105n
IND
u s T I< I A I.
A N I)
E N G ILL E E IC I N G
ACKNOWLEDOMENT Tlie writers l,& t o exte11d tlleir tI)arlka to H. 13, Sl,eakIxian arid other members of the staff of tile Foundation, aod to the Household Science Department of the University of Toronto, for their advice and interest; and to Lorne P. Marshall of Marshalls C ( w a n y , Limited, for w p l y i n g the egg white samples used iri this investigation.
c FI E M I s .r I< Y
Vol. 25, No. 9
IilTEHATUIlE CITED
(1) Holat, W.P.,rind Almquist, H. J., Hilyanlza, 6 , 15 (1931). (2) Lloyd. D. .r., “Cheniistryof Proteins.” D. 132, .J. and A. Churohill, 1,ondon. 1926. ( 3 ) Lloyd, u. J.. h’aturo, 130, 24 (1932). (4) Loeb, J.. “Proteins and thc Thcory of CoIIoidaI Behavior.” p. 87, McGrewBill, 1922. Peter, p. N,,and Bell, R,% ,,, INvo. ENU, CHE\I,, 22, 1124 (1930). (6) St. John. J. C., snd Flor. I. €1.. Poullry Sn’., 10, 71 (1931).
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARIES Willis Rodney W fiitney
T
0 THOSE who know him, any sketch of Doctor Khitney must seem inadequate. To those who do nut know him, it should be a i d at once that word picture osn no more truly present his dynamic, many-sided personality than a photograph can adequately present s scene of lively, varying action. When anyone meets Whitney for the first time, one of the initial impresfiionsmust be that of friendlinesa. For many yeam the door of his office bore the words, “Come iw-rain or shine,” and nlwr.nvs within that door were waitine a smile uf welcome, an attentive e a r , R quick undemtsnding, and helpful counsel. Any Inboratory worker entering that room was made to feel at once that his problem, trouble, or failure was ‘tours,'' and that only his success wns his done. And always for eaeh problem he found a ready suggestion, for each trouble a helpful sympathy, and for each failure the encourage-
feel is speeded t,o oRlivioo by Whitney’s prompt manifestation of hir unshaken trust. Two other chtwr*eterist,icswhich must strike even t,he casunl visitor :we his mental slrrt.ness snd t,he wide range of his interests and knowledge. H i s mind i4 never at rest. Even in hi8 hours u i relaxation on h i s farm he is forever observing, studying, experimenting, and filling it) t,he background by wading. T h u s he has developed II series of trohbies which have given him rn keen pleasure ns eolf or hridee can hrinr to the more sporiivcly i n c l i n e d . Arrowheads, “doodleI,ogs,” worm galls, and turtlaq arc among thwr hdibies of his; inio e x h hobby he hws put iietivitios of his own, and from eneh he has derived new facts not in the literature of the subjecr. IIe must practice chipping arrowheads himself or try to make artificial worm galls by inserting R, bit of st,eel in a plant stem and ment of indomitable optimism, often expressed wiirming it by a high frequency field. His hobby may t%kahim into only ~tlittle corner with a heartening touch of humor. It is ne, of R new field, but, that corner he makes h i s wonder t h s t his associates frequently use in all om. sincerity t,hat much abused word, “inspirkiWhitney has said t.hat he W:LS not a facile tiond,” in r e f e r r i n g to their c o n t a c t s wit.h student when in college, hut that he had to Whitney. work hard for what he got. That Statement This friendliness always felt in Whitney’s presence docs not stop with words. He is must seem preposterous to anyone who hxs discussed m y problem with him and has exmrikeenlv and aetivelv interested in the welfare of enced his q k i k grasp of it, his ready fund of all those around him, and especially of the laboratory stsff, Again and agein he has talked with oflice boys, soek- information, his power of rapid analysis, and his prumpt,itude in ing to learn their interests and aptitudes, suggeztinghelpiul studies, auggesting lines of &tack. It is only t,hrough following him into and trying them out on various labovatory jobs in the effort to one of his hohhies t,hat the arduousness of his student days is help them to qualify for better positions. To hurt anyone’s feel- made expiieahle. Then one begins to see that what Whitney ings unnecessarily is abhorrent t o him. More than once when means hy “getting” R subject goes far hoyond the avorage someone hns tried with more good will than judgment to do him u. studmt’sconception of its mastery. R m:kitery sufficient for passpersonal kindnem, Doctor Whitney hits taken the trouhlo to re- ing a successful exnnmination. When Whitney “g&s” anything, sort to benevolent subterfuge to avoid a seeming lack of apprecis- he has not only gained itre undei nding of a thorough strident tion. When in a lett,er it is necessary to my something which i t 4 lnit he JIBS mndr it t i ) some extent individually his by putting recipient may firid not wholly pleasing, he i d 1 latior with its indo