SCIENCE AND PROSPERITY
THERE are certain matters of first importance to the nation, theoretically known before the war, which have been demon- strated beyond all doubt during the last five years. One of these is the fact revealed by war that unemployment can be mastered. A second, scarcely less important, is the fact that the total output of all the labour of the country can be vastly increased and improved by the unstinted application of scientific thought and experiment. That, broadly speaking, was the subject of the conferences of the British Association held at the Royal Institution last Friday and Saturday. It was attended by men distinguished in pure science, by scientists who have been specially concerned in indus- trial research, and by interested representatives of the Government, namely Mr. Bevin as Minister of Labour and Lord Woolton as Minister of Reconstruction. In most of the speeches and addresses there was a sense of urgency, as at the approach of a critical time in the transition from war to peace when this country will be faced with the necessity of making the utmost use of the brains of scientists. There appeared to be no inclination anywhere to stress the loftier claims of pure as opposed to applied science. Sir Richard Gregory insisted that it was no longer possible or desirable to separate scientific workers into teams of " Gentlemen versus Players." Pure research for the sake of knowledge alone must always continue, but it will be respected the more because it is an infinite source which will enrich the efforts of those who are putting their knowledge directly at the disposal of the com- munity.
Total war compelled this country to take positive action in the employment of scientists. First we had to counter the devices of the enemy, and this we could not do without the scientist, who found means of dealing with the magnetic mine, the U-boat, the onslaughts of aeroplanes approaching in the dark, and a thousand new dangers. Second, we had to wring the maximum possible production out of a labour army for which every possible worker was already mobilised, and that could only be done by the dis- covery of better processes and better machines. Lord Woolton stated that in April, 1940, we were faced with a drop in our food imports of 5o per cent., and that we were saved from starva- tion by the application of scientific knowledge to the problem of securing the right foods and of increasing the yield of the land. In every department concerned with war the scientist has been brought in, to develop radiolocation, to improve bombing and fighter aircraft, to design tanks and guns, and to find means of outwitting the enemy in the air, on the land and at sea ; and his work has profoundly affected engineering and the equipment and processes used in factories. And at the time when it was so palpably necessary to conserve the health of servicemen and workers there have been quick advances in surgery and medicine, notably in the use of such a drug as penicillin. Just as the war has compelled us to make full use of our man-power, so it has compelled us to use every available scientist to find means of saving labour or getting from it a better product. The industry and excellence of our scientists have been neces- sary to our salvation in war. It is now coining to be understood that they will be no less essential to our salvation in peace. After the war the country is faced with a gigantic task in the economic sphere to which some contribution will be made by a policy of full employment ensuring the production of a greater volume of goods for consumption. But that will not be enough for the economic production of goods fit for export, or to satisfy the just demand of the workers for a higher standard of living. These ends cannot be attained without an ever-improving technique— a better use of materials, more labour-saving machinery, and also better designs for the products of industry. The machine must play a larger part in production, and the man plus the machine must produce a more desirable article. The importance of design must not be forgotten, requiring the use of the artist side by side with the scientist, but at the moment we are concerned with the need of applied science and ever more science at all stages of production and distribution. Without that industry cannot make those advances on which our livelihood and a high standard of living depend. How much can be done by industrial research is shown by the fact mentioned by Lord Woolton, that in 1913 only 15 per cent. of the available energy in every ton of coal was tapped, and that by 1938 this percentage had been doubled. A further extension of the increase to 45 per cent. would be worth ,C60,000,000 a year—an advantage which might be gained by expenditure on research of perhaps £I,000,000 a year. The coal trade perhaps more than any other holds out prospects of improvement by scientific research—better equipment .in that industry might solve all its problems of wages and conditions of work and economic output—but there is no modern industry which may not be so improved by technical means as to secure either an advantage in the foreign market, or a better living for its employees, or both.
That this is a fact cannot be doubted. The greater application of scientific research to industry and enterprise in adopting sug- gested improvements are together capable of reaching results to which there need be no limit, enabling the existing population to produce more and better goods with less effort. But to this end are required, first the full realisation of the need, and second the will to satisfy it. That scientists know the need is demon- strated by last week's conference ; that politicians increasingly appreciate it has been shown in the political manifestoes issued by the Liberal and Labour Parties, both of which require that State encouragement should be given to the study of science at the Universities and to scientific research in relation to industry. Last Saturday Mr. W. C. Devereux spoke of the lack of suitable men for the higher posts in research management, and of the vital need in industry of an increase in the supply of men trained for industrial research and development work. The day before Mr. Bevin had said that the State could and should bear the cost of the development of scientific studies. A point has at last been reached when it is recognised that an adequate expenditure in training scientists and employing them on research would lead to gains far exceeding the amount spent. There is needed a generous expenditure on the part of the State, and a receptive attitude among industrialists to the part that innovation should play—they, too, in their own interests, cannot afford to stint expenditure. A firm such as Imperial Chemical Industries has always understood the value of research, but it is far from being the case that all great producing firms similarly realise it. The fact is that even the smallest concern cannot really du justice to itself without a research department ; in 'cases where it may be too small to be able to afford such a department of its own, it would benefit by co-operating with other small concerns in the employment of a joint scientific staff.
Sometimes it is through ignorance or sheer conservatism and inertia that technical improvements are neglected. But there are other reasons, even when the need for change is fully appreciated, why in some industries improvements are not adopted. In a report recently issued for the Lancashire Cotton Corporation the chairman took a perfectly enlightened view about the advantages of equipment such as is used in the American cotton industry. But it was suggested that to adopt a policy of complete re-equip- ment would involve a large call upon additional capital which the industry in its present condition could not contemplate. There appears to be a vicious circle ; inadequately equipped, an industry may be in a condition when it cannot command capital at a low price ; but without the re-equipment it cannot reach the highest level of efficiency. Here are practical difficulties which have to be faced in the problem of reconstructing British industry as a whole. Only if it is approached with imagination and with readiness to spend lavishly can it be solved by the efforts of the State or industry or the two together. The State must spend generously on science with a view to its applica- tion to industry, and industry must make its own contribution to research upon its own special problems. The scientist must be always at hand to advise and recommend improvements. But it is not enough to be aware of the scientific remedies. A new spirit is required in industry such that it will be eager to adopt sugges- tions, to apply improvements, to scrap obsolete machinery, and spend money on new methods which will increase efficiency. There should be the same eagerness in peace to instal a better machine in a factory as to turn out a better fighter aeroplane for the war. Though the former has no spectacular victory to win in combat, it may at least open a new market to British enterprise.
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