HABIT OF ANALYTICAL STUDY

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 28 January 1933, Page 14

HABIT OF ANALYTICAL STUDY

‘ ‘ np HE first man to discover that a 1 weight could bo propelled more easily on round logs than on uneven ground may be claimed as a research worker not less than the discoverer of the Hertzian waves who paved the way to wireless telegraphy,” states an article in "The Times” Trade and Engineering supplement. "The difference between the opportunities presented to the two pioneers is less than might at first, sight be supposed. The discoverer of the'principle of the wheel had no treatise on friction before him; the modern research worker lias intense competition in every direction, but he has the inestimable advantage of being able to study results already attained by others in the same or in. related fieids of endeavour. Whether it be the shovelling of ore, the tunnelling of a mountain, or the planning of a new factory, there is a right way to

Great Aid to Research in Industry

approach the subject and a right way to achieve the best results. Fortunately, the benefits of the habit of mind induced by research are not. confined to the student in the laboratory or the professor in his study.

"Employers often seem very slow to see the direct advantages of research work on a big scale, and even slower to appreciate the efforts of their employees —it may be in a humble capacity —to become better acquainted 1 with the fundamental principles of business and the knowledge of materials and methods on v hicli industry is founded; but there is some consolation for the studc:;v in the thought that the acquisition o° the. habit of analytical study and the power of reasoning not only adds to the potentialities of his career, but brings to life itself an interest that would be otherwise lacking.”