and experience in legal as well as scientific fields. We shall pass over with brief mention those industries Industrial Research 255 directly concorned with medicine. The development of cliemothcrapeiitic agents such as sulfanilamide is largely the result of mtensive study in industrial labora- tories as well as m endowed medical laboratories. Research on the endocrines has led to the commercial exploitation of the hormones. Isolation and study of the viruses may lead soon to developments of industrial significance. In agriculture the application of the principles of genetics and physiology has led to an astonishing increase in quahty and productivity. Not only have plant and animal strains been developed for specific pur]5oses and adaptable to specific environments — resistant or immune to certain diseases — but in many instances the ability of these strains to utilize more efTectively the potentialities of the enviromnent in providing food and clothing for men have been raised to a high degree of efficiency. Knowledge of soil and climatic conditions has made its contribution to this advance, as has research by plant pathologists, genetr- icists, biochemists, bacteriologists, entomologists, and workei-s m other fields. Some of tliis research was unorgairized, some was due to industrial organizations, while probably the most has come from the State supported agricidtural experiment stations. The field of nutrition has undergone a near revolu- tion. Newer knowledge of the mechanism of biological processes, the function of the vitamins, the importance of minerals, and studies of energy transformations, immensely accelerated by the use of radioactive and isotopic "tracer" atoms within the animal body in relation to the foods utilized has had great industrial repercussions. Tliis has also indirectly iiifluenced agricvdture; studies in animal husbandry and nutrition have shown how to feed for lean meat, for egg produc- tion, and even for better wool and fur. Although research in this field was initiated maiidy in the uni- versities a rapidly increasing amount is being done in strictly industrial laboratories, wliile nearly an equal amount in the colleges is now being subsidized by industry. Transportation and storage become big problems in the economy of civilized man, and in most cases some processing to improve characteristics of the product and prevent deterioration is necessary after harvesting, whether the crop be plants, animals, or micro-organisms. During processing the cells and structure of the product may be changed, and appearance, digestibihty, flavor, odor, tenderness, etc., be favorably or unfavorably influenced, but the control measures of the biologist and his other scientific collaborators should be avadable. Ripening processes involve enzymic changes, and it is necessary to control these changes in the product due to its own enzymes or to those of invading micro- organisms. The battle between the biologist and the spoilage micro-organisms is a continuous one, and the outcome is dependent U|)on the information furnished by biological research. It is in tlu; jjrcservation of foods that the research biologist has made some of his most imi)ortant contributions. The biologist is also conccM-ned in keeping out, killing, or removing diseast!- producing organisms, both infectious and those produc- ing to.xins. A great deal of the research in tliis field is due to industrial organizations. The Food Industries Tlie food in(lustri(^s have, in general, been slower to use biologists and their discoveries than have some otlier industries; this is probably due to their firm anchorage in the methods of antiquity. A few of the biological sciences, however, are well represented in some of the food industries at present. Bacteriologists, for ex- ample, are considered necessary collaborators in re- search on milk products, meats, and canning. Re- searches in relation to the adidteration of foods and drugs have been carried on intensively by chemists and bacteriologists. There exists, however, a real need for more emphasis on investigations of the histology of useful plants. Food microscopy, as it is called, is a FiGUKE 79. — .Stmlyiiif; ().\iil:i,ti(in-H(.'iliR-(ion Sy-stcins, Flei.scli- maini Laboratories, New Vork, New York 256 National Resources Planning Board neglected field. Especially neglected have been studies relative to the structure of the seed kernel. In the following discussion of the problems in connection with some of the more important food industries, a few examples of the use of biologists in research will be cited and their more extensive use suggested. Aleat and meat products. — Studies of the growth, breeding, and nutrition of meat animals obviously involve research by many kinds of biologists. Then from the time the animal is killed until its meat is con- sumed there is work for biologist and chemist in deter- mining methods for reducing to a minimum undesir- able chemical and physical changes and encouraging desirable changes. Recent studies by bacteriologists on the amount and kind of contamination by micro- organisms at different stages during the handling of meat in the packing plant have shown the importance of further research. The growth of micro-organisms and consequent spoilage of meat is an ever-present problem to be solved. The biologist must investigate not only changes due to micro-organisms, but also those due to enzymes of the meat or to purely chemical reactions. Thus the chilling of meat or freezing by cither quick or slow methods brings problems to the biologist, who must be trained in anatomy, histology, and microscopy as well as in biophysics and biochem- istry. The biologist encounters special problems in changes in taste or odor and in loss of "bloom" and other changes in pigmentation including discolorations. The oxidation of fats, use of antioxidants, and the causes of rancidity still present many problems. In- vestigation is needed on ripening and "tenderizing" meats and on their nutritive value. Preservation of meat and meat products by heat presents the biologist with problems. While the proc- essing of canned meats by the usual steam-pressure- cooker methods still deserves study, less adequately explored is the field of processing certain canned meat products such as luncheon meats or hams so that only part of the micro-organisms present will be killed, yet the product will keep for a reasonable time at low storage temperatures. Curing, piclding, smoking, and drying of meats are being investigated. The bacteriology of the brine used in curing hams and bacon needs study to enable better control of the curing process. This may lead to the use of pure cultures, an example of which is the addition of cultures of lactobacilli to a certain tangy sausage with consequent improvement in the quality of the product. Fish and seafoods. — In general the sea-food industry faces problems similar to those of the meat industry. An important difference, however, is the fact that fish and other sea foods usually are not grown but must be sought where they grow in nature (an exception is. of course, the breeding of game fish and planting of lakes and streams primarily for the sake of the sports- man). Nevertheless, the ichthyologist, limnologist, and biochemist are carrying on research of benefit to the commercial fisherman. Two interesting examples of this aid are: A study of the habits of fish to guide the fisherman to the best places to net fish; a study of the organic matter content of the water, or rather its availability; this can be measured by determining the rate of bacterial nndtiplication and the rate of oxj'gen absorption in the water due to bacterial action. The case of decomposition of fish (and other sea foods) both by autolysis and by microbial action, and the fact that fishes usually are harvested at some distance from the place of processing, have given the biologist espe- cially difficult problems. Milk and milk products. — While mdk may not be considered an industrial product when first produced, it becomes one as soon as it reaches the market-milk plant, the cheese factory, condensery, or other process- ing plant. The dairy industry is making more use of biologists than are some of the other food industries. Bacteriologists and biochemists in particular are doing research on milk and milk products, especially on as- pects of sanitation, preservation, nutritive properties, and utilization of byproducts. Milk is subject to contamination by micro-organisms which may grow and cause spoilage, as well as by path- ogenic bacteria. Because the delicate flavor of milk and certain of its physical characteristics are so readily changed by some of the commonly used methods of food preservation like heat and freezing, its preservation presents problems different from those encountered in most foods. Asepsis, cooling, and pasteurization are commonly employed, but use of pressure, sound waves, ultraviolet rays, etc., is being studied. Sanitary con- trol is not only of interest to the market milk industry but also to the ice cream industry, because of the in- creasing stringency of laws concerrung the bacterial content, more especially that of Escherichia coli, in ice cream. The butter industry is faced with problems concerning the original cream as well as the butter which has been in cold storage for months. The biolo- gist is of assistance in the investigation of the harmful processes which may take place. Evaporated milk presents problems especially to the biochemist interested in the coagulability of the casein as influenced by com- position of the milk. Both the nutrition expert and the bacteriologist find unsolved problems concerning the proper processing of the canned product. Fermented milk products are manufactured partly as a means of preservation of milk, but primarily for their inherent characteristics. Fermented milk drinks (but- termilks) are, for the most part, prepared with more than one species of micro-organism, and the resulting Industrial Research 257 mbccd fermentation presents special problems. Cheese making usually involves the activity of still more spe- cies of micro-organisms and presents problems of even greater complexity. The bacteriology, physical chem- istry, and biochemistry of most of the hundreds of kinds of cheese are still not clear, and an enormous amount of research will be necessary before the cheese maker can manufacture consistently a product of the highest quality. Nutritional studies on milk and milk products are assuming increasing importance. Vitamin and mineral content, change of alpha lactose to the beta form, production of soft-curd milk, irradiation of milk, activation and feeding of yeast to cows to increase the vitamin D content of their milk, and the effect of the form of lactic acid upon assimilation are all subjects of present interest and research. Eggs. — Stored eggs are subject not only to spoilage by micro-organisms but also to deterioration due to their own enzymes. The industry is interested in improvements over the usual chilling or "cold-storage" preservation; these include oiling of the shell, with or without replacement of the air Ln the egg with carbon dioxide, and storage in an atmosphere with a controlled content of carbon dioxide or ozone. The freezing and drying of eggs also present unsolved problems; for instance the diying of egg white by the usual methods used for milk injures the whipping quality. Fruits. — It is evident that various biologists would be concerned in research on fruit production, and large producers are employing biologists to assure greater yields and improved quality. The transportation and storage of fruits present difficulties that differ in some respects from those encountered with animal products. In most fruits and vegetables the cells remain alive long after harvesting and continue respiration and other functions. Most fruits reach a certain stage of ripe- ness or maturity desired by the consumer and must be marketed at that stage. For these reasons the time of harvesting, the methods of handling, the use of artificial agents or specific chemicals such as ethylene for increas- ing the speed of ripening, are all of great importance and are the subject of considerable research by biol- ogists. Prevention of mold and bacterial growth is also an important problem. The optimum temperature of storage varies with the fruit to be stored and temper- atures that are but slightly too high or too low may ruin the product. Investigations on this subject by plant physiologists and biochemists continue, but these researches now are concerned chiefly with a study of controlled atmospheres about the fruits, with special attention to concentrations and proportions of oxygen Figure 80. — Corner of Food Technology Laboratory, General Foods Corporation, Hoboken, New Jersey 258 National Resources Planning Board and carbon dioxide, and to the use of ozone. Investi- gations on the method of extracting and preserving fruit flavors for use in gelatin, ice cream, and candy are being carried on in a number of industries. Freezing of foods is a large and rapidly growing industry. Fruits and vegetables are being frozen chiefly by quick freezing methods, although some fruits are frozen more slowly. Ucvelopment of quick-freezing methods has opened a large field of research by biol- ologists, for fruits and vegetables suitable for canning are not necessarily adapted to freezing, and old varieties are being tested and new varieties sought. Inactivation of enzymes, especially of those of vegetables, is being investigated, for the enzymes are not destroyed by low temperatures and may cause appreciable changes in the frozen product. The chemical and physical changes which take place between harvesting and thawing of the frozen product before consumption also are receiving the attention of biochemists and biophysicists. Most fruits are so acid that spoilage of the canned product is not a major problem, although occasionally difficulties arise in the preservation of such fruits by drying. Physical and chemical changes in the plant cells which take place during harvestmg, lye treatment, sulfuring, drying, and "sweating" are subjects for research. The treatment of fresh fruits to destroy molds and bacteria may extend the marketing period. Vegetables. — The problems in connection with the freezing of vegetables have been discussed under the heading "fruits." Biologists have been helpful to the canning industry in its packing of vegetables. The production of vegetables suitable for canning has inspired some important linos of research. A notable example is the discovery that deficiency of soils in boron FniUHK SI. PliutuL-lc'clric Cipldriiiiilc r iiir MrasiiriiiK Aiiumiil of Vitamin .A in Foods, Purina Mills, St. Louis, Missouri is responsible for "black heart" in caiming beets. Geneticists and plant breeders are engaged in producing new varieties, especially suited to processing and shipping. Tlie canner is always torn between the desire to heat the canned product as little as practicable, so as to avoid harm to the quality of his product, and to admin- ister a severe heat treatment to assure the inactivation of all spoilage organisms. The bacteriologist has studied the heat resistance of spoilage bacteria, the sources of these organisms, and new methods of processing. He is at present interested in the develop- ment of the new high-temperature short-time methods. Fungi. — The cultivation of mushrooms, molds, yeasts, and bacteria for use as foods is a large industry in itself with many possibilities as yet unexplored. The industry in the United States produces annually about 18 million pounds of muslu-ooms. This is a good illus- tration of how sound biological methods make possible great industries. The rapid growth of the mushroom industry is mainly due to two biological processes, the development of pure culture methods of growing spawn and improvement in the preparation of compost humus. Commercial yeast manufacture. — The cultivation of yeasts for food, for various vitamins or vitamin pre- cursors, for leavening of bread dough, for manufacture of beer, wines and other foods and beverages has been the basis of research by the biologists who are still studying the physiological characteristics of yeasts and efficient methods for their cultivation. Studies in this field have thrown light on the chemical and physiological processes in higher plants and animals. Manufacture of bacterial cultures. — Many food indus- tries use pure cultures of bacteria and the preparation of these cultures is a considerable industry in itself. In the dairy industries starter cultures are needed for the manufacture of cheese, butter, and fermented milks. The production of special enzjmies not only from bacteria but also from yeasts and molds for use in food and other industries is increasing in importance. The successful growth of leguminous crops such as alfalfa, clover, peas, and soybeans, often depends upon the use of suitable cultures of the nodule-forming organisms — the symbiotic rhizobia. Obviously the bacteriologist finds research necessary to determine methods for the preparation of effective, long-lived cultures which are able to perform the functions expected of them. The growth of cultures for the production of enzymes introduces problems not only of yield but of isolation and purification of the product. It is anticipated that research work on enzyme products will continue to grow m importance. Cereals and cereal products. — The cereal industries are faced with problems in grain production, processing, Industrial Research 259 nutritive properties, and spoilage. Only during the past 10 years has the extensive use of combine harvest- ing so changed the biological character of wheat as to impose difficult problems for the milling industry in enzymic control. Often problems of flavor control are associated intimately with biological effects. In the baking industry, for example, ropiness of l)read and spoilage by molds continue to cause trouble. Recently it has been found that the salts of acetic and ])ro])ionic acid are valuable in the prevention of molds on bread. The physical properties of the finished bread continue to be investigated and improvements in flavor are being sought. The weevil hazard is one to which all makei-s of meals, cereals, and crackers must attend. The number of breakfast foods has multiplied greatly in recent years and the efl'orts continually being made to improve their flavor and dietetic value, as well as vitamin and mineral content, demand careful biological testing. Recent]}' the restoration of vitamin Bi to white bread by means of special milling processes, the addition of thiamin, or the use of high Bi yeast have been the subjects of intensive research. Siigar and sugar ■products. — Although the microbial content of sugars for canning now is being controlled in a fairly satisfactory manner, thanks to past research, there is still room for improvement. Occasional lots contain large enough nund)ers of spores of thermophilic, anaerobic bacteria to make them unsuitable for use by the canner. The need for further research and continuous control of manufacturing methods is indi- cated. Spoilage of honey, sirups, and candies also needs further study. Food Jats and oils. — The nutritive value, causes of deterioration and methods of preservation of fats and oils are subjects for further study by biologists. The influence of various catalysts on oxidative changes in fats and oils brings about changes in flavor. Micro- organisms, especially molds, have been shown to be responsible for both oxidative and hydrolytic changes. Spices, condiments, and unjermented beverages. — The antiseptic and germicidal power of spices and condi- ments, and their preservation and use for the control of the bacterial content of foods continue to be subjects for research. Biologists find subjects for research in Figure 82. — Corner of Research Laboratory, Swift and Company, Chicago, Illinois 321835- -18 260 National Resources Planning Board the removal of the cofTee "bean" from outer skins and pulp and a possibly controlled fermentation of the coffee bean to improve flavor and aroma. Likewise, the removal of cocoa beans from pod and pulp and the accompanying fermentation are being studied, as is the "fermentation" of tea leaves. Important studies on the staling of coffee have recently appeared. Fermented foods. — The biologist is essential to indus- tries which manufacture fermented foods like sauer- kraut, picldes, olives, fermented milks, vinegar, and beverages such as beer, and wines. Bacteriologists and biochemists have developed satisfactory methods for the preparation of sauerkraut and have investigated the bacterial flora and causes of spoilage. Similar work on cucumber pickles and olives is occupying the attention of biologists in these industries. Although the manufacture of vinegar by fermentation has been carried on for centuries, methods of production have recently been so greatly improved as to be almost completely revolutionized. In fermentation industries like brewing and wine making, the yeasts used are studied for food require- ments, methods of propagation, maintenance of desired characteristics, and possible improvement of their activity. The aging of the products, maintenance or improvement of their quality, and prevention of spoil- age also are being investigated. A recent development of great importance to the food industry is the development of a yeast containing 10 to 20 times as much vitamin Bi as that of ordinary beer or baker's yeast. The development of special strains of yeast and methods of growing for the production of ergosterol and riboflavin are examples of research in this field. A special yeast high in invertase activity has also been recently developed. Fermentation Industries It has been estimated that the present annual produc- tion of fermented products and chemicals produced by fermentation is about as follows: Malt liquors, 1,669 million gallons. Wines and spirits, 145 million gallons. Industrial alcohol, 152 million gallons. Acetone (including synthetic) and butyl alcohol, 150 million pounds. Lactic acid, 1,292,000 pounds edible and 5-7 million pounds, technical. Citric acid, 15 million pounds. Gluconic acid, 500,000 pounds. Sorbose, 100,000 pounds. New organisms. — In the highly competitive fermenta- tion industries there is a constant pressure for improve- ment of the processes, as witness the numerous patents. While it is not possible to patent an existing micro- organism as such, it is considered a point of novelty and a patentable feature if one has developed an organism having characteristics commercially significant. If a company is not to be the prey of any inventor who comes to offer a new organism, it should itself ex- plore the possibilities of isolation and testing of new organisms. Some large companies recognize this and have in their employ trained bacteriologists or mycologists. Changing economic conditions may so affect the avail- ability or price of the raw carbohydrate for the fermen- tation as to cause a change in desirability of an organism for a given fermentation. For example, in the early years of butyl fermentation, the Weizmann organism held the field because of its superiority in the production of butyl alcohol and acetone from com. Some 10 years ago molasses displaced com, and immediately butyl organisms of a new type were in demand. Their dis- covery was an assignment for the microbiologist, and to his credit may it be said that by deliberate selection from many new isolations of. butyl bacteria he found new species and particular strains far superior to the original commercial butyl types. A spectacular current devel- opment is a new technique for the controlled adaptation of micro-organisms. Nutritional requirements. — It is obvious that to grow bacteria and yeast one must supply the proper food. Unfortunately all the factors involved in the growing process are not known even by the best informed. The gross energy-yielding nutrients are known but the re- quirements for optimum functioning are but imperfectly understood. It is becoming increasingly evident that bacteria and even higher plants require vitamins just as much as do higher animals. In nature micro-organisms may obtain these substances from one another or from other plant and animal materials. In industrial opera- tions the micro-organism is shut off from associated organisms and must depend upon the food supply offered or upon its own synthetic powers. By and large, shot- gun methods of supplying these feeds are employed, such as use of extracts of natural materials in the fermen- tation mashes. When it is not known what growth factors are required, it is impossible to determine except by trial and error experimentation whether or not the factor needed is present in the extract. In microbiology the necessity for growth factors has long been appreci- ated. Because of recent developments in animal nutri- tion, advance Ln the knowledge of the nutrition of micro-organisms has been accelerated. Physical factors. — Consideration must be given also to such factors as optimum temperature, hydrogen- ion concentration, and oxidation-reduction potential. Means of control of these factors are well known to the biologist but their need is frequently not recognized by plant operators. Industrial Research 261 Biological Products Vitamins. — In the last decade the vitamins have moved on from the research laboratory to a place in industry. The developments in the vitamin field are an excellent example of research work leading to the establishment of new industries. It is estimated that the sales value of pharmaceutical vitamin products, such as Viosterol, cod-liver and Haliver oils, amounts, annually, to $125,000,000 in the United States. The value of food products sold on the basis of their v^itamin content must amount to many times that of the phar- maceutical products. Milk and cereals which have been treated so as to enhance or restore their vitamin potency are produced in large volume. Oleomargarine fortified with vitamin A is another product featuring the vitamin content as a basis of sale. Most infant foods are now prepared with carefid regard for their vitamin content. Many poultry and dog feeds are compoimded with a view to insuring an adequate supply of these nutritional elements, and sales are promoted to a con- siderable degree by the advertising of the vitamin content. The volume of this business is increasing rapidly. Restoration to food products of various vitamins removed in processing is today one of the outstanding questions under discussion by nutritionists, medical men, and food manufacturers. Although there is no general agreement as to the proper extent of such resto- ration or fortification or the procedure that will best conserve the public health, there can be no doubt that the tendency is toward increasing the vitamin content of foods. In the beginning the recognition of the existence of a vitamin was the work of the biologist, or of chemists trained in biology, and all through the stages of puri- fication, isolation, and synthesis the work is guided by biological assay. Without this guidance the chemist would be imable to plan his work or to know the results obtained. When the interest in, or need for, a vitamin has reached the dimensions of a public demand, the problem becomes one of manufacture. Then the work of the chemist and the engineer becomes of importance. But even here, satisfactory control of the quality of the product must be maintained. Where suitable chemical methods become available, the biological assay gives place to the chemical analysis for vitamin control. The use of micro-organisms in place of rats for assaying vitamin products is a recent development. Enzymes. — The enzyme rennin has been used in the cheese industry for centuries. However, only relatively recently has the importance of this class of very reactive agents in the chemical processes of the living cell been recognized. Still more recently the possibility of extracting enzymes from the tissues and of using them to cause desired chemical transformations in industry has been attended with considerable success. The number and kinds of enzymes are enormous, and their discovery and application present fields for practically unlimited research. There are available commercial enzyme preparations such as invcrtase from yeast, pepsin, rennin, papain, pancreatic extracts, diastatic malt extracts, and micro- bial proteases and amylases. Other types of enzymes could no doubt be prepared in large quantities if applications were developed. Two of the well-known commercial uses of enzymes are found in the leather and textile industries. Origi- nally in the tanning industry, the sweating of hides was followed by puering with dog or bird excreta, and in the textile industry dosizing of fabrics was done in stagnant water. Following the discovery that the desired reactions are due to specific enzymes, the use of crude mixtures of animal feces was discarded and a standardized enzyme preparation was substituted. In the food industries, many applications of enzymic properties have been made. Invertase preparations are widely used to produce a noncrystallizable soft cream center for chocolate-coated confections. In- vertase is also being used in effecting the partial hy- drolysis of sugar syrups. In the meat industry, plant proteases like papain and bromelin have been success- fully used to make various meat products tender. On the other hand, some food industries are primarily interested in the inhibition of enzymatic action; for example, quick-frozen foods are first scalded to render the enzymes inert. Studies of the enzyme systems in citrus fruits have resulted in a process for stabilizing the natural clouding of citrus juice, and there is in use also a process for drying orange pulp for cattle feed which uses enzymic action to increase the capacity of the driers. In the production of pectin from apple pomace, the disturbing presence of starch has been eliminated by the applica- tion of fungous amylases. Other fungous preparations containing pectinase have recently been introduced for the clarification of various fruit juice beverages. In the brewing industry, bacterial amylase preparations are in use for the liquefaction of unmalted cereals such as corn and rice. Proteolytic enzymes are used, not only in the early stages of manufacture to render soluble the proteins of the mash, but also in the final clarifica- tion of malt beverages by removal of the protein haze. For the manufacture of various sizing pastes to be used in the paper industry, amylases offer particular advantages because of the various grades of material which can be uniformly produced. Other interesting applications of enzymes include their use to digest the gelatin in the recovery of silver from used photographic films and in the deproteinizing of rubber to produce 262 National Resources Planning Board a higlJy water-resistant product, as well as the use of pancreas extract for the production of soft-curd milk. The levels of phosphatase in milk and in blood vary with the degree of infection. The phosphatase test, which depends upon the heat stability of the enzyme, is used in industry to determine whether milk is pas- teinized at the correct temperature. In the first steps of commercial preparation of certain antitoxins, successful use has been made of proteolytic enzymes to digest and in this waj^ to remove contami- nating proteins. The successful use of proteolytic enzymes to separate mixtures of hormones also has been carried out. The industries described above by no means exhaust the commercial uses of enzymes, and it is not too much to predict for the future still more industrial applica- tions. It may be said that these substances are poten- tially useful to any industry which is concerned with products of a carbohydrate, proteinaceous, or fatty nature. Hormones and auxins. — Hormones, the secretions of the ductless glands of animals, play a role in embryo development, in the coordination of the secretion of digestive enzymes, in the function of the nervous system (neurohormones), in the control of the metab- olism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, in growth, and in reproduction. Many of these regulators involved in the control of vital processes in both plants and animals have been isolated in a higlily purified form or have been synthesized. The early recognition that many abnormal and dis- turbed functions of man and animals ai'e the result of the production of too much or too little of certain endocrine glandular secretions resulted in the develop- ment of methods of treatment by the injection or in certain cases the feeding of gland substances. Classical cases are the use of insulin for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, the use of sex hormones to aid in the physiolog- ical adjustment (treatment of the symptoms) at the time of the menopause, and the purification of the pituitary hormone used in ciiildbirth. In plant cultiu'e, liormone extracts and auxins are used by florists and horticulturists. The advent of hormones in the treatment of various disorders has made it necessary for the biologist to survey the hormone content of the endocrine glands of various species, and thus to guide the chemist in the selection of the most potent sources of a particular hormone. It is the function of the chemist to isolate, purify, and synthesize these active substances and of the biologist to study their consequences on living organisms. Vaccines. — Man has learned some of the ways by which one biological form protects itself against the predator}^ action of another. This knowledge has enabled him to devise ways of aiding the fonn attacked. The observations of Jenner made on cowpox led to vaccination as a protective measure against smallpox. The knowledge was not further significant, since it indi- cated nothing as to the mechanism involved. It remained for Pasteur to make observations on chicken cholera, antlu-ax, and rabies that did reveal something of the processes concerned and the road to be traveled to reach other goals. The manufacture of vaccines to be used in preventing typhoid fever, cholera, plague, yellow fever, cattle tick (Texas) fever, blackleg, hog cholera, tuberculosis in man and animals, demands a high type of biological service. Research in this field may lead to the prevention of many other diseases of man and animals. Witness the recent development of vaccination for yellow fever and for equine encephalo- myelitis, a disease transmissible to man. Without the former our air lines to South America would probably not be permitted to operate. "Jungle yellow fever" in South America now presents a diflerent aspect of an old problem. Recently a peculiar type of malaria brought from Africa by