Scholars examine the development of the international industrial gases industry
The Linde Group will be working together with the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and the Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte (GUG, Society for Business History), Frankfurt, on a multiple-year research project dealing with the economic and technological importance of the international industrial gases industry. A team of scholars, under the leadership of Glasgow-based American business historian Ray Stokes, will examine sources and materials from around the world, as well as interviewing representatives of the most influential corporations in the industry. Linde is funding a Ph.D. studentship to the University of Glasgow as part of its support for the project.
"Over time and to the present day, industrial gases have changed - often without being noticed - entire lines of industry and ways of life", says Professor Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle, Chief Executive Officer of Linde AG. "A modern food supply would be fully inconceivable without the use of nitrogen, or a medical treatment in a hospital unimaginable without oxygen. We're allowing objective, independent scholars to extensively study the importance of the industry, and are demonstrating the contribution that industrial gases have made to the development of modern national economies up until now, and the contribution they will be making in the future."
"For me, the most fascinating aspect of this research project is that there hasn't ever been a study this comprehensive before of this industry. We have the chance to shed light on an entire industrial branch and its most important players, who have hitherto been largely ignored, despite the fact that they make many innovations possible," says Professor Ray Stokes, Director of the Centre for Business History at the University of Glasgow.
Ray Stokes and his team are to publish the results of the four-year research project in the form of a readable scholarly study, which aims to be the standard work on the subject and is to be published in both German and English. In addition, the research team will be sharing its interim results and new findings at professional symposiums throughout the project.
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