The advance in industrial techniques since the second world war has been spectacular. The steady rise in the number of consumers and the standard of their requirements has meant a growth in demand which, since resources such as land and labour can be increased only slowly if at all, can be met only through progress in methods of production. Competition among producers has provided a strong incentive in the same direction. As a result human activity has been channelled into ‘research and development’ on a scale unique in history, and many authorities believe that the advance in the application of scientific progress is tantamount, with all its social and other consequences, to a second industrial revolution.