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

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.