Abstract
THE latest report issued by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research consists, as usual, of a short summary report by the Committee of the Privy Council, a long report by the Advisory Council, a summary of the work done by research institutions directly under the Department, numerous appendices, and a good index. In the first report the view is expressed that the embarrassments and losses which British staple industries are suffering do not arise primarily from the neglect of science, although in many cases delay in recovery is caused by lack of scientific leadership. The successful application of scientific discoveries to industry is a slow and expensive business, as witness the delay of two generations in applying Faraday's work on electro-magnetism, and the interval of twenty years which elapsed between the discovery of artificial indigo and its successful exploitation at a cost of 1,000,000l. The Fuel Research Station is apparently following these precedents, for in spite of an expenditure of more than 400,000l. in seven years, it has found no solution of the problem of producing smokeless fuel at an economic cost. It is, however, stated that the work has produced profits and economies in other directions which exceed in monetary value the total expenditure on fuel research. Attempts to manufacture power alcohol from beets, mangolds, and Jerusalem artichokes have also proved abortive, although the last-named are still being cultivated in various localities for use in future tests.
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Scientific and Industrial Research in 1924–251. Nature 116, 871–872 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/116871a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/116871a0