ACCOIVTS OF CHEXICAL RESEARCH” Registered in U S Patent and Trademark O f f i c e ,Copyright 1982 b j the American Chemical Societj
VOLUME 15
NUMBER 4
APRIL, 1982
EDITOR JOSEPH F. BUNNETT ASSOCIATE EDITORS Joel E. Keizer John E. McMurry EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Fred Basolo R. Stephen Berry Michel Boudart Maurice M. Bursey Edward A. Collins John T. Gerig Jenny P. Glusker Kendall N. Houk Jay K. Kochi Maurice M. Kreevoy Theodore Kuwana Ronald N. McElhaney Eva L. Menger Kurt Mislow John C. Polanyi Alexander Rich Anthony M. Trozzolo Gene G. Wubbels Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 1155 16th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036
BOOKS A N D JOURNALS DIVISION D. H. Michael Bowen. Director Journals Department: Charles R. Bertsch, Head; Marianne C. Brogan, Associate Head; Mary E. Scanlan, Assistant Manager Marketing and Sales Department: Claud K. Robinson, Head Production Department: Elmer M. Pusey, Jr., Head Research and Development Department: Seldon W. Terrant, Head The American Chemical Society and its editors assume no responsibility for
the statements and opinions advanced by contributors. Views expressed in the editorials are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the official position of the American Chemical Society.
To Meet or Not To Meet The rewards from attending scientific meetings are substantial, and are often stated: one learns about recent developments both from for.mal presentations and from informal conversations; one often has an opportunity to present one’s work and to obtain plaudits and criticism; one is able to conduct business, in scheduled committee meetings or in private conferences; one learns about new instrumentation, new books, or new computer systems; one becomes personally acquainted with other scientists, and that facilitates effective working interaction on Iater occasions; and one picks up gossip about the international subsociety of chemists in which we exist. These rewards all serve to keep the scientist up to date in knowledge of field and in scientific perspective. But perhaps even more important is the perspective on one’s self that is obtained. In conversation with an old classmate, one may be in awe of the command of some new technique or some new body of theory that he has obtained and return home determined to obtain the same mastery. Or in talking with a chemist who has made quite a name for some recent achievement, one may come to realize that the famous person, although clearly bright and competent, is not obviously one’s intellectual superior. One’s self-esteem rises, and one may be inspired by thoughts that if that guy can do it, why can’t I? Alternatively, the scientist may become aware that already in his own work he has stepped out well ahead of his peers. In all these respects, attending meetings serves to strengthen and refresh one’s perception of one’s self as a professional scientist, to renew motivation, and to counter self-deprecating attitudes that may s:owly develop as a chemist works in relative isolation. The values to the chemist’s employer, whether a college, university, or industrial firm, from increased professional consciousness in a scientist seem so obvious that it is difficult to understand the attitudes of some managers who tend to view attending meetings as a semiluxurious perquisite, a kind of fringe benefit to the staff scientist of little value to the organization. Although it must be admitted that some chemists abuse the trust placed in them by excessively stealing time from meetings for golfing or sightseeing, a management policy that seems to assume such behavior must be selfdefeating. Awareness of the rewards from attending meetings must be tempered by recognition that the rewards decrease as the frequency of attendance increases. Whatever is gained from going to another meeting must be balanced against the fact that spending 3 days a t a meeting subtracts 3 or more days from time that might have been spent at the solid work of research. It is unfortunate that occasionally several meetings with the same general emphasis are scheduled in close geographic and temporal proximity. The planners and sponsors of meetings should give serious attention to spacing them appropriately. For related meetings that recur with regular frequency, the sponsoring organizations ought to agree on a long-term pattern that will avoid conflicts or near misses. The good calendar of scheduled meetings published regularly in Chemistry International provides information that organizers of meetings should heed. Also, once a meeting has been set, the editor of the calendar should immediately be informed. Joseph F. Bunnett
