NEWS
April 11 1955 WALTER J. MURPHY, Editor
The Past Is Prologue in Research and Development JL REES d o not grow unto heaven a n d similarly, applied research cannot b e expected to continue its rapid acceleration indefinitely. O u r authority is R o b e r t E. Wilson, chairm a n of t h e board, Standard Oil ( I n d . ) , a chemist a n d chemical engineer b y training, a former director of research, a n d a former Director of t h e ACS. Wilson, in a n address before t h e 127th National Meeting of t h e ACS, p o i n t e d o u t t h a t research a n d development should n o t level off o r slow d o w n . O n t h e contrary, it must continue to g r o w at a moderate pace. O n e h a s to think back only a few decades to realize that before World W a r I, with relatively few exceptions, there w a s only a bare minimum of industrial research. Inventions w e r e generally t h e result of individual efforts a n d n o t those of industrial concerns. W o r l d War I showed industry that it could hire people t o invent a n d could m a k e money i n t h e process. T h e fiftyfold increase i n applied research personnel since 1920 is one indication. T h e cost of one year's applied research today is greater t h a n t h e a m o u n t spent in all t h e years prior to World W a r I I . To these statements a chemist or chemical engineer might well s a y "So what? W e agree that research a n d developm e n t are necessary t o future progress. Management realizes their essentiality a n d t h a t it cannot afford to discontinue research a n d development." T h e answer t o t h e "so w h a t " is t h e fact that t h e r e a r e clouds on t h e horizon of a p p l i e d research. Wilson pointed o u t eight threats t o t h e future of applied research. O n e is t h e increase in research costs. I n one typical case, research costs h a v e tripled in t h e past 10 years. So far t h e results h a v e justified the expenditures. When t h e l a w of diminishing returns begins t o apply, however, prospective profits will not justify increasing expenses a n d risk. As a result research spending will b e forced down. H i g h taxes on industry a r e a matter of great concern t o m a n a g e m e n t . Last year tax laws were revised in such a w a y as to encourage research a n d business expansion. Already these changes a r e u n d e r political attack. Government efforts in t h e field of applied research, Wilson feeL·, discourage more effective research b y private industry. Emphasis of government research, he says, should b e i n t h e basic sciences a n d in fields w h i c h industry cannot o r will n o t support. Examples are p u b l i c health, agriculture a n d forestry, a n d certain phases of atomic energy. Government control of industry is a socialistic trend w h i c h poses a threat t o research, Wilson said. O n e e x a m p l e h e cited was t h e S u p r e m e Court decision last year w h i c h gave t h e Government authority to control prices of natural gas produced b y t h e nation's 8 0 0 0 independent gas producers a n d transported i n interstate commerce. The effect already has been noted i n r e d u c e d exploration. There is as m u c h justification for government price control over coal, oil, wheat, or lumber as for gas, h e a d d e d . Controls discourage research as indicated b y t h e fact that closely regulated in-
dustries usually a r e not famous for t h e volume of their research. Another threat, which seems t o b e dirninishing, is t h e attack on t h e p a t e n t system. An a d e q u a t e patent system is essential to encourage research u n d e r our system of free enterprise. Shortage of trained manpower i s also a major threat to research. Some of the reasons h e cited a r e deficiencies in secondary school education which include a drastic shortage of capable teachers, inadequate p r e p a r a t i o n of students in basic subjects, a n d failure to discover a n d encourage bright yoixng people to go to college. " T h e modem graduates," he said, "are supposed to b e better adjusted than we were— b u t adjusted to w h a t ? I fear," s a i d Wilson, "in many ways it i s to mediocrity and t h e welfare state." National security requires an increasing supply of technically trained m e n . Modern w a r i s highly technical. T h e Selective Service System, therefore, should b e truly selective, to assure t h e most effective use of technically trained men. T h e armed services, likewise, should use their technical manp o w e r effectively a n d should realize t h a t their own needs c a n best be m e t b y conserving a n d increasing the supply of teclinically t r a i n e d manpower. Wilson believes that neither Selective Service nor t h e armed forces a r e using m e n as effectively as they might. There is too m u c h of a tendency to consider only immediate m a n p o w e r needs without considering the longer range requirements. T h e tendency of applied research to outstrip fundamental research, particularly in t h e U. S., proves t h e need for more p u r e research, w h i c h provides t h e reservoir for applied research. S u p p o r t of basic research is t h e combined r e sponsibility of industry, private philanthropists, a n d Government. This research must not b e centralized a n d must not have any strings attached. T h e question here, Wilson says, is not w h e t h e r business can afford t o support basic research, b u t can it afford not t o ? "Without it, ' h e said, " w e will lose t h e seed corn from which applied research grows." W e agree with his observations a s t o w h a t we can do to» h e l p . He said w e must build u p the prestige of chemists a n d other scientists. Active s u p p o r t of the AMERICAN* C H E M I C A L S O C I E T Y is one effective m e a n s .
W e can u r g e m a n p o w e r policies which are sound from b o t h a military a n d national welfare viewpoint. W e can e d u c a t e the p u b l i c in the function of profits and show that excessive taxation a n d regulation of business is detrimental. W e can encourage companies t o s u p p o r t fundamental research. W e c a n join societies s u c h a s t h e ACS with t h e object of helping t h e profession a n d n o t primarily with t h e i d e a of getting h e l p from them—such help will come as a by-product. T h r o u g h these efforts w e will g e t t h e capable m e n and t h e adequate incentives to probe t h e ever expanding frontiers i n science.
