Science at General Electric
DOI: 10.1063/1.2915991
The decade after 1945 saw substantial changes at the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady both in the way in which research was done and in the people doing the research. The passing of the generations at a research laboratory in a small city in Upstate New York reflected a broader change undergone after World War II by all of American science. Science and technology had helped win the war. Scientists and engineers now appeared to be the bulwarks of national defense and the preservers of national prosperity. In the heady postwar climate, no one worried much about where science ended and where technology began. There was enough for both. Inventions and innovations launched before or during the war—televisions, plastics, atomic energy, electronics, computers—now loomed as huge and expanding opportunities. A person who had embarked on a career in science now had a wide choice of well‐paying jobs in government or industry.
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References
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V. Wilson, “Recollections of the Early Days of the Atomic Age,” Address to the Northeastern New York Section, Am. Nuc. Soc. 7 December 1967.16. Interview with H. Strong, 10 June 1980, GE R&D Center.
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J. Burke, 20 March 1981, GE R&D Center.18. Information on new employees at the GE Research Lab taken from the “Who’s New” column of the GE Research Lab News for 1946.
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More about the Authors
George Wise. General Electric Research and Development Center, Schenectady, New York.
