Chemists and the Teaching of Chemistry' CHARLES D. HOWARD Director, Division of Chemistry and Sanitation, New Hampshire Board of Health
means that the student fresh from college,.whether he be the holder of a bachelor or an advanced degree, has a great deal to learn before he safely can be entrusted to proceed without supervision. True, he can soon learn to be a mere analyst in this field; hut there is more to it than that. The same is even more true of food analysis, which, aside from dairy products, is a more complex subject than is that of water and sewage. A major part of the duty of the food analyst is to determine compliance with law, as concerns adulteration and misbranding. There are, of course, textbook methods for his guidance. But here the field is an exceedingly wide one. The determination of whether or not a given article is misbranded calls not only for sound basic training and skilled chemical knowledge but for an intimate understanding of our food laws as well. Foods for analysis cannot he put through any general routine procedure applicable to all; each is a problem by itself. The main thing a t the outset is to know what to do in a given case, which determinations are essential to that particular case, and which ones are not. Any chemist can carry out a moisture or an ash or a fat or a nitrogen determination. Too often our men have been disposed to do these thmgs perfunctorily, to record such data on acard, turn i t in, and let it go a t that-the results often telling us little of what we really need to know concerning the article under investigation. Our work also involves the analysis of drugs and medicines and the associated preparations of cosmetics, a subject more difficult and exacting than any other, with the possible exception of toxicology and related chemico-legal investigations. It is true that, as in food analysis, there are schemes for drug assays which the chemist may follow, and some of these are relatively simple. But when he gets into the field of compounds and mixtures, proprietary remedies, and the analysis of unknowns, he has some difficult problems, ones calling for a considerable knowledge of the subjects of pharmacy and pharmacology. So far as I have observed. the chemists who come to us from our colleges and technical schools have received no instruction whatever in these subjects. Hence, that knowledge has to he acquired "on the job." It can, of course, be argued that these are specialty matters taught in the schools of pharmacy, and that we should look to the latter for this type of chemist. Unfortunately, in our department, as in most other state health laboratories, we do not have the means of doing this. We must depend upon the graduate in general chemistry, who in most cases comes to us fresh from his 1 Presidential Address, New Hampshire Academy of Science. collegiate training. This does not prevent expression 1942.
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AM utilizing this opportunity to discuss-as it has concerned me and for what it may be worth as being merely one man's impression-some general aspects of the profession which, during my fifty years' conuectiou with it, have occasioned me some thought a t various times. I trust that in connection with what I shall have to say, i t will he appreciated that no personalities are intended. I t may be wondered how one so lacking in classroom teaching experience should presume to discuss the handiwork of those with whom teaching is a profession. Admittedly, I am not a teacher in the accepted sense, although I have been instructing chemists in certain applications of this science for the greater part of my life-to say nothing of trying to instil some aspects of it into the minds of a large section of the general public. During the past thirty-seven years I have witnessed an almost constant procession of youthful chemists, from various institutions, going through our lahoratories. As a rule these have remained there just about long enough to qualify elsewhere for better salaries than the State has chosen to pay-incidentally, a shortsighted attitude on the State's part. Most of these young men have been good, a few have been exceptional, and, as might be expected, some have not been so good. In some of the latter cases I have had to feel that training was not all it might have been, a t least not for our purpose. The work of the chemical lahoratories of our State health department comprehends a rather wide field. Yet much of it is only indirectly concerned with the usual run of applied subjects taught the student of chemistry in the colleges and technical schools, where after the fundamentals, the teaching largely tends toward industrial pursuits. It is true there is some instruction in the application of sanitary chemistry. The student will conduct one or more water analyses and he will do a little food analysis, receiving also some instruction in'the analysis of dairy products. He will, if the course is sufficiently comprehensive, get some other specialties in this field. At best, however, as regards application of sanitary science, he gains but a smattering knowledge-a sort of general idea of what it is all about. In our lahoratories .each year several thousand samples of water are run, bacteriologically and chemically. Inorder to handle this routine, to doit accurately and understandingly, and especially in order t o interpret correctly the significance of the analytical findings, as these relate to the numerous special problems arising,
of a wish on my part that the professional chemistry course might include the rudiments of drugs and their analysis, although I realize this is something scarcely to be hoped for. In a lahoratory such as ours there are many miscellaneous examinations. A popular impression has persisted through the years that ours is the "State Laboratory," to which any citizen is permitted to submit for analysis a specimen of almost anything concerning which he desires information. Of course, as a part of a health department, there is actually no such general privilege. Nevertheless, some of this miscellaneous work we feel obligated to do as an accommodation for our citizens. Also, a great deal of it devolves upon us in connection with our enforcement of various special laws. We have numerous specimens submitted us of unknown character, or without labeling, where i t is desired to know what the thing is, its comparative value, whether or not there is any illegality in its sale or distribution, or whether or not it involves anything deleterious to health. The analyst must know what to do, and no time must be wasted in making determinations not calculated to throw light on the problem or to attain the particular end sought. In short, this implies the abiity to so conduct an investigation as to find out certain facts needing to be ascertained. That is the art of the analytical chemist. That ability, as I see it, is what distinguishes the true chemist from the mere analyst. It is something calling for brains, as well as for an interest and enthusiasm in one's field. Manifestly, the abiity to do this efficiently is something which can only he acquired by experience. Of the new graduate, i t scarcely is to be expected. What we are entitled to expect of such graduate is that the capacity for this be in his mental equipment. Without this capacity he should not be graduated in chemistry. Accuracy is a sine qua non in any lahoratory. In one such as ours, concerned so largely as it is with the law enforcement, an analyst's lack of capacity for accurate and dependable work is a fatal defect. Not only must we be absolutely certain of our work when i t is a case involving court action but this is almost equally necessary in connection with the many notifications annually addressed by us to manufacturers and dealers charging adulteration, mislabeling, or other illegality or impropriety. It simply means that the work of the tyro chemist must he constantly supervised. For many years, one of my tasks has been to scan and to judge the compatibility, plausibility, and reasonableness of analytical findings turned in to my desk. It is rather remarkable, perhaps, how one can eventually develop a sort of sixth sense for noting figures of dubious accuracy. Even so, one cannot,, of course, be infallible in this respect. And if the inaccuracy is not obvious from our knowledge of the thing involved and on the grounds of consistency and compatibility, it is likely to get by. Finallv. I should like to em~hasizethe modern and most impbrtant role of bacterioiogy in a health depart-
