Abstract
IN an address, "Pure Science, Fertile Source of Industrial Progress", on receiving from the Société pour 1‘Encouragement de 1‘Industrie Rationale the medal of the Grand Prix du Marquis d‘Argenteuil for 1947, Prof. L. de Broglie gave a brilliant review of the contribution of research in fundamental physics to the progress of industry, in which he referred particularly to the achievements of such French physicists as D. Papin, S. Carnot, Ampdre and M. Deprez. He also pleaded for the vigorous prosecution both of the investigation of the laws of Nature without reference to their application, and of industrial and technical research directed towards the utilization of scientific knowledge for the improvement of human welfare. Prof, de Broglie drew his illustrations from the fields of heat, electricity, wave mechanics, relativity and nuclear physics, indicating how discoveries and investigations which have appeared incredibly remote from practical life have yet in due course made most important contributions to industrial progress.
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Pure Science and Industrial Development. Nature 162, 769 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162769a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162769a0