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The Contribution of Science and Technology to the Supply of Industrial Materials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

G.F. Ray
G.F. Ray*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Economic and Social Research, London
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Abstract

The world's non-renewable resources are obviously finite—and the renewable ones are also limited—and without scientific and technological advance mankind would long ago have been facing serious material shortages. Earlier anxieties, however, did not materialise since new materials have been discovered or new methods introduced to produce and process them. This study surveys the history of some three dozen materials which are new, or were ‘new’ at the time of their introduction in general use. Many of them were developed or discovered as the outcome of a need—wartime or market pressure—whilst others were the result of spontaneous and random scientific/technological push. The conclusion suggests that whilst history does not necessarily repeat itself in solving future problems of material shortages it provides basis for the hope that progress will overcome possibly emerging scarcities.

Type
Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 92 , May 1980 , pp. 33 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © 1980 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

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Footnotes

(1)

This study was assisted by a grant from the Science Research Council.

The author is grateful for critical and constructive comments on an earlier draft of this report, by Dr M. L. Burstall (University of Surrey), Professor M. Gibbons (University of Manchester), A. W. E. Henham (University of Surrey), Professor H. J. Pick (University of Aston), Dr M. A. Savva (Post Office), R. A. Smith (Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd), and Professor J. E. Tilton (Pennsylvania State University).

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