Although there are a few notable exceptions (e.g. 'On the Origin of Species'), I have long thought that there has been a tendency to ignore 'old' research in this country. This is especially true of material that was printed before the digital age and so cannot easily be located on-line. There is a good illustration of this in a story concerning John Switzer Owens who, in 1921, perfected a device he termed a 'Jet Dust Counter' (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/13/pollutionwatch-how-lessons-from-1920s-were-forgotten-for-50-years). With it, he demonstrated that air pollution travelled much further than anyone had appreciated. He found that dust, from the Ruhr industrial complex in Germany, made its way to the beaches of Norfolk. He also showed that air pollution generated in London could finish up in both Devon and Wales. Air quality is now recognised to be a major health hazard (being linked to a variety of respiratory disorders and premature death) but his contribution was largely forgotten. Perhaps, for some folk, this was very convenient.
No comments:
Post a Comment