Abstract
IT is natural to compare the Conference organized by the Association of Scientific Workers on January 10 and 11 with that convened last October by the Division for the Social and International Relations of Science of the British Association. The difference was striking. Whereas the October Conference was concerned with post-war planning, this conference discussed in a practical way the immediate scientific and technical problems of the War itself. Even more noticeable was the difference in the type of person who, in general, attended and spoke. Here were gathered together in the main rank-and-file men of science fresh from their work in laboratories, factories and research institutions all over the country. They came not only with grievances and criticism (of which there were plenty), but with proposals for better co-ordination of research and better utilization of our technical personnel. However, the Conference was not dominated by youth. An encouraging feature was the support it received from distinguished men of science, although the amount of this support would not appear to have been commensurate with the importance of the topics discussed. These topics ranged from the training of technical personnel and the university education of scientific workers to the organization of maximum productive effort. In addition, there were important contributions on the subjects of food and agriculture, and building, housing and A.R.P.
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CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE AND THE WAR EFFORT. Nature 149, 71 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/149071a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/149071a0