Abstract
NOT many years ago, the British nation was rudely brought to a realisation of its scientific unprepared-ness to meet a major world crisis; a crisis which happened to be of a military nature. The Great War came and its passing left us with a vivid appreciation of the national, if not of the international, value of scientific research; so that science became news, and there was ample public support for the view that in peace, as in war, our future must depend to a very great extent on our progress in scientific research. Industry has made wonderful strides by its aid, and we have substantially earned the right to regard ourselves as a progressive nation as well as a nation of reasonably successful shopkeepers. But we would do well to review our position afresh, and to ask ourselves whether indeed all is as well as it seems. Prof. J. F. Thorpe, the retiring president of the Institute of Chemistry, spoke, in his presidential address, delivered on March 2, words of some gravity on this subject.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Commercialism and Industrial Research. Nature 137, 390–391 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137390c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137390c0