I/EC
The Professional Side
Growth of α Profession Professionalism is a state of being. It is essentially an inward feeling. One becomes a professional when he begins to feel like a professional. Conversely, no formal process, no success ful passing of an examination, no affiliation with a group or a society can make a professional out of a person who does not really feel himself to be one. I HE dictionary defines a profession as "the occupation, if not purely commercial, . . . to which one de votes oneself." This implies that a profession is something more than the occupation by which one earns a livelihood. There must exist in a true professional an awareness of personal significance, a sense of selfreliance, an assurance that comes from confidence in one's own knowl edge and skill, a pride that derives from the consciousness that one is the interpreter of an art or a science to the less enlightened public, and a sense of responsibility to that public. How are these qualities acquired? What are the various stages in the growth of a professional? What makes a profession? The years during and since World War II have witnessed the growth of a new profession—that of the scientist-engineer. Engineering had been recognized as a profession for a long time, though it was not one of the classical three learned profes sions, which were theology, law, and medicine. Often in the history of mankind it has taken a war to show in a dra matic way some social or economic change that has taken place—often without the public having realized it. World War II, as an example, demonstrated the dependence of a modern state on science and tech nology for the solution of its military problems. The complexity of mod ern weapons, the intricacy of their mechanisms, the large volume in which they are produced, and the skill required for their use posed problems which could be handled only by the scientist-engineer. The military officer himself became an engineer. Questions of logistics car ried back even to the supply of raw materials. The war effort, of neces
sity, brought forth an organization of engineering talent in combination with business enterprise which had never been known before on such a scale. In a few months the country found it essential to reorganize its production facilities to meet the re quirements of the military effort. The problems were primarily prob lems for the scientist-engineer. The scientist came into the war in another way. World War II has been called the physicists' war. And in a sense it was. Communication and control were primary problems, and the extraordinary developments of electronics and radar which were made during the war are recognized as achievements of the scientistengineer. In the research on the atomic bomb and the attendant de velopments in the field of nuclear energy, the power of the scientistengineer was even more dramatically displayed. The progress of this work from the initial ideas, their labora tory verification, and the complicated chemical and mechanical engineer ing that entered into the final proc essing of materials is a monumental accomplishment of science and engi neering. If these well-recognized activities were merely the superficial results of the war effort, they would have vanished at the end of the war. But they did not. The work in scientific research continued. And the work of the scientist-engineer in carrying the results of scientific studies into practical application continued at an intensified rate. Research on the development of consumer products, which had been temporarily sus pended by the war, was renewed on a greatly intensified scale. Indus trial laboratory facilities were ex tended. The public suddenly real ized that it was completely dependent
B. D. Thomas, president of Battelle Memorial Institute, joined the staff as a research engineer in 1934. During his 24 years at Battelle, he established and headed its first Division of Chemical Re search in 1939 and was a key figure in the establishment of Battelle's research laboratories in Frankfurt, Germany, and Geneva, Switzer land. He has published numer ous papers and is the holder of several patents. Dr. Thomas re ceived his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Washington and was granted the honorary de gree of doctor of engineering by the Michigan College of Mining and Technology. He is a member of ACS, the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petro leum Engineers, Gesellschaft Deutschen Chemiker (Germany), Société de Chimie Industrielle (France), Society of the Chemical Industry (British), and the Chemists' Club.
