Abstract
THE September number of the Wireless Engineer contains an editorial on “Research and Research Workers” with special reference to the demands of the present war effort. Under normal peace-time conditions, fundamental and applied research are carried on in one or more of three places: the colleges and universities ; the various Government laboratories and those of research associations ; and the research and development laboratories of industrial manufacturing companies. The demands of war render it necessary for the workers in these three groups of laboratories to intermingle to a considerable extent and to co-operate as a team in order that useful ideas may be built upon sound foundations and developed as rapidly as possible into practical technique and equipment which can be directly utilized by the Services. There is much controversy over the status of the research worker in the various institutions and laboratories, and the inadequacy of the supply of suitably trained workers with the right ability has given some of them an exaggerated view of their indispensability. On the other side, some industrialists not infrequently express their disappointment regarding the results of research as affecting their particular line of business. This is sometimes due to the lack of appreciation by the employer of the needs of the research worker, who cannot always produce results to order ; there is on occasion a fault to be sought out and eliminated on the other side.
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Research and Research Workers in War-time. Nature 150, 426 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/150426c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/150426c0