Two factors weigh heavily against the effectiveness of scientific research in industry. One is the general atmosphere of secrecy in which it is carried out, the other the lack of freedom of the individual research worker. In so far as any inquiry is a secret one, it naturally limits all those engaged in carrying it out from effective contact with their fellow scientists either in other countries or in universities, or even, often enough, in other departments of the same firm. The degree of secrecy naturally varies considerably. Some of the bigger firms are engaged in researches which are of such general and fundamental nature that it is a positive advantage to them not to keep them secret. Yet a great many processes depending on such research are sought for with complete secrecy until the stage at which patents can be taken out. Even more processes are never patented at all but kept as secret processes. This applies particularly to chemical industries, where chance discoveries play a much larger part than they do in physical and mechanical industries. Sometimes the secrecy goes to such an extent that the whole nature of the research cannot be mentioned. Many firms, for example, have great difficulty in obtaining technical or scientific books from libraries because they are unwilling to have their names entered as having taken out such and such a book, for fear the agents of other firms should be able to trace the kind of research they are likely to be undertaking.
J. B. S. Haldane once said that he preferred the society of scientists, who did not care whether their ideas were stolen, because he could do more with their ideas than they could do themselves. He was doubtless right, in so far as his own work was concerned; but it may be questioned whether it is always good for the community that a scientist should "do more" than his fellows. It is for such reasons that the case for having a scientific directorate, whose main concern should be the interests of science as a whole, becomes cogent. Such a body would need to be large enough to carry considerable authority, but not so large as to be unmanageable. It would also need to be composed of persons of very different types of scientific interests, so that the board could really be representative of all the different interests in science. There would also need to be a sufficient number of research workers in reserve so that the board could pass on to them any ideas which are likely to be of immediate value. It would be their task to test out all such ideas, and to make what seems best of them. It would also be the task of this body to arrange for the training of the research workers of the future, in so far as this can be done within the firm.