for the maintenance of a technological civilization on the efforts of technologists—the scientist-engineers. The effects in education were profound. The scientists in the universities who had been drafted, so to speak, into the war effort, discovered a new utility to their purely scientific work. It was not an unpleasant discovery. It was a recognition of the rightful place of science and engineering in a modern industrial economy. In this set of circumstances there exist the necessary conditions for the rise of a true profession. There is the opportunity for the interpretation of science and engineering to the VOL. 5 1 , NO. 11
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THE P R O F E S S I O N A L SIDE public. There is a possibility of developing a sense of personal responsibility to that public. And there are the elements of an awareness of personal significance and the assurance that comes from a confidence in one's knowledge and skill. All these are essential in the growth of a true professional and the creation of a profession. A profession is not created, however, by a mere wish, or even by circumstances which are appropriate for its existence. If to be a professional requires a personal awareness that one is professional, then the recognition of a profession requires a minimum number of professionals. Role of Education
At the base of each of the three learned professions lies a clearly recognized educational discipline. Universities have their colleges of theology, of law, and of medicine. They are rigorous in their demand for an adequate education for those who profess their calling. Modern science has become so diverse that even an elementary understanding of its complexities requires intensive and prolonged study. The learning needed by its votaries is vastly greater than that demanded by the other professions. Yet, in contrast, its educational base is haphazard, disorganized, and inadequate. Engineering colleges are unable to agree on so simple a question as to whether a lour- or a five-year course should be required for a degree in engineering. Either one can train technicians who can very easily make a living in today's technological world. Neither is adequate for the education of a true professional. There is, furthermore, the rivalry that exists in many universities between science and engineering, and between advocates of pure or applied science. The most successful schools of science and engineering in the country do not waste effort in such arguments. They have learned that the modern engineer whose training does not go down deeply into the basic sciences on which his profession is founded is no professional. And equally they have come to recognize that science, however pure, is a human effort. There has been a regrettable tendency to seek to establish our standards in education by comparison with 80 A
the Russians. Our educational, political, scientific, and engineering leaders have pointed out repeatedly the fact that Russia is graduating many more scientists and engineers than we are. Some will affirm, moreover, that they have a training of higher quality than do ours. T h e scientist-engineer as a professional is said to be more firmly established in Russia. Whether or not these statements are true is of less importance than the fact that a democracy such as ours should be able to establish and maintain its own standards without reference to a totalitarian rival state. If the operation of a modern technological society is seen to depend on the status of a profession of scientistengineers, we should establish that profession on the same rigorous foundations we have traditionally required of professions in the past. Professions, however, are not established by fiat. They are created by professionals themselves. And this creative act is the work of individuals who see themselves as true professionals and who by degrees establish the standards, the traditions, the ethics, and the group consciousness of the profession. There are some who believe that the education of a professional scientist-engineer must have begun back in the elementary schools and who also believe that these schools are so hopelessly inadequate that the battle is already lost. The first part of this generalization is true, but the second part is not. T h e individual who seeks to become a professional will always have to rise above a median. It will be the first requirement in the growth of a professional. The same thing is likely to be true in the secondary schools. There is an encouraging attempt being made in our high schools to provide extra opportunities for the exceptional student. But mass education is the basis of our educational system and the exceptional student is likely to remain exceptional. In the university there is evidence of awakening, and today a good student will receive the guidance and encouragement he requires to obtain the basic education for a career as a true professional scientist-engineer. And what will this education comprise? For a chemist-chemical engineer—a more thorough foundation in chemistry, physics, and mathe-
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
matics than was true for chemistry students a decade ago; the traditional courses in unit processes, materials, thermodynamics; and more English, history, economics, languages, political science, and philosophy than were thought advisable or possible in times past. The same will be true in other branches of engineering and in other branches of science. A five-year course? The education of a professional never ends. Elementary differential and integral calculus were once considered sufficient mathematics in the education of an engineer. Today a knowledge of matrix algebra, group theory, and mathematical logic are necessary for an introduction to the frontiers of science where the really interesting engineering developments are taking place. A five-year course is a start toward qualifying a student for work in the graduate school and a lifetime of self-education. And what of English, history, and economics—languages, political science, and philosophy? These are the marks of educated men and modern society expects its leaders to be educated. Courses in these subjects are essential in the training of the professional scientist-engineers who are becoming the principal directors of industry, politics, and education. The challenge offered by this demand for leadership will provide the ultimate test of the professional scientist-engineer. The course of our future may well depend on how well he meets it. It seems inescapable that our society must be organized more and more on a technological basis regardless of political changes that may occur. Problems of production and distribution and of communication must be solved or the world will starve. Either it will develop an adequate scheme for maintaining a reasonable stability in the conduct of its affairs or it will be confronted with political and economic chaos. Most reasonable people will prefer the first alternative. And in maintaining the orderly course of the world's affairs, the role of the scientist-engineer is assured. How willingly he accepts this professional role will determine how well the profession becomes established. It will determine his own effectiveness and the welfare of the nation.
