ABSTRACT
This chapter considers briefly the state of physical science and technology at the beginning of twentieth century. German scientific education was the best in the world; and what was true of the natural sciences was true of all other branches of learning. Leadership in science, and in the branches of science, has frequently passed from nation to nation, from region to region, from group to group. There were differences in scale as well as in style between German science and British science, just as there were between British and French science. The industrialization of the European nations was inevitable and had long been foreseen. What was disturbing was the failure of the new, science-based industries to develop in Britain. The various European nations had tackled the problem in different ways, reflecting no doubt that elusive quality, national character.
