Abstract
FUTURE historians will no doubt record that the opening decades of the twentieth century were characterized by the beginning of a systematic application of the results of scientific research to everyday life and the consequent foundation of research organizations, both large and small, mainly devoted to the best utilization of new knowledge in the service of commerce and industry. Moreover, these organizations, staffed by professional research workers together with technicians and other assistants in considerable numbers, stood out in striking contrast to the research conditions of the days of Faraday, Joule and Kelvin, when even advanced technological research was an entirely private venture. It is often forgotten to-day how young in years organized industrial research really is, and that while there are certain industries, such as heavy chemicals and electrical engineering, which have expanded on a vast scale with laboratories widely distributed over Great Britain, there are also other industries, deeply rooted in history, having as yet no medium for the exploration of fresh ideas and wholly dependent on traditional techniques.
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LOWERY, H. Organization of Industrial Research. Nature 155, 280–281 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/155280a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/155280a0