ment chemical laboratory. Today, the practitioner of sanitary chemistry must be a bacteriologist as well as a chemist. Bacteriological examinations are a routine and important part of every water and dairy product analysis. These the sanitary chemist has to be trained and qualified to perform and to evaluate, no less than the purely chemical operations. They cannot he turned over to another laboratory. Also, in connection with food analysis in general, the bacteriological aspect frequently is involved. For example, a few months ago we had an outbreak of food poisoning involving nearly 100 cases of sickness, with two deaths. As a part of our job, we were called upon to investigate this and were successful in definitely determining not only the particular article of food but the organism responsible--often a bafffing thing to do. Hence, the student in chemistry who may anticipate entering a health department lahoratory, a water works control laboratory, or a food industry laboratory should have the fundamentals of bacteriology and be equipped with a good working knowledge of bacteriological technic. Too often in the past such a knowledge has been completely lacking in the chemists we have received. For that matter, I would go even further than chemists and would exact a similar requirement of students in sanitaxy engineering. As I conceive it, two general aims are involved in the teaching of chemistry. One of these is to impart the rudiments of the science to that overwhelmingly large class of students who, in after life, will make no application of it. The other is the making of professional chemists. Intermediate are to he recognized such professions as those of medicine and nursing and the teaching of high school science, for which a fair working knowledge of the principles of chemistry is essential. My personal feeling is that for the lay student, whether he be in high school or in college, the teaching of chemistry now tends to be overdone in the sense that there is too much complex theory, too much of the mathematical and physical phase, too much of various things the knowledge of which will be of no possible value to the future farmer, artisan, business man, or housewife, and which knowledge will quickly fade. The trouble, as I see it, is that some chemistry teachers are so imbued with their subject that they are unconsciously bending their efforts to the making of pseudo-chemists of those who will spend their lives in the ordinary everyday pursuits by which most people gain a livelihood. Time and again persons coming to my office have said to me in substance that they "took chemistry in the high school" but that they now remember little or nothing about it, and some have remarked how difficult a subject it was for them to comprehend. And I am sure there is many a person who should have some knowledge of the rudiments hut who has none whatsoever, or even any very good idea of what i t is all about, simply because, while in high school, he gained an impression that it was a "tough subject," so avoided it altogether. ~ I h i sis most unfortunate. To my mind, every per-
son during the course of his education should be required to gain some acquaintance with this science. To this end, dabbling into the intricacies of chemical physics and mathematics, such as "the arrangement of planetary electrons," "the structure of atoms," "the theory of electrolytic dissociation," and methods for the determination of atomic weights, should have but a minor place in an academic course, whether this be in high school or college. I have taken occasion to examine a number of highschool and college text books in this science. While some have appealed as excellent from the standpoint of this discussion, too many others left me with small wonder a t the bewilderment and befuddlement experienced by so many academic students, a t their violent distaste for this subject. True, some like it, some have no difficulty, and I suppose i t can be argued, as for Greek and the higher mathematics, that it is all good mental discipline, assisting to a well-rounded general education. The chemistry of common things and the rudiments of the applications of this science in the arts and industry are fascinating subjects. I well remember my own high-school course based upon a most interesting and valuable little textbook called "Steele's Fourteen Weeks in Chemistry." Everyone was required to take that course and I believe nearly everyone like it and profited from it. Its merit was that it was simple. It dealt with the commoner aspects of this science which everyone should be required to know something about. And so I would sav to the teachers of such students. ~avoid those topics which are of more concern to the professional chemist, and "keep i t simple." By so doing, I believe these students will gain more in the end and there also will be more students of this subject. As to the making of professional chemist, I will mention two more things. One of these is that as the course ~
advances and the student gets into the specialties of the subject, he may forget or fail to continue to apply the knowledge earlier gained of fundamental principles. It has not been unusual for me to encounter men who, whiie seemingly familiar enough with the more advanced phases of the science, have too hazy a knowledge of the fundamentals underlying the operations of qualitative, quantitative, and volumetric analysis, of such simpler things as valence and the ability to make chemical computations accurately and understandingly. I do not know how this deficiency could be remedied, unless i t might be through devoting more time and attention to these fundamentals a t the time they are first studied, or else through refresher courses given in the senior year. Whether he be the holder of a bachelor's, a master's, or a doctor's degree, any deficiency here is serious, if the chemist is to enter an analytical laboratory. The other thing I would emphasize is that, whether the person be a chemist, an engineer, or a member of any other professional group, the ability to write decent English, to prepare a report which is presentable to the public, which is logical in its deductions, and which presents all of the salient facts, is something very much to be desired. My observations of this matter lead me to conclude that in our high schools and colleges there is a tendency to devote too little attention to this very important matter of English composition. Too often the tendency is, as I believe, to give the student a little of it, then allow him to drop it and pass to other and presumably more important things. It might not be unreasonable to suggest not only that the writing of themes of some kind be made a requisite during the entire course but also that such themes or reports be criticized on the basis of use of English and logic of expression as well as for accuracy of statement of fact.
