Thomas Midgley and the Politics of Industrial Research

1980 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart W. Leslie
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Industrial Research ◽  
General Motors ◽  
World War ◽  
Synthetic Rubber ◽  
Gasoline Additives

The conventional distinctions between “practical” and “scientific” research and development can be misleading. The experience of Thomas Midgley, Jr., at the General Motors Corporation in the three decades before World War II, and especially his critical role in the development of “antiknock” gasoline additives, freon refrigerant, and synthetic rubber, illustrate this fact. Dr. Leslie demonstrates that the management of corporate research and development, especially as that management affects uniquely talented individuals whose interests do not necessarily reflect the immediate needs of the company as seen by management, is basic to success. To solve such problems as they arose, Charles F. Kettering, himself a sympathetic scientist as well as distinguished inventor, worked closely with chief executive Alfred P. Sloan, whose genius for solving managerial problems matched the scientific genius of the most brilliant men in the General Motors laboratories.

scholarly journals Sir Frederick William George White, C. B. E., 26 May 1905 - 17 August 1994

1996 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 497-521
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Industrial Research ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
World War ◽  
Profound Influence ◽  
Australian Council ◽  
Australian Science

Sir Frederick White was one of the most influential men in Australian science during and after World War II. At the comparatively early age of 39, he resigned from his Chair of Physics at Canterbury College, University of New Zealand, to become an Executive Officer of the Australian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (C.S.I.R.). Many years later he was to write ‘In doing so I abandoned any future personal activity in scientific research. I have never regretted doing so.’ His acceptance of the challenge to participate in leading C.S.I.R. had a profound influence on the advancement of Australian science and on the professional lives of the scientists involved.

scholarly journals Sir John Vivian Dacie. 20 July 1912 — 12 February 2005

2006 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 67-82
Author(s):  
Mitchell Lewis ◽  
Patrick Mollison ◽  
David Weatherall
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Molecular Biology ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Protein Chemistry ◽  
Royal Postgraduate Medical School ◽  
World War ◽  
Centre Of Excellence ◽  
Haematological Disorders ◽  
The Uk

John Dacie was the leading figure in haematology in this country during its period of major expansion after World War II. By his meticulous approach to the study of patients with haematological disorders in the laboratory he was able accurately to define many new diseases, particularly haemolytic anaemias, so laying a firm foundation for their further definition by the tools of the protein chemistry and molecular biology eras. And by establishing the haematology laboratory at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School as an international centre of excellence, where many future leaders of the field were trained, he had a critical role in the development of the clinical and laboratory aspects of haematology, both in the UK and internationally.

African Studies in Czechoslovakia: Achievements and Perspectives

1969 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 213-222
Author(s):  
Peter Skalník
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
African Studies ◽  
World War ◽  
Dark Continent ◽  
Zambezi River

Scientific research of African societies and cultures in Czechoslovakia has developed only in the last two decades. Nevertheless, to precede the research there was a relatively extensive background shaped by the tradition of travelers whose interest was centered especially on geography, biology, and descriptive and collective ethnography. The most important of these travelers were Dr. Emil Holub (1847-1902), who crossed South Africa as far as the Zambezi River and published several books, most of which are now available in English, about his experiences; Remedius Prutký, a missionary who visited Ethiopia in 1751-1753 and not only described his travels but even compiled a vocabulary of the Amharic language; and Dr. Stecker and Čeněk Paclt, who traveled in the nineteenth century through Ethiopia and South Africa, respectively. In the twentieth century there was a considerable number of Czechoslovak travelers who acquainted their compatriots with the “Dark Continent.” Before World War II, three professor of Semitology at Charles University, Prague -- R. Dvořák, R. Ru̇žička, and A. Musil -- started to study Ethiopian languages and history. The well-known Austrian scholar of Czech origin, Dr. Pavel Šebesta (Schebesta) became one of the best specialists in the anthropology and ethnography of the Pygmies.

Styling Synthetics: DuPont's Marketing of Fabrics and Fashions in Postwar America

2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina Lee Blaszczyk
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Industrial Research ◽  
World War ◽  
Mass Market ◽  
Big Business ◽  
Synthetic Fibers ◽  
Postwar America ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Market Success

Scholars have studied innovation from various perspectives, but few have considered the interaction between big business and the fashion marketplace. This study examines the efforts of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company to create and expand the American synthetic-fibers market after World War II. DuPont described this work as transforming the “relatively simple ‘art’ of selling fabric” into the “complicated ‘science’ of marketing.” This process involved developing in-house marketing expertise and reaching out to sources as disparate as American fabric designers, Parisian couturiers, Seventh Avenue manufacturers, southern textile giants, and mass-market retailers. To promote the “wonders” of synthetic fibers, DuPont relied on “fashion intermediaries” to determine what customers wanted and how its fibers could meet those needs. This study suggests that the mass-market success of DuPont's synthetic fibers owed as much to creative marketing, styling, and performance as it did to industrial research and organizational innovation.

scholarly journals Georg von Neumayer: his influence on marine meteorology in the German Meteorological Service

2011 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Kusch ◽  
Reinhold Zöllner ◽  
Frank-Ulrich Dentler
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Data Acquisition ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
World War ◽  
Successful Completion ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Marine Meteorology

Georg von Neumayer achieved outstanding scientific results and created the organisational framework for the successful completion of scientific tasks. Returning from Australia, Neumayer aimed to set up in Germany a state-owned centre for marine meteorology, hydrography, navigation, marine instruments and geomagnetism, with an emphasis on scientific research with practical application of the findings. Since 1868, a successfully operating private institute, Norddeutsche Seewarte, had existed in Hamburg. This institute provided instructions for sailing routes and the optimal use of favourable winds and currents. In 1875, the institute was transformed into an imperial institution, the ‘Deutsche Seewarte’ (German Marine Observatory), with a broad spectrum of marine responsibilities including meteorological forecasts and warnings, data acquisition and management, and climatology. Its first director was Georg von Neumayer, who led it to worldwide recognition. In 1903, he retired but the Deutsche Seewarte continued in his spirit. At the end of World War II, the institute was destroyed by bombs and ceased to exist. Today, the tasks are shared between Marine Meteorological Office of the Deutscher Wetterdienst specialising in the marine meteorological and related topics and the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document