it original tkrmght and, prolcthlv, original experiment. phrnsing to remove any sting, and will ndd any emollient appliI t i s t h i s very t,horoughrress, this inaking knowledge his own (61 real pnrt, sometimes almost, a subconscious pnrt, of himesble to the facts. This inclusive friendliness does not niem that Whitney is srlf) that exphins another ehnructoristie. He often speaks of lacking in discrimination or in personal prodilnctions. H e i s “plnying a. hunch,” a n d sometimes the hunch may seem wild. very human, and his likes and dislikes are strung. He r e i t l i ~ e i Far instance, several times an experiment proposed h y Whitney that, and sometimes leans backward in hi8 determinaf,ion i,o he i,o throw light on some problem hsn been fairly conclusively wholly fair to those who do not attract, him, but,, if x man tias shown by the analysis oi B collengue to 118 futile or inevitably once shown himself disingenuou., a bluffer, or I) slacker on the sterile, but. Whitney, brusliing aside (somet,imes with real imjob, it will be hard indeed for him to win Whitney’s full eanfi- patience) such logical discouragement, hns gono ahead, with the dence. Those who have won his confidence find it an enduring result tlmt. some factor overlooked in t.he analysis has made the treasure. Its integrity is not marred or even momentarily cxprriment a triumphant success. Those hunches of h i s Seem to weakened by subsequent minor f d i n g s or errom on the part of have an uncanny securaey,but perhaps they are not “hunches” after all. Is it, a hunch when a trained and skillful boxer antiriits possessor. but invtead such passing humiliat,ion &q he may
September, 1933
INDUSTRIAL AND
ENGINEERING
pates his opponent’s blow, seems to “guess” it beforeit has started, and, like an automatic machine, avoids it and lands a t,elling blow of his own? Is it not rather long experience instantly reacting through perfectly coordinated eyes and nerves and muscles? And are not Whitney’s “hunches” broad experience almost subconsciously reacting through coordinated scientific knowledge, ingenuity, and sound judgment? Certainly all his assistants and fellow-workers have learned to respect those “hunches.” To Whitney the experiment is the thing. Theoretical analysis is good if it points toward an experiment; it is bad if it proves an experiment should not be tried. “Any fool can show me an experiment is useless. I want the man who will try it and get something out of it.” His answer to a dogmatically expressed opinion is “Have you tried it?” Long experience has convinced him that in research it is the unforeseeable, or a t least, the unforeseen, that is forever cropping up. Theorize all you wish, but experiment. Anything which interferes with experiment is distasteful-red tape, time spent in committee work, and even reports. The report file in his laboratory has been always meager. While he “ngrees in principle” that reports are useful, his greater interest in experiment is not conducive to much reporting by his staff. But, as he says, the useful products of the laboratory constitute the best report of its work. To be forever doing things-investigating, experimenting, “monkeying,” as he has called it-is his delight. Like Walt Rhitman he may “lean, observing a spear of summer grass,” but he could never say with Walt, “I loaf and invite my soul.” Activity is his normal state. An old friend of his likes to tell of one summer vacation spent a t a lake in western New York when Whitney was a young assistant professor at M. I. T. One day Rhitney discovered a shoal in the lake, and immediately it suggested an outlet for his abounding energy. He set to work to build an island on that shoal, bringing tons of rock t.o build up a huge mound, and surrounding it with a bulkhead to protect it against waves and winter ice. For years “Whitney Island” was the chief point of interest on that lake. To labor with experimental apparatus is for him, not to work, but to “play with it.” When he drops in t o see how one of his laboratory staff is progressing in his experiments, a characteristic question is, “Are you having fun today?” Such enthusiasm is contagious, and it is not surprising that Whitney’s laboratory has always seemed thoroughly permeated with a true zest for experimental endeavor. Because of his love of action it is hard for him to delegate minor administrative jobs. It is his natural impulse to do it himself. His assistants have learned by experience that, if a job is delegated, it is well to attend to it on the instant, for otherwise when the assistant gets round to it, he will find that the boss has been there first and the job is done. One kind of job he has refused, on principle, to delegate-the unpleasant job. If dismissal or admonishment of a laboratory worker were needed, Whitney