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INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
American Contemporaries dyke. Scornful of pretense and formality and in awe of no dignitary· he at times startled his more ceremonious fellow students. On one occasion, locking up his desk in Ostwald's laboratory at the end of the day, he announced "ScAZuee der VorateUung!** and even the horrified PrivatdocerU could not in the end restrain a chuckle. With it all he was a man's man and attracted close friends.
George Augustus Hulett N THE traditions of the "Golden Nine ties" in Princeton, as they have come down to later generations* intellectual endeavor has never been strenuously em phasized, and yet, in the early and the late nineties, there emerged from Prince ton two scientists each of whom was des tined to achieve high distinction in his own special field. The younger of the two was the astronomer, Henry Norris Russell, the elder, George Augustus Hulett, graduate of Princeton, 1892, and, for four years subsequently, assistant in chemistry in his Alma Mater. Hulett arrived in Princeton from the farms and open spaces of Illinois via two years at Oberlin College. In his senior year he took blow-pipe analysis, but in his own rooms, since regulations did not per mit A.B. students to take this as a regular course. He created a precedent by his appointment as assistant in chemistry from the ranks of the A.B. students. He gave the impression of strength, energy, abounding joy of life, love of outdoor ex ercise—baseball is mentioned in this con nection as a passion—coupled with an in nate ability in scientific work, a perfect lecture demonstrator for L. W. McCay, whose nervousness as to the successes of his experiments disappeared with Hulett in command. A high measure of effi ciency was necessary in those earlier days. Everyone had to take chemistry; and the attention of lawyers, "theologuee," and classicists had to be held, as well as that of the more scientifically minded students; and they were perhaps more critical and more prone to jeer at failure. Had Hulett been lecture assistant in an earlier day in Princeton it is possible that Professor Schenck, revered in Princeton alumni gossip, would not have found it necessary, as protection against student missiles, to keep his experiments and specimens under the lecture table until the moment of demonstration had arrived. Even in the analytical atmosphere of the Princeton laboratory Hulett's trend was definitely toward the physical side of chemistry. Those were the burgeoning years of electrolytic dissociation theory and Ε. Η. Loomis in the Physics Depart ment was busy with exact freezing points, conductivity measurements, and the like. It is not surprising, therefore, that Hulett's steps were directed Leipzigward in 1896. There exists a vivid pen picture of Hulett in those Leipzig days:
I
He was a dark, tali, lean, energetic figure with Mephistophelean mustache and Van-
From such Vorstellungen there came t h e evidence that pressure influenced t h e transition temperature from solid to liquid crystal. Ostwald then thought that t h e liquid crystalline state was associated in some way with the critical phenomena, and that pressure studies might reveal t h e connection. Hulett's researches showed Ostwald to be wrong but earned for him self the P h . D . in 189S. He returned to this country to an in struct orship at Michigan, where he stayed until 1905. Those were years of intense interest in his work but always in some thing else as well, the German card game of skat, chess, golf, and billiards. Thirty years later his happy memories of t h e card game j>ersist, and many pleasant hours still are spent at the chess hoard. Golf provided scope for his scientific instincts. Self-taught pioneer in golf at Ann Arbor, he won his first tournament against older hands via studies of trajectories and con ditions of impact as registered on chalked club faces. T h e same precision a n d thoroughness in his work led t o his studies of the changing solubility of gypsum with time, t o his world-famous researches on barium sulfate, and t h e influence of par ticle size on solubility. At Michigan, too, were the first studies of standard cells. The chemist came to t h e assistance of t h e hysicist in precision cell production, tulett realized t h e importance of exclud ing basic salts in preparing the mercurous sulfate and in assembling the cells. Half a dozen cells assembled with a precision of 0.01 millivolt so overwhelmed the physi cist Carhart t h a t he immediately locked them u p in his safe. The second Princeton era covers just thirty years—from 1905 to his retirement in 1935. In 1909 he became t h e first pro fessor of physical chemistry in Princeton. Recipient of many tempting offers t o transfer his activities elsewhere, he steadfastly refused. His goal was Prince ton in t h e forefront of chemical research in the country. All his energies and en thusiasms were inspired by that vision. I t s attainment must have brought him rich store of consolation in these latter less active years. For ten years t h e fight was uphill ; but his personality and energy were such t h a t there were constantly around him a devoted group of students working on standard cells, precise coulometer determinations, occlusions in elec tro-deposits, atomic weight determina tions, constant-boiling mixtures, equi libria, problems in fuels, moisture content of cereals, and t h e like. T h e students graduated from distilling mercury in one of his famous vacuum stills, through memo rable lessons in glass blowing from t h e professor himself (no professional glass blower could compete) t o one or another of the doctoral theses. Catastrophes t o complex apparatus, terrifying t o t h e young neophytes, were dismissed with a cheery "we made it, a n d we can fix i t . " How much of t h e a p p a r a t u s was home made only Princeton doctors of t h e pre1920 era know. Even purchased instru ments were not sacrosanct. They could be dissected to serve a particular purpose
