ABSTRACT
In the twentieth century more and more industrial tasks became the work of specialists with training that was in part theoretical. The same held true outside of industry, incidentally, in fields such as transport, agriculture, urban development, town planning and public health. The electronic calculator was introduced in the second half of the twentieth century, its development having taken place mainly in the defence industries, because of its usefulness for military purposes. Scientific research gained in significance in industry only at the point when researchers began to involve themselves directly with industrial products and processes. The Industrial Revolution brought new opportunities and problems for techniques of measurement. Scientists who have followed developments in the business of science over recent decades sometimes observe a gradual decline: scientific independence is under pressure, research is stymied by bureaucracy and regulation, and the scientific spirit can no longer range free.
