An International Science Co-Operation Service

Abstract

WHILE scientific workers may well find it scarcely less difficult than their fellow citizens to grasp as yet the full implications of the new force resulting from scientific discovery which we have seen in action in the atomic bomb, they will unhesitatingly endorse Mr. Attlee's view that a re-evaluation of the whole situation, especially in the sphere of international relations, is required. This is particularly true in respect of the exchange and dissemination of information and of the organization of defence, to both of which questions scientific men in Britain have been giving close attention during recent months. Nothing can stop the progress of research and experiment in every country; but although research will no doubt proceed in many places, the immense plants necessary to transform theory into action cannot well be constructed in countries not possessing the necessary resources. Our organization of scientific research and development, the whole system of the organization and co-ordination of the nation's resources for defence purposes, which Lord Hankey reviewed under a somewhat misleading title in his recent book, "Government Control in War", must be reconsidered in the light of this new situation.