Alcgucnt 1952
WALTER J . MURPHY, EDITOR
The Technological Reformation: The Driving Force UR hpril editorial reviewed changing patterns in ex-
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perimental research, its communication, and manpower utilization, and foresaw in these trends the possible beginning of a complete reordering of scientific effort. Space did not permit much discussion of the driving forces that account for these changes, nor the possible end results. Such an important topic deserves further examination. Modern industry has grasped the scientific technique as a key to its future growth. Chemical companies were among the first, probably because their products were close kin to original science that was complex and vigorously expanding. The consequences were remarkable. Within recent years, Fortune magazine has termed this the chemical century and no substantial segment in our whole industrial culture has been left unmarked by the achievements of the industrial chemist and chemical engineer. The chemical industry has felt the consequences within its on-n structure. For example, the proliferation of end-product use and need has resulted in the recent emergence of market research. The concept of market research goes far beyond locating a n established demand for an existing product. It ranges to study of the promise of a new application for a product as yet unmade. Broad demands indeed are made upon those who would do this job well, for they must develop the insight to discover common interests in areas superficially remote. This horizon without end colors the vision of every segment of the organization, from the executive to the scientist who constructs the foundation on which new applications can be based. Industries that have made major gains through chemical science have shown an understandable reaction. If chemical research has aided us, why should we not also explore other areas that may prove equally fruitful? Swelling research budgets in nonchemical fields have shown that this question has been followed by hard dollars-and-cents commitments. And the result has brought tangible rewards not only for the industry, but also in providing more powerful new tools and techniques to aid chemical production and research. The paramount significance of this development lies in the changing source of the drive for new physical knowledge. I n this country at! least, the individual has given way to the organization. Organized research is essentially project research. It utilizes specialists and specialized knowledge, but in a broader framework, a different perspective. Project research recognizes no boundaries between the scientific disciplines in searching for the answers i t needs. I n the scale it is now pursued, it constitutes a tremendous new force to reintegrate
the entire field of scientific knowledge. For centuries. scientific knowledge was essentially advanced by the individual. His economic and intellectual limitations left him no alternative but to specialize ever more narrowly as the body of knowledge expanded. For the industrial research team, fluidly regrouping to meet the needs of each project, intellectual limitations virtually disappear. And the economic resources of industry and government have increased by many magnitudes their power to sift nuggets they can use from the great gold-sands of science. The logical ultimate in this trend is just now taking form. Today, all research-minded industries show interest in exploring the broad scientific spectrum. No longer are they satisfied with the specialized areas that define their present operations. They have learned that the seeds of their future might be discovered anywhere in the universe of human knowledge. They are realizing also that the classical scientific order is not enough to make exploration an efficient process. They need to discover oil a t Spindletop without becoming entangled in its Rand-McKally definition as part of the Western Hemisphere, North America, the United States, and Texas. Herculean efforts will be necessary if the reintegration is to come about, but the combination of need and resources, both on a scale new to science, offers some serious hope for its attainment. It staggers the imagination to view an era where we have regained the perspective of a da Vinci over the the vast panorama of 20th century knowledge of physical phenomena. The consequences should have such historic import that they would well deserve identification as the Technological Reformation. Progress toward this goal is being made now through the energies of individual organizations, Signs of this may be seen in our own AMERICAN C H E m c A L SOCIETY, where the Industrial Xarketing group and Chemical Literature division recently have been established. Committee work of several years' duration has existed on techniques for searching the chemical literature. But the fundamental goal is broader than the chemical field, and sound techniques must apply throughout all science. Soon, a pooling of effort a t quite a basic level should be possible and extremely productive. Project research may be considered an exponential power that raises scientific facts to the plane of useful application. Organizations that realize the value of research would do well to examine thoroughly the characteristic requirements for successful project research. More complete understanding could add an exponential power to the research, factor, and compound immeasurably our use of scientific knowledge. 1721