airplanes offers a new problem for control. , Sera. — Protective substances such as antitoxins may be produced with an appropriate stimulus, and these may be used to prevent or cure disease. Antisera for diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, hog cholera, and other diseases are widely used. The manufacture and stand- ardization of sera demand the most exacting work with the organism used to produce the stimulant, the animal producing the serum, and the animals used to determine the potency of the serum. It is chemical work with reagents from living forms. Diagnostic agents. — The diagnosis of typhoid fever, of Bang's disease in domestic animals, and of white diarrhea in chicks is made by use of suspensions of the causal organism. Tuberculosis is detected by using a fraction of the cell content of the tubercle bacillus. The eradication of bovine tuberculosis in the United States, now nearly complete, has been accomplished bj- the destruction of the infected animals as shown b}- this test. The results of its use in man still show the need of research directed toward the improvement of the prod- uct. In each of these fields the selection of the organism and its nutrition are most important, as evidenced by recent work on the selection and cultivation of the par- ticular strain of diptheria bacillus to be used in the preparation of toxins and of the tubercle bacillus in the making of tuberculin. Other examples are the Weil- Felix reaction in the diagnosis of typhus fever and the complement-fixation and other tests for syphilis. Two diseases in which important use is made of the testing of individual susceptibility are the Sliick test for diph- theria and the Dick test for scarlet fever. The very latest tools of the physical chemist, the ultracentri- Industrial Research 263 fuge, electrophoresis, and (lifl'iision apparatus, arc em- ployed in determining tlie purity and nature of tuber- lin. Further biological research is still needed on this product. Chemical Products Chemotherapy. — The treatment of disease with chem- ical substances that selectively destroy the harmful organism without doing serious injurj^ to the animal is the object of numerous researches. The recent dis- covery of sulfanilamide and its remarkable therapeutic properties, and the still more recent findings of Dubos regarding the products of micro-organisms to be used in the treatment of disease indicate the significance and possibilities of research iir this field. Fungicides, insecticides, germicides, detergents. — The crops of the farmer are constantly being threatened by parasitic plants, smuts, mildews, rusts, and wilts, and by such insects as the grasshopper, the potato beetle, the codling moth; his animals are threatened by various micro-organisms. The building industry must consider the wood-destroying fungi, blue stain fungi, and insects such as termites. The textile industry also must give consideration to the same agencies, for all textiles are exposed to the destructive action of fungi and bacteria, and the textiles made from animal fibers, such as silk and wool, are attacked by clothes moths and other destructive insects. The organic matter produced on the farm is exposed to attacks of varied rodents, as is organic matter in transportation and processing. The development of products used to protect material against the action of these various destructive forms is an important industry in which the biologist must find a place. The larger producers of these products find it necessary to maintain experimental colonics of the species to the influence of which their products are exposed. In dealing with green plants, there has been developed a method for controlling the growth of weeds by the use of sodium chlorate. The detergent industry is a very old one. However, it is one in which great progress has been made during recent years. The value of soaps as agents to remove and to inhibit the growth of various mici-o-organisms has not been recognized. The development of any compound which shall have marked action as a wetting agent has found great use not only in the textile indus- try but also in the application of fungicides which, without adequate wetting power, cannot be uniformly distributed over the surface of plants on which they are used. The biological role of detergents has not been widely recognized. In the cleansing of all types of food utensils, especially those in which various types of bacteria exist, reliance has been placed on the destruc- tion of the micro-organism by some harmful agent such as heat. In many connections this agency has distinct limitations. It can be partially overcome through the action of effective detergents which will aid in removing protective films of organic matter as well as micro- organisms. There has been rapid development in all of these fields in recent years, but much still remains to be accomplished. The use of dilute solutions of sodium hydrate, trisodium phos[)hate, and metasilicatc in the dairy has aided in the i)roduction of milk with low bacterial content. Relation of parasites to industry. — The harmful effect of parasites on workers in certain countries offers a serious handicap to industry. Investigations have shown that the presence of a hundred or more hook- worms exerts a measurable eft'ect on the mental and physical development of an individual. The occurrence of hookworm and malaria in certain sections may become so prevalent that it is advantageous to locate the industrial plants outside these endemic areas. The coffee and tropical-fruit industries must operate in endemic areas of parasites, hence the clear recognition Figure 83. — Determination of Thermal Death Time of Micro- organisms, H. J. Heinz Laboratories, Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania 264 National Resources Planning Board of the great importance of having workers free of parasitic disease. The relation of parasitology to food industries is well known. Often fish are from lakes harboring the larval forms of Diphyllobothrium latum — the fish tape- worm. Fish arc intermediate hosts also of various other parasites of man and domestic animals. The development of the fur-farming industry has brought with it the use of fish as feed for foxes, minks, and other animals. This new and widespread use of fish has been accompanied by serious outbreaks of parasitic diseases. Especially is this true where the fish harbor larvae of the trematode, Troglotrema salmincola, which carries to dogs a virus disease. The relation of such a parasite as Trichinella spiralis in pork constitutes a major parasitological problem for the meat-packing industry. The presence of human tapeworm cysts Ln pork and beef (measly pork and beef) is also a constant source of loss and annoyance to the packing industry. Quite apart from the direct influence on man, the occurrence of parasitic diseases such as cattle tick fever in cattle, stomach worms and liver flukes in sheep, results in great economic loss to the food industries. Waste Disposal The wastes of many industries are organic in nature, or at least affect life in the soil or in the water to which these wastes may be added. The disposal of industrial wastes must be accomplished through the use of natural agencies. In many instances these agen- cies cannot be used in their nonnal environment, and artificial systems must be developed for the disposal of the particular waste. A system effective in one coimection may not operate in another, since the kind of organism concerned wiU depend upon the nature of the waste; and since the organisms may differ in their demands, the systems must provide varied environ- ments. Thus, the activated-sludge process for the dis- posal of household sewage and industrial waste should be adapted to each particular problem. The disposal of industrial wastes must be accom- plished without endangering the health of man or his food supply. The disposal must also be carried on under such conditions that the area in which it is taking place is not made less attractive for man. The loss of fertilizing value connected with the older systems of waste disposal was great. The newer sys- tems seek to leave some part of the organic matter in such form that it can be returned to the land to aid in maintaining the farmer's production of organic matter. Much has been accomplished in this direction. It is very probable that adequate research by chemists and biologists will result in still further conservation of these valuable fertilizing materials. Apart from sew- age, there are other waste products to be considered, such as smelter gases, etc. Plant and Animal Breeding One of the most important advances in biological research in recent years is involved in the discovery of the significance of chromosomes, the gene hypothesis, polyploidy, and in general the mechanism of genetics. The amazing results obtained from the development and application of genetics to the com plant offer a striking example. At present, about 65 percent of the corn acreage in the com belt of the United States uses hybrids which are distinctly superior in yield, resistance to weather and disease and in quality to the open- pollinated varieties of corn. This great movement is a direct outgrowth of the fundamental genetic re- searches on the effects of inbreeding and cross-breeding. Without genetic knowledge, hybrid com would prob- ably have been long delayed because the first step — selecting parent lines in self-poULnated stocks — appears to be sharply away from rather than toward the goal of better com. Now the com breeder is approaching a position in which he can synthesize hybrid strains espe- cially weU suited for various industrial purposes — e. g., sirups, dextrose, alcohol, plastics, etc. Resistance to Fusarium conglutinans, the fimgus which causes cabbage yellows, is another discovery of gene relationship that makes possible continuance of cabbage production in various old producing regions of the United States in which the soil-borne organism has become thoroughly established. In a similar way, the pea-canning industry has made use of the discovery of a dominant gene conferring immunity to common pea wilt (Fusarium orthoceras var. pisi). Ten years ago the industry was tlu-catened with failure from the lack of a supply of raw matei'ials as a result of the wide prevalence of this soil-borne fungus. Several seed com- panies and experiment stations have since supplied a fidl line of varieties in which this gene is incorporated, so that the problem is no longer important. Breeding for disease resistance is only a small part of the work of the geneticists. Among the new devel- opments in this field mention should be made of the production of auto and allopolyploidy by the use of heat, colchicine and various well-known chemical sub- stances, including some of the auxins. An illustration may be mentioned; the seed houses now offer for sale newly developed polyploid marigolds. Many examples may be cited from the animal king- dom; the cross-breeding program of the poultry industry is a good illustration of the application of genetics. In order to combine the good qualities of two breeds of poultry, the following cross is made: Barred Plym- outh Rock juales are crossed with New Hampshire females. The cross results in a barred, quick-feathermg Industrial Research 265 individual showing rapid growth and reduced mortaUty. The market value of the first generation individuals is high because of rapid growth and rapid feathering. Another example of genetic information may be drawn from the use of sex-linked genes for distinguish- ing the sex of chicks at hatcliing. One important means is found in the recessive sex-linked gene for long primary and secondary feathers in contrast to the dominant short primaries and secondaries of certain breeds. At least one well-known hatchery has been offering autosexed cliicks for sale on the basis of this genetic test. Likewise, a dominant sex-linked gene for barring of feathers has served as a means of dis- tinguishing the sexes at hatching. At hatcheries it is important to know which of the chicks are male and which are female, so that the cockerels may be sold and the pullets be kept for egg production. The application of the principles of genetics to various problems in plant and animal biology has led to an astonishing increase in productivity and in the improve- ment of the product. Training of the Industrial Biologist The expanding of the general body of knowledge through training in the fundamental disciplines becomes increasingly important. The industrial biologist must have a solid foimdation of chemistry and physics to supplement biology so that he may think correctly regarding living things (that are not reagents iia a bottle) in terms of their fundamental life processes and reactions. The superstructure wiU of necessity be varied. It may be anatomy, gross or microscopic; physiology, broad or in its narrower phases of endo- crinology; it may be microbiology, represented by bacteriology, virology, parasitology, protozoology. It may be evolution as in genetics, nutrition, broad or narrow, and it may be the interaction of all phases of the environment on one form, ecology. In food research, apart from the background subjects, the biologist should have knowledge of the recent develop- ments in genetics, histology, and plant pathology. The most important thing is the scientific and philo- sophical foundation on which any desired kind of a structure can be built, and onto which another can be moved to replace the first. While the schools can supply a relatively permanent foundation, the first superstructure will need constant remodeling to meet changing needs and new developments. More empha- sis should be placed on the supposedly fixed parts of the endeavor rather than on details and decoration. The universities must maintain great teachers and continue the development of fundamental research. Biologists specialize in one or more branches of the general field and caU themselves according to their major subject; e. g., bacteriologists, cytologists, endo- crinologists, parasitologists, and so on. Some of the main divisions and subdivisions follow: Anatomy. Bacteriology. Botany. Cytology. Dendrology. Ecology. Embryology. Endrocrinology. Entomology. Epidemiology. Genetics. Helminthology. Histology. Ilydrobiology. Immunology. Limnology. Microbiology. Mycology. Paleobotany. Paleontology. Parasitology. Pathology. Pharmacognosy. Pharmacology. Physiology. Plant Pathology. Protozoology. Psychology. Toxicology. Zoology. These various subjects emphasize a special sphere of the more general subject of botany or zoology. Often these are disconnected and fail to give the student a well-coordinated outline of the subject as a whole. One obvious feature of all biological study is the multiple interaction of numerous factors that go to make up the general pattern of life. The biologist must always keep in mind that every organism is a dynamic entity formed into a more or less stable pattern. He is working with hfe and must not for- get the complexity of the system and also that no sharp line can be drawn between the organism and its immediate surroundings. The course work given in chemistry and physics is often organized to train professionals ui these fields and not to tram persons who wish to learn chemistry, physics, and mathematics as an aid to some other profession. The biologist has great need for physics, chemistry, and mathematics as well as for good founda- tion in the biological sciences, but he may not have time to pursue the same instruction usually given for the major students in chemistry, physics, and mathe- matics. A more modest offering in number of divisions with emphasis on the fundamental science, seems desirable. From what has gone before, it is clear that the research worker in biology should have a broad and fundamental training. Similarly it is essential that the personnel in charge of the scientific control of a biological process, and the officials directing government regulatory activities have fundamental and comprehensive biologi- cal training. Too often application of the results of research is unduly delayed or frustrated by the lack of adequately trained personnel to carry the work beyond the laboratory. The social implications of biological research have not received general recognition. Fortunately, there is growing up a certain awareness among research workers of the impact of discovery upon social organization and welfare. The problems that may develop from research in biology and their social consequences deserve con- sideration. There is reason to believe that the biologist of the future will consider carefully the social and economic influences that may result from his researches. 266 National Resources Planning Board Is it possible to train individuals for siuh a broad field? The answer must conic from biological dcpart- ments in the colleges and universities throughout the country. It is their opportunity and their responsi- bility to develop the inquisitive mind as well as to point out the application of scientific discoveries to industry. Trends in Biological Research and New Developments The history of biology is marked by many changes in the major lines of investigation. Beginning with sys- tematic reports on classification, there have been periods of intensive study of various subjects, depending upon the powerful personality and creative mind of a great leader and the discovery and application of new and important apparatus or methods; the microscope; the Mendelian method of mvestigating inheritance; the con- cept of hydrogen-ion concentration, etc. These and other discoveries have exerted a profound influence on the development of biological research. Biology origi- nally was limited to a study of plants or animals as they occur in nature — "natural history." Now biologists are concerned with the experimental approach or with a study of the nature and mode of action of the living organism. The recent development in food research illustrates this point. The studies have been made along two lines: (1) Investigations relating to raw materials, the production of varieties adapted to special conditions, and (2) investigations of various methods for processing, e. g., quick freezing of fruits, vegetables, and meats; the storage and transportation of food products in an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide and nitrogen but low in oxygen and at low temperatures. The study of enzymes, their properties, mode of action and their role in normal and pathological con- ditions is one of the attractive fields of investigation. The great problem is to get these agents in purified form and to study their properties. The manufacture of hormones for the treatment of disturbances in metabolism and stimulating the growth of both plants and animals is another important indus- try that requires the attention of research workers broadly trained in biology and chemistry. There exists today a growing appreciation of the importance of viruses and of the need for further research. This subject may be divided into three main lines: (1) The general properties of viruses; (2) methods of infection; (3) the occurrence of viruses in diseases. The cultivation of viruses on the chorio-allantoic membrane of the developing chick embryo and by other methods has proved an invaluable tool and already the practical applications are so important that extensive investigations are planned in this field. The development of sulfanilamide and related com- pounds has opened the door to a better understanding of the value of certain chemical compounds in the treat- ment of diseases. Chemotherapeutic agents used in the treatment of streptococcal infections, pneumonia, and menmgitis have also produced amazing results. At present the organic chemists and biologists are carrj'ing on extensive investigations in this field. One of the most significant trends is that of vitamin research. The discovery of better and more sensitive methods for detecting symptoms of a deficiency of the vitamins has been one of the major aims of recent research. An entirely new concept is now developing. The vitamins are but part of an enzyme mechanism involving usually a protein combination. The func- tion and interaction of these systems in the living organ- ism offer a challenge to the investigator. Fimdamentally these developments have been a result of the break with tradition and the liberation of men's minds which occurred during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Freedom of initiative and enter- prise have permitted the application of basic discoveries to human welfare. The swing of the pendulum is now in the other direction and in many coimtries the in- creasing authority of government may hamper and delay or discourage new developments. Sympathetic cooperation between govemuTent and industry and maintenance of a symbiotic relationship between State- controlled and privately controlled research laboratories must be fostered if the fruits of our expanding sj^stem of knowdedge are to be enjoyed by all. But men of thor- ough scientific trainmg, wide vision, and sound ethics must staff these organizations for effective results. There exists extensive opportunity for the biologist who has a broad fimdamental knowledge of chemistry' and a close acquaintance with physics in addition to a well roimded training in general biology. Bibliography Books American Institute of Physics. Physics in industry. New York, American Institute of Physics, 1937. 290 p. .A.MEBICAN Medical Association. The vitamins. Chicago, American Medical Association, 1939. 637 p. Annual review of biochemistry, v. 1-9. Stanford University, Cal., Stanford University Press, 1932-40. 9 v. Annual review of physiology, v. 1-2. Stanford University, Cal., Stanford University Press, 1939-40. 2 v. Block, R. J. The determination of the amino acids. Minne- apolis, Minn., Burgess Publishing Company, 1938. 91 p. Boysen-Jensen, P. Growth hormones in plants. Tr. by Avery, George S., Jr., and Burkholder, Paul R. New York, London, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1936. 26S p. Chemical Society (London). Annual reports on the progress of chemistry for 1904-1939. London, Gurncy and Jackson, 1905-40. Clark, W. M. The determination of hydrogen ions. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins Company, 1928. 717 p. Industrial Research 267 Cold Spring Harbor, New York. Biological Laboratory. Cold Spring Harijor symposia on quantitative biology, v. 1-7. Cold Spring Harbor, L. I., N. Y., The BLological Laboratory, 1933-39. 7 V. CowDRY, E. V. ed. Problems of aging; biologic and medical aspects. Baltimore, W. Wood and Company, 1939. 758 p. Eddy, W. H., and Dalldorf, Gilbert. The avitaminoses. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins Company, 1937. 338 p. Effront, Jean. Enzymes and their applications. New York, J. Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1902. 322 p. GoRTNER, R. A. Outlines of biochemistry. 2d ed. New Y''ork, J. Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1938. 1017 p. Harrow, Benjamin, and Sherwin, C. P. A te.xtbook of bio- chemistry. Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Company, 1935. 797 p. Harvey Society, New Y'ork. Harvey lectures, 1905-40. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1900-26; Baltimore, The Williams and Wilkins Company, 1927-40. 34 v. Haskins, C. p. Of ants and men. New York, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1939. 244 p. Hawk, P. B. Practical physiological chemistry. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's Sons and Company, 1918. 661 p. Henrici, a. R. Morphologic variation and the rate of growth of bacteria. Springfield, 111., C. C. Thomas, 1928. 194 p. International Congress of Microbiology. 3d, New York, 1939. Report of proceedings (of the 3d Congress), ed. by M. Henry Dawson. New York, The Congress, 1940. 883 p. McCoLLUM, E. v., Keiles, Elsa (Orent), and Day, H. G. The newer knowledge of nutrition. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1939. 701 p. Mathews, A. P. Physiological chemistry. New York, W. Wood and Company, 1930. 1233 p. Mathews, A. P. Principles of biochemistry. Baltimore, W. Wood and Company, 1936. 512 p. Michaelis, Leonor. Hydrogen ion concentration, its sig- nificance in the biological sciences and methods for its deter- minations. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins Company, 1926. 299 p. Morrison, A. C. Man in a chemical world. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1937. 292 p. National Research Council. Industrial research laboratories of the United States, including consulting research laboratories. 7th ed., 1940. Compiled by Callie Hull for the National Research Council. Washington, D. C, Published by the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, (1940). 371 p. {Bulletin of the National Research Council No. 104; earlier editions were issued as Bulletins No. 2, 16, 60, 81, 91 and 102.) Oppenhbimer, Carl. Die Fermente und ihre Wirkungen. Leipsig, Georg Thieme, 1925-29. 4 v. Supplement, 1935-39. 2 V. Owen, W. L. Blackstrap molasses as raw material for biochem- ical industries. New York, Palmer, Russell, 1939. 113 p. Park, W. H., and Williams, A. W. Pathogenic microorganisms. London, Bailliere, Tindall and Cox, 1939. 1056 p. Plimmer, R. H. a. Organic and bio-chemistry. London, New- York, Longmans, Green and Company, 1938. 623 p. Reed, C. I., Struck, H. C, and Steck, I. E. Vitamin D; chemistry, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, experimental and clinical investigations. Chicago, 111., University of Chi- cago Press, 1939. 389 p. Rose, Mary D. (Swartz). The foundations of nutrition. New Y'ork, The Macmillan Company, 1938. 625 p. Schmidt, C. L. A., ed. The chemistry of the amino acids and proteins. Springfield, 111., Baltimore, C. C. Thomas, 1938. 1031 p. Sherman, H. C. Chemistry of food and nutrition. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1937. 640 p. Society of Chemical Industry (London). Reports of the progress of applied chemistry, 1916-39. London, Printed by Harrison and Sons, 1917-40. Szent-Gyorgyi, Albert. On oxidation, fermentation, vitamins, health and disease. Baltimore, Published for Vanderbilt University by the Williams and Wilkins Company, 1939. 109 p. TopLEY, W. W. C, and Wilson, G. S. Principles of bacteriology and immunity. Baltimore, W. Wood and Company, 1929. 2 v. Went, F. W., and Thimann, K. V. Phytohormones. New Y'ork, The Macmillan Company, 1937. 294 p. (Experimental biology monographs). Zinsser, Hans, and Bayne-Jones, Stanhope. A textbook of bacteriology. New York, London, D. Appleton-Century Com- pany, Inc., 1939. 990 p. Journal articles Bailey, C. H., and Sherwood, R. C. Biochemistry of bread making. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 27, 1426 (1935). Burrows, William. The nutritional requirements of bacteria. Quarterly Review of Biology, 11, 406 (1936). Clark, R. H. Enzyme activators. Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, S2, Sect. Ill, 1 (1938). Fortune Magazine (Anon). Abbot Laboratories. 22, 63 (August 1940). Corn products. 18, 55 (September 1938). Cure by chemicals. 20, 42 (September 1939). Del Monte. 21, 59 (January 1940). Hiram Walker digs in. 19, 68 (March 1939). Quick-frozen foods. 19, 61 (June 1939). Wonder bread and circuses. IS, 67 (July 1938). Freud, John, Laqueur, Ernst, and Muhlbock, O. Hormones. Annual Review of Biochemistry, S, 301 (1939). Gerard, R. W. Organism, society and science. Scientific Monthly, 50, 340, 403, 530 (1940). Haines, R. B. The proteolytic enzymes of micro-organisms. Biological Review, 9, 235 (1934). Haknwell, G. p. The exact sciences in a liberal education. Scientific Monthly, 49, 71 (1939). Herrick, H. T., and others. Regional research laboratories. Senate Document, 65, 1939. 429 p. Koch, F. C. Hormones. Annual Review of Biochemistry, 9, 327 (1940). Koser, S. a., and Saunders, Felix. Accessory growth factors for bacteria and related micro-organisms. Bacteriological Re- views, 2, 99 (1938). Lambert, E. B. Principles and problems of mushroom cul- ture. Botanical Review, 4, 397 (1938). LocKwooD, L. B., and Moyer, A. J. The production of chem- icals by filamentous fungi. Ibid., 4, 140 (1938). Nelson, E. M. Governmental control problems in the fortifi- cation of foods with vitamins and minerals. Milbank Memo- rial Fund Quarterly, 18, 248 (1939). Northrop, J. H. The formation of enzymes. Physiological Revieivs, 17, 144 (1937). Northrop, J. H., and Herriott, R. M. Chemistry of the crystalline enzymes. Annual Review of Biochemistry, 7, 37 (1938). Strickland, E. H. Parasites, friends of mankind. Scientific Monthly, 39, 252 (1934). Thomson, D. L., and Collip, J. B. Endocrine glands. Annual Review of Physiology, 2, 309 (1940). Wallerstein, Leo. Enzyme preparations from micro-organ- isms; commercial production and industrial application. In- dustrial and Engineering Chemistry, 31, 1218 (1939). Went, F. W. Auxin, the plant growth-hormone. Botanical Review, J, 162 (1935). SECTION VI 4. INDUSTRIAL MATHEMATICS By Thornton C. Fry Mathematical Research Director, Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York, N. Y. ABSTRACT The report consists of three major sections. The first discusses mathematical specialists in industry, calls at- tention to the essentially consultative character of their work, and makes some observations regarding the edu- cation, employment, and supervision of this type of personnel. The second section deals, not with the work of these specialists, but with the uses to which mathematics is put at the hands of industrial workers in general, the various ways in which it contributes to the economy and effectiveness of research, and the kinds of mathe- matics that are most used. A number of illustrations are given, together with brief surveys of the utilization of mathematics in four important industries : commimi- cations, electrical manufacturing, petroleum, and air- craft. The third section is devoted to statistics, which touches industrial life at rather different points;, and hence could not conveniently be included in the gen- eral discussion. Introduction Mathematical technique is used in some form in most research and development activities, but the men who use these techiiiques would not usually be called mathematicians. Mathematicians also play an important role in in- dustrial research, but their services are of a special character and do not touch the development program at nearly so many points. Because of this contrast between the ubiquity of mathematics and the fewness of the mathematicians, this report is divided into sharply differentiated parts. Under "Mathematicians in Industry" an attempt is made to explain what sort of service may be expected of industrial mathematicians, and to develop some principles of primary importance in employing and man- aging them. An attempt is also made to appraise future demand for men of this type, and to discuss the sources from which they can be drawn. Under "Mathematics in Industry" appear brief surveys of the extent and character of the utilization of mathematics in a few special hadustrics, and examples of specific problems in the solution of which mathematical methods have been necessary or advantageous. In these two sections mathematics is interpreted broadly to include not only the fundamental subjects, algebra, geometry, analysis, etc., but also their mani- festations in applied form as mechanics, elasticity, electromagnetic theory, hydrodynamics, etc. Statis- tics, however, touches industrial activity in a rather 268 different way, and is therefore discussed separately under a third heading, "Statistics in Industry." One observation which will be made in more detail later is worthy of mention here, because of the present and prospective scarcity of suitably trained industrial mathematicians. Though the United States holds a position of outstanding leadership in pure mathematics, there is no school which provides an adequate mathe- matical training for the student who wishes to use the subject in the field of industrial applications rather than to cultivate it as an end in itself. Both science generally, and its industrial applications m particular, would be advanced if a group of suitable teachers were brought together in an institution where there was also a strong interest in the basic sciences and in engineering. Mathematicians in Industry What is a Mathematician? If every man who now and then computes the aver- age of a set of instrumental readings or solves a differ- ential equation is a mathematician, there are few re- search workers who are not. If, on the other hand, only those who are primarily engaged in making addi- tions to mathematical loiowledge are mathematicians, there are almost none in industry. Neither definition is sound. The first is absurd; the second not closely related to the essential natm-e of mathematical thought. This report adopts a definition based upon the charac- ter of the man's thinking rather than the ultimate use to which his thinking is put. Industrial Research 269 Some men would be called mathematicians in any man's language; others physicists or engineers. These typical men are differentiated in certain essential respects : The typical mathematician feels great confidence in a conclusion reached by careful reasoning. He is not convinced to the same degree by experimental evidence. For the typical engineer these statements may be re- versed. Confronted by a carefully thought-out theory which predicts a certain result, and a carefully per- formed experiment which fails to produce it, the typical mathematician asks first, "What is wrong with the ex- periment?" and the typical engineer, "What is wrong with the argument?" Because of this confidence in thought processes the mathematician turns naturally to paper and pencil in many situations in which the engineer or physicist would resort to the laboratory. For the same reason the mathematician in his "pure" form delights in building logical structures, such as topology or abstract algebra, wliich have no apparent connection with the world of physical reality and which would not interest the typical engineer; while conversely the engineer or physicist in his "piu-e" form takes great interest in such useful information as a table of hard- ness data which may, so far as he is aware, be totally imrelated to any theory, and which the typical mathe- matician would find quite boring. A second characteristic of the typical mathematician is his highly critical attitude toward the details of a demonstration. For almost any other class of men an argimient may be good enough, even though some minor question remains open. For the mathematician an ar- gument is either perfect in every detail, in form as well as in substance, or else it is wrong. There are no inter- mediate classes. He calls this "rigorous thinking," and says it is necessary if his conclusions are to be of per- manent value. The typical engineer calls it "hair split- ting," and says that if he indulged in it he would never get anything done. The mathematician also tends to idealize any situa- tion with which he is confronted. His gases are "ideal," his conductors "perfect," his surfaces "smooth." He admires this process and calls it "getting down to essen- tials"; the engineer or physicist is likely to dub it some- what contemptuously "ignoring the facts." A foiu-th and closely related characteristic is the desire for generality. Confronted with the problem of solving the simple equation a; ^— 1 = 0, he solves x"— 1 =0 instead. Or asked about the torsional vibration of a galvanometer suspension, he studies a fiber loaded with any number of mirrors at arbitrary points along its length. He calls this "conserving his energy"; he is solving a whole class of problems at once instead of dealing with tliem piecemeal. The engineer calls it "wasting liis time"; of what use is a galvanometer with more than one mirror? In the vast army of scientific workers who cannot be tagged so easily with the badge of some one profession, those may properly be called "mathematicians" whose work is dominated by these foxir characteristics of greater confidence in logical than experimental proof, severe criticism of details, idealization, and generaliza- tion. The boundaries of the profession are perhaps not made sharper by this definition, but it has the merit of being based upon type of mind, wliich is an attribute of the man himself, and not upon such superficial and frequently accidental matters as the courses he took in college or the sort of job he holds. It is, moreover, a more fundamental distinction than can be drawn between, say, physicist, chemist, and astronomer. That is why the mathematician holds toward industry a different relationship than other scientists, a relationship which must be clearly under- stood by management if his services are to be success- fully exploited. The Place of the Mathematician in Industrial Research The typical mathematician described above is not the sort of man to carry on an industrial project. He is a dreamer, not much interested in things or the dollars they can be sold for. He is a perfectionist, imwiUing to compromise; idealizes to the point of impracticality ; is so concerned with the broad horizon that he cannot keep his eye on the ball. These traits are not weaknesses; they are, on the contrary, of the highest importance in the job of finding a system of thought which wiU harmonize the complex phenomena of the physical world, that is, in reducing nature to a science. The job of industry, however, is not the advancement of natural science, but the development, production, and sale of marketable goods. The physicist, the chemist, and especially the engineer, with their interest in facts, things, and money are obviously better adapted to contribute directly to these ends. To the extent that the mathematician takes on project responsibility, he is forced to compro- mise; he must specialize instead of generalize; he must deal with concrete detail instead of abstract principles. Some mathematicians cannot do these things at all; some by diligence and self-restraint can do them very well. To the extent, however, that they succeed along these lines they are functioning not as mathematicians but as engineers. As mathematicians their place in industry is not to supply the infinite attention to practical detail by wliich good products, convenient services, and efficient processes are devised ; their func- tion is to give counsel and assistance to those who do supply these things, to appraise their everyday prob- lems in the light of scientific thought, and conversely to 270 National Resources Planning Board translate the abstract language of science into terms more suital)le for concrete exploitation. In other words, the mathematician in industry, to the extent to which he functions as a mathematician, is a consultant, not a project man. Qualifications Necessary for Success as an Industrial Mathematician The successful industrial mathematician must not only be competent as a mathematician; he must also have the other qualities which a consultant requires : First, though his major interests will necessarily be abstract, he must have sufficient interest in practical affairs to provide stimuli for usefid work and to recon- cile him to the compromises and approximations which are necessary even in the theoretical treatment of practical problems. This usually means that the type of mathematician who coidd not do a good engineering job if he turned his hand to it will not get on very well in an industrial career. Second, he must be gregarious and sympathetic. If he shuts himself off from his associates, much of his thinking will have no bearing on their needs and that which does Avill exert less influence than it might. If he docs not translate his thoughts into their language, they will miss the significance of much of his work and he will have but a limited clientele. Third, he must be cooperative and imselfish. A man cannot be at once consultant and competitor to his associates. Self-seeking attempts to gain credit for his contributions to the industry will inevitably alienate his clientele. There are two reasons for this: In the first place a mathematician's appraisal of mathematical work, even if made from a detached point of view, is heavily weighted on the side of its fundamental scien- tific significance, whereas its industrial value should be judged on very different grounds and can best be appraised by the engineer. In the second place, the engineer in charge of a project can give credit without embarassment for help received; it is to his credit to have known where help was to be had. The same story told by another, and particularly by the consult- ant himself, has an entirely different flavor. Fourth, he must be versatile. Jobs change, and even the same job may give rise to questions which require very different mathematical techniques. Fifth, he must be a man of outstanding ability. No one wants the advice of mediocrity. Among industrial mathematicians there is no place for the average man. Employment and Supervision Perhaps the greatest hazard in hiring mathematicians for industry arises from the fact that the employment officer is not often a judge of mathematical ability. Paradoxically, however, his mistakes are not usually made in judging mathematical aptitude, since general scholastic rating is an unusually trustworthy index of mathematical ability. But because of a feeling of incompetence bred by liis lack of mathematical lore, he spreads the mantle of charity over other character- istics with regard to which he should trust his own judgment. If, for example, the applicant gives an incoherent account of the problems on which he has been working, the interviewer excuses it on the groimd of his own lack of mathematical training, an excuse which would be quite adequate if the circumstances demanded that he meet the applicant on the applicant's ground. Wliat he overlooks is that the applicant has failed to meet him on his own ground; has failed, in other words, to display the essential ability to translate his thoughts into the language of his hearer. Or per- haps a personality defect is excused on the ground that "after all, he will be working by himself and won't have to meet people," whereas in fact the real value of a consultant comes not in what he does at his desk, but in how much of it gets tlirough to his associates. The applicant who is boastful or pushing or querulous should not be hired on the general theory that "all mathematicians are queer." High standards in all such matters, and an interest in practical things as well, are as important as technical mathematical ability. These are stiff specifications, and the men to fill them are not to be found in every market place. They are, however, the requirements implicit in the nature of the job and no good can come from failing to recognize them. After the right man is hired, he is not a difficult person to supervise if his function as a consultant to the rest of the staff is kept clearly in mind. The broad ob- jectives must be to avoid barriers which would tend to deter his associates from seeking his services, and to assure that his work is justly appraised and fairly compensated. The three barriers most likely to arise between him and his associates are jealousy, red tape, and un- availability. Jealousy is unavoidable if the man himself is self- seeking; once such a man is hired trouble is inevitable. But the man is not always to blame. A generous and cooperative recruit will be spoiled by an atmosphere too highly charged with progress reports, or by a salary policy which bases revisions upon the dollar value of the last year's work. Actually the "progress" which is significant to management will be far more accurately appraised by his colleagues than by himself, hence his reports have little value except as they give him an opportunity to review and criticise his own activities. If too much emphasis is placed upon them, even tliis value will be lost and they will be written in the spirit Industrial Research 271 of making a case foi- himself, which is exactly the spirit most certain to breed jealousy. Similarly, a salary policy based on dollar returns is essentially unjust, for the money value of various bits of theoretic^al work luis almost no correlation with the scientific acumen which they requhe. This does not mean that a mathe- matician's pay should, in the long run, be independent of the dollar value of his services. It means only that whether he gets a raise this year, and how big it shall be, should properly be based on the size, cliaracter and satisfaction of his clientele, and not upon the commer- cial importance of the questions they saw fit to bring him last year. Ked tape is easily avoided by avoiding it. No engineer, whatever his rank in the organization, ought ever need permission to consult a mathematician in the company's employ, and the mathematician in turn ought not need a specific work order or expense allow- ance before giving his advice. In this respect ho should be on the same basis as the free lance investigators who are to be foimd in most large research laboratories, and who are generally known as staff engineers. Unavailability is a more serious matter. It is well recognized that in industrial research the urgent job always tends to take precedence over the important one. Left to themselves, fundamental studies give way to the detailed development "which ought to go into production next month." Mathematical studies are no more susceptible than other fundamental research to such interruptions, but the effect upon the career of the mathematician may be more far reaching, for as soon as he is assigned an urgent project of special character his availability as a consultant ceases or at best is temporarily impaired. If his value to the industry is greater as a project man than as a con- sultant this need not be a cause for regret; but to turn a good mathematician into a poor engineer, or an irreplaceable mathematician into a replaceable engmeer, is unfortunate for both employer and employee. The Mathematical Research Department of the Bell Telephone Laboratories In the Bell Telephone Laboratories, men of this type have been grouped together as a separate organization imit. They have no more specific function than to be helpful to their associates in other parts of the Labora- tories. No engineer is obliged to consult them about any phase of his work; no particular jobs come to them by reason of prerogative; conversely, there is no sort of help which an engineer or physicist may not seek from them if he so desires. No routine need be com- plied with in advance in order to secure their services, and no report is required afterwards, though written reports are frequently prepared when needed for scien- tific record. The expense of the group is distributed broadly over the activities of the Laboratories, not charged to specific jobs. Every eflort is made to maintain a spirit of service among the members of this group, and thougli rosponsil)i!ity for engineering projects occasionally descends upon them, it is regarded as an undesirable necessity to be avoided whenever possible and litiuidatcd at the earliest opportunity. The group has functioned successfully for a number of years. Its members arc respected by their engi- neering associates, and like their jobs. Information regardmg their activities reaches management almost entirely thi'ough spontaneous acknowledgments made by the engineers they assist. These expressions of appreciation are generous, but rather erratic in that they concentrate attention first on one man, then on another, as the genius and training of the individual happen to click with the important job of the moment. This has not affected the morale of the group adversely, probably because a serious effort is made to avoid erratic salary revisions in which the man who is at the moment in the limelight benefits at the expense of others who are doing equally good but less conspicuous work. From the standpoint of the men, tlie principal advantages of being associated together instead of distributed through the engmeering departments, is the stimulus of contact with men of like interests. From the standpoint of management, the advantages are wider availability, greater flexibility in matching the talents of the man with the requirements of the job, and a more uniform appraisal of ability because of supervision by a man of adequate mathematical back- ground. So far as is known, mathematicians have not been organized into separate administrative groups in other industries. In most laboratories their numbers have been thought too small to make such an arrangement feasible, and they have been treated as staff engineers distributed throughout the various general departments. It is believed, however, that tliere are a few industries in which this arrangement could be introduced with profit at this time, and that it has sufficient merit to justify its adoption wherever possible. The Mathematician in the Small Laboratory Wliat has been said above relates primarily to condi- tions in large industries. The qualifications for success in the small industry are not dissimilar, though the relative emphasis to be placed upon them is somewhat different. Matters of personality (gregariousness, un- selfishness, etc.) are not quite so important, because they are oft'set to some extent by the friendly coherence of the small group. On the other hand, a strong in- terest in things as well as ideas, and the ability to translate from the language of concrete experience to 272 National Resources Planning Board that of abstract thought and conversely, take on even greater importance. As Dr. H. M. Evjen, himself a worker in a small laboratory, says: In order to be of optimum value, the mathematician must keep in close touch with realities. In a sufficiently large organi- zation, employing both theoretical and experimental men, the best results, therefore, can be obtained only by the closest cooperation between the two groups. In smaller organizations, employing — for instance — only one scientifically qualified man, it is difficult to say whether this man should be of the theoretical or the experimental type. If he is a theoretical man, no success can be expected unless he is willing to roll up his sleeves and get his feet firmly planted on the ground. In fact, even if he has highly qualified experimental assistants, he should not feel averse to "getting down in the dirt." Secondhand information is always of inferior quality * * * The mathematician not only is useful as an auxiliary to whom the practical man can turn with special problems. A properly trained mathematician, with a sufficiently broad vision, can be very much more useful as an active participant in the industrial problems. Due to his training in exact thinking he should be better able to see through the maze of intricate details and discover the fundamental problems involved. Number Employed The number of mathematicians employed in com- munications, electrical manufacturing, petroleum, and aircraft, is estimated at about 100. The number em- ployed in other places is no doubt somewhat less, but it is probably not an insignificant part of the whole, since mathematicians are found here and there in some very small industries. For example, the Brush Development Company with a total engineering force of only 17, has found it desirable to supplement this group with a man hired specifically as a consultant in mathematics. It is perhaps not too wade of the mark to estimate the total number at 150, not including actuaries and statisticians. This number can be checked in another way. The membership list of the American Mathematical Society lists 202 men with industrial addresses. Of these, 102 are in financial and insurance firms and are presumably statisticians. The remaining 100 names are those of industrial employees with mathematical interests strong enough to belong to an organization devoted exclusively to the promotion of mathematical research. Some of these are not mathematicians by the definition adopt- ed in this report. On the other hand, there are also 158 names for which only street addresses are given, some of whom are known to be Industrial mathematicians. Balancing these uncertainties against one another, and remembering that many industrial mathematicians find little profit in belonging to an association devoted primarily to pure mathematics, the estimate given above does not appear unreasonable. Future Demand The appraisal of future demand is even more specu- lative than the estimation of present personnel. Two statements, however, seem warranted: (1) The demand for mathematicians will never be comparable to that for physicists, chemists or engineers. (2) It will certainly increase beyond the number at present employed. The first statement is justified by the fact that physi- cists, chemists, and other experimental workers deal directly with the natural laws and natural resources which it is the business of industry to exploit, whereas mathematicians touch these things only in a secondary way. The second statement would perhaps be granted on the general ground that throughout the whole of in- dustry research is becoming more complex and theo- retical, and hence the value of consultants in general, and of mathematical consultants in particular, must increase. It is not necessary, however, to rely solely on such general considerations. Direct evidence exists in certain industries, notably aircraft,' where many of the major research problems are generally recognized to be more readily accessible to theoretical than experi- mental study, and in certain others, such as industrial chemistry,^ where one may reasonably assume that modem molecular physics will soon begin to play an important part in determining speeds of reaction. There is also the general alertness of executives to the dollar value of a theoretical framework in planning expensive experunents and the gradually changing attitude toward mathematics that stems from it. As Dr. W. R. Burwell, chairman of the Brush Develop- ment Company, writes: There is a definite trend toward a greater use of mathematics in industry which is somewhat commensurate with the trend toward the acceptance of research and development departments as necessary adjuncts to successful businesses. It is becoming more and more generally recognized that mathematics is not only a necessary tool for all engineers, physicists and chemists who make any pretense of going beyond strictly observational methods and experimental solutions to their problems but that it is also performing an important function as the recording me- dium for those generalizations which lay the foundation for the advances of scientific knowledge. * * * Even in an organization as small as ours, the use as a consultant is really important and we are constantly having instances where the mathematician because of his training is serving as an in- terpreter of mathematical and physical theories, sometimes in- fluencing the direction of experimental work and sometimes ehm- inating the need for it. If, therefore, the estimate of 150 mathematicians in industry at present is realistic, it may not be too wide of the mark to forecast several times that number a decade or so hence. Source of Supply Based on these estimates, a demand for new personnel of the order of 10 a year may be predicted. This num- ber sounds small; but if we reiterate that mediocrity ' See pp. 285-266. 'See pp. 284-285. Industrial Research 273 has no place in the consulting field, and that these 10 must be exceptional men, it does not seem unreasonable to ask where they may be found. Most mathematicians now in industry were trained as physicists or as electrical or mechanical engineers and gravitated into their present work because of a strong interest in mathematics. Few came from the mathematical departments of universities. As scien- tists they are university trained, but as matliematicians they are self-educated. Their training has not been ideal. Industrial mathe- matics is being carried on by graduates of engineering or physics not so much because of the value of that training as because of the wealoiess of mathematical education in America. The properly trained industrial mathematician shoidd have, beyond the usual coui-ses of college grade, a good working background of algebra (matrices, tensor theory, etc.), some geometry, particu- larly the analytic sort, and as much analysis as he can absorb (function theory, theory of differential and integral equations, orthogonal functions, calculus of variations, etc.). These should have been taught with an attitude sympathetic to their apphcations and rein- forced by theoretical courses in sound, heat, hght, and electricity, and by heavy emphasis upon mechanics, elasticity, hydrodynamics, thermodynamics, and elec- tromagnetic field theory. He should understand what rigor is, so that he will not unwittingly indulge in un- sound argument, but he should also gain experience in such useful but sometimes treacherous practices as the use of divergent series or the modification of terms in differential equations. He should have enough basic physics and chemistry of the experimental sort to give him a reahstic outlook on the power as well as the perils of experimental technique. By the time he has acquired this training he will usually also have acquired a Ph. D. degree, but the degree itself is not now, and is not lilvely to become, the almost indispensable prere- quisite to employment that it is in university Ufe. There is nowhere in America a school where this training can be acquired. No school has attempted to build a faculty of mathematics with such training in mind. Hence industry has had to make such shift as might be with ersatz mathematicians cidled from de- partments of physics and engineering. To make matters worse, a student with strong theoretical interests who enrolls in physics these days is almost certain to spend most of his time on modern mathematical physics, which insists almost as little upon fidelity to experience and experiment as does "pure" mathematics, from which it differs more essentially in matters of language and rigor than of general philosophic attitude. At the moment, therefore, engineering schools must be looked upon as the most hopeful sources of industrial mathematicians. Historically it is easy to explain how this situation came about. Fifty years ago America was so backward in the field of mathematics that there was not even a national association of mathematicians. A quarter of a century later it was just coming of age in mathematics and was properly, if not indeed necessarily, devoting its entire attention to improving the quaUty of instruction in the "pure" field. The first faint indications that industrial mathematics might some day become a career had indeed begun to appear, but they were not impressive enough to attract the attention of imiversity executives. Today wo lead the world in pure mathematics, and perhaps also in that other field of mathematics which has somehow come to be known as modern physics. We have strong centers of actuarial and statistical train- ing. But in the field of apphed mathematics, wliich is the particular subject of this report, we stand no further forward than at the turn of the century, and far behind most European countries. A quarter of a century ago it would have been difficult to find suitable teachers. Just now it could be done, primarily because a number of European scholars of the right type have been forced to come here and a few others have developed spontaneously within our own borders. There are perhaps half a dozen of them, but they are so scattered, sometimes in such unpropitious places, as to have httle influence on the development of industrial personnel. It is unfortunate that no university with strong engineering and science departments has seen fit to bring this group together and establish a center of training in industrial mathematics. We have estimated a demand of about 10 exceptional graduates per year. If that estimate is even remotely related to the facts, such a department would have a most important job to do. Mathematics in Industry Subjects Used As Dr. H. M. Evjen, research physicist of the geo- physical section of the Shell Oil Company, remarks: Higher mathematics, of course, means simply those branches of the science which have not as yet found a wide field of appli- cation and hence have not as yet, so to speak, emerged from obscurity. It is, therefore, a temporal and subjective term. If this is accepted as a definition of higher mathe- matics— and it is a valid one for the pure science as well as for its apphcations — it follows automatically that industry relies principally upon the lower branches. What it uses much ceases by the very muchness of its use to be high. The theory of linear differential equations, for example, is a subject by which the average well-trained engineer of 1890 would have been 274 National Resources Planning Board DETERMINANTS WVW- D = z, -z„ -z,3 o -z,5 z„ ^12 ^2 ^23 ~^24 ^ ~^26 Z,3 -Z„ Z3 -Z3, Z3, o o -z,, -Z3, Z, Z,, z,, Z„ O -Z3S -z,, z, -z,, z„ -z,. o z.. z.. z. -16 -26 46 -56 k=l Driving point impedance in mesh j = Z(jj)= -ry~ Transfer impedance between meshj and mesh k= Z{A) = -¥y- ( Djk = the first minor of the element Zjk in D ) Many properties of the complicated networks studied at Bell Telephone laboratories are most fwnTeniently eipressed by means of determinants. Above are shown a sii-mesh network; its **cir«uit discriminant**, D; and some formulae which illustrate how simply the properties of the system can be found from D. Note that, since Zjk = Zkji D is symmetrical. Figure 84 Industrial Research 275 completely baffled. The well-trained engineer of 1940 takes it in bis stride and ree:ards it as almost common- place. Tbe well-trained engineer of 1990 will cerlainly regard as equally commonplace the llicory of analytic functions, matrices, and tbe cbaractcristic numbers (Eigenwerte) of difl'erential equations, wbicii today are thougbt of as quite advanced. Witb tbis as a background, there need be no apology associated with the statement that such simple processes as algebra, trigonometry, and the elements of calculus are the most common and the most productive in modern industrial research. They freciuently lead to results of the greatest practical importance. The single sideband system of carrier transmissioTi, for example, was a mathematical invention. It virtually doubled the number of long-distance calls that could be handled simultaneously over a given line. Yet the only mathematics involved in its development was a single trigonometric equation, the formula for the sine of the sum of two angles. Next in order of usefulness come such subjects as linear differential equations (e. g., in studying the reaction of mechanical and electrical systems to applied forces, the strains in elastic bodies, heat flow, stability of electric circuits and of coupled mechanical sj^stems, etc.); the theory of functions of a complex variable (particularly in dealing with potential theory and wave transmission, propagation of radio waves and of currents in wires, gravitational and electric fields as used in prospecting for oil, design of filters and equalizers for communication systems, etc.); Fourier, Bessel, and other orthogonal series (in problems of heat flow, flow of currents in transmission lines, deformation and vibration of gases, liquids and elastic solids, etc.); the theory of determinants (particularly in solving compli- cated linear differential equations, especially in the study of coupled dynamical systems); and the like. Less frequently we meet such subjects as integral equations, which has been made the basis of one version of the Heaviside operational calculus and which has also been used in studying the seismic and electric methods of prospecting for oil; matrix algebra, which has been applied to the study of rotating electric ma- chinery, to the vibration of aircraft wings, and in the equivalence problem in electric circuit theory; the calculus of variations, in improving the efficiency of relays; and even such abstract subjects as Boolean algebra, in designing relay circuits; the theory of num- bers, in the design of reduction gears and in developing a systematic method for splicing telephone cables; and analysis situs, in the classification of electric networks. Least frequently of all, but by no means never, the industrial mathematician is forced to invent tecbnitiues wbicii till' pure mathennitician has overlooked. The method of symmetric coordinates for the study of poly- phase power systems; the Heaviside' calculus for the study of transients in linear dynamical systems; the method of matrix iteration in aerodynamic theory;* nuich of tbe technique used in the design of electric filters and etjualizers — these may stand as illustrative examples. The student of modern mathematics will be impressed at once by two aspects of this review: first, by the heavy emphasis on algebra and analysis and the almost com- plete absence of geometry beyond the elementary grade; second, tb<^ complete absence of the specific techniques which play such a large role in modern physics and astrophysics. It is not easy to say just why advanced geometry plays no larger part in indus- trial research; however, the fact remains that it does not.° As regards modern physics, one may perhaps extrapolate from past history and infer that what is now being found useful in interatomic physics will soon be needed in industrial chemistry. In making this extra- polation, however, it is well to bear in mind that the physics in question is for the most part a mental dis- cipline, its connection with the world of reality still ill-defined and incompletely understood. Therefore it may not prove to be as quickly assimilable into tech- nology as have other disciplines whose symbols could be more immediately identified with experience.* Finally, we must remark upon two facts: (1) that approximate solutions of problems, and hence methods of iteration (successive approximation), play a much more conspicuous role in applied mathematics than in the pure science; (2) that the highly convenient assump- tion that linear approximations to natural laws (such as Hooke's law and Ohm's law) are sufficiently exact for practical purposes is less often true than formerly was the case, so that nonlinear differential equations are of great importance to the modern engineer. ' Heaviside was not himself an industrial employee, but the reformulation of his work in terras of inteKral equations and its interpretation in terms of Fourier trans- forms were both carried out in America by industrial mathematicians. < This method was developed in the National Physical Laboratory of England, in the course of studies which in America would probably have been undertaken by a Government or industrial laboratory. ' Mr. Hall 0. Hibbard. of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, comments on this remark as follows: "It is possible that the usefulnessof this principle of mathematics has been overlooked to a large extent in certain fields where it might be applied to advantage. In particular, that phase of engineering known as "lofting," which deals with the development of smooth curved surfaces, might ofTer an interesting field for certain types of advanced geometry. Practically all of this work is now done by "cut and try" methods, and the application of mathematics would no doubt save a great deal of time. The same thing is true in the field of stress analysis, where a great deal of time is absorbed in determining the location and direction of certain structural members. It is even possible that the application of vector analysis technique would greatly simplify certain forms of structural analysis, particularly space frameworks. The lack of application of geometry in these fields is probably due to the wide gap that exists between the mathematician and the 'practical' designer and draftsman, .