A
FATHERS MJf SONS ϋβ^Β^β weoer ana weoer H. C. P. Weber BORN
in Bloomfield,
N . J., in 1S78,
H. C. P . Weber (the son of a clergyman), t h e elder of this Weber team, grew up in Philadelphia a n d attended public and high school there. T h e n followed a n intermission in studies of a few years which were spent in a chemical company i n Newark where he was in charge of nitrocellulose manufacture in one of t h e first centrifuge nitrating systems in t h e country. After this experience in t h e nineties Germ a n y looked like a good place t o s t u d y chemistry and he undertook postgraduate work in t h e Universities of Leipzig a n d Wuerzburg. I n Leipzig he studied under such well-known men as Ostwald (then a t about the height of his career) in physical chemistry, Beckman in laboratory work, and the elder Wislicenus in organic chemistry. From there to Wuerzburg for t h e d o c torate thesis under Professor Medicus. Hantsch was one of t h e shining lights a t Wuerzburg a n d t h e Physikalisches P r a k ticum in Wuerzburg w a s t h e laboratory where Roentgen h a d discovered x-rays. Roentgen h a d just been called t o Munich after his great discoveries. I t was a t Wuerzburg t h a t t h e elder Weber received his doctor's degree in 1903. After teaching high-school science for a short while in t h e E a s t , D r . Weber almost became a powder expert a t Sandy Hook (Civil Service examination plus knowledge of nitrocellulose manufacture). B u t t h e other half of t h e family—there was now a n other half—objected t o t h e powder e n d of t h e business a n d so t h e Civil Service . examination led t o t h e National Bureau of Standards instead. This h a d just been created with D r . S t r a t t o n a s head a n d W, A. Noyes in charge of chemistry. T h i s was in 1907. T h e work a t t h e Bureau of S t a n d a r d s covered such subjects as methods of analyses, zinc samples, iron analysis. T h e first standard steel samples were then issuing from t h e bureau. Other problems h e studied were stability of nitrocellulose a n d the atomic weights of chlorine a n d b r o mine. For this work on the atomic weight of
chlorine
the
AMERICAN
CHEMICAL
SOCIETY awarded t h e Nichols Medal jointly t o D r . Noyes a n d D r . Weber i n 1908. W . A. Noyes went t o t h e University of Illinois about this time a n d W. F .
Hillebrand became director of t h e chemical division of t h e Bureau of Standards. T h e work on t h e atomic weight of bromine was carried out under his supervision. I n 1912 D r . Weber left the Bureau of Standards t o take u p teaching of chemistry a t t h e University of Illinois. Teaching qualitative analysis t o t h e general classes a n d a special course in qualitative t o t h e engineering students was his assignment. Later quite a few of these engineering students were t o be m e t again in t h e Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. a t E a s t Pittsburgh, Penna. While a t t h e Bureau of Standards a n d later a t t h e University of Illinois, W . A. Noyes was Editor of t h e Journal of the American Chemical Society a n d Chemical Abstracts, a n d t h e elder Weber collaborated in this work. Compilation of t h e indexes of t h e early numbers of Chemical Abstracts was one of his jobs. I n 1917 t h e Westinghouse Electric a n d Manufacturing Co. inaugurated its " n e w " Research Laboratory and, since it offered great possibilities for research, D r . Weber accepted a n appointment there. Synthetic resins were relatively new and few; Bakélite was the only one t h a t was commercially important, a n d t h e ideas on varnishes a n d their modes of application were different from what they a r e t o d a y . This a n d t h e general field of insulation materials w a s t h e field assigned t o D r . Weber. H i s investigations have covered composition, stability, aging, a n d processes of application of varnishes, new synthetic resins, t h e properties of cellulose materials, paper, fabrics, and wood, i m pregnation of wood, a n d t h e electrical properties a n d temperature stability of all of these materials.
H . Henry
R,
Weber
H. Henry R. Weber, t h e junior member of t h e team, was bora o n December 2 3 , 1905, in Washington, D . C , where t h e first few years of bis life were spent; then, after living for several years in Urbana, I11., while father t a u g h t a t t h e university, h e attended high school a t Edgewood, Ponua. When he was ready for college h e returned to Urbana a n d spent four years a t t h e University of Illinois, where he was graduated with t h e degree of bachelor of science in chemistry in 1928.
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F r o m 1928 t o J a n u a r y 1932 he was employed as junior fellow on the fatty acid fellowship, a n d from August 1932 t o J u n e 1934 was a graduate assistant in the chemistry d e p a r t m e n t a t t h e University of Pittsburgh, instructing in organic chemistry a n d food analysis. H e did research in the field of enzymes under C . G. King, and his doctor's thesis was entitled "Inhibition and Specificity of Liver Esterase and P a n creas Lipase". After obtaining his P h . D . degree in August 1934 he spent a year i n Munich, Germany, a s international exchange student to s t u d y t h e oxidation-reduction system in yeast cells under H . Wieland. T h e cordiality of Professor Wieland a n d his students, a n d t h e splendid opportunities for travel, a s well as t h e typical friendliness of t h e Bavarian people, m a d e this year most enjoyable. (Going a b r o a d for post-graduate work h a d become a h a b i t ; this represented t h e third generation t o follow this practice.) F r o m October 1935 t o M a y 1936 t h e younger Dr. Weber was engaged in industrial work a s research chemist for t h e General Chemical Co. a t t h e Laurel Hill Station, Long Island City, Ν . Υ . , investi gating t h e use of tissue extracts i n t h e field of b u r n therapy. This w a s a privately endowed project and has been carried o u t in conjunction with a physician. This work has n o t been completed, b u t is show ing promise of making a worthwhile con tribution to t h e field of medicine. Since 1936 he has been engaged in medical and biochemical research with t h e D a i r d R e search Laboratory in Detroit. This is a privately financed research venture, con ducted entirely b y D r . Weber, although h e works i n conjunction with several physi cians a n d surgeons. This work h a s also been in the field of b u r n therapy ; research has covered t h e fields of proteins, anti septics, and chemotherapeutic agents. A t present some investigations are i n progress to determine t h e usefulness of t h e newer chemotherapeutic agents in the t r e a t m e n t of b u r n s . E e is a m e m b e r of Alpha C h i Sigma, Sigma X i , P i M u Epsilon, and t h e A M E R I CAN C H E M I C A L SOCIETY.
He s e r v e d
for
two years, 1939 a n d 1940, a s editor of t h e Detroit Chemist. H e is married, a n d finds his chief relaxation in gardening a n d out door activities in t h e summertime, a n d skiing in t h e winter.
