Abstract
MANY, no doubt, do not comprehend what functions the research chemist can exercise in South Africa, and what scope the country can offer for his labours. Following the United States principle of the best men in the best posts, where, they ask, can we place him so that the country may, through his instrumentality, reap the greatest advantage? To answer such questions one needs, first of all, to consider how scientific research—and therefore, inferentially, chemical research—may be distributed. As a matter of convenience a threefold grouping is adopted—university research, industrial research, and national research. Adopting the definitions given by Mr. C. E. Skinner a few months ago at a meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, we may say that university research includes the pure scientific research, which naturally finds its home in the university, and all other research done there for the purpose of training men. Industrial research comprises all that done by or for industrial concerns with the purpose of advancing industry. National research is that carried on by the Government for the purpose of benefiting the people as a whole. Now it is plain that between these three types of research there can be no sharp lines of demarcation, but university research is often the stepping-stone to industrial advancement, while national research is repeatedly industrial in its objects.
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References
From the presidential address delivered by Dr. C. F. Juritz before the South African Association for the Advancement of Science at Johannesburg on July 8.
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Scientific Research and National Prosperity 1 . Nature 102, 55–59 (1918). https://doi.org/10.1038/102055a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/102055a0