SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 290, 7 September 1928, Page 10

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

BASIS OF MOST ACTIVE INDUSTRIES NEW CLASS OF WORKERS SPRINGING UP TREND OF MODERN CRAFTSMANSHIP Speakers at the British As. sociation gathering at Glasgow emphasised the value oi scientific research in industry. (Australian Press Association.) (Rec. September 6, 7.30 p.m.) London, September 5. “Modern craftsmanship, with all its noise and ugliness, is giving foot , clothing, wiirmth, and interest to millions who otherwise must die, declined Sir William Bragg (Professor er Chemistry at Cambridge), in bis presidential address to the British Association at Glasgow. “A new class of workers in England, in research associations and firms, is springing up throughout the country, bringing interest, outlook, and scientific inquiry into touch with both employers and employees. They are to some extent m a state of flux, making them run together, because as university men they can exchange thoughts easily and accurately with employers, yet they are fellow-workers with the operatives, whom they are inspiring with an understanding of the purposes and methods of proper employment. “.Scientific research is so necessary to national welfare that even misconceptions cannot be allowed to hinder it. Science is not setting forth to destroy Ihe soul of the nation, but to keep bodv and soul together. It is a remarkable fact that the most active industries arc founded on recent scientific research.

-’rhe electrical engineering indust, v might be said to have as its source a single laboratory experiment, mini >y Faraday’s discovery of electro-mag-netic induction, and grown by continuous adaption of fresh streams of knowledge. Much of the hope for future industry must be built upon the work of research organisations. British craftsmen possessed intelligence, skill, and accuracy, which made improvement possible, therefore our industrial policy should be to take advantage of the country’s qualities by continually seeking new industries and fresh adaptions of old. The latter would be bolstered up by political methods, but the best protection was the knowledge and skill which enable us to produce what others could not make.” Sir Arthur Keith said: “Scientific meu stand out as an isolated body of servants not only of knowledge but of Empire. Our standard of life no longer depends on acreage, but the brain capacity of science. That is why business men must back science. Business men constitute the army in the field, and scientists are the men iu reserve, making ammunition for the business men.”