\dvanced geometry might also turn out to be a very useful tool in connection with problems that we tire no-.v encountering in the forming of flat sheet into surfaces with double curvature, an operation that is extensively em- ployed in aircraft manufacture." • In this contieetiou. see the quotation from Dr. E. f. Williamson pp. C84-2S.'i. :;2is:;.j -41- 276 National Resources Planning Board Bicircular Coordinates Figure 85 {x-\-coth uy-\-y'^=csch^ u; a;^+(y— cot 0)^=csc'0 u=log irjr^) Using the bicircular system of coordinates facilitates finding the distribu- tion of electric charge on two parallel conductors, and thence their capacity. Rotating the bicircular system about the vertical axis gen- erates a toriodal coordinate system which facilitates determining the capacity of a torus. Industrial Research 277 Types of Service Performed by Mathematics Leaving aside the important but rather trite obser- vation that mathematics is a hxnguage which simpHfics the process of thinking and makes it more rehable, and that this is its principal service to industry, we may distinguish certain less inclusive, but perhaps for that reason more illuminating, categories of usefulness. First: It provides a basis for interpreting data in terms of a preconceived theory, thus making it possible to draw deductions from them regarding things which could not be observed conveniently, if at all. (a) An illustration is the standard method for locating faults on telephone lines. Mathematical theory shows that a fault will affect the impedance of the line in a way which varies with frequency and that the distance from the place of measurement to the fault can be deduced at once from the frequencies at which the impedance is most conspicuously affected. This is obviously much more convenient than hunting the fault directly. (6) A second illustration is the mapping of geological strata by means of measurements made upon the surface of the earth. One method extensively employed uses a large number of seis- mographs, each of which records the miniature earthquake shock produced at its location by a charge of dynamite set off at a known place. A theory of reflection and refraction similar to that used in geometrical optics shows that certain observable characteristics of these records are related to the depth and tilt of the underground layers, and hence enables the situation of these layers to be plotted. By this means the location of the highest point of an oil-bearing stratum can be found and the most favorable position for drilling determined. Underground geology is also studied by means of gravity, electrical or magnetic measurements upon the surface. In this case the basic theory is that of the Newtonian potential field, and the interpretation of the data leads into the subject of inverse boundary value problems, which is still insufficiently understood. Enough progress has been made in several geo- physical laboratories, however, so that the gravity method is now being widely used, and the electiical methods appear promising for some applications. Second: When data are incompatible with the pre- conceived theory, a mathematical study frequently aids in perfecting the theory itself. The classical illustration in pure science is the discovery of the planet Neptune. The motion of the planet Uranus was found to be in- consistent with the predictions of the Newtonian theory of gravitation, if the solar system consisted only of the seven planets then known. Mathematical investiga- tion indicated, however, that if an eighth planet of a certain size was assumed to be moving in a certain orbit, these discrepancies disappeared. Upon turning a telescope to the spot predicted, the new planet was found. An illustration comes from the aircraft industry. I quote it from a report sent me by Mr. C. T. Reid, Director of Education of the Douglas Aircraft Company: (c) The behavior of airplanes with "power on" did not check closely enough with stability predictions which had been made without consideration of the effects of the application of power; therefore, a purely mathematical analysis of the longitudinal motion of an airplane was carried out, involving the solution of three simultaneous linear first-degree differential equations. The results led to the development of equations for dynamic longi- tudinal stability with "power on" which enable the aerody- namicist more accurately to predict the stability characteristics of a given design. "Powcr-on" dynamic longitudinal stability is an important design criterion in aircraft construction. (d) Another illustration arises in communication engineering. Theoretical studies had established the fact that vacuum tubes would spontaneously generate noise because of the discrete character of the electrons of which the space current is composed. The theory predicted how loud this noise would be in any par- ticular type of vacuum tube, a most significant result since it established a limit to the weakness of signals which could be amplified by this type of tube. The predictions of the theory were supported by experimental data so long as the tubes were operating without appreciable space charge. But it was found that when space charge was present the noise level fell far below the predicted minimum. In this case the missing factor in the theory was immediately obvious, but an understanding of the mechanism by which the reduction was affected and its incor- poration into the theory in a workable form required an extensive and difficult mathematical attack. Third: It is frequently necessary in practice to extra- polate test data from one set of dimensions to a widely different set, and in such cases some sort of mathejnat- ical background is almost essential. An e.xample of this kind of service, concerned with the theory of arcs in various gases, is furnished me by Mr. P. L. Alger, stafl' assistant to the vice president in charge of engineering, of the General Electric Company: (e) An example of this kind of problem is that of the theory of arcs in various gases. It has been experimentally known that the duration, stability and voltage characteristics of electric arcs in different gases and under different pressures vary very widely. The behavior of such arcs is of great importance, both in welding and in the design of circuit breakers and other pro- tective devices. Recently a mathematical theory has been developed which relates the arc phenomena to the heat transfer characteristics of different gases. This theory has given ex- cellent correlation between the known experimental results and has enabled very useful predictions of performance under new conditions to be made. The theory has been applied in the de- sign of high voltage air circuit breakers, which are of important commercial value, and it is also greatly curtailing the time and expense necessary to develop many other devices in which arc phenomena are of importance. A second example, furnished me by Mr. Reid, has to do with the interpretation of wind-tunnel data in aerodynamics: (/) Here it is obviously impracticable to perform full-scale tests of such parts as wings or fuselage, much less of entire aircraft, and the extrapolation from the results of wind tunnel measurements to the full-scale characteristics of airplanes must be based on theoretical considerations. Fourth: Mathematics frequently aids in promoting economy either by reducing the amount of e.xperi- mentation required or by replacing it entirely. In- stances of this kind are met eveiywhere in industry, not only in research activities but in perfecting the 278 National Resources Planning Board CONTINUED FRACTIONS 11 11 jj 11 jt jr fi Jl g^ ^^ ■■ k A ■■ L ^■■■■■k: _ ^ IHHIHUmi ^"fl(p)+^ ^ ^ ■yVW fi(p) fz^P) f3^P)+3xf f4^P>'' -| — vWV — I — vVW— < f3(p) V f5(p) ^f2(p) ^f4(p) A mathematical method of systematically designing a circuit of predetermined impedance has been developed in Bell Telephone Laboratories. The given impedance, as a function of frequency, is expanded in a Stieltjes continued fraction, whose -terms give the electrical constants of the desired network. Figure 86 Industrial Research 279 design of apparatus and in its subsequent manufacture as well. Mr. Alger describes in general terms one situation frequently met in research activities as follows: The first type of problem is one in wliich there are so many different independent dimensions of a proposed shape to be chosen, or in general so many independent variables, that it is hopeless to find the optimum proportions by experiment. The truth of this can readily be seen when it is realized that the num- ber of test observations to be made increases exponentially with the number of variables. If 10 points are required to establish a performance curve for one variable, 1,000 observations will be required if there are 3 independent variables, and a million if there are 6 variables. As an illustration he cites the following problem: (g) An example of this kind of problem is that of designing a T dovetail to hold the salient poles in place on a high speed syn- chronous generator. A large machine of this type may have 10 or more laminated poles carrying heavy copper field coils, each assembled pole weighing several tons and traveling at a surface peripheral speed of 3 miles a minute. The centrifugal force on each pound of the pole then amounts to approximately 500 pounds. The problem of designing dovetails to hold these poles in place, even at over speed, is, therefore, one of great importance and technical difficulty. For each such dovetail, there are 7 different dimensions which may be independently chosen. While empirical methods have enabled satisfactory results to be obtained in some cases, application of mathematics has recently enabled marked improvements in dovetail designs to be made. Generally speaking, these improvements have permitted an overall strength increase of 20 percent to be obtained under steady stresses and much higher gains to be made under fatigue stress conditions; while at the same time the certainty of obtain- ing the desired results on new designs has been very greatly enhanced. A second e.^ample was brought to my attention by Mr. L. W. Wallace, Director of the Engineering and Research Division of the Crane Company: (A) A pipe fitting weighing several hundred pounds and in- tended for high pressure service had a neck of elliptical cross- section. As originally designed, the thickness of the casting was intentionally not uniform, the variations having been intro- duced empirically to strengthen it where strength was supposed to be most needed. A redesign carried out on the basis of the theory of elasticity showed the distribution of metal to be in- efficient and resulted in a new casting in which the weight was reduced by half, while at the same time the bursting strength was doubled. The method used in arriving at this result is an interesting illustration of sensible mathematical idealization. The casting was regarded as an elliptical cylinder under hydro- static pressure. As the stresses for this idealized structure were already known, the design problem reduced at once to the simple matter of establishing thicknesses sufficient to withstand these stresses. Another example from the field of geophysical pros- pecting is furnished by Mr. Eugene McDermott, Presi- dent of Geophysical Service Inc.: (t) A specific case of mathematical research in instrument design was recently encountered. The instrument in question was intended for the measurement of gravity. After the machine had been completely built it was found to be unexplainably inaccurate. After weeks of trial and error it was turned over to a mathematician to try to find the trouble. He soon showed by simple trigonometry that the axis of the instrument would have to be located on its pivot with an accuracy which is not attainable. He also pointed out a means of avoiding this feature by a relatively simple change in design, and this appears to have remedied the trouble. Another illustration from the petroleum industry, but this time concerned with the production of oil rather than prospecting for it, comes from Dr. E. C. Williams, Vice President in charge of research of the Shell Development Company: 0) The petroleum industry has one important problem not found in other fields; it has to do with oil production from the ground. A mathematical problem arising from this subject is the following: The oil-gas mixture underground flows under pressure through porous media; with a certain spacing of wells, determine the most economical way to recover this mixture. This is sometimes equivalent to asking: "In what way can the largest fraction of the oil be obtained over a certain period of time?" Simplified problems of this kind have been solved by potential theory methods, since classical hydrodynamics be- comes too involved, and in the general problems where the flow constants vary with liquid-gas composition, etc., partial differential equations are found which can be solved by approxi- mate methods. On the basis of the solution of this mathematical problem, aided by extensive laboratory determinations of the required constants, one is able to find the best of several ways of producing from a given oil field. As a final example under the heading of economy, we may mention the flight testing requirements imposed upon the aircraft industry by the Civil Aeronautics Authority. Of these, Mr. E. T. Allen, Director of Flight and Research of the Boeing Aircraft Company, says: (fc) It was formerly required that each type of transport plane must be tested at all the altitudes at which it was intended to be flown, and at all flying fields where it was expected to be used. The cost of such testing was extremely high. A mathe- matical study of steady flight performance has, however, identified the basic parameters and established their relations to one another. This has made possible a scientific interpretation of flight test data taken at any suitable location convenient to the aircraft factory, and a reliable conclusion therefrom as to the performance to be expected under other conditions. This has greatly reduced both the cost and the time necessary to establish performance figures. Fifth: Sometimes experiments are virtually impos- sible, and mathematics must fill the breach. An example comes to me from Mr. Hall C. Hibbard, Vice President and Chief Engineer of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation: (0 An unfortunate phenomenon that must be dealt with in aircraft design is a type of violent vibration which may be set up in the wings if the plane is flown too fast. It is known as flutter, and is highly dangerous, since the vibrations may be of such intense character as to cause loss of control or even struc- tural failure. The technical problem is therefore to be sure that the critical speed at which flutter would occur is higher than at any at which the craft would ever be flown. It is a phenomenon 280 National Resources Planning Board (oUifjiic CJuiegrali % % H^^[iivrkwx dx-jy^^ o o Some simple engineering prob- lems require advanced mathe- matics in their solution. This is true, for example, in the computation of the magnetic field outside the spiral grid of a vacuum tube, a problem of interest to Bell Telephone Lab- oratories. If the grid is closely ^ ; ^ coiled, the current can be treated as a continuous cylin- . drical sheet, of radius a. Then / / / ' the component of the magnetic 1 field parallel to the axis of the / ' ' grid at a distance r from the f A , axis is given by the above func- / ' tion of two Elliptic Integrals whose "modulus" is k=a/r. Figure S7 Industrial Research 281 with respect to which wind tunnel experimentation is clifTieult and flight testing very dangerous. It has been the subject of a number of mathematical investigations, the results of which have reached a sufficiently advanced stage that they are now being used to predict the critical speeds and flutter frequencies of aircraft while still in the design stage. Even more important, the mathematical investigation of this problem jioints the way to modifications of design which will insure that lluttor cannot occur in the usable speed range. Telephony provides a second example: (to) The equipment in an automatic telephone exchange must be capable of connecting any calling subscriber with any called subscriber. It consists of several stages of switches, each of which can be caused to make connection with a number of trunks which lead in turn to switches in the next succeeding stage. Enough switches must be provided so that only a very small proportion of subscribers' calls will fail to be served immediately. Since the demands made by the subscribers fluctuate from moment to moment, the number of switches required depends in part upon the height to which the crests occasionally rise in this fluctuating load. It is also influenced, however, by the way the trunks are arranged, by the order in which the switches choose them, and by many other factors. Experimental ap- praisal of the effect of these various factors is impossible, both because it would be very costly, and because it would be exceed- ingly slow. Mathematically, however, they have been studied by the theory of a priori probability,' which is used not only in determining how much apparatus to install in a working exchange, but also in comparing the relative merits of alternative arrange- ments while in the development stage. Sixth: Mathematics is frequently useful in devising so-called crucial experiments to distinguish once for all between rival theories. A famous example in the field of physics was the study of the refraction of starlight near the sun's disk, which afforded a means of deciding between Newtonian and relativistic mechanics. In this case, mathematical investigation showed that the result to be expected was different according to the two theories, and astronomical observations confirmed the prediction of relativistic mechanics. In the indus- trial field, an example of this kind comes to me from Dr. Joseph A. Sharpe, Chief Physicist in the Geophysi- cal Laboratory of the Stanolind Oil and Gas Companj': (n) As an example of the second sort of use of analysis there is the case of our study of "ground-roll," the large amplitude, low frequency surficial wave which caused so much grief in the early days of seismic reflection prospecting when filters were not used as extensively as at present. We hope to use our study of this wave motion as an aid to a better understanding of the properties of the surficial layers of soil and their effects on the reflected waves in which we are primarily interested. Two views on the ground-roll are current, although neither is based on very much observation, and this of an uncontrolled sort. One view states that the ground-roll is an elastic wave. Analysis predicts that this wave w ill have a certain velocity in relation to the velocities of other waves, that it will have a certain direction of particle motion and relation of maximum horizontal to maximum vertical component of displacement, that it will attenuate with distance according to a certain law, that it will ' Nol statistics, which is a pofteriori probability. This is one of the few cases in industry where the a priori theory finds application. attenuate with depth in a certain way, and that its velocity will follow a certain dispersion law. The second view maintains that the "ground-roll" is a wave in a viscous fluid, and analysis predicts a behavior which is similar in certain cases, and different in others, to that of the elastic wave. Having the predictions of the analysis at hand, we are enabled to devise a group of obser- vations, and the special equipment for their i)rosocution, which will provide crucial tests of the two hypotheses. Seventh: Mathematics also frequently performs a negative service, but one which is sometLnics of very great importance, in forestalling the search for the impossible; for many desirable objectives in industry are as unattainable as perpetual motion machines, and frequently the only way to recognize the fact is by means of mathematical argument. (o) A certain type of electric wave filter which is usually referred to as an "ideal" filter would be very useful if it could be produced. However, it has been shown mathematically that such a structure would respond to a signal before the signal reached it; in other words, that it would have the gift of prophecy. Since this is absurd, it follows that no such filter can be built, and consequently no one tries to build it. Still another example from the field of communica- tion deals with the design of feedback amplifiers. (p) In practice, any amplifier is intended to handle signals in a given frequency band. For various reasons, it is preferable not to have it amplify disturbances outside this band, and hence its gain characteristic is made to drop off as rapidly as possible out- side the limits of the useful band. It has been shown theoreti- cally, however, that the gain cannot decrease at more than a certain rate, which can easily be computed, without causing the amplifier to become unstable. As a matter of fact, the allowable rate at which the gain may fall is often surprisingly low, and a great deal of design effort would be wasted in the attempt to obtain an impossible degree of discrimination if the theoretical limitations were unknown. Eighth: Finally, mathematics frequently plays an important part in reducing complicated theoretical results and complicated methods of calculation to readily available working form. So many and so varied are the services falling in this category that it is diffi- cult to illustrate them by means of examples. We arbitrarily restrict ourselves to two, chosen primarily for the sake of variety. The first comes from Mr. Hibbard : (?) In aircraft design the metal skin, though thin, contributes a larger part of the structural strength. Nevertheless, such thin metallic plates will buckle or wrinkle after a certain critical load is exceeded. Beyond this point the usual structural theories can- liot be applied directly, and it is therefore necessary to introduce new methods of attack to predict the ultimate strength of the structure. These stiffened plates are difficult to deal with theo- retically, but by interpreting the effect of the stiffeners as equiva- lent to an increase in plate thickness or a decrease in plate width, the calculations can be brought within useful bounds. The reduction of electric transducers to equivalent T or n configurations, the interpretation of the elastic reaction of air upon a microphone as equivalent to an increase in the mass of its diaphragm, the postulation of 282 National Resources Planning Board THE ISOGRAPH The Isograph was developed in Bell Telephone Laboratories to find mechanically the complex roots of polynomials of high n degree. Let the polynomial to be factored be p{z)='SajZ' 0 n n or 2ojHcos7e + i2a/-'sinje if 2=r(cos9 + isine). The isograph 0 i maps the complex values of p{z) as the variable describes the circle |2|=''- This graph loops the origin once for each root smaller in absolute value than r. The number of roots between trial values of r is determined by counting loops, and by inter- polation a value of /• is found for which the graph passes through the origin. This value of r and the corresponding value of 9 define the real and imaginarj- parts of a root. Figure 88 Courtesy Beit Teitphone Laboratories Industrml Research 283 an "image current" as a substitute for the currents induced in a conducting ground by a transmission line above it, and a host of other common procedures could be cited as similar instances of simplification based upon more less valid mathematical reasoning. The second example is furnished by Dr. E. U. Condon, Associate Director of the Research Laboratories of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company : (r) In the manufacture of rotating machinery it is of extreme importance to have the rotating parts dynamically balanced, in order to reduce to a minimum the vibration reaction on the bear- ings which unbalance produces. Theory shows the phases and amplitudes of the bearing vibrations produced by excess masses located at various places on the rotor; conversely, by solving backward from observed vibration data, one can compute what correction is needed to eliminate the unbalance. Recently a most valuable machine has been developed which not only measures the unbalance, but also automatically shows what correction should be made, thus eliminating the necessity for these calculations. The rotor to be balanced is whirled in bearings on which are mounted microphones that generate alternating voltages corre- sponditig to the vibrations of the bearings. These voltages are fed into an analyzing network, which automatically indicates the correction needed in order to achieve dynamic balance. In some cases the output of the balancing machine has been arranged to set up a drilling machine so it will automatically remove the right amount of metal at the right place. These machines are finding application in the manufacture of small motors, of auto- mobile crankshafts, and in the heavy rotors of power machines. In the same class would come the isograph, by means of which the complex roots of polynomials can be located; the tensor gage which registers the principal components of strain in a stressed membrane without advance knowledge of the principal axes; and slide rules for a great variety of special purposes such as computations with complex numbers, the calculation of aircraft performance, aircraft weight and balance, and the like. Perhaps we ought also include in the same category the use of soap-bubble films for the study of elastic stresses in beams, the use of current flow in tanks of electrolyte for the study of potential fields, and the use of steel balls rolling on rubber membranes stretched over irregular supports as a means of study- ing the trajectories of electrons in complicated electric fields. These are all mechanical methods for saving mathematical labor, but they are more than that, for they all rest upon a foundation of mathematical theory. They are, in fact, examples of the use of mathematics to avoid the use of mathematics. Mathematics in Some Particular Industries Commvnications. — The communication field is the one in which mathematical methods of research have been most freely used. This is due partly to the fact that the transmission of electric waves along wires and through the ether follows laws which are partic- ularly amenable to mathematical study; partly also to the fact that so much of the research has been central- ized in a single laboratory, thus bringing together a large number of engineers into a single compact group and justifying the employment of consultative special- ists. Most important of all, however, is the fact that there are two devices — -vacuum tubes and electrical networks — without which modern long-distance teleph- ony would be impossible; and one of these, the elec- trical network, is and has been since its earliest days almost entirely a product of mathematical research. Mathematics has thus been as essential to the develop- ment of Nation-wide telephony as copper wire or carbon microphones. Number of Mathematicians: The Mathematical re- search Department of the Bell Telephone Laboratories contains 14 mathematicians. Perhaps an equal num- ber of men scattered through various engineering departments should also be classified as mathematicians according to the definition adopted for this report. Say a total or 25 or 30 for the Bell Laboratories, a few more for the Bell System as a whole, and perhaps 40 or 50 for the entire communication field including the companies interested in radio and television. A few of these men carry on a considerable amount of experi- mentation, but their significant work is theoretical. In addition, there is a much larger number of men who use mathematical methods extensively in their daily work but whose mental type is not that which we have described as mathematical and who arc therefore not included in the numbers quoted above. This is true in particular of the engineers who have the responsi- bility for designing networks. Uses of mathematics: Mathematical activity is most intense: (1) in designing wave filters and equal- izers; (2) in studing transmission by wire and ether, the concomitant problems of antenna radiation, and reception, inductive interference between lines, etc.; (3) in studying various problems related to the standard of service in telephone exchanges, such as the amount of equipment required, the probability of delays and double connections, the hunting time of switches, etc. ; (4) in providing a rational basis for the design of in- struments, such as transmittei'S and receivers, vacuum tubes, television scanning devices, etc.; (5) in develop- ing efficient statistical methods for the plarming and interpretation of experiments and for controlling the quality of manufactured apparatus. Future prospects: During the last 20 years the num- ber of men employed in communication research has increased with great rapidity, but this rapid expansion appears to be about over. A large increase in the mathematical personnel of the industry therefore ap- pears unlikely. It seems inevitable that the problems will increase in complexity, and that theoretical methods will become increasingly important, but it is believed 284 National Resources Planning Board that this trend will be matched by progressively better trained engineering personnel, rather than by an in- creased number of mathematicians. Indeed, unless the qualifications of the mathematicians rise progressively with those of the engineers, it may turn out that less rather than more will be employed. Electrical manufacturing. — Substantially all the re- search in the power fields is carried on by a few electrical manufacturers. The power companies usually accept and exploit such equipment as the manufacturers supply, and contribute to improved design principally through their criticisms of past performance. Many of their engineers, however, are individually active in the invention and development of improved equipment. Number of mathematicians: The number of mathe- maticians in the industry is smaller than in communica- tions, and is not easy to estimate because their work is less segregated from other activities. The total num- ber who would here be rated as mathematicians is probably about 20. As in communications, some are engaged partly in experimental work. There are some, however, whose relationship as consultants is clearly recognized, and there is evidence that management is becoming in- creasingly conscious of the nature and value of their services. Uses of mathematics: Mathematical activity is most intense: (1) in studying structural and dynamic prob- blems, such as the strain, creep, and fatigue in machine parts, vibration and instability in turbines and other rotating machinery, etc., (2) in appraising the evil effects of suddenly applied loads, lightning or faults upon power lines, and their associated sources of power, and devising methods to minimize these effects, (3) in studying system performance, particularly the most effective or economical location of proposed new equip- ment, and the evaluation of performances of alternative transmission or distribution systems, (4) in refining the design of generators, motors, transformers and the like, so as to improve their electrical efficiency and reliability, and in similar improvement of the thermal efficiency of turbines, (5) in the design of miscellaneous instruments and apparatus. Statistical methods are being introduced into manu- facturing and research, but are not yet utilized to the same extent as in telephony. Future prospects: The amount of money spent on development in these industries is gradually increasing, and as in other fields the problems are becoming more complex. Hence a slow increase in the number of mathematicians seems probable, with rising standards in the qualifications required, not only as to mathe- matical training, but as to temperament and personality as well. The petroleum industry. — The petroleum industry consists of many producing units of various sizes, highly competitive in character, and surrounded bj' a number of consulting service organizations, all of which are small. The larger producing companies — and within their resources, the service units also — maintain re- search laboratories. They tend to be secretive about the developments which take place in these, sometimes to a surprising degree. Hence there is much duplica- tion of effort, particularly in such matters as the design of instruments for geophysical prospecting, and in methods of interpreting the data derived from them. Number of mathematicians: The industry employs more mathematicians than is generally appreciated, some of them men of very considerable ability. The total of first-rank men is perhaps 15 or 20. Due to the small size of the individual research staffs, however, most of these men carry considerable project responsi- bility along with their theoretical work. This is the normal state of affairs in small groups : the abnormality is the lack of contact with, and stimulus from, similar men in other companies. Uses of mathematics: Petroleum research extends in three directions: prospecting for oil, producing it, and refining it. There are five recognized methods of prospecting: gravity, seismic, electric, magnetic, and chemical. In the first four, important mathematical problems arise in designing sufficiently sensitive instruments and in in- terpreting data. The fifth requires the use of statistical methods. Research on methods of producing a field has led to a few mathematical studies of underground flow, and would undoubtedly give rise to others if the results of these studies could be profitably applied. However, since the rate at which oil is brought to the surface is almost entirely determined by law, and the same is indirectly true of well location also, mathematical consideration of the subject is largely sterile, at least so far as American oil fields are concerned. The third activity — refining — is essentially a chemical industry. Hence the following remarks by Dr. E. C. Williams, Vice President in charge of research of the Shell Development Company, presumably apply not only to the petroleum business, but to manufacturing chemistry in general: The two chief problems in chemistry are (aside from the identification on substances): The calculation of chemical equi- librium and the calculation of the rates of attainment of these equilibria. Tlie first problem, involving thermodj'namics and statistical mechanics, is rather well understood and usually by very simple computations information sufficiently accurate for industrial application, at least, can be found. Frequently, when several equilibria are possible simultaneously, complicated equations arise, but we rarely solve them directly, but rather sot up tables of the dependent variable (the per cent conversion possible) as a function of the independent variables (temperature, Industrial Research 285 piessure concentration). The sources of these data, however, are numerous and at times require complicated mathematics, as in the calculation of thermodynamic properties from spectroscopic data via quantum statistics. The situation is much less favorable in the calculation of the rates' of chemical reactions. A semicmpirical method, based on quantum mechanics, has been applied with a little success to some of the simplest reactions taking place in the gas phase, but virtually no progress has been made in the more important field of heterogeneous reactions (reactions of gases on surfaces, for example). We may say that no satisfactory mathematical theory for such calculation e.xists at the present time. Some progress is being made, but we are far from being able to predict a suitable catalyst for any desired reaction. For the present we are happy to be able to account for observations made on some simple reactions. Future prospects: It is inconceivable that research in the industry will not continue at at least its present level. Hence more, rather than less, mathematical work will probably be undertaken in prospecting and in refining. A demand of moderate proportions should exist for able mathematicians with a suitable background of geology and classical physics for the geophysical work, and of physical chemistry and molecular physics in the chemical field. Aircraft manufacture.