Article ID: CBB001022751

The Royal Society, Its Fellows and Industrial R&D in the Mid Twentieth Century (2010)

unapi

Commentators and politicians have frequently argued that the performance of the British economy could be significantly improved by paying more attention to the translation of the results of scientific research into new products and processes. They have frequently suggested that deficiencies in achieving this are part of a long-standing national malaise and regularly point to a few well-worn examples to support their contention. What are conspicuous by their absence from these debates are detailed and contextual studies that actually examine the nature of the interactions between scientists and industry and how these changed over time. This paper provides one such study by examining three aspects of the relationship between the Royal Society, its Fellows and industrial R&D during the mid twentieth century. It looks first at the enthusiasm for industrial research to be found across the political spectrum after World War II before examining the election as Fellows of the Royal Society of men who worked in industry at the time of their election. Finally it considers the extent to which industrial R&D was incorporated into the way in which the Royal Society presented itself to the outside world through its Conversazione. Despite the absence of formal structures to translate the results of the work of scientists employed in other institutional contexts to industry, there is much evidence to indicate that there were plenty of other opportunities for the exchange of information to take place.

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Authors & Contributors
Ma, Dali
Turner, Steven
Weinberg, Georg M. L.
Turney, Jon
Turchetti, Simone
Todd, Neil
Concepts
Societies; institutions; academies
Science and society
Research and development (R&D)
Science and industry
Globalization; internationalization
Museums
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
20th century, late
18th century
21st century
17th century
Places
Great Britain
United States
Germany
China
Korea
Institutions
Royal Society of London
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Natural History Museum (London, England)
Smithsonian Institution
Oxford University
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