INDUSTRIAL andENGINEERING CHEMISTRY Publhhed by the Amerioan Chemionl Sosiety
EDITORIALS
HARRISON E. HOWE. Editor
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Science and Recovery
High standing in chemistry and supporting subjects is taken for granted, but one requires much beyond chemistry. A good personality is the finest asset and those who have not benefited through their own or the efforts of others to develop it are, indeed, to be pitied. There is plenty of room for the individual genius, but he must not be so individual that he fails to cooperate with his group. Fairness, tolerance, honesty, and many other virtues are possessed by those who meet the least difficulty in securing that job. The May issue of the Register of Phi Lambda Upsilon devotes some space to this business of job-getting. Forrest Anderson, who has had much experience in helping young people place themselves, makes ten points which will be helpful guideposts.
THE of so
annual meetings of the Chamber of Commerce the United States bring together a large number of men important in their various spheres of activity as to lend great weight to their pronouncements. In a summary of national business affairs published by the Chamber in the Washington Review for May 8, 1939, outlining “A Course for Recovery”, we find: Inventions, scientific discoveries, and new processes have played a constant and vital part in the development of the technology and national progress of the United States throughout its history. As geographic frontiers receded with the increased prosperity and growth of the country, individual enterprise envisioned, developed, and brought to the point of public benefit ever new economic frontiers. New products, new uses, and new industries appeared in never-ending progression. Great possibilities for enduring expansion in the volume of business and employment lie in the practical application of the results of scientific research. Since 1930 science and invention have far outrun the application of new discoveries and techniques to the use and benefit of the consumer. It is of greatest importance, therefore, that no obstacles be placed in the way of the most intensive utilization of the results of invention and skientific discovery. Ill-advised changes in the patent laws would constitute such obstacles. It is likewise essential that present deterrents to the investment of capital for the development of new products and processes be quickly removed. Changes in statutory and administrative regulations which are impeding the flow of risk-bearing capital into new enterprise should be immediately effected.
1. Secure a correct and selected list of companies who are interested in men of your training. 2. Present a qualification record which puts forth concisely all the facts of your education. 3. Have information at hand about the business and products of the selected companies you are to interview. 4. Present yourself for your personal interview neatly dressed. Be on time. 5 . Don’t wear out your welcome, but take enough time to present all facts in an endeavor to bring the employer to a definite decision. 6 . Summarize clearly all points and agreements before terminating the interview. 7. Make another appointment if the employer wishes you to return a t a later date. 8. Exit courteously and avoid flattery. 9. The “follow-up” is important. Send a letter of thanks for the interview, ConGrm the important dates and points of the discussion. 10. Persistence in selling yourself to a job is necessary. Marketing man power is not so different from the selling of any other commodity.
Chemistry Plus N E of the most critical periods in life has arrived 0 for many young man woman graduate who has devoted several years to preparation for a career a
or
in chemistry. Many have already sought and secured places. For others the job is yet to be found. I n seeking employment it will soon be learned that the hard work required to obtain advanced scholastic standing was well spent, for employers are more and more interested in good academic records and many confine their attention to the upper fractions of the class. The applicant for a job will also find that broad training was helpful and that adaptability, which makes it possible for him to qualify for one of several places, rather than specialization, which leads him to think he is best suited to work in a narrower field, is distinctly advantageous. Good habits go without saying, and sound physical health is invaluable.