- — The aircraft industry also consists of a number of independent units, and is higlily competitive. It is a new industry m which rapid technical development and rapid increase in size has been the rule. It has depended primarily upon govermnent-supported laboratories and, to a lesser extent, upon the universities for its research, and has busied itself with the exploitation of that research in the advancement of aircraft design. No unit of the industry has had or, for that matter, now has a research laboratory, in the sense in which the words would be used in older and larger businesses, but the beginnings of research departments have appeared, and individual researchers and research projects are clearly recognizable. Number of mathematicians: Some men in the engi- neering departments of these companies should un- doubtedly be classed as mathematicians, but it is impossible to make even an approximate estimate of their nimiber. It is possible, however, to cite pertinent information which bears on the importance of mathe- matics to the industry. The design of a modem four-engine transport plane requires about 600,000 hours of engineering time up to the point where complete working drawings have been prepared. About 100,000 hours are spent on mathe- matical analysis of structures, performance, lift distri- bution and stability. Most of this work is routine, but some is fundamental in character, as is evident from several of the examples mentioned earlier in this report. Of 670 men in the engineering department of one of the larger companies, about 25 have mathematical training beyond that usually obtained by engineers. and 10 or so of these arc using this advanced training to a significant extent. Uses of mathematics: In designing an airplane, five factors are of particular importance. These may be used to indicate the directions in which mathematical research may be expected. (/) Performance Uhat is, pay-load, range, speed, climbing rate etc.) In the past, forecasts of perfonnance have been based almost entirely on empirical data. Mathematical methods of estimation are now being developed from hydrodynamic theory, however, and are being used to an increasingly greater extent. (2) Lift and Drag {i, e., the force variation over the wings) Tills is the principal objective in the aerodynamic design of the wing. The technique of prediction rests on two supports: wind tunnel experiments and airfoil theory, by means of which experimental data are inter- preted and apphed. For example, airfoil theory sug- gests the shape of airfoil to avoid unfavorable pressure distributions and is leading to improved wing sections. This part of aircraft design is already higlily mathe- matical, but a number of fundamental problems still remain unsolved. For example, the theory is still unable to predict stall, and too httle is known about optimum shapes or about turbulence, though the recently developed statistical theory of turbulence has contributed to the understanding of the airflow over an airplane and resulted directly in a decrease in airplane drag and consequent improvement in performance. (S) Stability (inherent steadiness of motion) The stability of an airplane in flight is inherent in its aerodynamic design and quite distinct from its control or maneuverability. The theory of "small oscilla- tions" has been successfully applied to rectilinear flight. More recently the problem of predicting the response of an airplane to control maneuvers has used the Heaviside operational calculus. Current problems of dynamical stability in which applied mathematicians are interested are the behavior of an airplane when running on the ground and the behavior of seaplanes when running on the water (porpoising) . (4) Structural safety Very precise appraisal of structural strength is required in aircraft design. In most industries inac- curacy can be compensated by increased factors of safety, but the pay-load of an airplane is so small a proportion of its total weight that slight increases in factors of safety would seriously reduce its carrying power or even make it imable to get off the ground. Mathematical methods have always been used in this 286 National Resources Planning Board phase of aircraft design in so far as they were available. The standard technique is first to design a part on the basis of calculated strength, then build and test it, and if the tests do not agree with predictions, revise the design and build and test the modified part. This process is continued as many times as necessary to attain a satisfactory result. It is slow and expensive. Theoretical methods are now reliable enough that the majority of structural tests confirm predictions with sufficient accuracy to require no revision. However, new problems constantly present themselves — the introduction of pressurized cabins recently gave rise to several — and hence continual mathematical study is required. A beginning has also been made in the use of the principles of probability in setting up structural loading factors. (5) Flutter We have already commented upon the impractica- bility of studying this phenomenon by any means other than the mathematical. The general equations are complicated and have only been solved by making important simplifying assumptions. The results are serviceable for check purposes, but need further elabora- tion. The importance of the problem increases pro- gressively as more efficient planes are designed, and the necessity for an adequate mathematical theory is becoming critical. Future prospects: It appears inevitable that from motives of economy the industry will rely increasingly upon theoretical methods of design and that mathe- matics will play a larger part in the future than at present. It is also probable that for competitive reasons the various companies will supplement government research by fundamental studies of their own. Further- more, in view of the present fragmentary state of aero- dynamic theory, it would not be surprising if part of the research effort was devoted to the improvement of the basic theory itself. The reliability of these predictions is, of course, conditioned by the financial prospects of the industry. Just now, war orders are causing abnormal inflation of earnings ; when these cease, retrenchment will be inevi- table. The industry is not highly mechanized, however, and hence its present cycle of inflation does not imply so large an expenditure for plant as would be true in most manufacturing fields. For this reason, the period of deflation may prove to be one of large war profits in the bank but insufficient orders to occupy the time of many competent technical men whom the management would be reluctant to let go. If this should occur, an almost explosive development of research may take place. Wliether the development is explosive or not, how- ever, it is probable that the industry will soon become one of the largest employers of industrial mathemati- cians. Industrial Statistics and Statisticians The subject of statistics enters the business world at points quite distinct from those touched by the rest of mathematics. Moreover, the types of business activity to which it most frequently applies — insurance and finance, economic forecasting, market surveys, elas- ticity of demand against price, benefit and pension plans, etc. — belong to the field of economics which is the subject of a separate report, and need not be touched on here. There are certain other respects in which statistical theory could be of great service in industry, but they have been exploited to only a limited extent. This report must therefore point out these hopeful fields rather than record achievements in them. Statisticians in Industry By "statistician" we mean a person versed in and using the mathematical theory of statistics, not one who collects, charts, and scrutinizes factual data. In the business world the word is more often used in the latter sense. There is a very great difference between the number of statisticians in industry, and the number of men interested in some form of statistics. How great the discrepancy is will be clear from a comparison of the membership of the American Statistical Association, which devotes itself to the application of statistics in its broadest sense, and of the American Institute of Mathe- matical Statistics, which confines itself narrowly to the development of statistical technique. The former lists 277 names with industrial addresses; the latter only 10. Statistics in Industry Dr. W. A. Shewhart, research statistician of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, has delineated broadly and succinctly the field in which statistics may be expected to find application as foUows: Since inductive inferences are only probable, or, in other words, since repetitions of any operation under the same essential conditions cannot be expected to give identical results, we need a scientific method that will indicate the degree of observed variability that should not be left to chance. Hence it appears that the use of mathematical statistics is essential to the develop- ment of an adequate scientific method, and that mathematical statistics may be expected to be of potential use wherever scien- tific method can be used to advantage. More specificaUy, there are five recognizable types of industrial engineering activity in wliich statistical theory either is, or should be used. (a) In studying experimental data to determine whether the observed variations should be regarded as Industrial Research 287 accidental or significant. An example is found in the field of geochemical prospecting. The surface soil overlying regions in which there is oil contains a higher proportion of hydrocarbons and waxes than occur in other locations. Chemical analj'sis of surface soil therefore affords a means of prospecting for oil. Mr. Eugene McDcrmott writes: In the geochemical method, it was found necessary to deter- mine between samples showing significantly high analysis values, and those w'hich were normal values. These normal sample values, of course, had considerable variation between themselves, due to analysis and in larger part sampling errors. After exam- ining these data for a long period of time, it was decided to approach the problem statistically. This disclosed at once that areas surveyed could be divided into positive (having significant values, and hence favorable from the standpoint of petroleum possibilities), negative (no significant values and unfavorable for petroleum) and marginal (indeterminate). The latter case is always the most difficult one in surveying, and while we are now able to recognize it, further work is needed to fully interpret it. This kind of mathematics is being applied at the present moment, and bids fair to solve the problem. (6) In planning the kind of experiments from which such data arise. Wliether variations are or are not significant depends in no small degree upon the fashion in which the data were taken. Consideration of the experiment in advance from a statistical point of view often results in economy of procedure, or even points the difTerence between a trustworthy and a meaningless result. The following example is quoted from an address by Dr. R. H. Pickard, Director of the British Cotton Research Association: To illustrate the advantage of good experimental design I may refer to some experiments carried out at the Shirley Institute to find the effect of various treatments on a quality of cloth. This quality varies considerably at different parts of the same piece of cloth, and in order to measure the effect of the treatments the tests are repeated systematically so that the variations are "averaged out." Some of the natural variation, however, is systematic, and by adopting a "Latin Square" arrangement of treatments on the cloth (such as is much used in agricultural yield trials), these systematic variations are eliminated from the comparison, and in the instance quoted the result was to reduce by one-half the number of tests necessary for a given significance as compared with a random arrangement.' To the extent to which biology becomes an important element in industrial research — and it would appear to be on the point of doing so in such fields as food manu- facturing— it can be expected that the type of statistical work listed under (a) and (6) will rapidly increase. (c) In laying out an inspection routine. Manufac- turing inspection frequently yields data which are best interpreted statistically, either because only spot-checks are taken, or because the method of inspection gives measurements which are themselves subject to acci- dental fluctuation. In such cases statistical theory is of great advantage in setting up an efl'ectivc and eco- nomical inspection program. It is being so used in certain industries, notably in electrical manufacturing and textiles, but the potential field of usefulness is far from covered. The following example is quoted from an address by Mr. Warner Eustis, staff officer on research of the Kendall Company: Surgical sutures are twisted strands of sheep intestine, which has been slit lengthwise * * * After a stated number of days a sewing with such material, implanted in the body during a surgical operation, will be digested and disappear as the healing processes progressively take up the load originally held by the suture * * * Here is a product which it is impossible to test in any way without destroying the product, especially as each suture is sealed in an individual, sterilized tube. Our final product tests must all be conducted by breaking open a sterile tube and testing the product therein. The quality appraisal of such a product naturally rests upon probability, rather than upon an actual testing of each item. Due to the nature of such a product, in which a single failure may destroy human life, the need for accurate quality appraisal is super- lative.' (d) In the control of manufacturing processes. In- spection is not merely a means of discarding bad prod- uct; it is also a means of detecting trouble in the factory. This is obvious in the extreme cases when the product is unusually bad. By the use of suitable routines set up in accordance with statistical theory, the day-to-day results of inspection can be used to detect incipient degradation in the process of manufacture which might otherwise escape notice. This procedure is used extensively by the Western Electric Company in assur- ing uniform quality in many items of manufacture, and to a lesser extent in other industries. Of it, Mr. J. M. Juran, manufacturing engineer of the Western Electric Company, says: Too frequently we have seen an inspection group grow lax in vigilance until a complaint from the customer wakes them up. They promptly swing the pendulum a full stroke in the opposite direction, and the factory groans in its effort to meet the now unreasonable demands. A sound and steady control, like a sound currency in commercial relations, gives factory foremen a feeling of confidence and gives the consumer a feeling that control is being exercised before the product reaches him.'" (e) In writing rational specifications. Obviously, if such a procedure helps the manufacturer to assure uni- form quality, it is also of value to the purchaser of his products. Hence the subject of statistics enters into the writing of the buyer's specifications. It has been so used to a limited extent in the Bell System in con- nection with telephone apparatus, and by the United ' Pickard, R. H. The application of statistical methods to production and research in industry. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Supplement, 1, No. 2, 9-10 (1934). • Eustis, Warner. Wliy the Kcnddll Company is interested In statisticul methods. Industrial Stutistics C Juran, J. M. Inspectors' errors in quality control. Mechanical Engineering, 57, 643-644 (October 1935). 288 National Resources Planning Board States Government in the purchase of munitions. However, it must still be rated as a relatively undevel- oped field. Of it, Captain Leslie E. Simon, Ordnance Department of the United States Army, says : Statistical methods have proved to be a powerful tool in the critical examination of some ammunition specifications prior to final approval. Their use, either directly or indirectly, is almost essential in determining a reasonable and economic standard of quality through the method of comparing the quality desired with that which can be reasonably expected under good manu- facturing practice. In like manner, the statistical technique renders a valuable service in framing the acceptance specifications. Through its use the quantity and kind of evidence which will be accepted as proof that the product will meet the standard of quality can be clearly expressed in a fair, unequivocal, and opera- tionally verifiable way. Conclusion It is perhaps imusual to conclude a survey of this sort by stating the impressions which it has made upon its writer. In the present instance, however, the element of self-education has been so large that these impressions may summarize the report better than any more formal recapitulation. They are: (1) Because of its general significance as the language of natural science, mathematics already pervades the whole of industrial research. (2) Its field of usefulness is nevertheless growing, partly through the development of new industries such as the aircraft business, and partly through the incor- poration of new scientific developments into industrial research, as in the apphcation of quantum physics in chemical manufacturing and statistical theory in the control of manufacturing processes. (3) The need for professional mathematicians in industry will grow as the complexity of industrial research increases, though their number wUl never be comparable to that of physicists or chemists. (4) There is a serious lack of university courses for the graduate training of industrial mathematicians. (5) Management, which is already keenly alive to the importance of mathematics, is also rapidly awaken- ing to the value of mathematicians and the pecuhar relationship which they bear to other scientific per- sonnel. This last observation is not trivial. There was a day when, in engineering circles, mathematicians were rather contemptuously characterized as queer and in- competent. That day is about over. Just now, an attitude more commonly met is one of amazed pride in pointing to some employee who "isn't like most mathe- maticians; he gives you an answer you can use, and isn't afraid to make approximations." As the proper function of the industrial mathematician becomes better understood, these proud remarks will no doubt cease. Those who are adapted to the job will be taken for granted; the others will be recognized as personnel errors and not mistaken for the professional type. Perhaps the present report may speed this day. If so, it will have been a service to the profession and to industry. Bibliography Books FisHEH, R. A. The design of experiments. Edinburgh, Lon- don, Oliver and Boyd, 1935. 252 p. Shewhart, W. a. Statistical method from the viewpoint of quality control. Washington, Department of Agriculture, Graduate School, 1939. 155 p. Journal articles EusTis, Warner. Why the Kendall Company is interested in statistical methods. Industrial Statistics Conference, M. I. T., Cambridge, Mass., September 8-9, 1938. Proceedings, p. 143-144. PiCKARD, R. H. Application of statistical methods to produc- tion and research in industry. Chemistry and Industry, 5!;. 1008 (1933). SECTION VI METALLURGICAL RESEARCH AS A NATIONAL RESOURCE By H. W. Gillett Chief Technical Adviser, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio ABSTRACT Metals are necessary to every industry. Implements for agriculture, machines and tools for manufacturing, reaction vessels for chemistry, all the means of trans- portation, trains, trucks and passenger cars, planes, steamships, electric power lines, the telephone and tele- graph, the printing press, household furnaces and stoves, gas and water piping, electric lights, the tin cans on the pantry shelf — indeed anything one cares to name — relies directly or indirectly upon metals. The welfare of the ultimate consumer demands that metals and alloys of suitable properties and reasonable cost be supplied to meet present needs and, when differ- ent properties or further reductions in cost are called for to meet new needs or changing economic conditions, that no stone be left unturned to fill the needs. The metal-producing and metal-using industries have filled present needs and are preparing to meet new ones through research, carried on from the urge of the profit motive. Fruitful metallurgical research could be cited that would fill many volumes. A few cases, selected as representative, are mentioned in connection with aliuni- num, copper, zinc, magnesium, corrosion-resistant steels, high-speed and cemented-carbide tools, railway raUs, continuous rolling of flat steel products, that have brought benefits to the ultimate consumer, created em- ployment, and provided fimds for the tax gatherers. It is characteristic of metal-producing industries that quantity production is essential for economy. This requires huge expenditures of capital for plant and equipment. Large, strongly financed firms, in some special cases even quasi monopoHes, are the rule. Such firms take a long view ; they plan for their future exist- ence. They consider it as necessary to insure a steady flow of technological improvements in products and proc- esses, and the development of entirely new products, as it is to arrange for ample supplies of raw materials. Hence well-manned and well-equipped research and development groups axe an essential part of the corpo- rate set-up in aU major metallurgical industries. Tlie utilization of research lias not yet proceeded so far in those industries as in the chemical industries, but the rate of increase in metallurgical research has been rapid in the last decade, and shows no signs of slowing up. The research laboratories of the metallurgical indus- tries are operated on a teamwork basis and advances are made nowadays on the basis of intensive work of a group rather than by the sole effort of a lone investi- gator. This trend extends beyond the confines of a single firm, in that secrecy is at a minimum and free exchange of information at a maximum. Several strong technical societies, other special groups organized for interchange of information, and the trade and technical metallurgical journals provide means of disseminating and reaping information. To this situation may be ascribed the fact that metallurgi- cal research workers are recruited not only from students of special metallurgical courses in the imiversities, but equally from the ranks of physicists, chemists and engi- neers who have a scientific foundation from their college coiu-se and superimpose on this, by their own study of the available metallurgical literature, the requisite specific metallurgical information. Thus the wiU to carry on continuous research exists m, and a supply of qualified personnel for research is available to, the metallurgical industries. As apprecia- tion spreads of the necessity for research, many com- panies already engaged in research find special metal- lurgical research problems cropping up that are outside the range of experience of their own staff and for which equipment is lacking in their own laboratories. Simi- larly, firms, especially among users of metallurgical products, not yet able to finance permanent research staffs and equipment are faced with the problem of find- ing means for the solution of the problems. If the problem is common to a number of firms, they may pool their interests and engage in joint research, often through the instrumentality of a committee of a tech- nical society. Such joint problems, as well as the in- dividual problems of the single firms referred to above, have to be farmed out to laboratories staffed and equipped for metallurgical work. Such laboratories, established as engineering experiment stations of uni- versities and as specialized research institutes, are ex- tensively utilized. Conditions, therefore, are favorable for the continual flow of research required for the metallurgical needs of the nation. 289 290 National Resources Planning Board Scope of Metallurgy Advanceinciit in metallurgy is important, not only to the industries that are recognized as primarily metallurgical, but to every industrj', for all industries depend upon metals, either directly as forming a part of the product, or indirectly in the form of machinery and tools, or still more indirectly, in transporting raw materials and finished products. The modern airplane is the result both of research in aerodjnamics and the like and also of research on materials of construction. In the engine, many metals are used the successful extraction of which from the ores, as well as their purification, alloying, heat treat- ment, and even their machining to size, are the fruits of long-continued research by many individuals and organizations. In an airplane itself the materials are largely cliromium-molybdenum steel and strong alumi- num alloys, with stainless steel as a possible alternative for the latter. The automobile likewise calls for a variety of alloy steels; for nonferrous alloys in bearings, radiator, storage battery, head lamps, cylinder heads, etc.; for cast iron for cylinder blocks and braking sm-faces. FicuRK M). — Ir-iupiin I'rccisioii .Metal Working Machine, Alu- minum Research Laboratories, Alun;inuro Company of America, New Kensington, Pennsylvania special alloys for pistons, wide steel sheets of high form- ability and suitable weldability for the body, zinc-base die castings for the grilles, and stainless or chromium plated steel for hub caps and trim. All these various metallic materials are chosen for their particular com- binations of mechanical properties, reliability, cheap- ness, formability, machinability, appearance, and so on Among the paramount characteristics of materials for low-cost production are the ability to be formed and machined readily. Likewise, effective forming equip- ment and cutting tools are required. In assembly, rapid welding is almost as important as are machin- ing and grinding for bringing pieces to the required dimensional limits. In inspection for that dimensional accuracy, which permits the use of interchangeable parts, gages that are wear-resistant and metallurgically stable in their own dimensions, are prerequisites. The railroads need rails and wheels that will not fail in service and materials for car construction of high strength-weight ratio that afford safety with minimum dead load and maximum pay load. Marked advances have been made in providing metallurgical products that fill these needs. The electrical industry has succeeded in halving the coal required per kilowatt-hour as compared with re- quirements of about a decade ago, and in vastly in- creasing the illumination produced per kilowatt from electric lights in about the same period. Steels that permit the boilers and turbines to operate at higher temperatures and pressures were essential in the one case, ductile tungsten in the other Advances in the chemical industry bring increased demands on metallurgy for materials of construction that combine the other necessary properties with corro- sion resistance under many unusual and difficult condi- tions. Other industries the final products of which are wholly nonmctallic, such as the lumber, paper, textile, plastics, glass, and ceramic industries, require metals with special characteristics for saws, calendering rolls Fourdrinier wires, sulfite digesters, looms, rayon spin- nerets, molds, furnace parts, and so on. Anything made by machinerj' indirectly requires that there be metals in the machines and metal-cutting tools for making them. Modern agriculture must have tools, tractors, and other machines for tilling, cultivating, and harvesting. The food industries require metals in their processing equip- juent as well as tin cans to hold the product. Road making calls for rock crushers, and so on. All the transportation industries, the petroleimi industry, the electrical industry, indeed, any industrj^ you care to name, vitally depends on metallurgy. Economic Consequences of Metallurgical Research The service and satisfaction to the public provided by the products of metallurgical research which meet Industrial Research 291 the varied requirements of all these industries, the employment given in their manufacture and servicing, the taxes paid to government from the new or rejuve- nated industries thus made possible, and the conserva- tion of natural resources secured by fitting the materials to their jobs and taking less and less material to do the same work, are apparent to any thoughtful observer. It is essential to the national economy that the stream of technological progress flows freely. Engineering advances cannot go far without simultaneous or pre- ceding advances in creating new metallurgical materials. Metallurgical research is an essential national resource, because technological advances do not just happen automatically; they have to be produced deliberately. The results are manifold. To pick an example from the metallurgical industries, the development of aluminum from the position of a chemical curiosity, rarely seen outside of museums, to that of an everyday material of construction for utilitarian service in pots and pans, in gleaming transport planes, in streamlined railway coaches and in multitudes of applications more familiar to the engineer than to the public, did not just happen by itself. This development has been the fruit of research. Research has built the American aluminum industry from the very first day when the young student, Hall, who knew very well just what he was seeking, made his first few pellets of the metal, on through the early days when it had to sell for $5 per pound, through the period during which its utility was demonstrated, to the consequent building up of a demand that led to large production and thereby to a steady lowering of its cost, until it now sells at 17 cents per pound. In this development there has been created a huge industry that gives employment and provides funds for the tax gatherer. Employment is created and taxes are paid, not only by the aluminum industry itself, but also by the aircraft industry (which would have difficulty in making planes of requisite strength and lightness with- out the strong, light aluminum alloys), and by every other user of aluminum. Nor did the aluminum industry discontinue research once a market was established. The competition of other metals demands continuous research which is being carried on upon an ever expanding scale. A recent statement by the President of the Aluminum Company of America ' says that no increase ^ in the price of aluminum to domestic customers is contem- plated because the "benefits of research and develop- ment permit the company to expect lower costs and it intends to share such economies with consumers of aluminum." This published statement is significant because it shows that the management is aware that the public understands research, appreciates its possi- ' To share economy. Automotive Industries, SI, 643 (December 15, 1939). > The price W3S. in fact, reduced early in 1940 and again in the (all. 321S35 — 11 20 bUities, and values its results. It was not necessary to append a footnote defining research. Group vs. Individual Research The common metals are used widely not only because of their properties, but equally because of their reason- able cost. To attain reasonable costs, quantity pro- duction and a very high investment in equipment are generally necessary. Units in the metallurgical indus- tries are therefore likely to be large and to require ample financing. To develop, test, and install the production equipment necessary for the fruition of a research idea in the metallurgical field is, in these days, seldom within the means of an individual. Capital must, therefore, be attracted or, conversely, industries already capital- ized must do research for themselves and on their own problems. One has to go a long way back in the metallurgical industries to find an analogy to Good- year's kitchen-stove laboratory, and to his own produc- tion and sale of raincoats to get funds for the further investigation of rubber and the development of its other uses. Perhaps the closest analogy in metallurgy goes back to the case just mentioned of Hall who, while a student in chemistry at Oberlm, carried out, as an extracurricular activity, individual, very small-scale experiments on the production of aluminum, succeeded in attracting capital, and established the basis for the American aluminum industry. It is a far cry indeed from that Figure 90. — Spectroscopic Examination of Metals, Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, Michigan 292 National Resources Planning Board individual research eflFort and its crude equipment to the comnuinity of effort, the large personnel, and the speciaUzed equipment and facilities of the research laboratories of the Aluminum Company of America today, and the pilot-plant set-up required to translate the resultant research findings into practice. Whereas the large, strong organization can finance long-tcnn projects, can bide its time to utilize the results, and can insure, by sheer number of the inves- tigations in hand, that some few of them will prove money makers in time, the small firm must have more immediate results. Conversely, the small finn is usually in competition with a smaller number of other finns (because it usually markets its products within a smaller area), and is more flexible in its abdity to install an improvement promptly. The small firm may not be justified in building up a research staff of its own with the equipment necessary for effective work. Here a qualified consultant, an engineering experiment station, or an independent specialized research labora- tory, may be of service in providing the fundamental information, and the impartial viewpoint that the small organization often lacks, and may supplement these by whatever measure of experimental work the specific problems demand and justify. There are free-lance metallurgists who came up through the ranks in laboratories engaged in group research who now act as consultants. Laboratory facilities and other men to use them must be provided by the client to put the research suggestions of such free-lancers into effect. Because of the thousands of plants engaged in making products out of metals, this problem of how the smaller unit may enjoy the fruits of research is even more pressing than it is in most fields outside of metallurgy. In view of the trend toward group attack on metal- lurgical