ABSTRACT
The universities had to be called upon because Britain entered the war with certain very serious gaps in H. A. L. Fisher military technical capacity. In the early stages of the war there seemed to be little appreciation of the potential value of the universities for the war effort. One of the last symbolic gestures of official slight regard for the universities came on 28 July 1915 when the Treasury attempted to impose drastic economies on them which they successfully resisted. The brilliant success of universities and university teachers in dealing with the scientific problems posed by the war bred both more problems. Offers of service from university laboratories were accepted by the High Explosives Committee in December 1914 and 'the work of the universities gradually increased in amount and importance. Oxford University was working on the commercial preparation of acetone from alcohol, but the vital achievement was that of Chaim Weizmann working at Manchester University.
