ED ITOR I A L
CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY A T THE BRINK The basic organization o f engineering knowledge is shzfting from the empirical to the fundamental
ince 1909, when it began serving the industrially ACS member, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry has disseminated new knowledge in applied chemistry and chemical engineering. I t began as a journal for industrial chemists, rapidly branched out to serve the newly emerging profession of chemical engineering. I t was, in fact, the combination of the Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry of the ACSwhich provided the speaker's forum-and Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, which provided the written forum, that was instrumental in producing a feeling of unity in the profession, identifying the leaders of the profession, and informing the practitioners of the profession. Over the past 40 years, in response to the needs of its readers, I&EC has spawned four full-fledged daughter publications : Chemical and Engineering News, Analytical Chemistry, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, and Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data. And two years ago, again in the interests of its readers, I&EC significantly modified its format to create three specialized quarterlies-Fundamentals, Process Design and Development, and Product Research and Development-along with a monthly edition. The three quarterlies carry out the traditional literature function of I&EC, the presentation of new knowledge in applied chemistry and chemical engineering, but repackaged for greater accessibility. The monthly I&EC is in essence a new magazine, created in response to the needs of the time. Applied chemical knowledge stands today on the brink of a reorganization in approach that may well be
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INDUSTRIAL AND E N G I N E E R I N G CHEMISTRY
even more important to you in the next 20 years than the reorganization of 40 years ago that led to Unit Operations, Unit Processes, and professional status for chemical engineers. This time the reorganization is not empirical but fundamental and will be on the basis of transport phenomena, sophisticated mathematics, computer programming, and chemistry. The end result will be the consolidation of a diffuse, fragmented subject area into a unified, more cohesive field in the same manner, but on a different level of understanding, as unit operations unified it earlier. I t is the function of I & E C monthly to bring to you the nature, the meaning, and the details of this reorganization as it occurs. I t is doing this now through coniprehensive summaries, surveys, reviews, and expository articles to create organized, cohesive pictures of bodies of knowledge presented in a direct, effective way. The cooperative venture of The Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry with the publication, ratified overwhelmingly by the Division membership late in 1963, is a most important facet of this program. I t re-establishes the close relationship that existed in the '20s and '30s that contributed so much to the profession and its members. I t gives the editors direct access to active areas of the profession. I t gives you, the practitioners, both an oral platform and a published platform from which to contribute to the advancement of your profession, and, in turn, to benefit professionally yourselves.