research problems, it may be asked whether the uidividual investigator has become extinct. He is becoming more rare, but is far from extinct. The writer recalls with interest witnessmg early experiments on the manufacture of steel automobile brake drums centrifugally lined with wear-resisting cast iron, carried on by an experimenter whose colleagues called him "Angle-iron Joe." This was because he would not wait, when struck with an idea, to have the drafting room design and the machine shop construct his ap- paratus, but would himself put together, from angle iron and whatever else was handy, equipment that would serve, and serve promptly, wlule the idea was hot, to tell him whether it had merit. Within a period that was amazingly short as most research projects go, Joe had evaluated the compositions, temperatures, speeds, and fluxing operations necessary for good bonding and for the desired metallographic structure, and was able to direct the draftsmen and mechanics in the con- struction of apparatus which went into successful commercial production. The method and the product are now standard. The development was put into immediate use by Joe's employer, but the initial dem- onstration was sufficiently convincing that, had he been a free lance, it would not have been difficult to find backing. Lessons From the Past The problems of how to insure that the stream of metallurgical research shall continue to flow in steadily increasing volume is not different in principle from the broader one facing research in all industry. We may expect to find the same general pattern for successful research in every industry. However, there has been enough experience with metallurgical research to make a few of its case histories and certain generalizations drawn therefrom worth considering here. The success- ful research of the past should pouit the way for research of the future. Machining and Machinability As epoch-making a metallurgical research project as has ever been carried out was that of the engineers Taylor and WTiite, who, with research equipment advanced for its day, but so crude in the light of modern practice as to make one wonder how they made it work, developed for the Bethlehem Steel Co. tungsten high-speed steels not very different from those used today, and thereby revolutionized the art of cutting metals. What this has meant in terms of increased macliine-shop production and lowered cost is simply incalculable. So vital did high-speed tools become in the manu- facture not only of peacetime products, but also of munitions, that tungsten became a strategic material and its domestic scarcity and the necessity for its importation became matters of great military concern. However, domestic molybdenum had meantime ap- peared on the scene. Its economical production from the huge deposit of ore low in molybdenum would, in earlier days, have been very difficult, but it was actually made easy by virtue of previous research on the flotation of copper ores. The flotation process had been the key to the utilization of the great deposits of lean porphyry copper ores, and to the maintenance of copper in the class of relatively cheap metals despite the depletion of rich ores. This also is a dramatic story in itself. Interestingly enough, these lean copper ores themselves contain molybdenum, though it occurs only to about 1 one-hundredth to 5 one-hundredths of 1 percent of the weight of the ore, and its presence was for a long time unsuspected. The application of selective flotation, a further development of research, now makes these lean copper ores an important source of molybdenum as a byproduct. Industrial Research 293 Some early experiments made in England while molybdenum was a "rare" and expensive metal, coupled with the chemical and metallurgical similarity of tungsten and molybdenum, suggested the use of molybdenum as a substitute for tungsten in making high-speed steel. Research at Watertown Arsenal, un- dertaken from the strategic-materials point of view, showed it to be more potent than tungsten in high- speed steel, weight for weight, and when "bugs" cropped up due to certain idiosyncrasies of the molybdenum steels, these accessory problems, too, were solved. Coincidentally, research on molybdenum steels for auto- motive and aircraft use had developed such properties and created such a demand for the metal that its production had risen and its price had fallen to a point where it was cheaper to make a tool steel with molyb- denum than with tungsten, though the demand for tool steel alone would not have produced a great volume of production or a significant drop in price. Foreseeing this situation, metallurgists who made tools and tool steels stayed with the problem of overcoming the difficulties and utilizing the advantages. As a result molybdenum high-speed tools are proving so satis- factory that there is today no apprehension whatever about a wartime shortage of tungsten. Indeed, mo- lybdenum itself is among the materials that Americans are requested not to export to nations that practice aggression against weaker nations and bomb noncom- batants. Research has shifted the situation from one where only 10 years ago ' our lack of tungsten was a serious strategic liability to one where our abundance of molybdenum is a strategic asset. Nor did research on cutting tools stop there. Ce- mented carbides of tungsten, tantalum, and the like have been developed, by long and patient research backed by ample capital, into tools the cutting power of which surpasses that of high-speed steel tools as much as those surpassed the carbon-steel tools. In consequence materials formerly classed as nonmachin- able, even with high-speed tools, now are cut readily. As for materials still untouchable by the carbide tools, we have artificial abrasives developed by electro- chemical research, and marvelous machine tools for machining by grinding, which make it feasible to shape almost any metallic product, no matter how hard it may be. Not only has research developed the cutting tools, but the metals to be cut have been modified, without much sacrifice of essential mechanical properties, so that they may be more readily machined. Beside the older free-cutting steels and leaded brasses, we now have stainless steel plus seleniimi, copper alloys plus telluriimi, aluminum alloys with a variety of additions. ' Taylor, R. Strateelc raw mattrials. Meltti and Atloys, I .& l\97t) . and recently carbon and alloy steels plus lead, each of which additions increases machinabUity, often without material sacrifice of mechanical properties. Every one of these developments in machining and machinability, outside of the work of Watertown Arsenal, was carried out by private capital for the ulti- mate purpose of private gain, and all utilized the brains of many research workers and the best of modern equipment. Many of the projects were costly to carry out and quite beyond the scope of the average individual investigator unable to command ample re- search facilities, and equally beyond the scope of most university laboratories. Joining of Metals Second only in unportance in fabrication to the machining of metal parts is their joining. Welding has grown from a rule-of-thumb operation employed for unimportant joints, to one that can be, and often is, of hair-trigger accuracy, controlled by devices of great precision, for example in the assembly of auto- mobile bodies. Welding of rails into long lengths, of ships, of structural steel (with avoidance of the noise of riveting), of jointless pipe lines, of airplane-engine supports, and of fuselage and wing structures is a commonplace today. Even the welding procedures stiU carried out by hand are systematized, the worlonen being carefully chosen, trained, and tested for ability, and the welds subjected to X-ray and other tests to insure soundness. Hand in hand with the mechanical developments in all the dozen or more different welding methods has come a recognition of the metallurgical principles in- volved, the development by metallurgists of steels suitable for welding, and of fluxes and fluxing methods, all to the end that reliable welds may be made con- sistently. Mechanical, electrical, and metallurgical engineers have all cooperated in these advances. Another important method of joining is by copper brazing in some suitable reducing atmosphere. This, and the analogous processes of bright annealing and clean hardening of steels in controlled atmospheres, have been developed through the joint efforts of the chemist and the metallurgist. StiU another valuable means for joining a wide variety of aUoys is the relatively new family of silver solders, materials characterized by ease of application, joint strength, and ability to withstand elevated tempera- ture. The expense of using silver as an important con- stituent of the solder is fully justified. Outstanding Work in the Steel Industry Since steel is the most important member of the fam- ily of alloys the bulk of metallurgical research relates to steel. 294 National Resources Planning Board Continuous Rolling Tlie development of the continuous rolling mill for the steel mdustry was a successful and profitable under- talcing, which has materially reduced the cost of flat steel products to the ultimate consumer and greatly extended their use. The work (which involved more mechanical and electrical than strictly metallurgical research) necessary to bring this idea to its present position, probably comprises the most expensive research project ever undertaken in the field of metals. To one acquainted with the old-time method of rolling, with its many roll stands, great amount of back- breaking handling of materials, and dependence upon the roller's judgment, not to mention the irregular quality of the products, the modern continuous mill with its few stands but its myriads of precise controls, and the uniform quality of the product, is a revelation indeed. When these mills were under erection, there were dire prophecies of overcapacity. The judgment of steel industry executives that a better and cheaper product would find new uses has been abundantly justified. Every home now has conveniences it did not have in earlier days, the availability of which, at a price justifj'ing their purchase, can be traced to the avaO- ability of good, cheap, flat-rolled steel as raw material. The sum total of employment resulting from the change in practice is also undoubtedly on the right side of the ledger. Continuous Tubing Even before this continuous-rolling development an analogous one was getting started in the production of welded tubing. A tiny plant worked out a method for drawing heated flat stock, "skelp," through sets of rolls in such fashion as to cause the edges to weld, and to subject the weld to mechanical working. First developed for very small sizes of tubing, it was found to give very clean welds, to be susceptible of accurate control and hence to be suitable for handling long lengths. That is, the process can use the long coils of flat stock produced by the continuous rolling process so its development was favored by the recent availability of suitable stock. Over the last 20 years the process has been improved, adapted to fairly large sizes, and implemented with suitable equipment and control devices, until it has made large inroads upon the older method of pulling the skelp tlu-ough a bell to force the edges into welding contact. Many of the larger producers of tubing have changed, or are changing, to the process. This is true not only in the United States, but all over the world. The original tiny plant with its handful of men and small production, something like an experimental pilot plant of today, has flowered amazingly. The "big fellows" accepted a scheme worked out by a "little fellow." This shows that the lone inventor still has a place. In this case the inventor was fortunate in being able himself to enter production and demonstrate the vir- tues of the product by its salability in a competitive market. Continuous Forming From the Melt Efi^orts are being put forth to carry the idea of con- tinuous forming to its logical conclusion by starting with molten metal continuously cast as a strip or a rod, and processing it to thinner strip or to wire without interruption. Plenty of difficulties still beset these efforts. One cannot yet evaluate them on the basis of fully proven achievement, but they do show promise of improvements to come that may be as revolutionary as was the continuous mill. Raw Materials Research in the utilization of the raw materials of the steel industry has not been neglected. In blast- furnace practice research has produced notable results in the use of lower grade iron ores, reduction in coke consumption, and the production of a more uniform product. In basic open-hearth steel making the results obtained during the last 20 years have been amazing in the conservation of fuel, in greater production, and above all in the improvement of quality. A very note- worthy instance has been the study of open-hearth slags and the application of the principles of physical chemistry to the process. It has been research work of the best kind. Research in the field of molding sands has been very fruitful in foimdry practice, and the resultant savings to the foundry industries have been very large, to say nothing of the assurance of more uniform and better quality of castings. Research in the refractories industries has been very helpful to the metallurgical industries, and in many cases has been carried out because the iron and steel and other metallurgical industries asked for better refractories. The iron and steel industry is "research minded." The men in charge of production are never satisfied. They constantly seek for more and improved products. Every time a blast furnace or open hearth is rebuilt something new is tried, sometimes along radical lines. This attitude of mind is an enormous national resource. New Viewpoints Possession of the research point of view is a precious possession. It steers one's mode of thinking into new channels, leading to new seas and new lands of research advances whose existence was hitherto unsuspected. Thum * comments that some recent outstanding met- < Thum, E. E. Editorial— Where do we go from here? Metal Progress, St, 643-49 (November 1937). Industrial Research 295 allurgical advances violate established concepts so grossly as to appear, at first sight, to run counter to fundamental laws. He says that really fundamental advances are likely to come when someone pulls his mind out of the rut that every other mind is following and goes ofT in an entirely different direction. The research-minded man is far more likely to jump out of the rut than is the production-minded man. An example of this is the shift in the classification of phosphorus in steel from the category of a poison, to that of a tonic, as Sauveur ^ phrased it. In the very early days of steel, high-phosphorus steels, in which experience dictated that the carbon must be low, were in use, because it was not known how to remove phosphorus. But as advancing teclmology made it more feasible to lower the phosphorus content, and since high phosphorus causes cmbrittlement in the presence of too much carbon, practice and specifica- tions changed to limit that element to the lowest practical level.* Copper and Phosphorus in Steels Some 25 years ago a committee of the American Society for Testing Materials undertook research on the resistance to atmospheric corrosion of steels of varying copper content. This was done because of a controversy between two factions of metallurgists, one advocating a copper content of some 0.20 percent, the other advocating "extreme purity," i. e., avoiding all copper as nearly as possible. The experimental method was adopted of exposing a large number of sheets of known composition at a number of different locations and observuig their resistance to the elements year by year. The experiment took years for completion. Not only was it made evident long before all the sheets had rusted through that copper was a help, in resisting the effects of such exposure, but Storey,' taking the phosphorus content into consideration as well, pointed out that it also was helpful. Much later in the search by research men for still better corrosion resistance of bare steel in the atmosphere, primarily from the point of view of roofing materials, it was found that a low-carbon steel with the phosphorus shockingly high according to ideas then prevalent, plus copper and small amoimts of other alloying elements, not only had somewhat improved corrosion resistance, but a yield strength double that of ordinary structural steel, plus satisfactory formabUity and weldability.^ • Sauveur. A. A review of progress in lerrous metallurgy. Steel, 99, 38 (July 6, 1936). • Gillett, H. W. Phosphorus as an alloying element in steel. MetaU and Alloyt, 6, 280, 307 (1935). 'Storey, O. W. Discussion (Corrosion resistance of steel). Transaclicms oj the American EUclwchemkal Socieli/, S9, 121 (1921). ' Epstein, S. J., Nead, J,, and Halley, J. W. Choosing a composition for low-alloy high-strength steel. Transactions of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, tiO, 309 (1936). Furthermore this was all accomplished at a very low cost for alloying elements and without any need for heat treatment. The suitability of such steel for bridges, ships, railway cars, truck bodies, and so on was obvious. A score of other steels of equal yield strength and good corrosion resistance, some containing more expensive alloying elements without phosphorus, others containing phosphorus and still cheaper ingredients as alloying materials came on the market in quick succes- sion to fill a real need and form a brand new class of structural steels." Once an erroneous belief is wiped out by some bold research worker, a long train of industrial consequences is likely to result, involving many other experimenters. Stainless Steels Another case of a long train of experiment is the recent, but well-known stainless steel, 18:8, containing 18 percent of chromium and 8 percent of nickel, the research development of which, along with that of the plain chromium stainless steels, it would be interesting to trace in detail were space available, since their cor- rosion resistance and mechanical properties make them extremely serviceable for a wide range of corrosive conditions. It is commercially too expensive to make 18:8 with a very low carbon content i. e. less than about 0.06 percent. In welding 18:8 containing even this small proportion of carbon, an embrittling separation of carbides occurs as the metal cools from the welding temperature by a precipitation phenomenon akin to that which occurs in the heat treatment of duralumin. To prevent this an element is added that will form a more stable carbide and one less prone to dissolve and precipitate in this fashion; molybdenum (the presence of which is also helpful in resisting some special condi- tions of corrosion) is useful and titanium and colum- bium are especially potent. The addition of titanium or columbium was the direct result of logical thinking about the phenomena concerned, but their effective- ness had to be proved by exhaustive experiment. In the case of columbium, the world had to be scoured for ores of this then rare metal to make sure that an adequate commercial supply would be available. This was no task for an individual researcher not backed by ample funds. Clad Metals Once the technical value of the 18:8 type of steel became established, the economic angle appeared. On the basis of "save the surface, you save aU," many began to ask whether a thin skin of stainless would not suffice and whether a "clad" material, ordinary steel with a mere fUm of stainless on the surface, could • Lorig, C. H., and Krause, D. E. Phosphorus as an alloying element In low carbon, low alloy steels. Metals and Alloys, 7, 9, 61, 69 (1936). 296 National Resources Planning Board not be developed. Alclad aluminum, a similar product consisting of a strong aluminum alloy base carrying a pure aluminum surface had previously been developed and found wide use in aircraft. The cost of the cladding process proved so high with 18:8 that the expected margin of saving was difficult to attain, but effort is being continued with signs that ultimate success may be in sight. Hydrogen In Steel Failure through transverse fissures of rails in railway service has caused bad wrecks and given railroad exe- cutives much cause for worry. Means were developed for detecting fissured rails in track and removing them before failure, but this was cure rather than pre- vention. The source of fissures was long in dispute but is now regarded as preexistent internal shatter cracks formed as the rail cools after hot-rolling. Cer- tain slow cooling schedules have been found to prevent cracking and are applied commercially to almost all rails. It is now evident that the presence of hydrogen fosters cracking and means to insure its absence are being sought. The Rare Elements Put to Use Even in the limited number of cases mentioned above, from the hundreds of equal import that could be cited, the elements molybdenum, tantalum, selenium, tellurium, beryllium, titanium, and columbium have been mentioned as alloying elements commercially utilized in steel, each of which does a specific job ex- cellently. There is also hydrogen which is, in the case cited, harmful. Ten years ago a book on metallurgy written from the point of view of commercial practice would have omitted all these elements save molyb- denimi, and one of 15 years ago would very likely have omitted that. The metallurgist of today recognizes that there doubtless are no useless or meffective ele- ments, and that, as in the instances cited of phos- phorus and lead in steel, even the familiar ones may at any time turn up in a new role. Nonferrous Examples While one naturally picks the steel industry to sup- ply outstanding examples of successful research, case histories are not lacking in the nonferrous industries. Zinc Zinc is a cheap metal. On a volume basis, it is a vcrj' cheap metal. Its low melting point allows it to be die-cast readily, with high production,, low cost of operation, and remarkable precision of dimensions. In the early days there were two chief grades of zinc, one rather high in impurities but acceptable for galvanizing, the other a high-purity 99.95 percent product smelted from naturally pure ores. Even using this high-purity zinc as a material for alloys to be die-cast, the castings were not stable and were prone to crack in time. Such zinc die-castings had small commercial utility. In the search for methods of utilizing some complex ores con- taining zinc, electrolytic refining was tried and after painstaking research was made both successful and economical. When the solutions used were purified as the process itself demanded the product was zinc of 99.99 percent purity. Coincidentally with this de- velopment research had shown how to make and handle the die-casting alloys to insure stability and it had become clear that high purity was essential. Not only was the pure electrolytic metal at hand, but an electro- thermic process was also developed which produced 99.99 percent zinc. From here the zinc-base die- casting industry progressed by leaps and bounds. Not only the decorative grilles on motorcars, which could be made from other materials, though not so cheaply for equal decorative appearance, but more vital parts such as fuel pumps for motorcars and many parts of other industrial machines are now zinc die-castings which serve adequately and cut costs materially. Magnesium A sizeable magnesium industry is being built up Ln the United States based on the use, as a raw material, of byproducts of the chemical utilization of natural brines and, in a plant now being constructed, on the utilization of sea water. These are very cheap sources of supply. Though it is occurring more slowly, the development of magnesiiun is following the pattern of that of the aliuninuin industry, in spite of the handicap of lack of corrosion resistance in some environments. Research has steadily improved the corrosion resistance and the mechanical properties of the magnesium alloys so that they are finding extended use. Due to special economic and political factors, the production and use of magnesium has advanced faster in Germany than in the United States, since some of the applications do not meet the same competition there from other materials of construction that they do here. Extension of our use of magnesium on a purely engineering basis is certain, because much research has already been done and the producers have a definite program for continued research that will inevitably result in still better mate- rials. The price has already been progressively lowered so that the costs of magnesium and aluminum are practically equal on a volume basis. Aluminum and Precipitation Hardening About 30 years ago, Wilm, working in a Govern- ment research laboratory in Germany, discovered the heat-treatable strong aluminum alloy duralumin. Its heat treatment was on an empirical basis and its use Industrial Research 297 did not develop rapidly, though some was used in Zeppelins during the World War. About 20 years ago, Merica and coworkers at the National Bureau of Standards discovered and clearly set forth the principles involved, putting the precipitation hardening by heat treatment on a rational basis. It was then possible to concoct other alloys that fitted in with the principles in the hope of securing analogous strengthening by analogous heat treatment, and to subject known alloys to suitable treatment in the hope of improving their properties. Today hundreds of useful alloys with a desirable combination of formerly unattainable proper- ties are in commercial service. Beside a variety of aluminum alloys there are many copper-base alloys, including beryllium copper; steels, such as copper steels; lead-base alloys, nickel-base alloys, and special iron-tungsten and iron-molybdenum alloys the useful properties of which depend on the application of these principles. Improved methods of heat treating high- speed steels are based on them also. The principles likewise explain some harmful changes in low-carbon steels and in various alloys at high temperature and make it possible to avoid them to some degree. Merica's work was one of the outstanding examples of the value of getting at fundamentals and of steering thinking into new channels. Getting our thinking out of ruts, often by borrowing ideas and methods from other fields, is not the least important byproduct of research. Another example of this may be cited. Powder Metallurgy Analogous to the practice common in the ceramic and plastics industries, of making products by agglomeration rather than by melting, the idea of pressing and sinter- ing metal powder into coherent porous products, which may or may not then be worked into less porous form, has already been utilized in making ductile tungsten and the tungsten carbide tools. "Powder metallurgy" for the manufacture of porous, oil-retaining bearings, and as an alternative to forming by casting, or forging, or machining from solid stock, is on the horizon as a possibly important new branch of metallurgy, applicable also to the production of alloy combinations that cannot readily be made by older methods. In specific in- stances the method is well established; its widespread application is now more a matter of economics than of technology. Adaptations From Other Sciences — Electron Diffraction The application of the skills of other sciences to metallurgy is indispensable. Within the last decade the physicist has developed a new tool, electron diffrac- tion, which showed promise of giving information about conditions at the surface of metals, the mechanism of the progress of corrosion, etc., that it was impossible to procure by previously existing methods. Metallurgical research workers soon took up the new tool and devel- oped the necessary special technique, with great ad- vantage to metallurgical science. Entirely invisible films only about a fifth of a millionth of an inch tliick deposited upon the surface of metals have not only been shown by electron diffraction to be present there, but the composition and structure of the films have been established by the same means.'" Mineralogical Methods Utilized The mineralogist has accumulated information on the composition and means of recognizing naturally occur- ring minerals, and together with the physical chemist, has developed methods of charting and recognizing what might be termed artificial minerals. He has used the petrographic microscope in his work, much as the metal- lurgist uses the metallurgical microscope. Those metal- lurgists engaged in the smelting of ores find it necessary to purify, or "beneficiate" the ores by mechanical sep- aration of their wanted from their unwanted constit- uents. One method of separation is the flotation process previously mentioned in connection with molyb- demmi and copper. To make these separation processes applicable, the ore must be groimd so that the particles of the desirable and the undesirable constituents are separated. If, however, the constituents are in such intimate mineralogical combination that separation by grinding is impossible, mechanical separation processes are inapplicable and chemical methods must be sought. Application of mineralogical knowledge and technique allows the metallurgist to start at once upon the proper road of investigation. Mineralogical technique, includ- ing the use of polarized light, also serves the metallurgist in the study of nonmetaUic impmities occurring as inclusions and thereby enables him to detect the source of the impurities and take steps toward eliminating them. The physicist has developed the use of polarized light for studying stress distribution in transparent models. This is a matter of applied mechanics rather than metallm-gy, but it greatly helps the metallurgist in that it proves that the designer can do much to mitigate stress concentration by proper attention to geometric form and is thereby enabled to reduce his demands for materials capable of resisting such high stress concentrations. Instruments and Equipment Modern metallurgical research requires equipment and instruments for precise quantitative measurements to an ever increasing degree. A great change in flying " Nelson, H. R. The low temperature oiidation of iron. Journal of Ckemical Physics, 6. 606-n (1938). 