A future for physicists in industry

One of the things that characterizes the trend of industrial research since World War II is the increasing demand for physicists in a great variety of industrial laboratories. Unlike the chemist, whose important role in industrial technology has long been recognized, the physicist is a relatively new figure on the industrial scene. Thus, it is timely on the occasion of the twenty‐fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Physics to examine the present status of the industrial physicist and to assess his opportunities for the future.