ABSTRACT
German products in the research-intensive, high-technology areas, such as machine tools, chemical processing, optics and electrotechnology, set standards for precision and design. If competitiveness at the forefront of science and technology is one of the hallmarks of modernity, then Germany at the opening of the twentieth century was one of the most modern countries in the world. Sociologist of science Joseph Ben-David has argued that the rigidity of the individual German university was overcome by competition within the system of universities as a whole. The key to success was that the German universities were flexible enough to accommodate seminars and institutes as dynamic centers of scholarship and discovery in mid-century. German industrial leaders consciously placed a premium on infusing science into technology without losing the science: fundamental understanding of natural law became the means to stay abreast or ahead of competitors.