298 National Resources Planning Board has taken place in the past decade; the airplane pilot no longer flies "by the seat of his pants," but with the aid of an imposing array of instruments. This change is paralleled in the research laboratory. The analogy is recognized in that the cockpit of today's plane is often termed a "flying laboratory." Research on new or more precise instruments and more dependable metallurgical tools is as necessary as is the research that uses them. The Pyrometer Although the metallurgist now assumes that precise measurement and control of temperature are axiomatic in any metallurgical process involving heating, this was not always so. The development of the thermocouple and of other means for measurement of temperatures was basic for all later developments in metallurgical science and technology. The Induction Furnace The development of the high-frequency induction furnace by Northrup, useful as it has proved to be commercially, was an especial boon to metallurgical research, for it increased the speed and precision with which melts of desired composition could be made. Incidentally Northrup was a professor when he began to work on his idea, but the commercial sponsorship and financial backing of the Ajax Electro thermic Corpora- tion with its hope of private gain, were essential to the embodiment of the idea in tangible, useful form. New Arms, New Conquests As fast as we can free ourselves from the shackles of old modes of thinking and devise and utilize new instruments and more powerful tools, we can tackle problems that were hitherto unsolvable. New facts and new principles remain to be unearthed and new applications of old ones remain to be made. The residts should be as potent in serving human needs, developing industries and bringing employment, and wiping out dependence on strategic materials derived from abroad as those unearthed in the past have been. Provision for the Future If we admit this, and if we admit that metallurgy underlies all industry, we are ready to ask what pro- vision is being made for continuation and expansion of metallurgical research. Whence Will Come the Fundamental Metallurgical Research of the Future? It is often stated that the universities are the fountain heads of "pure" or "fundamental" research from which flow the ideas on which the applied research of future generations will be based. This is hardly accurate in metaUurgy. Even the initial, crude developments are likely to require expensive special equipment for the purchase of whicli university funds are seldom avail- able. Smoothing out the crudities requires years of continuous effort, a time extending beyond that of a graduate course, so that the professor must work through a succession of students, each new one lacking the background of the previous ones. With a commercial urge and the prospect of gain to be derived from utilizing information as soon as it is found, a well-financed industrial research group is far more likely to delve widely and deeply than a uni- versity can. With the incentive of commercial need, the research laboratories of the General Electric Company " sought ductile tungsten for the electric light more doggedly and at far greater expense than could have been the case in academic circles. A greater amount of theoretical work in metallurgy that might appear to be of highly abstruse nature, but which was required to forge a needed link in a commercial research chain, is encountered in the Bell Laboratories and the research laboratories of the Westinghouse and General Electric companies, than in the universities. Within the limitations of permissible cost of equipment, the Metals Research Laboratory of Carnegie Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a few other schools, are working on fimdamental metallurgical research problems with new information as much an objective as the training of men. Battelle Memorial Institute is doing the same sort of thing in several lines, notably in cast iron, on its own endow- ment. But, by and large, the bulk of the fundamental work is carried on at the direct expense of industry, as is the case with the work on rate of transformation of steel at moderate and low temperatures, at the Research Laboratory of the United States Steel Corporation. Universities today are looked to more for the raw material from which research men are made than for a completely finished product, or for research results in themselves. The Supply of Future Workers Supplying such raw material is as essential as is the provision of instruments and equipment for research. One is of no more value without the other than is a plane without a pilot or a pilot without a plane. Unless the supply of research workers in metaUurgy is main- tained and augmented, a dearth of good men is immi- nent as soon as the metallurgical industries become as research-minded as the chemical industries are today. Expert opinion '^ states that of all professions research is the most short-handed, there being a smaller reservoir of competent men compared to the need for them that " Hoyt, S. L. Ductile tungsten. Metals and Alloys, 6, n (1935). '> Job hunters. Time, p. 34 (December 25, 1939). Industrial Research 299 will exist when conditions improve. There certainly is no large reservoir of men already experienced in or being directly trained for metallurgical research, and the situation would be truly serious wore it not for the still fairly adequate supply of raw material in the chem- ists, physicists, and engineers that are being turned out from the colleges. Evaluation of what is needed in a metallurgical re- search man and of the various means that may be taken to produce such men, may therefore be considered as one of the primary topics in this discussion. The Personality of a Research Man To set the stage so that ever recurring dramas of metallurgical research can continue to be played in our national theater, we must have players who know how to develop the plot while speaking their lines, for there are no set lines and no prompt book in research — every scene calls for new dialogue. Not every man is a good actor, nor is every man, even with long technical train- ing, a research man. The research man must have insatiable curiosity, pertinacity, and optimism, for he is hunting for something about the very existence of which he is uncertain and he must not be dismayed by early failures to find it. He must know the basic principles of the sciences concerned in his particular branch and must superimpose on this knowledge the detailed information called for in his particular project. Up to a certain point the basic training of the bio- chemist and the metallurgist might well be very similar, but the specific training of each would not greatly serve the other. The Education of a Metallurgical Research Worker In earlier days there was no formal scholastic training in metalliu-gy; the metallurgists were educated in the courses in engineering, chemistry, or physics and picked up their own metallurgy. It is still not very important that a research worker in metallurgy have a formal metallurgical training in his 4-year college course. He must be trained in modes of exact thinking, know a variable factor when he sees it, and know that he must hunt for it when he does not see it. There are able research metallurgists today who were self-educated beyond high school, though they are few. There are many who have had no metallm-gical training at all in college but who were so well-grounded in the basic sciences that they were able to pick-up the needed metallurgical information very promptly by their own efforts. Indeed, many employers of research workers are not at all concerned about an applicant's ignorance of metallurgy if he has a somid foundation and the will to learn what he needs to but does not yet know. For- mal courses in metallurgy and metallurgical engineering are not yet given in very many imiversities, and the courses that arc usually given must prepare production men, sales engineers, and perhaps future teachers as well as research men. Hence, the curricula can hardly be expected to be aimed to turn out finished research metallurgists. This is no cause for worry. It will be cause for worry if too specialized metallurgical courses begin to crowd the fundamental com-ses out of the curriculum. His Development After a youngster has secured a sound backgroimd in the exact sciences, and cither in college or by his own study has procured metallurgical information, he still has to develop that ability to tackle the unknown which differentiates the research from the production man or the sales engineer. This research ability to stand on his own feet may be gained by the right type of man either in graduate work or in a subordinate posi- tion in a research laboratory. A man cannot linow, until he has tried it, whether he is the research type or not. The research laboratories of large metallurgical organizations often bring promising youngsters in from the production and control groups temporarily and send out with such groups for a time men who have served some apprenticeship in the research laboratory. This is done not only with the aim of giving each group an appreciation of the other's problems, but also with the idea that some of each ^vill make the change permanent rather than temporary, thus fitting the square pegs into the square holes. The process of natural selection and advancement from subordinate to more responsible research positions may not develop leaders rapidly enough. The necessity for doing routine research work may not give time for roimding out the man into one capable of constructive thought. The metallurgical industries are therefore sho\ving interest ki schemes by which a promising youngster, usually one with a year or more of graduate work in academic research, is given a fellowship in a research organization to work imder close supervision of experienced research men on a problem chosen primarily to train the man in research methods and modes of thinking rather than for its immediate value to the sponsor. Alternatively, men in research or- ganizations may be sent at company expense, or may go volimtarily at their own expense, to a university for graduate work. Either plan is generally far more fruitful than for the man to work directly on for a Ph. D. after procuring his first degree and without any interim spent on research or practice outside the academic cloisters. There is, in normal times, no oversupply of men of proved capabilities for constructive metallurgical re- search. Long-range planning for the maintenance of a 300 National Resources Planning Board supply is worth while. High school boys should be given some inkling of the possibilities of metallurgy as a career so that they may consider it as one of the alternative occupations for which they might prepare while still undecided about what they want to do. Thus some might so choose their college courses, though not necessarily by taking metallurgy, that they would be sought by the metallurgical industries. This would aid in long-range planning for a steady supply of men for research. Job StablUty It is likewise important to make sure that men fitted for ultimate success in research and with some accu- mulated experience are not unnecessarily diverted from research, or so placed that their past experience is not utilized. During valleys of the depressions of the past decade, especially the first one, some metallurgical re- search groups built up during the previous boom years, or somewhat replenished during periods of temporary improvement, were scattered overnight by executive decision, and many research metallurgists were thrown into the ranks of the imemployed. Those executive decisions in many cases have been repented and the research staffs again augmented, but, since the capable men usually found jobs with firms that did not disrupt their research groups, their experience was lost to their former employer. Security of tenure in research jobs seems greater now than at any time in the past. Working Conditions Consistent with the trend toward picking men with the right type of mind for research and who intend to make research their sole business, is the trend toward providing environment and working conditions that will favor efficient work. Many research laboratories are planned not merely for convenience, but attention is also paid to dignity of architecture. Numbers of such laboratories have been built in the last decade and stand as evidence of the importance of environment. In the direction of effective research, care is taken that the men have time to think. Extreme pressure for immediate results exerted on a research man seldom helps to produce those results. An atmosphere of much greater freedom than needs to be accorded the men of the routine control laboratory is called for. Both for reasons of the workers' satisfaction and to promote efficiency in their work, there is a growing tendency towards complete relief of the research organization from the responsibilities of production control and trouble shooting. While every effort is made to have the research men in constant touch with the practical conditions of production so that they will keep their feet on the ground and be able to solve problems that arise, research is more and more being made a continuing, full-time activity rather than knit- ting work to be picked up and dropped according to the ebb and flow of plant difficulties. Reasonable freedom for the research worker to pub- lish his results and thus secure professional recognition is a factor in his satisfaction with his job, and generally benefits the employer as much as it does the employee. "Public relations" are benefited by pubhcation. Tlie Written Word No one thing affects the satisfaction and the efficiency of a research worker more than the availability of proper library facilities. The library is the most important tool of research. Moreover, if we are not to require prior formal metallurgical instruction of those engaging in metallurgical research, but intend to leave the door open to those of different basic training, upon which they themselves must superimpose a specific, self- acquired metallurgical education, the means for self- instruction must be at hand. The availability of printed metallurgical information, therefore, should be considered here. This situation is very satisfactory. The sharing of technical, scientific, and research infor- mation in metallurgy is carried on to high degree through the publications of the American Society for Metals, the American Institute of Mining and Metal- lurgical Engineers, The American Foundrymcn's Asso- ciation, the American Society for Testing Materials, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Electrochemical Society, and others, together with tech- nical and trade journals not connected with any society. British society publications and journals, pretty much counterparts of the American ones, and a smaller number of useful metallurgical journals in Swedish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian, ab- stracted by United States and British abstract services, add to the bulk of printed information. The majority of the pages published on metallurgy contain reports on research. Indeed, though a metallurgical society starts out with the primary aim of service to the practical man and plans to make its meetings of the order of foreman conferences, in time it comes to placing emphasis on research in its publications. The early proceedings of the American Brass Foundrymcn's Association, now the Institute of Metals Division of the A. I. M. E., compared with the often very abstruse theoretical publications of the Division today, show this. So do the early trans- actions of the American Society for Steel Treating, com- pared with those of its successor, the American Society for Metals. The same tendency is working in the American Electroplater's Society and the Wire Indus- tries Association. The appreciation of research and the development of means for the dissemination of its re- sults are characteristic of metallurgical societies. Outstanding as a means of making new metallurgical Industrial Research 301 information, obtained by research, available in authen- tic and condensed form, are the handbooks put out by the A. S. M., the A. F. A., the American Welding So- ciety, and others. These are prepared by hundreds of experts who give their time free as a professional obli- gation. This allows wide distribution of the handbooks at very low cost. Making readily available the research information of the world literature in its field is the task of the Alloys of Iron Research Committee which is in process of pre- paring monographs on the important iron -alloy sys- tems. This useful, expensive, and still unfinished proj- ect was financed in part by Engineering Foundation, the National Bureau of Standards, and Battelle Memorial Institute, in large part directly by the metallurgical industries. There is nothing on foot in this country of a similar nature for the alloys of copper, but this gap is being filled by publications of the British Copper Development Association. That one has to go outside the United States to find cooperative effort of just this type in the copper indus- try might be taken as evidence for the statement some- times made that this industry is not so research-minded nor so cooperative as other metallurgical industries. The accusation is not justified as respects the producers of copper. That of something short of perfection in cooperativeness of the fabricators is more difficult to refute. That individual firms in the industry are doing highly useful research is known to those behind the scenes. The lack of appreciation of this among other scientists seems primarily due to the contrast in the publication policies of this industry with those of the steel industry. Such a case emphasizes the public- relations aspect of publications. Textbooks and books of general metallurgical infor- mation written for reference use rather than for the classroom, and summaries of information, so-called "correlated abstracts," in restricted fields are appearing in greater numbers and of better quality. The tech- nical societies hold symposia at which available infor- mation is reviewed to date and publish the papers pre- sented. By these means the assimilation of metallur- gical research is facilitated and home study is made more feasible than if the whole mass of literature had to he assembled and digested by each one who wanted to use it. Assimilation through the spoken word is sought through the local chapter and regional meetings of such societies as the A. S. M. and A. F. A., which as a rule are planned to be more of an educational character than are the annual meetings of the various societies. How- ever, a feature of some annual meetings is a special series of educational lectures, and some local technical groups conduct what might be termed adidt-education evening schools in metallui^y. The the willingness of metallurgical industries to publish their research findings and to try to help the other fellow in the expectation of improving the whole industry is noteworthy. Cooperative Effort An outstanding example of lack of secrecy and active pooling of infonnation is the open-hearth committee of the A. I. M. E., at whose meetings open-hearth steel furnace operators from all the steel companies get together to discuss experiences in increasing output, lowering costs, and increasing quality and uniformity. Great franloiess is a feature of the meetings. There is much joint research effort among different firms faced with the same metallurgical problems. Such activities are handled through committees of existing trade associations, of technical and scientific societies, or through temporary organizations set up for the particular occasion, which are not intended to continue after the present joint problems have been solved. Examples of these are the support by the American Electroplater's Society, the Non-Ferrous Ingot Producers' Association, and, of the temporary organization type, the Associated Silver Producers' work on development of industrial uses for silver. Cooperative work of industry with the Bureau of Mines is also carried on. More widespread use of Government facilities is hampered by the patent policy of certain departments of the Govenmient which allows Government employees to take out personal patents on work they do in the Government laboratories. Certain departments frown on this, but in the National Bureau of Standards, the Bureau of Mines, and the various research divisions of the Army and Navy an employee may elect to take out patents for himself, and if he does, the cooperato." must make arrangements with the employee for the use of the patents. This situation often prevents industry from taking its problems to the Government labora- tories when patentable features are likely to grow out of the work. In most university research foundations and the research institutes the patentable features are entirely the property of the sponsor. Patents are seldom as important in joint projects as they are in projects of an individual sponsor. As a rule the Government laboratories arc more eager to cooperate actively with a representative group on a joint problem than with a single firm, so on both sides the conduct of a joint investigation at a Govern- ment laboratory may have favorable consideration. Modes of Joint Research Committees of technical societies often meet research problems the solution of which would be to the joint advantage of a considerable portion of the industry they represent. This is particularly the case as respect- 302 National Resources Planning Board ing metallurgical problems with the American Society for Testing Materials and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, both of which have research committees on various topics as well as committees for drafting specifications and codes. The American Weld- ing Society has many metallurgical problems. In these, as well as in some other metallurgical societies, experimental research is carried on when the need war- rants, usually as a committee or subcommittee project. The project may take the form of splitting the work into small sections each of which is carried out in the laboratories of the committee members, with subsequent pooling of results, the cash outlay being absorbed by the respective budgets of each cooperator. The work is subject to such delay as the exigencies of the other work of the laboratory may demand. This method is much used on small problems and often as an initial stage in larger ones. When the effort required is beyond that which can be slipped in along with the other work of the co- operators, the committee collects funds from those who stand to benefit and who are willing to cooperate finan- cially, and the work is hired done. Sometimes a re- search engineer is hired and facilities for his work secured at the National Bureau of Standards, a uni- versity, or an institute. Rarely is experimental work for the benefit of a group done for pay in the laboratory of one of the member companies, as this is seldom ac- ceptable to the other cooperating firms, though the method has been used. More commonly the project is fanned out to a research foimdation or research institute. For example, work thus financed on various phases of problems of metals at high temperature has been simultaneously in progress at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the engineering research division of the University of Michigan, and at Battelle Memorial Institute for the joint research committee of the A. S. T. M. and A. S. M. E. on Effect of Temperature on the Properties of Metals, while small projects on which work was donated by the laboratories of several manu- facturers were also in hand. Utilization of Outside Aid in Research The successful conduct of a variety of joint research problems has made it increasingly evident that a firm does not necessarily have to carry on all its research under its own roof. Business instability and fear of conditions beyond the control of business, indeed, make firms with mani- fold research problems and limited research staffs hesi- tant to build up large permanent staffs and to install elaborate equipment for their work and more prone to farm out specific problems to outside laboratories. Competently handling such farmed-out problems under adequate supervision and with adequate equipment is not easy for the average university professor who does, or should, make instruction his first duty. He lacks the time, and also his laboratory facilities for instruc- tion are not adequate for research that must yield com- mercial results. Hence "engineering experiment sta- tions" or special "research foundations" with full-time or nearly full-time professors to direct research, and with equipment suited to certain restricted lines of re- search, have sprung up in considerable profusion, be- sides the research institutes the sole purpose of which is to provide research facilities for industry. Several of these various types of organizations are specializing in metallurgical research, and these are kept increasingly busy. Public Funds Not Available for Metallurgical Research There is no mechanism by which the metallurgical industries can get their research done at public expense save to the extent to which they can secm-e cooperation or housing for research associates at Government laboratories such as those of the National Bureau of Standards or the Bureau of Mines. Through transfer funds to the former, the Navy and the National Ad- visory Committee for Aeronautics have had important metallurgical work done on their problems, the results of which have been valuable to industry. The Naval Research Laboratory has done useful work on steel castings. Though these researches have industrial value, that is a byproduct, the primary investigation having been made to secure information directly needed for purely governmental purposes. While these and other Government laboratories are not im- mindful of research on fimdamentals that affect the metallurgical industries, there is no Government research agency to serve metallurgy in any way com- parable to that of the Federal Department of Agricul- ture and the State Agricultm-al Experiment Stations for agriculture. Nor is there any analogy to agricul- tural "extension" work. Through the Department of Science and Industry, England matches pound for pound up to a certain limit, the research funds pro- vided by industry for such laboratories as those of the British Cast Iron Research Association, etc., in which public funds are devoted to metallurgical research topics selected by industry. The scheme is intended to encourage research by and for those who might not otherwise engage in it. The endowed research organizations, as a group, do not do much in metallurgy. The projects of the National Research Council have in the past almost invariably been very far afield from anything metal- Im-gical. The Engineering Foimdation has provided funds to start work on several projects of metalliu-gical Industrial Besearch 303 interest, including valuable pioneer work on fatigue of metals, and has contributed to specific projects of the A. S. T. M.-A. S. M. E. joint high-temperature com- mittee, as well as to the alloys-of-iron research, which latter is, however, not of an experimental nature. Battelle Memorial Institute is an exception, since it docs metallurgical research on its own funds and publishes the results. State and other university experiment stations do some valuable metallurgical research at State expense. But in all these cases the endowed or publicly supported institution selects the topic for research. In the United States, when a metallurgical firm or a group of firms wants a specific research problem investigated it foots the bill itself. From past results this does not appear to be a bad method for the future, so long as the incentive for private gain remains characteristic of the economy of our Republic. Competition vs. Monopoly in Research In spite of the fact that the prospect of private gain stimulates most of the worth-while metallurgical re- search, active competition within a given field does not necessarily make for the type of research that does the country the most good in the long run. Indeed, the opposite may be true. Good research costs money. The subsequent develop- ment work and application to production usually costs much more money. This money is more readily obtained, and accounting more clearly shows a profit on investing it, when a strong firm, even a quasi- monopoly, is involved than when there are many pro- ducers of the same commodity. There is less delay in imdertaking research that will bring out the possibili- ties and limitations of the commodity and thus make it possible for engineers to use it more intelligently. There is no domestic competition by primary producers of aluminum." Primary and secondary aluminum compete, and aluminum competes with steel, copper, and other metals. Plastics offer potential competition to metals. There is no permanent gain in exerting sales effort to force a commodity into a service for which it is neither technically nor economically adapted. As Van Deventer of the Iron Age phrases it, each ma- terial has its own "supremacy areas" in which its technical superiority is so marked that it can readily overcome a cost handicap (silver in electrical contacts is a good example) ; other areas in which substitutes are plentiful and the choice is to be made on the basis of economics ; and still others in which alternative materials are better both technologically and economically. As knowledge and experience grow these areas shift. Re- search to bring about a shift into supremacy area or to evaluate the shifts likely to occur through the research ■> Since this was written, a second producer is arranging to enter the field. improvement of competing materials can be of immense value to the sales department. The domestic producers of aluminum are outstanding in doing and reporting research that gives the cold facts about the properties so far built into aluminum alloys. When they report on fundamental facts, such as on the equilibrium diagrams for ahnninum alloj^s, those repoits are based on as precise work as any done in metallurgy and are accepted as quite as credible as if the work had been done by the National Bureau of Standards. Very extensive research and development work by the producers of nickel has brought early and complete information on its usefulness as a metal and in alloys. If the nickel business were split up among a lot of producers, each much less able to finance research, the sum total of research information on nickel would probably be far less than we have today. Conversely, silicon is produced by many firms, and in various forms, as ferro-silicon, silvery pig, etc. No one controls the "ores" of silicon. There are a number of alternate sources for many uses. While research on silicon is not wholly lacking, there is no comprehensive program for developing its potentialities comparable with those for aluminum or nickel. We lack under- standing of the role of ladle additions of silicon to cast iron and use such additions empirically, probably ineflRciently. Were there some firm to whom silicon were the "only child," one might reasonably expect that such a problem would not long remain unsolved by research. That research is most easily inaugurated and financed by strong firms with a large volume of business that does not have to be divided among many competitors does not mean that research is not being done profitably by small metallurgical units in highly competitive situations. It is so done, as has been brought out by some of the case histories cited earlier. Research in Relation to Employment As Stevenson '* points out, labor -making inventions leading to new industries require both longer-term research and more financial courage than the mere perfection of processes in minor details that lead to lahoT-saving. It takes courageous leadership to de- velop and exploit new and unusual projects. If 1 out of 10 off-the-trail research projects started by a re- search organization pans out worthy of commercial application, the organization is fortunate. The other 9 have to be paid for. Only when the management has the nerve to explore all 10 prospects thoroughly can it hope to mine the rich ore bodies that will repay the exploration costs for aU. Not only must the man- '« Stevenson, A. R. Requisites for engineering leadership. Mtchanical Enntnter- ing, 61, S03-6 (December 1939). 304 National Resources Planning Board agement have the vision and the financial resources to ask for and pay for the development of new things, but it must have research talent available that is competent to undertake the development with a reason- able chance of success. There are a score of men who can hck a plant production problem and work out a way of doing a job more efficiently to one who can blaze a trail to a new industry that will employ many more men. There are blind spots in metallurgical research like the one just mentioned concerning silicon, and for another example, the broad problem of finding what properties are really needed in a bearing metal, and how to measure them. These need extensive research. Sufficiently comprehensive work has not been set in motion upon them, nor is there readily available the mechanism for bringing together those who need light on some of the many facets of the problem and arrang- ing for the long-term financing that would be required. There are committees who could make such a task of starting things their business, but these projects do not start themselves. Research on Research One of the most baffling problems met by the metal- lurgical consultant is presented when a firm or a trade association of an industry says, "We are sold on the general idea that research is necessary for progress, but we have not been able to settle upon specific re- search problems whose solution would advance our position, much less are we able to determine the one or two problems that deserve first attack. What shall we do?" Here research to determine the futiu-e course of other research is called for. The best way to find the spots to which we have hitherto been blind, is to illuminate the background. If the suitability of the firm's plant, equipment, and personnel is evaluated, some special strength or weakness may be imcovered that makes it obvious that work on a specific product or on strengthen- ing some weak link in the process, is in order. In the case of a whole industry, if an evaluation is made of the "supremacy areas," including the nature of present and potential competition, with a clear state- ment of the scientific fundamentals on which the tech- nology and economics of the industry are based, these facts, put down in black and white, generally clarify the situation. Such an evaluation usually brings to light problems whose immediate importance is recog- nized by all, once they are clearly stated. Then research may be applied to these problems. True vs. Alleged Research There are "research departments" in metallurgy, as in other industries, that give lip service to research and are really nothing more than control laboratories under a more imposing name, so called for the adver- tising value of that name. These cases are less common than formerly and it often happens that because the name is used more thought is given to the possibilities of real research and it is finally undertaken. However, statistics purporting to show the funds and the man- power applied to research are likely to include both the alleged and the real, and are therefore of doubtful value. Acceptance of Research On the whole research has proved its utility to the metallurgical industries, and is accepted by them as one of the essential steps in maintaining present mar- kets, finding new markets, creating employment, and cutting over-all production costs so that in spite of mounting labor cost and taxes, their products may still go to the customer at steadily decreasing prices and with wider distribution. It is this final effect upon the consumer that classes metallurgical research among national resources, to be conserved and fostered. Summary To sum up, metallurgical research is demanded in order to promote progress in the production and use of metals, not only in instances where the final products are metafile, but equally where the metals are inci- dental. MetaUurgical research is provided by the laboratories of the producers of metallic raw and semifinished mate- rials. Such laboratories have to deal with a mixture of process improvement, product control, service to customers which may involve some research, searching for new applications to broaden the market, mainte- nance of the competitive position against substitute materials, and such delving into fundamentals as these problems require. MetaUurgical research is provided by the research laboratories of industries which use metals and have specific problems to which improved metals are the answer. These laboratories have no predilection for one metal over another; they run the whole gamut. Their attack may thus often be broader than that of those who have a specific axe to grind. MetaUurgical research is provided by joint research on specific problems where producer and user cooperate, exemplified by A. S. T. M. committee projects. MetaUurgical research is provided by specialized institutes, which serve to extend the facUities of aU the groups above mentioned, as weU as to do fundamental metaUurgical research on their own initiative. Metallurgical research is provided, on a smaUer and usually a more localized basis, by university experiment Industrial Research 305 stations and by the part-time consulting service of individual professors. Metallurgical research is provided by Government research laboratories, which are increasingly engaged upon problems relating to national defense, but pay attention also to problems confronting the metallurgical industries. Finally, metallurgical research is provided as a by- product of the training of research workers by the universities, their major and essential contribution being the initial training of the individuals who will ultimately bear the burden of the metallurgical research of the future. Moreover, the results of metallurgical research are made public and shared in a cooperative spirit, even though individual profit is necessarily the ruling motive. All these kinds of metallurgical research are essential. None is so fully developed as it will be, but even in their present status, they all together form no incon- siderable item in an accounting of national economic resources. Bibliography Books American Foundrymen's Association. Alloy cast irons. Chicago, 1939. 257 p. American Foundrymen's Association. Cast metals hand- book. 1940 ed. Chicago, 1939. 532 p. American Society for Metals. Metals handbook. Cleve- land, 1939. 1803 p. American Welding Society. Welding handbook. New York, 1938. 1211 p. Edwards, J. D., Frary, F. C, and Jeffries, Z. The aluminum industry. