THE P R O F E S S I O N A L SIDE frequently think up things it would be nice to know. Critical judgment should be applied to be sure that the results would be useful before a pilot plant is operated. Research Programs
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Sometimes elaborate and timeconsuming research programs have been undertaken before there is a clear understanding of how the results would be used. An example was a great deal of experimental work and many hours of correlation in connection with a possible change in a specification for refinery control. Much costly time on the IBM machine was spent before there was any assurance that the results of the work would ever be used. It is a matter of judgment whether the concept was a good one for refinery control or whether some approxi mation of the same result could be achieved by other means. However, it should have been possible for someone with intuitive judgment to estimate a few of the answers and see whether the concept would be acceptable to those who would have to use it. This seems to me to be a case where the author of the idea got dominated by the intriguing possibilities of correlation and couldn't resist the temptation to use the new gadget (IBM). We expect exploratory research people to have and exhibit intuitive judgment. I think we have many instances to prove that some people are gifted in this way. However, I am not so sure that we use equally good intuitive judgment when it comes to developing our ideas after initial discovery. Is it possible that some technical people are afraid to use their judgment? Do they think they have to prove that they have tried experimentally every possible variation on a basic idea? At least some of them should be encouraged to go ahead on the basis of their intuitive judgment. Maybe we should study how to encourage our researchers to develop this faculty. This is probably a philosophy which will have to come from the top. Maybe they should all read " T h e Tao of Science" by R. G. U. Siu, which expresses in a different way and in detail some of the thoughts mentioned here.