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VOL. 14, N O . 7
the better. And t h e next student who wished the original arrangement had "to learn how t o use it by putting it once more in order." His capacity for hard work was a t once inspiring a n d terrifying t o those around him. But they contracted the habit. Lights burned in t h e physical chemistry laboratories long after the rest of the uni versity had gone to bed. It is whispered that, shortly after marriage, M r s . Hulett found tell-tale holes in dinner clothes which eloquently told of midnight glass blowing or construction jobs thought out during the early evening's entertainment. He was sparing in his use of such distrac tions. Students credit him with the re mark that "when men become as interest ing a s molecules, I will spend more time with m e n . " T h e laboratory, not the lec ture room, was the focal point of Hulett's activities. He had the experimentalist's point of view. The scientific argument, the seminar, were crowded out in the strenuous search for facts. But, in all the long list of researches, there is rich evi dence of appreciation of t h e factors of prime significance to the problem in hand. Doubtless inspired by Woodrow Wil son's lectures when a student in college, Hulett has ever taken a passionate interest in biography, history, and world politics. In these fields he has, throughout his life, read deeply and widely. I t is not sur prising, therefore, t h a t service to his country absorbed a large share of Hu lett's activity in t h e years from 1905 t o 1920. During a leave of absence from Princeton in 1912 he was chief chemist to the 17. S. Bureau of Mines. In this ca pacity he translated into reality t h e vision of its first director, J . H. Holmes, of a gov ernment bureau serving the mining in dustries of the country through first-class research invest igations and facilities. The splendid laboratory headquarters a t Pitts burgh are the final results of efforts in which Hulett, as in Princeton, was the real pioneer. I t was natural too t h a t , on the outbreak of war, President Wilson should call on his Princeton friend for necessary d a t a concerning scientific prob lems. Hulett, as a member of the For eign Service Scientific Commission a p pointed by t h e National Research Coun cil a t the request of the President, was on the battle front in Europe collecting data several months before General Pershing had crossed. Later he was offered a posi tion of high authority on Pershing's staff. Instead, he chose, as a civilian, to organize a research unit of t h e Chemical Warfare Service in Princeton. These extra-Prince ton activities produced a t e m p o of life which many felt t o be insupportable. Hulett's vigor and energy were such, how ever, that he seemed only t o thrive the more, the harder t h e schedule. During those years he successfully repulsed an attack of pneumonia, which t h e authori ties of t h e Rockefeller Institute in New York felt t o be so desperate t h a t they were unwilling t o t r y what little of a new serum they had. T h e serum was tried. Hulett survived. I t will always remain a prob lem a s to which won, the serum or t h e re markable vitality. In 1904 Hulett married Dency M. Barker of New Haven. T h e y shared their first year in Michigan, and then t h e happy . Princeton years. I n 1915, t h e Hulett s, with a common enthusiasm and inspira tion, restored a n old home on Washington Road. There, their son, George Barker, grew up, graduated in Princeton in 1930 in t h e D e p a i t m e n t of Chemistry, and, after graduate work in t h e Geology De partment and some technical experience, proceeded to t h e degree of M.S. in mining engineering a t Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a thesis which revealed
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NEWS EDITION
APRIL 10, 1936 t h e striking characteristics of his inherited research ability. Barker h a s t a k e n a ripe chemical a n d engineering experience t o t h e difficult problems of t h e complex ores of M o n t a n a . George A. a n d George B . Hulett form another of t h e father-son group in American chemistry. I n Wash ington R o a d , a generation of H u l e t t stu dents, old colleagues of Leipzig a n d Michi gan days, government friends, scientists from far a n d near, have shared t h e kindly hospitality of M r s . Hulett a n d a friendly welcome b y t h e big fireside in t h e library in winter, or, in t h e spring, on t h e porch near t h e big D u t c h oven looking down through t h e trees t o t h e garden, in which t h e professor, for exercise, has spent s o much of his boundless energy. I t w a s there t h a t t r a d e d y overtook h i m , a dozen years ago, robbed American chemistry of a decade or more of o n e of its m o s t bril liant experimentalists. Hulett h a s never complained. H e has given t o Princeton a n d its newer generation of faculty mem bers from t h e richness of his experience, encouragement from t h e storehouse of his memories of Princeton chemistry when life was more rugged a n d less luxurious. T o one, whom he brought t o America, full of hope a n d desire to achieve, h e gave e s pecially of t h e riches of his life, a perfect opportunity, a n d unstinting support. H u lett h a s n o t been idle these later years. Each new session students h a v e caught from him something of t h e old enthusiasm a n d fire a n d have translated, i n t o accom plished investigations, some little of w h a t he himself would have achieved so mag nificently. HUGH
S.
