Industrial Scientists

I was truly surprised by your lead article "Scientists Wary As New Year Dawns" ["Science In 1991,"The Scientist, Jan. 7, 1991, page 1] by Julia King, in which no industrial scientists were asked for their opinions. (The Bell Labs are a minor exception, since they do

not reflect the true industrial laboratory setting in our country.) Indeed, the article seemed to confirm overwhelmingly the short shrift given industrial science by The Scientist.

Most scientists work in industry, and we feel that our contributions play at least as great a role as those of the academic community in maintaining America's scientific and technological leadership. We win NIH and NSF grants. We make the better tools and develop many of the techniques by which means academic scientists achieve their breakthroughs. We work just as hard, are just as bright (and dull!), and just as driven as our academic colleagues.

Indeed, as a...