m*fiemical — I l i l €$ I SI ©©BfTOfp. WALTER J. M U R P H Y , Editor
py©w§ The British Viewpoint on M a n p o w e r A SHORTAGE of scientists and technologists has plagued Great Britain for many years. The quality has been high, but the quantity has been insufficient to meet the needs in an era when science a n d technology are important factors in the material progress of a nation. T h e dearth of technologists particularly has been felt in the postwar period when Britain has endeavored to modernize many key industries in order to meet keen competition in international markets. The British chemical press emphasized the lack of adequate numbers of chemical engineers long before any possible shortage in the United States was commented on in this country. Jt has long been recognized by the British that the only way to solve the pressing problem of producing more technologists is to increase the facilities for training them. One reason for the unfortunate delay has been a controversy which has divided the technologists into two sharply opposed camps. One faction insists on the creation of one or two institutes patterned somewhat after MIT in this country where the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity and where large financial sums are available for the most up-to-date equipment and apparatus. Another group is equally insistent that there should be several comparatively large institutions where a great many technologists and technicians can be trained. In September of last year the Labour Government, as a result of advice received from many groups, including the National Science Council for Education for Industry and Commerce, issued a White Paper entitled "Higher Technological Education." It suggested two things: (1) a College of Technicians and (2) more generous financial assistance to the technical colleges and institutes. These proposals have not satisfied either side of the controversy. W e understand that a final decision may be reached now that a new regime is installed at Whitehall. Rumor has it that Lord Cherwell, scientist, atomic energy expert, and confidant of Winston Churchill, favors a new institution along the lines of M I T or the German Technische Hochschulen, institutions of technology which are u p to the highest university standards. Since Lord Cherwell frequently is referred to as the "Mystery Man Of the Churchill" inner sanctum, it is obvious which plan will be adopted if Lord Cherwell really does h a v e the influence he is credited with possessing in Conservative Party councils. The London papers are full of discussion on the scientific and technical manpower question. The Financial Times of London for Nov. 29 and 30 contained a two-part article by F. E. Simon, F.R.S., professor of thermodynamics at Oxford. W e wish we h a d space to reprint these two articles, for much is also pertinent to conditions in the U. S., but we must be content with one or two excerpts: Times of emergency hring home to us the decisive importance of scientific manpower. New ventures, as well as the efficient working of old established ones, depend entirely on a generous supply of high-class brains. Although labor and equipment are naturally essential, the real limitation in most cases is the available brainpower. When talking to people in charge of essential developments, whether they he connected
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with industry or government, one hears the continual complaint that they cannot get people they need "for love nor money." (One may, however, doubt whether these two expedients have been tried wholeheartedly.) The present abnormal postwar position must not make us forget that with the growing industrialism of countries overseas and the reviving competition from Germany and Japan our survival depends entirely on the efficient production of the most advanced equipment. This will only be possible if we are assured of an ample supply of top-class scientists and technologists. The tendency to cut down government spending is strong and quite legitimate, but to save here would be just as foolish as if a farmer tried to save by buying inferior seeds. Prof. Simon favors the establishment of one or more technological institutions equal in standing to the very best in other countries. Another influential person advocating improved facilities for the training of scientific and technical manpower is Lord Portal, who, in proposing the toast of t h e Royal Society of London at the 289th anniversary dinner of t h a t body, referred to the problems of technological training and freedom of speech in science. The Times of London in reporting Lord Portal's address pointed out that his Lordship felt strongly that Great Britain was falling b e h i n d in the application of science to industry, though the country's record in science was unsurpassed by any other nation. J. Bronowski, director, Central Research Establishment, National Coal Board, comments in an article in the Observer Dec. 2, 1951: Lord Portal put his own view to the Royal Society last Friday, and it looks straight to the heart of the matter. Our shortcomings are not mere faults of organizations, and they are not special to the design, of atomic plant. They are common wherever we go to apply in practice the triumphant science of the laboratory. For we lack the men to make the application. Lord Portal says this with authority; "In atomic energy, the shortage of highly qualified technologists was one of the main factors imposing a limit on our rate of progress/' The cure for our industrial staleness must in fact begin in education. But it cannot he the old technical education; it must he more ambitious and new in kind. For we can no longer halk the signs that the application of science is a discipline of its own, which cannot be fudged either by academic advice or by technical make-do. These are both devices for solving a problem at its narrowest; but applied science or technology must learn to solve an industrial problem in its whole round setting of production, of economics, and of policy. It must be a science less to compute an answer than to weigh it. While it is true Croat Britain faces a very difficult situation in attempting to create quickly increased numbers of highly skilled technologists, she is by no means the only country struggling with the problem. Practically every country in the world, including Soviet Russia, finds its technological progress hampered by the lack of technologists, individuals who can initiate and carry scientific and technological projects through to completion. While the world may feel that advances in science and technology have superimposed upon civilization a distinct feeling of uncertainty, nevertheless there is universal demand for still more rapid progress in these disciplines.
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