TAYLOR
m a d e by conference between t h e fellow a n d his major professor, subject t o t h e a p proval of t h e G r a d u a t e Committee. Appli cations with certified copy of college record, s t a t e m e n t of professional experience, re cent photograph, a n d three references should b e addressed before M a y 1, 1936, t o A . M . Gaudin, Chairman, G r a d u a t e Committee, M o n t a n a School of Mines, Butte, Mont.
Meeting Calendar 91 ST M E E T I N G . K a n s a s Citv, Mo., April 13 t o 17, 1936. 92ND MEETING.
P i t t s b u r g h , Pa., Septem
ber 7 t o 11, 1936. 9 3 R D M E E T I N G . Chapel Hill, N. C , April 12 to 15, 1937. 94TH MEETING.
Rochester, Ν . Υ., fall of
1937. AKRON GROUP OF THE RUBBER DIVISION.
Akron City Club, Akron, Ohio, April 24, 1936. "Possibilities of Future Synthetic R u b b e r , " b y T h o m a s Midgley, J r . P A C I F I C R E G I O N A L G R O U P O F LOCAL S E C
TIONS. Seattle, Wash., June 16 t o 20, 1936. Joint meeting with Pacific Divi sion of American Association for t h e Ad vancement of Science. T H I R T E E N T H C O L L O I D SYMPOSIUM.
Wash
ington University, St. Louis, Mo., J u n e 11 t o 13, 1936.
ALABAMA. Florence Countrv Club, Muscle Shoals, April 18, 1936. Dinner, 6 : 3 0 p. M.; meeting, " T h e Tennessee Valley Authority's Program with Reference t o in Montana School Land Development," bv H . A. Morgan; of Mines " T h e Fertilizer Situation," b v H . A. N COOPERATION with the State Bureau of C u r t i s ; a n d " T h e Fertilizer W o r k s a t Mines and Geology, the Montana Wilson D a m , " b y A. M . Miller. Joint School of Mines of the University of Mon meeting with t h e Muscle Shoals Chem tana offers several research fellowships and ists' Club. graduate assistantships in geology, metal A M E S . April 22, 1936. Speaker, C . W. lurgy, mining, and ore dressing. These fel Mason, Cornell University. lowships and assistantships are open to col CALIFORNIA. Engineers' CÎub, San F r a n lege graduates who have had good scientific cisco, April 17, 1936. "Industrial Aptraining in those sciences which are t h e plication of Klectrical Precipitation," foundation of t h e minerai industry, and b y Walter A. Schmidt. who are especially qualified t o undertake C E N T R A L PENNSYLVANIA.. Bucknell Uniresearch work. versity, Lewisburg, Pa., April 30, 1936. Fellowships in metallurgy, mining, and " T h e Chemist a n d t h e R u b b e r Indusore dressing are for 9 months beginning t r y , " b y W . N . Jones. September 1, and carry a stipend of $540. CENTRAL TEXAS. Bavlor University, Fellowships in geology are for 11 months Waco, April 2 5 , 1936. Program of beginning July 1, and carry a per diem papers and business meeting, 2 : 3 0 p. M.; allowance for field work during July and dinner, 6 p. M.; address, 8 p. M., H . H . August and a stipend of $540 for the re Willard, University of Michigan. maining 9 months. CHICAGO. Stevens Hotel, April 24, 1936. Assistantships in ore dressing are for two "Microchemistry a n d I t s Applications," 9-month periods beginning on September b y K. P . Link. 1 of t w o consecutive years a n d carry a D E L A W A R E . April 15, 1936. Speaker, stipend of $1080 for the two periods. A s F . O. Rice, Johns Hopkins University. sistantships in geology are for two 9 EAST TENNESSEE. April 22, 1936. month periods beginning on September 1 Speaker, W . J . D . Walker, Corning of two consecutive years, and for the inter Glass Works. vening summer. They carry a stipend of E A S T E R N N E W Y O R K . Albany Hospital, $1080 for t h e t w o periods, besides a per Albany, April 22, 1936. Dinner, 6:30 diem allowance for held work in the inter p. M.; meeting, 8 P. M., " T h e Physiology vening summer. of t h e Amino Acids," by D. D . Van Fellows and assistants will register a s Slyke. students in the School of Mines and b e FLORIDA. April 18, 1936. Speaker, W . J . come candidates for the degree of master D . Walker, Corning Glass Works. of science in geology, mining, or metal GEORGIA. Georgia School of Technology, lurgy. All fees except the diploma fee are Atlanta, April 2 1 , 1936. Dinner, Britwaived. tain Dining Hall, 7 P . M . ; meeting, 8 P . M . , Fellows and assistants will live in t h e " G l a s s , " b y W. J . D . Walker. college residence hall. Unusually good ac I O W A . April 23, 1936. Speaker, C . W. commodations are available at a charge of Mason, Cornell University. $37.50 per month for board and room. L E H I G H VALLEY. Bethlehem, P a . , April Choice of a research problem will b e 13, 1936. Dinner, Sun I n n , 6 p. M . ;
I
NORTHEAST TENNESSEE.
