Defining textile technology as a scientific discipline: a historical perspective

AbstractThe launch of the Transactions in 1923, exclusively for the publication of original scientific work, consolidated the standing of the Journal of the Textile Institute as a scholarly periodical, although the timing was fortuitous, reflecting the needs of the industrial research associations, then newly established in the UK following the ‘neglect of science’ controversy in 1916. The burgeoning output of papers from this source in turn acted as a major competitive stimulus for the transformation of textile technology in higher education from craft-based empiricism to scientific discipline, albeit incrementally. In the background was the apparent dichotomy between the industrial practitioner and the academic scientist. Higher education sought to bridge this gap while simultaneously adopting the ethos and practices of the applied science model for textile technology, thereby creating tensions internally which took many years to resolve. The paper reviews the emergence of textile technology as a scientific discipline during the inter-war years and acknowledges the defining role of the Transactions.Keywords: Textile technologyneglect of sciencepractical mantaxonomycurriculumfibre sciencefibrous assembly This article is part of the following collections: Special Issue in Celebration of the Journal of the Textile Institute’s Centenary Year AcknowledgementsI am most grateful to the staff of Leeds University Library Special Collections for their help and guidance and also to Prof MA Hann for drawing my attention to the Aldred Barker accession.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.Notes1 CS Whewell, ‘The Textile Institute: Historical Background’, from the 1985 Jubilee Souvenir Publication, reprinted in Textiles, Special Centenary Issue, 37, 3 and 4, (2010), pp. 17–20.2 Leeds University Library, Special Collections (LULSC), Department of Textile Industries, Box 149, paper ‘Coordination of Textile Instruction and Research in the West Riding of Yorkshire’, no date, traces the chronology between July 1915 and May 1916. Letter, Vice Chancellor to Alfred Barren, Textile Industries and Dyeing Advisory Committee of Council, University of Leeds, 9th February 1917.3 Obituary, Professor John Beaumont, Textile Manufacturer, 15th September 1889.4 LULSC, Yorkshire College, Minutes of the Textile Industries and Dyeing Committee of Council, 25th October 1901 to 17th September 1902, inclusive.5 LULSC, Department of Textile Industries, Box 149, paper on reorganisation of textile courses, dated 6th July 1914, initialled by Aldred Barker. Textile Industries and Dyeing Committee of Council, Annual Report, Session 1914/15, p. 1.6 LULSC, Yorkshire College, Minutes of the Committee on the University Charter, 6th April and 20th April 1903. Yorkshire College, Memorandum by the Committee on the Draft Charter for a University in Yorkshire, 2nd May 1903.7 LULSC, AF Barker, Box 14, report, ‘The Development of Research in the Department of Textile Industries of the University, Leeds’, 22nd June 1927, p. 5.8 LULSC, Department of Textile Industries, Box 150, notes by Registrar, ‘Interview at Clothworkers’ Hall, 12th May 1927’.9 LULSC, Department of Textile Industries, Box 159, memorandum of a meeting between representatives of the Clothworkers’ Company and the Textile Industries and Dyeing Committee of Council, 14th December 192710 LULSC, Department of Textile Industries, Box 159, letters, A Frobisher, Secretary of BRAWWI to PM Evans, Clerk to the Clothworkers Company, 31st May 1921. PM Evans to Vice-Chancellor, Michael Sadler, 2nd June 1921. Michael Sadler to PM Evans, 6th June 1921; PM Evans to Michael Sadler, 13th June 1921.11 LULSC, Department of Textile Industries, Box 150, letter and memorandum, A Frobisher, Secretary of BRAWWI to PM Evans, Clerk to the Clothworkers Company, 24th August 1927.12 LULSC, Department of Textile Industries, Box 150, letters, Barker to Vice-Chancellor, James Baillie, 8th November 1926, 12th November 1926, 3rd February 1927. Calling notice, committee of Senate on Research in the Textile Department, 21st April 1927 with printed minute attached of Senate Textile Research Committee, no date. LULSC, AF Barker, Box 14, handwritten and typed papers describing recent research activity by academic staff of the Department of Textile Industries, no date.13 LULSC, AF Barker, Box 14, report, ‘The Development of Research in the Department of Textile Industries of the University, Leeds’, 22nd June 1927.14 LULSC, AF Barker, Box 14, report ‘Textile Research’, unattributed, 21st June 1927, covering letter dated 24th June 1927.15 LULSC, Department of Textile Industries, Box 150, report submitted with a letter from the Registrar to the Clerk to the Clothworkers’ Company dated 6th July 1927.16 University of Leeds, Clothworkers’ Departments: Report of the Work Done under the Research Scheme Established in 1928 with the Aid of a Special Grant from the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, Sessions 1928-29; 1929-30; December 193117 Leeds University Department of Textile Industries Prospectus, 1966.18 Clause 2(1) of the 1925 Charter in Royal Charter, Supplemental Charter, and Bye-Laws, (Manchester: The Textile Institute, no date.), p. 8Additional informationFundingThis is a self-funded study.