Trends in research and development in 1956

Perhaps the most important trend, though it is not the most obvious, has been a desire to learn more about the fundamental properties of existing solids, with a complementary application of the knowledge acquired to the creation of new dielectrics with special properties. New high temperature and high frequency dielectrics are urgently required and in 1956, development was advanced by adaptations of existing materials to meet new specifications. The reporting of high temperature dielectrics work is rather slow, since there are many purely mechanical problems yet to be solved before the electrical problems can be tackled, and the great activity in this field is not faithfully reflected by the literature. Although some research has been reported at fairly high temperatures, the fundamental knowledge of the behavior of dielectrics at really high temperatures is still very sketchy.