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T H E JOURiVAL OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
DIVISION OF INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION AND RESEARCH OF T”E MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE QF TECHNOLOGY
As a result of the activity incident to raising its Eight Million Dollar Endowment Fund, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has established a form of relationship with certain commercial organizations which bids fair to become an important factor in that much discussed and highly desired cooperation between educational institutions and the industries of the country. This relationship is set forth in a contract between individual industrial organizations and the Institute of Technology, under which the industry pays an annual retaining fee to the Institute, in return for which the Institute assumes certain definite obligations of such a character as it is clearly in a position to meet. To execute the obligations thus incurred, the Institute has set up a separate organization known as the Division of Industrial Cooperation and Research. The adjective industrial limits the noun “cooperation” rather than “research,” because the research work made possible by the new contract plan is not limited to industrial investigations. While originally the funds obtained under the contract were applied to the Endowment Fund of the Institute, those which accrue from contracts obtained since March I will be devoted to the support of the Division and to research, largely in fundamental science. This work will naturally be carried on largely a t the Institute, but not necessarily so. The industrial progress of the community depends upon an active and productive interest in research everywhere, and it is the intention of the Division to support investigations of promise wherever found. Obviously the most insistent demand which the industries make upon the universities is for men trained to solve the many problems with which these industries are confronted. Unfortunately many manufacturers in America still suffer from the erroneous idea, seldom met in Germany but very prevalent here, that only those men specifically trained in a definite industry can be of any help in promoting the progress of that industry. A soap manufacturer still asks for a man trained in soap-making; a tanner still seeks for a man who has had a “cotu-se in tanning.” If a new factory is to be put into operation along old and well-tried lines, it is clearly to the advantage of the owner to obtain a man who can do well those things which have already been done by others. For this purpose, however, a man with factory experience and not a man who has just graduated from the university is indicated. If, however, it is desired to do better something which is already reasonably well done, the greatest promise lies not in the man who has spent his time while at the university in learning the specific details of this one industry, as these details were then known and practiced, but rather in a man whose whole time was spent in acquiring a sound knowledge of science and, so far as possible, a training in the application of science to existing problems, whatever the field in which those problems may have been found. Hence the Institute does not agree to train men peculiarly fitted for any particular industry or to organize courses of study for the development of specialists. This special knowledge can best be obtained by working in that particular industry under a superintendent who knows well the technique of the industry. A year’s factory experience in a well-administered plant will superimpose upon a man’s scientific foundation a structure which will enable him not only to follow the old methods, but to determine the underlying reasons for their existence, and hence to form a rational plan for trying to improve on them. Someone has said that a practical man is one who continues to make the same old mistakes; a scientific man makes mistakes but they differ from time to time. But for those industries which want to advance, something more must be done than to supply them a man with the regular
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four-year undergraduate course of study. The application of science and scientific method not only to the search for new knowledge and new processes but also to rational improvement of old processes is susceptible to organized effort, and is generally spoken of as “training for research.” The method is the same whether the object be to establish some underlying principle or generalization without reference to its immediate application (pure science); or whether the problem be a search for knowledge concerning a definite reaction in order that the yield of a particular process may be thereby increased (applied science). Some men work more enthusiastically on one type of problem and some on the other; and obviously the training can be as effective in one case as in the other. It is the quality and fundamental character of the work which counts, and not the interval of time which may be expected to elapse before the results may find utility. The Division of Industrial Cooperation and Research will foster both types of investigation. The work in fundamental science will be supported by the retainer fees paid by contracting companies, while studies in applied science will be paid for by the contractor for whom the work is done; obviously, in the latter case the results obtained become the property of the contractor meeting the expenses of the investigations. As previously stated, it is not the intention of the Division t o limit its contractors to the facilities of the Institute. I t has already been found advantageous to divert a large number of queries submitted under this plan to consulting engineers throughout the country, and it is expected that the practice will be greatly increased. That wonderfully effective cooperation which in Germany was brought about by the interposition of governmental authority over both the universities and the industries must in America be effected by some such voluntary plan of mutual helpfulness as this contract provides. The Technology Plan will doubtless be improved upon as time goes on, but even to-day it has elements-of great promise. WILLIAMH. WALKER,Director Division of Industrial Cooperation and Research MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTEOF TECHNOLOGY CAMBRIDGE, MASS., March 16, 1920
PURCHASE OF GERMAN BOOKS AND PERIODICALS
Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: It may be worth noting in the JOURNAL that the Leipzig Book Dealers Association has agreed upon an arrangement whereby it is practically impossible to purchase German books and periodicals in any way that will even approximately take advantage of the current exchange rate of the German mark. A great many chemists have ordered German publications in the hope that in some way this could be done. How this works out may, however, be indicated by the following : All German publishers now ask IOO per cent over the published price of all books and in addition to this the Leipzig Association adds 400 per cent for all publications for export (on January 15 this was 340 per cent). Furthermore they insist on payment a t the rate of $9.00 per IOO Marks regardless of the current rate of exchange. I have inquired into this carefully and I find that most of the importers are really getting a very small profit. The difficulty is a t the other end. For example, a recent small book, publishers’ price 2 0 Marks, actually sold to the American purchaser through a well-known New York importer for $4.00. The working agreement of the Leipzig Association does not apply to secondhand books. It is possible for private individuals in Germany to purchase publications there a t 100 per cent over
