scholarly journals Rethinking Antibiotic Research and Development: World War II and the Penicillin Collaborative

2013 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roswell Quinn
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
World War

“Creative Destruction”

2020 ◽  
pp. 201-232
Author(s):  
B. Zorina Khan
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
World War ◽  
Military Leaders ◽  
Market Incentives ◽  
Military Procurement ◽  
High Degree

The strongest case for administered innovation systems relies on government sponsorship of research and development and technological discoveries during World War II and the modern postwar era. The American Civil War provides a useful counterpoint that demonstrates the effectiveness of markets in ideas even during the severe disruptions of a devastating battle on domestic soil. The Civil War was characterized by a high degree of technological creativity for military-related inventions and innovations, to a far greater extent than during the twentieth century. Both the sourcing of new technologies and military procurement were decentralized and subject to market forces. The market incentives for private inventors to engage in trial-and-error experimentation created an impressive portfolio of radical new technologies from which military leaders chose the most appropriate to support their strategies.

The Harvard Fatigue Laboratory: contributions to World War II

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Edgar Folk
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Research Council ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Cold Weather ◽  
Energetic Cost ◽  
World War ◽  
Cold Chamber

The war contributions of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory in Cambridge, MA, were recorded in 169 Technical Reports, most of which were sent to the Office of the Quartermaster General. Earlier reports were sent to the National Research Council and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Many of the reports from 1941 and later dealt with either physical fitness of soldiers or the energetic cost of military tasks in extreme heat and cold. New military emergency rations to be manufactured in large quantities were analyzed in the Fatigue Laboratory and then tested in the field. Newly designed cold weather clothing was tested in the cold chamber at −40°F, and desired improvements were made and tested in the field by staff and soldiers in tents and sleeping bags. Electrically heated clothing was designed for high-altitude flight crews and tested both in laboratory chambers and field tests before being issued. This eye witness account of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory during World War II was recorded by Dr. G. Edgar Folk, who is likely the sole surviving member of that famous laboratory.

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.

Physics in a university laboratory before and after World War II

1975 ◽  
Vol 342 (1631) ◽  
pp. 457-464 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Statistical Information ◽  
World War ◽  
Cavendish Laboratory ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Many ◽  
Available Information ◽  
University Laboratory

I started research in the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge in 1924, exactly fifty years ago, and I remained a member of the Laboratory until 1960. During that time I spent 15 years before the war, and 15 years after, as a research worker, and during the war I was a member of a government research and development establishment. I shall attempt to compare the methods of working in the Laboratory in the periods before and after the war. The comparison will be based partly on available information about expenditure and number of staff, and partly on personal experience. I shall try to relate differences in the two periods to the experiences of those, like myself, who worked elsewhere during the war, and I shall try to make allowance for changes in the seniority of my position in the Laboratory. Of course I realise that I can speak of only one university physics laboratory out of the many in the country, but I am hopeful that what happened there may not differ too much from what happened elsewhere. It has not been easy to get the appropriate statistical information for the years before 1960. One reason is that the laboratory did not keep detailed records; I shall return to discuss that situation later. Another reason is that it is often difficult to extract the necessary information from the University Reporter because the character of the record is changed from time to time. Although another investigator might produce statistics somewhat different from mine, I nevertheless venture to think that they would lead to the same conclusions.

scholarly journals Kształtowanie się ogólnopolskiej placówki naukowo-badawczej przemysłu tytoniowego – powstanie Centralnego Laboratorium Przemysłu Tytoniowego

2021 ◽  
Vol 148 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-601
Author(s):  
Andrzej Synowiec
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
World War ◽  
Industry Research ◽  
Qualified Personnel ◽  
Tobacco Cultivation ◽  
Polish Economy ◽  
And Control

Formation of a nationwide research and development facility for the tobacco industry – establishment of the Central Tobacco Industry Laboratory The text presents the establishment circumstances of the first nationwide research and development institution for the tobacco industry. The need to create such an institution dealing with workings of the broadly understood tobacco industry was felt from the beginning of tobacco cultivation in Poland, and especially after the regaining of the independence. After World War II, the matter became even more urgent due to the fact that the cultivation of tobacco was of great importance for the Polish economy and the consumption of tobacco products was constantly growing. It is difficult to talk about a modern tobacco industry without a specialized research and development facility with qualified personnel of scientists and appropriate laboratories. Long-term discussions as to the form and manner of organization of said facility were crowned with the establishment of the Central Scientific and Research Institute of the Tobacco Industry in 1951. It was intended to then later be replaced with the Tobacco Industry Institute, but instead, the Tobacco Industry Research and Control Laboratory was first established in 1954 and in 1956 it was transformed into the Central Tobacco Industry Laboratory with its seat first in Warsaw and then in Cracow-Czyżyny (until 2004).

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