April 24, 1936.
Speaker, W . J . D . Walker, Corning Glass Works. NORTHERN
American Chemical Society
Local Sections Research Fellowships a n d Graduate Assistantships
meeting, P a c k a r d Auditorium, Lehigh University, 8 p . M., '"Transportation," b y J . B . E a s t m a n . J o i n t meeting w i t h Engineers' Club of Lehigh Valley. A l b r i g h t College, Reading, P a . , April 2 4 , 1936. Meeting, 8 P. M., " D y e C h e m i s t r y , " by R . E . Rose. NEBRASKA. April 20, 1936. Speaker, C . W . Mason, Cornell University. N O R T H CAROLINA. D u k e University, D u r h a m , April 25, 1936. Meeting, 9:30 p. M. Joint meeting with N o r t h Carolina Academy of Sciences.
WEST
VIRGINIA.
April
30,
1936. " T h e Chlorine Industry of West ViΓginia, ,, M . G. Geiger. OKLAHOMA. April 2 2 , 1936. Speaker, H . H . Willard, University of Michigan. OMAHA. April 2 1 , 1936. "Chemical Microscopy," b y C. W . Mason. PHILADELPHIA.
April
16, 1936. " T h e
Physical Chemistry of Steel," by J o h n Johnston. ROCHESTER. Cutler Union, University of Rochester, April 2 0 , 1936. Meeting, 8:15 P . M., speaker, Walter Eddy, T e a c h ers* College. L a d i e s ' n i g h t . ST.
JOSEPH
VALLEY.
April
24,
1936.
Speaker, C . W. Mason, Cornell Uni versitv. St. L o r is. April 20, 1936. Dinner, 6:30 p. M . ; meeting, S t . Louis University Medical School, 7 : 3 0 p. M., " S o m e Simple Aliphatic C h e m i s t r y , " by F . C . Whitmore. SOUTH
CAROLINA.
April
14,
1936.
Speaker, W . J. D . Walker. SOUTH J E R S E Y . April 21,1936. Meeting, 8 : 1 5 P . M . , "Photoelectric Colorimetry," b y R . H . Miiller. SOUTHEAST
KAWSAS.
April
18,
1936.
Speaker, H . H . Willard, University of Michigan. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
April 22, 1936.
Speaker, F . C. Whitmore, Pennsylvania S t a t e College. W I C H I T A . April 20, 1936. Speaker, H . H . Willard, University of Michigan.
Other Scientific Societies AMERICAN' ASSOCIATION O F C E R E A L C H E M
ISTS. Adolphus Hotel, Dallas, T e x a s , J u n e 1 t o 5, 1936. AMERICAN O I L C H E M I S T S ' SOCIETY. R o o s e
velt Hotel, New Orleans, La., May 28 t o 29, 1936. AMERICAN
PHYSICAL
SOCIETY.
Raleigh
Hotel, Washington, D . C , April 30 t o M a y 2, 1936. AMERICAN SOCIETY F O R T E S T I N G
MATE
RIALS. Chalfonte-Haddon Hall, A t l a n tic City, N . J., J u n e 29 t o July 3, 1936. ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY.
Hotel N e t h -
erland Plaza, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2 3 t o 25, 1936. Annual meeting. SECOND* INTERNATIONAL
CONGRESS
OF
MICROBIOLOGY. London, England, J u l y 25 t o August 1, 1936.
A b s t r a c t s o f K a n s a s City Meeting Papers T H E A. C S. News Service, 706 Mills Bldg., Washington, D . C , will supply abstracts of papers pre sented at the San Francisco meeting a t $1.00 a set. Mimeographed sets, not guaranteed t o be complete, b u t containing abstracts from all divi sions as furnished b y authors, will be mailed soon after t h e meeting. Please send remittance with order.