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1930. 2 v., 1228 p. Various Authors. "Alloys of iron," a series of books on the metal, iron, and alloys of iron with — carbon, silicon, molyb- denum, tungsten, copper, nickel, and chromium. (Volumes on manganese, vanadium and nonmetallics, in preparation.) New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1932-40. Journal articles American Society for Testing Materials. Proceedings, 1900-1940. Especially reports of committees on corrosion of iron and steel, corrosion of nonferroua metals and alloys, fatigue of metals, and effect of temperature on the properties of metals. Clamer, G. H. The development of the coreless induction furnace. Metals and Alloys, 6, 119 (1935). Clamer, G. H. The development of the submerged resistor induction furnace. Ihid., 5, 242 (1934). Dix, E. H., and Bowman, J. J. Fifty years of aluminum alloy development. Ibid., 7, 29 (1936). Gann, J. A. Magnesium, growth of an American industry. Metal Progress, SI, 33, 84 (Apr., 1932). Gillett, H. W. Cooperative metallurgical research, how? Metals and Alloys, 2, 360 (1931). Gillett, H. W. Metallurgical research from the chemical point of view. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, SS, 232 (1930). Herty, C. H., Jr., and Coworkers. General topic. Physical chemistry of steel making; Specific titles, see Cooperative bulletins, nos. 64-69, 1934, Carnegie Institute of Technology and Mining and Metallurgical Advisory Boards. Hoyt, S. L. Ductile tungsten. Metals and Alloys, 6, 11 (.1935). Hoyt, S. L. Economic results of metallurgy. Ibid., 6, 113 (1934). Johnston, J. Applications of science to the making and finishing of steel. Mechanical Engineering, 67, 79 (1935). Wadhams, a. J. Nickel and its alloys. Mining and Metallurgy, 10, 183 (1929). Williams, C. E. Recent developments in the American iron and steel industry. Iron and Steel Institute (British) Journal, 1S8, 11 (1938). Zimmerman, R. E. Coupling sales to research. American Iron and Steel Institute Yearbook, 28, 203 (1938). SECTION VI 6. THE CHEMICAL ENGINEER IN INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH By Sidney D. Kirkpatrick Editor, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, New York, N. Y. ABSTRACT Although comparatively a newcomer among the scientific and engineering professions, the chemical engineer has rapidly assimied an important responsi- bility in industry. His work has been largely con- cerned with the development and application of those manufacturing processes that involve chemical and certain physical changes in materials. Thus he finds his principal opportunity in the chemical and so-called "process" industries. Chemical engineering research per se is largely con- fined to the improvement of processes through the quantitative study of the fundamental theory under- lying the unit physical operations, such as distillation, evaporation, absorption, filtration, mixing, and agita- tion, and the unit chemical processes, such as oxidation and reduction, chlorination, nitration, and sulphonation. A much broader field of activity hes in "development" work as contrasted with the research of the laboratory. Here the chemical engineer supplements the creative work of the research scientist by translating his labora- tory studies into larger-scale operations. This trans- lation is often effected in the semiworks or pilot plant which has thus come to be known as the true habitat of the chemical engineer. It is here that he studies a new process under plant conditions, designs and con- structs the equipment for conmiercial production. By training and experience the chemical engineer is often well quahfied to determine the economic feasibility of many research projects. An increasing number of chemical engineers are therefore employed in com- mercial and market studies that help to give direction and effectiveness to programs of technological research. Much of the success of chemical industry in the develop- ment of new products and processes has resulted from the fact that its research has been conducted on an engineering basis from the first selection of the project to the final utilization of the product in the plant of the customer. Despite recent progress in chemical engineering re- search, many features of equipment design and opera- tion remain on an empirical basis. They await funda- mental study. There is hkewise abundant opportunity to extend the application of fmidamental data and principles to many industries that have not yet been benefited by this relatively new technology. In the words of a great mining engineer, "Chemical engineer- ing, more than any other, may be called the engineering of the future." Research is an important function but scarcely the primary activity of the chemical engineer in industry. His contribution supplements and helps to make effec- tive the work of the research scientist by translating the findings of the laboratory into terms of large-scale plant operations. This is more accurately described as process development work and in many industrial organizations, research and development are closely linked activities. They are usually administered in the same department and it is sometimes difficult to say where the one begins and the other leaves off. The relation of development work to the other duties of the chemical engineer is evident from the following definition of chemical engineering, wliich was suggested by the writer in 1935 and has since been adopted by the 306 American Institute of Chemical Engineers' Committee on Chemical Engineering Education.' Chemical engineering is that branch of engineering concerned with the development and application of manufacturing processes in which chemical and certain physical changes of materials are involved. These processes usually may be resolved into a coor- dinated series of unit physical operations and unit chemical processes. The work of the chemical engineer is concerned pri- marily with the design, construction, and operation of equipment and plants in which these unit operations and processes are ap- plied. Chemistry, physics, and mathematics are the underlying sciences of chemical engineering and economics its guide in practice. Chemical engineering, as we know it today, is a com- 1 Newman, A. B. Development of chemical engineering education in the United States. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Supplement to Tranaaclions, Si, No. 3a, 7(1938). National Resources Planning Board, Industrial Research 307 paratively new profession. It may be said to have had its origin in the unit-operation concept first presented by the late Dr. Arthur D. Little in December 1915, in a report to the Corporation of the Massachu-setts Institute of Technology, which ultimately led to the foundation of the School of Chemical Engineering Practice at that institution. Dr. Little then defined chemical engineer- ing in these terms : ^ Any chemical process, on whatever scale conducted, may be resolved into a coordinated series of what may be termed "unit actions" as pulverizing, mixing, heating, roasting, absorbing, condensing, lixivating, precipitating, crystallizing, filtering, dis- solving, electrolyzing and so on. The number of these basic unit operations is not very large and relatively few of them are involved in any particular process . . . As this concept of chemical engineering gradually displaced the older methods of teaching industrial chemistry in our educational institutions, its practi- tioners in industry began to apply quantitative study to the fundamental principles and theories underlying these unit operations and processes. Thus developed what is truly chemical engineering research as dis- tinguished from purely chemical research. Dr. Little ' well stated its objectives in the following words: Chemical engineering research ... is directed toward the improvement, control and better coordination of these unit oper- ations and the selection or development of the equipment in which they are carried out. It is obviously concerned with the testing and the provision of materials of construction which shall function safely, resist corrosion, and withstand the indicated con- ditions of temperature and pressure. Its ultimate objective is so to provide and organize the means for conducting a chemical process that the plant shall operate safely, efficiently, and profitably. Fields of Application The introduction of the dollar sign into the chemical equation proved a potent stimulant for industrial re- search. As new products and processes began to emerge from the laboratories in ever increasing number, more and more companies came to realize that their future dividends depended upon scientific development. Dirringthe 1920's, therefore, there was a steady growth in research activities and a corresponding increase in the requirements for technically trained personnel. The number of chemical engineers entering research and development work followed the general trend, but it is interesting to note that in some industries there was much greater demand than in others. In other words, there was a relatively deeper penetration or ac- ceptance of chemical engineering in those industries that could make most effective use of men with this training. • Little, Arthur D. Twenty-five years of chemical engineering progress; silver anniversary volume. (American Institute of Chemical Engineers.) New York, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 1933, p. 7. ' Twenty-five years of chemical engineering progress, pp. 7-8. See footnote 2. 321835 — 11 21 Among the first to utilize the services of the chemical engineer were the more strictly chemical industries — i. e., the producers of heavy, inorganic chemicals, elec- trochemical products, coal-tar dyes and synthetic organic chemicals, explosives, artificial resins, fibers, and plastics. The basic chemistry of most of these processes was relatively well known, but there was urgent need for better engineering in its application. Even by 1925 it had been estimated that the chemical- engineering penetration in this field was practically complete as regards the acceptance of chemical engi- neers in development work and the supervision of plant operation. Today these strictly chemical indus- tries employ appro .ximately 4,000 chemical engineers, of whom 750 to 1,000 are engaged in research and development work. Somewhat slower to accept chemical engineering in the beginning, but now among its most ardent sup- porters, are certam of the so-called process industries such as petroleum refining, coal processing, and pulp and paper manufacture. These industries all depend upon such fundamental unit operations as heat trans- fer, distillation, evaporation, and fluid flow, for which there was abundant opportunity to apply improved processes and equipment, with resultant savings in capital and operating costs. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that even ten years ago the petroleum- refining industry was the largest single employer of chemical engineers, accoimting for 12.30 percent of the graduates of the classes of 1920-29, according to a survey made by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.* Pulp and paper and coal processing at that time employed only 4 and 4.30 percent respectively of the chemical engineering graduates of the 1920-29 classes. But it should be remarked that the great recent growth of the paper industry, particularly in the Southern States, is rapidly changing this relationship. So, too, is the allied development of cellulose products for resins, lacquers, and rayon. Perhaps there should also be included m this second group the manufacturers of rubber goods, fertilizers, sugar, and certain food prod- ucts in which it has been estimated that there has been a chemical-engineering penetration of at least 50 percent.* This leaves still a third classification of industries in which chemical engineering has made relatively slower progress — with 50 percent or less penetration. Among these are leather and textile processing, which are typical of those iiidustries that are higlily developed as arts but not as chemical-engineering operations. To a lesser degree the same situation applies in the manu- ' White, Alfred H. Occupations and earnings of chemical engineering graduates. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Transactions, ST, 221-50 (1931). ' Industry's common bond In chemical engineering. Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, SB, 5 (January 1928). 308 National Resources Planning Board facture of ceramics and of glass, soaps, fats and oils, and perhaps even in that of paint and varnish, although the introduction of synthetic resins and newer pig- naents has recently stimulated great interest in new technology in this field. None of the last-named in- dustries accounted for more than 1 percent of the 1920- 29 graduates according to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' study. By the same token, how- ever, it is in these industries that most remains to be done and wherein there are the most attractive oppor- timities for capitalizing on scientific research and chemical-engineering development. Adequate statistics are lacking for the total number of chemical engineers engaged in research and in de- velopment work. The survey made by Professor White for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1931 would seem to mdicate that for the men re- ceiving bachelor's degrees in the classes of 1920-29 approximately 25 percent were engaged in research and semiplant development. An even larger proportion of those with graduate training arc so employed. Dr. Harry A. Curtis, has estimated that fuUy 30 percent of all chemical-engineering graduates go into seniiworks development of one kind or another.* In the study made by George Perazich for the na- tional research pioject of tlie Work Projects Ad- ministration " it was shown that of approximately 20,000 research employees, 5,635, or 28.5 percent, were chemists and 4,594, or 23.2 percent, were engineers. Applying these percentages to all industries, Perazich estimated that the total number of engineoi-s might be 10,000, but no attempt was made to classify them as chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineers. • Curtis, H. A. Discussion of Pierce, David E. The half-way house. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Transactions, 19, 100-11 (1933). ' Perazich, George. Growth of research in the United States, 1920-38. Philadel- phia, Pa., Work Projects Administration, national research project, 1940, p. 321. Figure 91. — Pilot Plant for Study of Soybean Oil Extraction, Ford Motor Company, Saline, Michigan Industrial Research 309 Functions in Research and Development Until about 20 yeare ago, chemists and chemical engineers were used almost interchangeably in research and devclopmcDt work. At that time it was common practice to start all new men in the analytical labora- tories and subsequently to transfer into research those who developed originality and creative abilities. Some of those unfitted for investigational woriv went into production or sales, wliile a few remained in the labora- tory as routine analj'sts. Thus personal characteristics and aptitude rather than training and experience were the usual bases of selection. Sometinaes the process worked admirably, but often it resulted in vocational misfits. Universities perhaps contributed to this unfortunate situation somewhat by encouraging chemical-engineer- ing graduates to go into laboratory research even thougli they were inadequately trained for this important work. likewise, manj^ research chemists were urged imwisely to enter pilot-plant and development work for which they lacked the engineering laiowledge and training. Gradually, however, this situation has been cor- rected. There has arisen a fairly definite rUnsion of functions and responsibility between chemists and engineers in research and dcveloimient work. W. L. Badger, former professor of chemical engineering at the University of Michigan and now manager of the con- suiting engineering division of the Dow Chemical Company, has outlined this division as follows:* 1. The strictly laboratory work (i. e., the beaker and test- tube-scale operations) should be done by the man with chemical background and training. Engineering considerations do not ordinarily enter into the actual conduct of research at this stage. 2. The pilot plant, semiworks, or similar development should be in the hands of the chemical engineer, not only with regard to the work itself but also with regard to its direction. Through this stage, however, the chemist, although not taking the re- sponsibility, should be closely associated with the engineer. 3. The design of the final plant and its operation are the work of the chemical engineer alone. Once the process has passed the pilot-plant stage, the function of the chemist is largely to control quality and to advise in case of chemical difficulties. An important advantage of tliis form of organization is that the close association of the chemist and the chemical engineer prior to and during pilot-plant operations makes possible an exchange of knowledge and experience that could not be obtained through reports or infrequent conferences. This exchange of experience, and the enthusiasm and inspiration that * Private communication. Figure 92. — Chemical Engineering Laboratory, Aluminum Research Laboratories, .Aluminum Company of .\merica, Xew Kensington, Pennsylvania 310 National Resources Planning Board accompany it, fonn an essential part of successful development work. Dr. M. C. Whitaker, vice president of the American Cyanamid Company, calls attention to the direct con- tribution the chemical engineer can often make by advising research men as to the feasibility of proposed operations as well as by helping them to design special types of laboratory equipment required for this work. In a private communication, he writes as follows: Chemical engineers fit into our research and development pro- gram from the time the job leaves the research laboratory until the customer has bought our goods and actually used them up in his own operations. In other words, chemical engineers take the laboratory processes, and with the assistance of the research chemists they design, develop, and operate pilot plants for ex- perimental production. Then, on the basis of this experience, they design and install the full-scale production equipment, direct the operation of the plants, collaborate with the sales department in the introduction of the new materials, and, finally, instruct the customer in his application and use of the end products of our research. This haison function of the chemical engineers is becoming more and more important in modern industry. This is especially true La the larger companies where the transition from the laboratory to the pilot plant and from semiworks to full-scale production is often between different departments or widely separated plants. In a small plant, however, which can employ only one or two chemical engineers, there is not likely to be any such well-defmed division of duties. Here the chemical engineer must not only do the pilot-plant work but may be responsible for designing, building, and even operating the commercial plant. In general, however, most companies try to divorce research from plant operation not only because the latter is a full-time job but also because it generally calls for quite different qualifications. Nevertheless, some very successful companies make it a practice to start their young chemical engineers at the bottom of a development group and, after they have advanced to the point where they can undertake it, to assign them to a problem through the design, construction, and operat- ing steps, and finally make them operating heads of the process. The American Potash and Chemical Corporation fol- lows a modification of this procedure. Its research director, Mr. W. A. Gale writes: On new developments we usually assign the investigation to some one man who will be expected to carry the problem, if all goes well, through all the various stages of preliminary develop- ment. The detailed design and construction of the commercial plant is handled by the engineering department, but the research and development department must develop the preliminary design and specifications, such as volumes of material to be handled, quantities of heat to be transferred, and general type of equipment and flow sheet arrangement, and must prepare preliminary estimates of operating costs. Then when the plant is finally built, the research man will know more about it than almost anyone else, so he will be given a large part in supervising the testing, training of the crew, and preliminary operations until such time as the plant is turned over to the production de- partment as a smoothly operating unit. For this work we find that a man with good chemical-engineering training is much more useful to us than a man who has been trained just as a chemist or physicist. The Pilot Plant The true habitat of the chemical engineer is in what David E. Pierce,* of Charles Lennig and Company, has called the "halfway house of industry" — the semiworks or pilot plant in which is determined the success or failure of most new processes. Here, halfway between the test-tube research and full-scale operations, the chemical engineer finds his greatest opportunity. It is his function to study a new process, to check its be- havior imder plant conditions, and to perfect the design and construction of the equipment before the project is ready for commercial production. Dr. L. H. Baekeland is usually credited with the advice "Make your mistakes on the small scale and your profits on the large." Pierce has summarized the four functions of the semiworks plant as follows: 1. To study new processes or new types of equipment in order to secure data for plant design ; 2. To study proposed variations in old processes in order to increase yield or quality, or to improve the design of equipment ; 3. To make sample batches of new products for introduction to the trade; and 4. To manufacture for sale new or special prod- ucts for which the demand is not yet large enough to justify full-scale plant operations. University and Institutional Research Not all chemical engineers in research and develop- ment work arc directly employed in industry. Many are in the universities where an increasing volume of both fundamental and apphed research work is being done. As will be noted later, the chemical engineer's direct contribution to fundamental research is largely confined to studies of the physical and chemical factors affecting the unit operations and processes. Such investigations are concerned with advances in theory and knowledge of the underlying principles. Only recently has there developed any appreciable need in university research organizations for chemical engineers who are proficient in pilot-plant design and operation. This situation does not necessarily obtain in some of the public and privately endowed research institutions. Governmental departments, as exemplified in the set-up of the foiu" new regional laboratories of the United • pierce, David E. The half-way bouse. American Inslitule of Chemical Engineers, Tiansactions, 19, 100-Ul (1933). Industrial Research 311 States Department of Agriculture, under the Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering, definitely provide for chemical-engineering divisions to have charge of the semicommercial development and the small-scale manufacture of products resulting from research. The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, in Pittsburgh, and the Battello Memorial Institute, at Columbus, Ohio, are both large employers of chemical engineers. Mr. Clyde E. WiUiams, director of Battelle, states that approximately 15 percent of their entire technical staff have had chemical-engineering training. Although a number serve as operators of chemical pilot-plant equipment, many are also serving as super- visors, research engineers, and assistants in such fields as electrochemistry, ceramics, fuels, nonfcrrous metal- lurgy, powder metallurgy, and many other phases of iron and steel research. Mr. Williams vsrrites: We choose and advance men largely on their qualifications and abilities to do good research work. In other words, the primary requirements are broad training in fundamentals, abil- ity to apply results, and to think in a practical manner; imagina- tion, inquisitiveness, and ability either to direct or to conduct research investigations. Chemical engineers are chosen for certain problems because of their specialized training or experi- ence, but on the whole their ability to master and apply funda- mentals is more important than the type of training. These research institutes work closely with the re- search and development departments of the industrial companies that sponsor their projects. Often a com- parable function is served by a firm of consulting chemical engineers. Several of the larger organizations in this field maintain extensive laboratory facilities and pilot plants, well staffed with competent personnel for carrying on research and plant development work. There are many more research consultants, however, who merely serve as advisers to industry — contributing the advantage of an outside viewpoint and the value of diversified experience, both of which are helpful in the solution of research problems and the direction of in- dustrial development. Technological Research The earliest practitioners of chemical engineering relied largely on the accumulated experience of those who, by methods of trial and error, had slowly devel- oped the first crude chemical manufacturing processes. Empirical considerations stiU control many features of equipment design, construction, and operation in chem- ical industries. There is still some truth in the old saw that the engineer is a man who must draw sufficient conclusions from insufficient data. Nevertheless, fun- damental research is gradually changing what was once an art into something that today approaches a more or less exact science. Dr. Charles M. A. Stine, of the du Pont Company, noted the significance of this trend a dozen years ago when he remarked : '° Perhaps the characteristics which most clearly differentiate the chemical engineerint; of today from the earlier activities of those interested in this field is the quantilative treatment of the various unit operations, and it is this exact and quantitative treatment of these operations which constitutes the province of modern chemical engineering. Further evidence from the same source may be noted in the publications on chemical engineering which have come from the experimental station of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc., in the period 1930-40. A comprehensive list compiled for the writer by Thomas H. Chilton shows 42 papers dealmg (quantitatively in most cases) with the following unit operations: Fluid flow (11 papers), heat transfer (7 papers), distillation, boiling and condensation (9 papers), absorption (4 papers), drying (2 papers), mechanical separation (1 paper). Five other papers dealt with corrosion and materials of construction while 2 were concerned with broader reviews of research problems. In his Chandler Medal lecture at Columbia Univer- sity on November 16, 1939," Chilton gave an account of an extended series of chemical engineering researches attempted to formulate quantitative expressions for predicting the rate of transfer of materials to fluids in motion. Ivnowledge of these rates is essential in order to predict the size and performance of equipment used for absorption, condensation, distillation, extrac- tion, and humidification — important unit operations in most of the process industries. Research of this sort not only simplifies the problems of chemical engineering design, but is of great practical value that can be meas- ured in increased yield, improved quality, and worth- while economies in fuel and power consumption. The petroleum industry has likewise been a produc- tive source of fundamental chemical engineering research on distillation, heat transfer, and the diffu- sional processes. Publications from industrial labora- tories of the Standard Oil Development Company, the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, the Atlantic Refin- ing Company, the Universal Oil Products Company, the Cities Service Company, the Gulf Oil Company, and the Shell Development Company, have been espe- cially noteworthy. The public utilities, as represented by the Utilities Research Commission at the University of Illinois and the United Gas Improvement Company of Philadelphia have sponsored invaluable research on the important unit operations and processes involved in fuel production and utilization. All this has been reflected in more eflBcient equipment and processes for these industries. 10 stine, C. M. A. Chemical engineering in modern industry. American InstUutt of Chemical Engineers, Transactions, SI, 46 (1928). " Chilton, Thomas H. Engineering In the service of chemistry. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Si, 23-31 (January 1940). 312 National Resources Planning Board Manufacturers as well as users of chemical engineer- ing equipment have participated in this advance. The experimental station established a number of years ago by the Swenson Evaporator Company at the University of Michigan and under the direction of Prof. W. L. Badger and coworkers " has contributed valuable knowledge and experience that have been the basis of improved design. Work done at the Western Precipi- tation Companj''s laboratories in Los Angeles on elec- trostatic precipitation " is typical of fundamental investigations carried on by an equipment manufac- turer. Extensive facilities for this type of investiga- tional work are maintained by the Dorr Company at Westport, Conn., by the Lummus Company in Eliza- beth, N. J., the M. W. Kellogg Company Ln Jersey City, E. B. Badger & Sons Company in Boston — to name only a few laboratories that have been described in current literature. Apart from quantitative research on the imit opera- '* Hebbard, G. M., and Badger, W. L. Steam-film heat transfer coefScients for vertical tubes. Industrial and Engineering Cbemistry, £6, 420-24 (April 1934); Logan. L. A., Fragen, N., and Badger, W. L. Liquid film heat— transfer coefficients in a vertical-tube forced circulation evaporator. 1044-47 (October 1934). " Lissman, Marcel A. An analysis of mechanical methods of dust collection. Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, 57, 630-34 (October 1930). tions and the design and performance studies of the equipment manufacturers, there is a broad field of chemical engineermg activity concerned with the devel- opment of entirely new manufacturing processes. Here all of the chemical engineer's knowledge and resource- fulness are called into use. Most important of his responsibilities are the lay-out of the process flow sheet based on material balances, heat, and power followed by the design or the selection of the necessary equip- ment of the proper materials of construction, tlirough the testing and experimental operation of the pilot plant and, finally, to the transition to full-scale production. One can read an absorbing account of 15 years spent in such a development by Dr. A. M. McAfee '* of the Gulf Refining Company. In 1915 he read a paper before the American Institute of Chemical Engineers propos- ing the use of anhydrous aluminum cliloride in refining petroleum. This material was then only a laboratory reagent, selling for $1.50 a pound. But if his refining process was to succeed, he needed tons of it and it had to be cheap. Therefore he and his associates at Port '*Mc.\fee, A. M. The manufacture of commercial anhydrous aluminum chloride American Imtitule of Chemical Engineers, Transaction, SI, 209 fl. (1929). FiGUKE 93. — Modern Dubljscracking Plant, Modeled in Wood, Equiflux Heater at Left, Universal Oil Products Company, Chicago, Illinois Industrial Research 313 Arthur, Tex., started a series of experiments tliat ex- tended over a period of 15 years and naturally involved many disappointments. However, in 1929 he was able to report, again to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, that a successful process had been developed by which aluminum chloride could be made from crude bauxite ore and chlorine at the rate of 75,000 pounds per day and at a cost which permitted its sale in car- load lots at 5 cents per pound. Many equally interesting stories of chemical engineer- ing developments might be cited except for the fact that they have seldom been told in their entirety. One nota- ble exception '' is the Victor Chemical Companj^'s de- velopment of the fuel-fired blast furnace for phosphoric acid. Another is in the case of the work on phosphatic fertilizers done at Muscle Shoals by the Chemical Engi- neering Division of the Tennessee Valley Authority under the direction of its former chief chemical engineer. Dean Harry A. Curtis of the University of Missouri."' In this comprehensive series of articles are cited all of the many difficulties that arise to block the path of the chemical engineer in a t3'pical large-scale development of new manufactui'ing processes. In 1933 Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering announced a biennial award for chemical engineering achievement to recognize those companies that had made outstanding contributions to the industry antl profession as a result of broader participation on the part of chemical engineers. The first companj" to win th's award was the Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation for its pioneering work in building a syn- thetic organic chemical industrj- in this country based on the hydrocarbons of petroleum and natural gas. This was a typical American development, resulting from original research conducted m the laboratories of Mellon Institute by American chemists and then trans- lated into commercial development by American chem- ical engineers, first in a pilot plant at Clcndenin, W. Va., and later in a tremendous industry at South Charleston, W. Va. The second award for chemical engineering achievement, in 1935, went to the oi'ganic chemicals department of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & "Essterwood, Henry W. Manufacture of phosphoric acid by the blast furnace method. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Transactions, S^, 1-20 (1933). "Curtis, H. A. The manufacture of phosphoric acid by the electric furnace method. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Transactions, SI, 278-95 (1934- 1935): T. V. A. make^ HjPOi electrically at Wilson dam. Chemical and Metallurgi- cal Engineering, it, 320-24 (June 1936); Making concentrated superphosphate at T. V. A. fertilizer works.