Chemistry a n d World Problems
and I walked into his office with the information, be leaned back in his chair, smiled, and said not a single To the Editor: word. The following is an answer by a high-school student This was just before his main lecture a t five o'clock to an unrehearsed question: "What has your beginning course in chemistry offered you for the solution in the evening, a lecture which was always so crowded that many people sat on the steps. When he didn't of world problems?" appear on his usual punctual minute, there was some "(1) My chemistry has shown me that all nations have a commotion and finally a young student appeared a t need for raw materials located in many countries, not one. the door down a t the bottom of the lecture hall and (2) Chemistry has shown me that the world of tomorrow can announced that the professor wanted to see m a i n my be better if we wish to make it so, for (3) The scientific method has shown me that some of our laboratory a t once and that the lecture was canceled. trouble lies in our way of thinking. Naturally, there was considerable astonishment. On (4) My study has shown that science can and does work rushing to my laboratory, I found Professor Werner for the benefit of mankind if we wish it so. already there, and i t was then that his brilliance was so (5) The famous figures of science have helped me to realize obvious. He scintillated in the work which followed as that there are neat men among all the races." to what to do. He was fearsome lest we should lose I think we can say that this boy has grasped the the optical activity, fearsome that the materials might principles of appreciation and understanding. Does racemize overnight, etc. So we made many salts and he know the facts of chemistry? Oh my, yes! many combinations until late a t night. As i t turned GRETAOPPE out, none of them ever racemized anyway, but it was BALLHIon SCHOOL extremely interesting to see his mind a t work on an GALVESTON. TEXAS occasion of that sort. Also, we had a little race between my laboratory and his assistants to see who A Rough b u t Brilliant Diamond could get the material analyzed for complete elemental To the Editor: analysis first and verify that our accomplishments I enjoyed very much reading Dr. Berl's article on were unassailable. He came in to see me the next day, "Some Personal Recollections of Alfred Werner" in the or the day after, inquiring, "Well, our analyses check, JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION, and, of course, I how about yours?" and I was able to say, "Mine deeply appreciate the compliment of mentioning my checked yesterday.'' name in connection with his. We got along famously and I have always cherished I became very fond of Alfred Werner and got to know a tremendous admiration for him and intensely aphim extremely well because of the work which I did for preciate the opportunity of having worked under his him. Over a period of some nine years, a series of men direction. in his laboratory had unsuccessfully tried to prove for V. L. KING him that there were optically active isomers that were not dependent on the asymmetry of carbon: so that when my work turned out successfully and the first optically active chemicals of this sort were prepared, he T h e G r a m Electron was immensely pleased. While some people thought that he had a somewhat To - . the FAitnr: .. rough manner, i t was the roughness of the uncut diaI should like to express my appreciation for the inmond and was counterbalanced by an extreme brilliance of thinking. I shall never forget the day that the op- teresting contents of your JOURNAL. I particularly tically active isomers were first attained. In connection appreciate detailed writenps of interesting experiments with this work, I had been carrying out some 2000 for laboratory courses as the one in electrometric therfractional crystallizations and had been studying mochemistry by Cameron and Wright.' I was quite interested in the article, "The Gram Madame Curie's work on radium for that purpose. Electron," by Audrieth and C ~ p l e yand , ~ was on the After having made these. 2000 separate fractional point of writing a supplementary article. I think that crystallizations which proved that the opposite ends of the system were precisely alike and that we had to do the mol of electrons should play an important place in something more drastic, I proposed increasing the atomistics. I am a little concerned, however, with the dissimilarity of the diastomers by using brom camphor large emphasis on the mass of the mol, and I am quite sulfonic acid as a salt-forming constituent having amused a t the large diversity of symbols used in standextremely high optical activity. When this was tried, ard textbooks for one mol of electron, as I have been the isomers in the form of these salts literally fell apart. able to run across ten different symbols. As I pointed Prior to this, almost everyone in academic circles, out in footnote 10, in a recent article [J.Am. Chem. Soc., knowinz the reoutation of the Droblem. used to a e e t 64, 398 (1942)l one can assign the following convenAND WRIOm, "An experiment in electrical calome on the streits in Zurich with the hquiry, "%ell, =nor4 J. CHEM.EDUC.. 18,510 (1941). does i t rotate yet?" It got to be a standing greeting rimetry." z A u o n r E ~ nAm CoPLEy,,-The gram electran,s s 373 with which everyone met me; so when the day came (1941).
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