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NEWS
JANUARY 2α, 1958
VOL. 36, N O . 3
APPLIED JOURNALS, ACS Director of Publications: C. B. Larrabee Editorial Director: W . J . Murphy Executive Editor: James M . Crowe Production Manager: Joseph H. Kuney CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING NEWS Editor: Richard L. Kenyon Managing Editor: Robert F. Gould Assistant Managing Editor: Gordon H . Bixler EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS W A S H I N G T O N 6, D. C . 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Phone Republic 7-5300 Teletype WA 23 News Editor: Kenneth M. Reese Associate Editors: George B. Krantz, Ruth Cornette Assistant Editors: Kathryn Campbell, Helen H. Blunt, Betty V. Kieffer, Arthur Poulos, Robert J . Riley, Robert J. Kelley, James H. Krieger, Hanns L. Sperr Editorial Assistants: Barbara R. Christie, Leah K. Hendriksen Sfaff Artist: Wlelvin D. Buckner BRANCH EDITORIAL OFFICES C H I C A G O 3, I L L . Room 926 36 South Wabash Ave. Phono State 2-5148 Teletype C G 725 Associate Editors: Howard J . Sanders, Chester Placek Assistant Editor: Laurence J . White HOUSTON 2, T E X . 718 Melrose BIdg. Phone Fairfax 3-7107 Teletype HO 72 Associa te Editor: Bruce F. Greek Assistant Editor: Earl V. Anderson NEW Y O R K 16, Ν. Υ. 2 Park Ave. Phone Oregon 9-1646 Teletype NY 1-4726 Associate Editors: William Q. Hull, Harry Stenerson, David M . Kiefer, D. Gray Weaver, Walter S. Fedor, Morton Sal kind Assistant Editor: Louis A. Agnello
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SAN FRANCISCO 4, C A L I F . 703 Mechanics 1 Institute BIdg. 57 Post St. Phone Ex brook 2-2895 Teletype SF 549 Associate Editor: Richard G. Newhall Assistant Editor: David E. Gushee
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EASTON, PA. 20th and Northampton Sts. Phone Easton 9111 Teletype ESTN Pa 48 Associate Editor: Chas-îotte C. Sayre Editorial Assistants: Joyce A. Richards, Elizabeth R. Rufe, June A. Barron
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EUROPEAN OFFICE Bush House, Aldwych, London Phone Temple Bar 3605 Cable JIECHEM Associate Editor: Albert S. Hester Advisory Board: Hazel Bishop, R. W. Cairns, Maurice F. Crass, Jr., C . C. Furnas, John L. Gillis, Lloyd A. Hall, R. W . McNamee. J. E. Magoffin, Theodore Marvin, Lloyd H . Reyerson, Glenn T. Seaborg, Carl Setterstrom, John C . Sheehan, Frank J. Soday, Thomas K. Vaughn Advertising Management REINHOLD PUBLISHING CORP. 430 Park Ave., New York 22, Ν . Υ. (For Branch Offices see page 123) The American Chemical Society assumes no responsi bility for the statements and opinions advanced by con tributors to its publicarions. Views expressed in the edi torials arc those of the editors and do not necessarily repre sent the official position of the American Chemical Society.
BRODE TO HEAD SCIENTIFIC LIAISON Revived State Department Program Can Be of Great Value to Scientists Around the
World
SCIENTISTS EVERYWHERE applaud the State Department's action in reviving the science attaché program, and are especially pleased that Wallace R. Brode will head it. H e has their complete confidence and respect and will be able to recruit a competent staff. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, commenting on the appointment, said h e was "most gratified that such a distinguished scientist as Dr. Brode has accepted the post of science adviser." T h e department's announcement also stated that the appointment "signals a fresh emphasis on its science attaché program/' It is pertinent t o point out that Dr. Brode reports directly to the Secretary of State. This is very different from the earlier set-up. It is not q u i t e clear why t h e program was slashed i n 1955. Official explanation was that it was curtailed so it could b e reviewed. This has never been accepted as a valid reason by the scientific fraternity. More plausibly, it was dropped for budget-cutting reasons. It never was abandoned completely. Perhaps it should be described as having been placed in a stand-by condition—mothballed. This is no time for recrimination. Much good could have been accomplished if, instead of being interrupted, the program h a d been continued a n d expanded. Now, with a go-ahead from the Administration, w e believe Dr. Brode will move swiftly a n d effectively to restore it and expand its operations in an era w h e n i t is most important to increase greatly our scientific contacts abroad. W e can b e pardoned, we think, for feeling especially proud that Dr. Brode's training and experience include a doctorate in chemistry. During World W a r II h e was liaison officer in Paris for t h e Office of Scientific Research and Development. Later h e headed the science department of the Naval Ordnance Test Station in California. For some years he has been associate director of the National Bureau of Standards, and knows how to get things done in Government. He has been a teacher, is an editor of a highly respected scientific journal, and this year is president of AAAS. H e is a Director of the ACS and has played a prominent role in IUPAC. As a result of these a n d other activities at the international level he is known personally by scientists throughout the world. According to the State Department, science attachés will be stationed in England, France, West Germany, Sweden, Japan, and possibly in other countries. Russia is not included, b u t we think it should be and hope in time that it will. Our science attachés were not and will not be super-duper spies. Science, however, should kstow no national boundaries, and much good can come to us and to .other countries if there is wide dissemination of basic scientific information. There is urgent need for many more international meetings of scientists and technologists. We hope Dr. Brode will b e able to stimulate planning for many such affairs in this country, for they will have a beneficial effect on our good neighbor policies a n d can a n d will promote the expansion of our technical aid program. There is desperate urgency for more international cooperation in t h e fields of documentation and retrieval of scientific information. The various ways scientific attachés can serve this country and its scientists a n d engineers need not be enumerated here. We were quite critical when the program was curtailed in 1955 and have frequently urged that it b e restored. Now that we have it again, we are obligated to support it. It holds great potentiality for service t o scientists. Its success will, in a very large measure, be based on t h e cooperation we all give it.
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