would always perform the distasteful task himself. But in his research work, each man has always been allowed freedom in proportion to his proved ability, in the selection of his problems, and in the method of attack, and no one has been more eager than “the boss” to give all credit for success to the individual who achieved it. H e always forgets his own important contributions, in encouragement, support, and timely suggestion. And he has always been insistent that his men be permitted, through publication of their results, to gain such outside recognition as they have merited. Freedom of publication has always been his firm policy. A reasonable postponement for patent reasons has been the limit of his concessions, and his policy has won complete acceptance throughout the company. In spite of his modesty, Whitney never hesitates to fight, single-
CHEMISTRY
1059
handed if need be, for what he thinks is right. Where the welfare of the laboratory is concerned, he has always been prepared, but never compelled, to fight to the bitter end. On other matters, if he is overruled or outvoted, he accepts the decision not only loyally but cheerfully, and proceeds a t once to make the best of it. Compromise, temporizing, indirection are all repugnant t o Whitney. He thinks straight through to the end and then sets the shortest course to reach it. As in all truly lovable characters, there is something of the child in him. He likes fun and likes to see people happy. At laboratory outings no one gets more enjoyment than he, whether in helping the children in their games, in building the camp fire, or in singing around it, and no stranger would recognize him then as “the big boss,” except by carefully observing the affectionate respect which meets him on all sides. Whitney likes simplicity in things as well as in people. His first office in Schenectady was a corner of a laboratory room where one or two men were continually experimenting. He felt doubt about the wisdom of a new laboratory building, perhaps fearing a falling off from plain living, high thinking, and hard work. Even his new office was severely plain. And yet he is not indifferent to comfort. When his associates took advantage of his absence in Europe to refurnish his office and to improve it in convenience, comfort, and appearance, his enjoyment of his new surroundings on his return was evident. Whitney’s philosophy of life has been only indicated by things he has said, but it is implicit in all he does. He has said, “Inactivity and inappreciation in the presence of infinite, undeveloped truth is the most inexcusable type of error and unfaithfulness.” The appreciation he demands is active appreciation, intensive search into that “infinite, undeveloped truth.” “Research is appreciation.” Research thus becomes a duty-a duty to which he has given a lifetime of complete devotion. All research is good, whatever change it may bring, for all change is good in itself. Perhaps we cannot foresee whither all change is tending, but, just as the variations and mutations in nature have made possible, through natural selection, the grand process of evolution and the development of man, so research and change are multiplying the possibilities from which man may select what he needs to help him along the uncertain trail he calls progress toward the far-off, dimly imagined, goal of universal welfare and happiness. If that philosophy is true, then few men have done as much for ultimate human happiness as he. The Research Laboratory of the General Electric Company has made many important contributions to progress, and that laboratory was created, supported, animated, and inspired by him. But that is not all. His inspirational influence has not been confined within these laboratory walls. His optimism, enthusiasm, sound judgment, and vision have encouraged and stimulated scientists, industrialists, and governmental agencies in widely diverse branches of activity. He has been a catalyzer of far-reaching potency in industrial research. Every man, woman, and child in this country is better off today because Whitney has lived and worked and inspired others. To list what he has accomplished would take time and space, but would not be hard. The difficulty is to depict the man himself, for pervading, unifying, and illuminating his other qualitieshis friendliness, his mental vigor, his breadth of interest and knowledge, his stimulating originality, his delightful flashes of humor, his modesty, courage, directness, and simplicity-is an indefinable charm which defies .portraiture, but which is felt a t the ininstant of meeting him and which is increased and strengthened through years of close association. Those who have been fortunate enough to enjoy such association count it as a true and very great privilege. 1,. A. HAWKINS
