" Keeping Sophistication in Perspective"

Phone 202-737-3337. Teletype WA 23 ... Director of Business Operations, Joseph H. Kuney. Executive ... SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE: All communications relate...
0 downloads 0 Views 136KB Size
EDITORIAL

INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY Editor, D A V I D E. G U S H E E Editorial Headquarters 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W., Washington, D . C. 20036 Phone 202-737-3337 Teletype WA 23 Assistant Editors: Elspeth Mainland, Joseph H. S. Haggin, John A. King Manager, Research Results Service: Stella Anderson Layout a n d Production Joseph Jacobs Art Director, Leroy Corcora)n, Bill Caldwell (Layout) Production-Easton, Pa. Associate Editor: Charlotte C. Sayre Editorial Assistant: J a n e M . Andrews International Editorial Bureaus Frankfurt/Main, West Germany Grosse Bockenheimerstrasse 32 H. Cliflord Neely London, W.C.2, England 27 John A d a m St. Dermot A. O’Sullivan Tokyo J a p a n A t. 3b6, 47 Dai-machi Atasaka, Minato-ku Patrick P. M c C u r d y A D V I S O R Y B O A R D T h o m a s Baron, R . B. Beckm a n n C. 0. Bennett, E. G. Bobalek, F. G. Ciapetta. J J. ’Fischer Brage Golding, J o h n H a pel, E. F. Jbhnson, A. Jonke F. C . McGrew, A. I?. Rescorla, Arthur Rose, B. H.’ Sage, Joseph Stewart, T. J. Wi 11i am s

A.

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS 1755 Sixteenth St., N . W . , Washington, D.C. 20036 Director of Publications, Richard L. Kenyon Assistant Director of Publications, Richard H. Belknap Director of Business Operations, Joseph H. Kuney Executive Assistant to the Director of Publications, Rodney N. H a d e r Assistant to the Director of Publications, William Q. Hull Advertising Management R E I N H O L D PUBLISHING CORP.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE: All communications related to handling of subscriptions, including CHANGE OF ADDRESS, should bc sent to Subscription Scrvicc Dcparrmcnt, American Chemical Socicty, 1155 16rh St., N.W., Washington, D. C. 20036. Change of addrcss notification should include both old and new addresses and a mailing labcl from a rcccnt issue. Allow four wccks for changc to bccomc cffccrivc. SUBSCRIFTION RATES: INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY, publishcd monthly, is sold only i n combination with one or mo& of thc following I&EC uartcrlics: I&EC Process Dcsign and Dcvclopmcnt; I&EC Funjamcntals; I&EC Product Rcscarch and Dcvclopmcnt; at thcsc combination rarcs: G m d i a n 196s SUBSCRIPTION Post‘?gr RATE$ ( P I , Year) 1 year 2yiurr 3 ycars Amaicun Cbimical Socirry Midrrronly:

IBEC and 1 Quartcrly I&EC and 2 Quarrcrllcs I&EC and 3 Quartcrlics

$1.50 2.00 2.50

$ 4.00 $ 6.00 $ 8.00 7.00 10.00 13.00 10.00 14.00 18.00

$1.50

$ 5.00 $ 7.00 $ 9.00 8.50 11.50 14.50 12.00 16.00 20.00

Nonmomhmj o r rubscription? going t o U.S. and Canada:

I&EC and 1 Quarterly I&EC and 2 Quartcrlics I&EC and 3 Quartcrlics

2.00 2.50

Keeping Sophistication in Perspective ne of the questions we hear frequently in our travels concerns advanced chemical technology, and can be paraphrased as “Who needs it?” The article by Donald Othmer in this issue on predicting vapor pressure and latent heat data-which in essence takes to task some aspects of advanced techniques-might well be construed as asking this question. O n the other hand, it may well be asking us to pose a much more penetrating question-namely, “When do we need advanced technology, and when, instead, would ‘rules of thumb’ be better?” Speaking in gross generalities, the current fractionation of what used to be an integrated chemical engineering profession can be traced to narrow, or shortsighted, or biased answers to this latter, and indeed most pressing question. There is no doubt that much of “chemical engineering science,” when viewed from the position of having a tough production problem to solve, is akin to going eruditely around in circles. There is equally little doubt that much of chemical engineering practice resembles Scotch tape and baling wire mechanics to the chemical engineering scientist. There is precious little chemistry in the unit operations; and there is little direct industrial utility in most molecular orbital calculations. Yet all these factors go into industrial chemical technology. The fact that one engineer’s point of view may be vastly different from another’s because their problems differ so much merely obscures the essential unity of purpose of all these disparate disciplines; it does not negate it. It is clear that Dr. Othmer and his “protagonists” can all be correct, even though they may politely disagree about when to use the fliwer and when to roll out the limousine. The point is that the creative technical practitioner needs both vehicles in his garage and enough experience with each to know how to choose between them for a given objective. The essence of engineering, as a crusty veteran once told his engineering rookies, is to be only as complicated as you have to be. What he left unsaid, though not undemonstrated, is that you must also be able to get as complicated as the problem demands. And for that, you have to keep your intellectual arsenal stocked. No simple truism lights the way into a problem. There is no substitute for judgment, and no judgment can be any better than the breadth of understanding with which one marshals the factors that affect his decision.

0

Basic subscription to monthly INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY 19 valued as follows: ACS mcmbcrs, 1 ycar, $2.50; 2 ycars, $3.50; 3 ycars, $4.50; nonmcmbcrs, 1 ycar, $3.00; 2 ycars, $4.00; 3 ycars, $5.00. Howcvcr, separate subscriptions to cithcr the monthly or the quartcrlics will not

be acccptcd. Sioglc Copics: currcnr, $2.00 (includes copy of this month’s quarterly). Postage: Canada, $0.15. Rates for back issucs and volumes arc availablcfrom Special Issucs Salcs Dcpartmcnt, 1155 Sixtccnth St., N.W., Washington, D. C. 20036. Claims for missing numbers will not be allowcd if rcccivcd morc than 60 days from datc of mailing plus time normally required for postal dclivcry of journal and claim. No claims allowed bccausc of failure to notify the Subscription Scrvicc Dcpartmcnt of a Fhangc of addrcss, or bccaurc copy is “missingfrorn filcs.” Publishcd monrhly by thc Amcrican Chcmical Sncicty, from 2Orh and Norchampton Sts., Easton, Pa. 18043. Second class postage paid at Easton, Pa.

VOL. 5 7

NO. 1 0

OCTOBER 1 9 6 5

5