Letters Chromatography Discussion Groups Sir: The FOCUS article on "Chroma tography Discussion Groups" in the February 1983 issue is very inter esting, but I wish to point out that the Chicago group was not the first to offer a short course on chromatogra phy. UCLA offered the first such course four years earlier in February 1959. The five-day course was attend ed by some 100 people from all over the country. The lectures were subse quently edited by myself and pub lished by John Wiley as "Principles and Practices of Gas Chromatogra phy" (1959). The course was repeated a total of nine times at roughly annual intervals. During the 1960s nearly all of the leading chromatographers in the U.S. and Europe participated. Robert L. Pecsok College of Arts and Sciences University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
ChemAlert Guide Sir: I was most impressed with the new approach to labeling adopted by Fisher Scientific (Anal. Chem. 1983, 55, 645 A). For practicing chemists who find it difficult to keep up-to-date with health guidelines, the ChemAlert label
is a great idea. I wonder, though, shouldn't the serious-looking scientist in the advertisement be wearing prop er gloves as recommended on the label of the bottle he is holding? Michael H. Jones P.O. Box 124 Port Melbourne 3207 Victoria, Australia
Analysis and Determination Revisited Sir: With regard to John Mitchell, Jr.'s, letter concerning the inability of new PhD graduates to communicate effectively (Anal. Chem. 1982, 54 (14), 1458 A), may I say that my country is facing the same problem. The main credit for this state of affairs should go to the English teachers in our gram mar schools and the science teachers in our colleges. While the youngsters are strangers to English grammar and composition, the college students are equally unfamiliar with monumental
scientific works, such as Mellor's "Treatise on General and Inorganic Chemistry" or even his textbook. As a result, even new PhD graduates can not communicate effectively. They lack clarity, precision, and the ability to write succinctly. Κ. Ν. Krishna Prasad F-Two, HWP (Kota) Colony P.O. Rawatbhata 323 305 Kota, Rajasthan India
EREE GAS ANALYSIS HELP
& • * • •
il
Guide to Gas Analysis by Gas Chromatography
Series 400 Gas Chromatographs 50 dit fprent gas analysis applications available
*
CARLE® GAS CHROMATOGRAPHS
CIRCLE 37 ON READER SERVICE CARD
1036 A · ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 55, NO. 11, SEPTEMBER 1983
