Abstract
THE peaceful penetration of all fields of thought and activity by the spirit and method of scientific inquiry is well illustrated in the extent to which eminent politicians, and ministers of the Crown, now frequently refer to the need for relying on scientific knowledge for our material salvation. This is strikingly exemplified in the speech delivered by Mr. F. Montague, Under-Secretary of State for Air, on Mar. 18, in presenting the Air Estimates. Gone is the old tradition of regarding decimal points as mere ‘damned dots’ of no importance, and in its place we have the ‘new style’ speech bristling with technical details that one might expect only from the mouth of the most hard-headed expert, as a justification to democracy for the expenditure of its hard-earned money. In a sense this change should occasion no surprise. The Air Force is a new wing, and, unlike the Army and the Navy, has no long evolutionary history behind it. It is an upstart that has won eminence by a series of scientific and technical strokes. It can only be developed by technical knowledge; it can scarcely even be conducted without it.
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British Aviation. Nature 125, 661–662 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/125661a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/125661a0