ABSTRACT
industrial investigation has progressed steadily under the incentive of necessity from the occasional inventiveness of individuals, through the training of scientists and the provision of collective facilities for them in specialized laboratories, to the co-operation of would-be beneficiaries in centralized establishments. What are the essential characteristics of such co-operative organizations and how do they differ, if at all, from independent, privately owned and privately financed laboratories? What are their advantages over the independent industrial laboratories and what are their disadvantages? Upon the answers to such questions will depend the extent to which a case for co-operation in research can be established. We are not setting out here to demonstrate the value to industry of scientific research; concerning this there is no longer any doubt in the minds of responsible individuals. Rather is it the aim to examine a much more restricted field, namely the need for co-operative research in industry—and in particular British industry.
