Abstract
IN his address at the graduation ceremony of the University of St. Andrews on June 26, Sir James Irvine, referring to the way in which new knowledge is being acquired at a rate much faster than man's capacity to absorb it, and to the way in which the impact of changing conditions has caught us unprepared, suggested that the machinery of Government should include a ‘Ministry of Knowledge’, the functions of which would be to predict the repercussions of new knowledge on all phases of life. Through such an organization, it might be possible to frame in advance a national policy in which due regard is paid to such far-reaching problems as the future sources of energy, such fundamental questions as to whether our coal supplies are to be used merely for power or as raw material for manufactured products, or whether our forests will be utilized for the purposes for which they were planted or devoted to alternative uses already looming in sight.
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The Use of Knowledge. Nature 138, 67–68 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138067d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138067d0