Women in Chemistry
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ITH only two or three exceptions, the various types of employment available to those practicing chemistry have been filled with credit and distinction by women. While larger numbers are found in some pursuits than in others, this only serves to focus the attention of those who train girls on why this should be true and to raise the query as to what adjustments should be made in the training to overcome any obstacles that may prevent a woman chemist from enjoying the same opportunities offered her brother. 651
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INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
Recently at the Connecticut College in New London, and in cooperation with the Institute of Women’s Professional Relations, the question was discussed, “Where Are the Opportunities for Women Chemists?” Nearly all of the participants emphasized the importance of auxiliary skills in opening the door to rewarding opportunities. Secretarial training, library management, advanced filing, abstracting, a knowledge of patent procedure and law were among the skills advocated. Some argued that the preference of industries for men is not because of greater inherent ability but rather because men are more flexible as employees. They can work in many places in an organization which, because of the ordinary setup of industry, have been practically closed to women. One speaker declared that the difficulty existed primarily because of the lack of teamwork among women, plus a lack of aggressiveness necessary in getting above the ordinary laboratory status. The probability of marriage and consequent withdrawal from the service was also believed to be one of the strongest factors in creating prejudice in the industrial field against the advancement of women. This interesting conference is a splendid introduction to the discussion to be continued before the Division of Chemical Education at the Boston meeting in a Symposium on Training and Opportunities for Women in Chemistry. This is not to introduce the debatable question of women versus men in chemistry, and it is not the intent here or elsewhere to accuse the women of being belligerent in this matter. It is, instead, a serious attempt to examine the whole question in the hope of finding those things which women can do just as well or better perhaps than men chemists. We already know that there are certain fields for which women chemists seem to be particularly well adapted and the most should be made of these. An increasing number of women are being well trained in our colleges and universities, and many of these have chosen science as a career and are vitally concerned in finding a place where service can be rendered wholly on the basis of merit and satisfactory discharge of their duties. We predict this symposium will attract worthwhile discussion, as well as a large and interested audience.
Disappointing Postponement S THIS is written the Senate and the House have A in conference a bill which, if it becomes law, will extend the effective date of the labeling provisions a
of the new Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act six months, with another six a possibility for those manufacturers willing to file an affidavit with the Secretary of Agriculture stating that compliance with the law would be unduly burdensome and affirming that the public interest is being adequately served.
VOL. 31, NO. 6
We need not remind you how long it took to secure the passage of the act which was intended to enable authorities better to protect the public consumer, nor of pressure which was brought by many groups, usually out of greed and selfishness, to defeat the purposes of the act. When it became a law it surely seemed that the year provided should enable any manufacturer who had the will to do so to be ready upon the effective date of June 25,1939. Indeed, many such manufacturers are ready, but there are those who say they still have large stocks of goods in hand which would have to be relabeled before they could be shipped, and there are those who claim that the label makers have been so busy that new labels could not be provided. Consequently, the hardship to be worked upon them by conforming with the law is far more important than doing what the law requires for the protection of the consumer. To us it does not make good sense, even though to some it may make cents. At any rate, those manufacturers and others who take advantage of any extension certainly assume a considerable obligation to the consumer, and must see to it that the public is in effect as well protected where their goods are concerned as if they had seen fit to make themselves ready to comply with the act when scheduled to become law with full force.
Forty Years in Fibers
IF WE
are correctly informed, what we now call rayon was first displayed as artificial silk at the Paris Exposition in 1899. The fiber from the laboratory of that day was a considerable advance over that which Count Chardonnet had produced in his effort to do as well as the silk worm. It represented the fruits of long-continued research and financial support that wrecked a company or two before one found out how to make rayon and profits at the same time. Forty years have passed during which time a number of marked improvements have been made in this chemical fiber. Very little is now produced by even an improved Chardonnet process, and under the name “rayon” there have come fibers which cover a wide range in quality and serviceability resulting from ingenuity, invention, and research poured into an industry that has grown almost beyond belief and now circles the world. Forty years is a short time for such accomplishments and brings us to the World’s Fairs of today where, in place of the fragile fiber of yesteryear, we wonder a t the latest fruit of sustained research in organic chemistry-namely, nylon. From a chemical fiber inferior to silk to another superior to it in 40 years is something for which chemistry and those who supported it may be proud. It promises so many advantages to the consumer that one waits with impatience for the availability of the new product on a commercial scale.
