Abstract
A SPECIAL meeting of the Industrial Research Committee of the Federation of British Industries was held at the, Royal Institution on March 19 in honour of Sir Robert Robinson and Sir Edward Appleton, who received the Nobel Prizes in 1947 for Chemistry and for Physics, respectively. Sir Frederick Bain, who presided, pointed out that not since 1904 had the prizes for chemistry and physics both come to Great Britain undivided and undisputed, although since 1901 Britain has had no less than thirty-six Nobel Prize awards in the five different categories. He described the meeting as a whole-hearted demonstration by British industry of pleasure at this authoritative recognition of the work of Robinson and Appleton, who now shared the distinction of Sir William Ramsay and Lord Rayleigh in 1904, and also a sincere recognition of what industry owes to science as represented by them. Sir Frederick said that he had been privileged to work intimately both with Sir Robert and Sir Edward, and that during the War we had learned how the scientist and industrialist could work together for a common objective. Great scientists could be effective men of affairs, and through the example and devotion of men like Robinson and Appleton, Britain had become, in war as in peace, not only a country of the questing mind and free experimental approach but also, above all, a place for sharing ideas, improvisation in emergency and effectiveness in application of scientific work.
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A Tribute of Industry to Science. Nature 161, 508–510 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161508a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161508a0