The Practical Value of Pure Science

Abstract

When I reflect that preceding Edison medallists have been men of the type of Charles F. Brush, who first showed the world that electricity might be used for city lighting; Alexander Graham Bell, whose invention was at the base of the whole vast system of modern communications; Frank Sprague, who was responsible for the application of electric power to railway transportation; M. I. Pupin, who made long distance telephony possible; J. J. Carty, under whose inspiration and leadership the telephone repeater and amplifier, with all that they mean to the enrichment of modern life, have been brought forth, and others of like achievement in the application of electricity to large industrial uses, I feel that there may have been a misunderstanding or a mistake in connection with this year's award. For when I look over my thirty years of scientific effort I can find no industry which has grown out of my researches, nor even any which have been very immediately benefited by them.

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