Letters
Personal Challenges to Analytical Chemists S i r : Your editorial in t h e March issue of ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY ("Does the Ph.D. Degree Serve the Needs of Industry?") is right on target. As you state in your concluding sentence, "Academic institutions can best serve science and technology by stressing those fundamentals of knowledge a n d skill which have t h e broadest importance to t h e total field rather than to any of its p a r t s . " Your editorial might continue by recognizing the changing challenge in selecting those fundamentals which have t h e broadest importance. In regard to t h e fundamentals of broadest importance, academic institutions certainly face a real challenge—that of matching effectively t h e changing profile of education and t h e changing profile of industrial interests in analytical chemistry. These industrial interests tend t o vary so much, however, t h a t even t h e
best academic emphasis on t h e fundamentals can never be adequate. T h u s , the individual must assume direct responsibility for facing a changing personal challenge—that of deciding what more needs t o be learned and then taking t h e initiative to acquire the necessary knowledge. L y n n L. L e w i s Dept. 22 General Motors Research Laboratories Warren, Mich. 48090
Lithium by AA S i r : I a m writing t o bring to your attention an error in t h e N E W S column entitled "Determination of Lithium Levels by AA Spectrometry," page 196 A, February 1979 ANALYTICAL C H E M I S T R Y . This article implies t h a t the routine measurement of therapeutic lithium levels by atomic absorption is still in t h e future. In fact, it h a s
been a routine test here and a t many other hospitals for well over 10 years. Our current procedure was devised in 1970. T h i s was a revision of an earlier procedure developed sometime around 1968. T h e metabolic effects of lithium have been long recognized, although they are still poorly understood. For example, cases have been reported where prolonged t r e a t m e n t with lithium has resulted in abnormalities in calcium metabolism. I do not want to discourage ANALYTICAL C H E M I S T R Y from reporting news concerning clinical problems. I believe t h a t we can make a strong contribution to improving t h e quality of laboratory medicine. It is, however, essential t h a t articles in this very sensitive area maintain t h e high standards generally associated with t h e JOURNAL.
R i c h a r d S. Schif r e e n Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Hartford Hospital Hartford, Conn. 06115
EXPANDABLE. ANY TIME. With the McPherson 700, you only need to buy modules when your work expands. Not a whole new spectrophotometer. You can have enzyme kinetics, stopped flow kinetics, automatic sampling, gel scanning, computer interfacing, whatever your work needs. Just buy the functions as you need them. Call (617) 263-7733, and we'll spec and quote a McPherson 700 configured your way. Or write McPherson Instruments, GCA/Precision Scientific Group, 530 Main Street, Acton, Mass. 01720.
GCA CORPORATION
McPHERSON DOES IT WITH PRECISION
CIRCLE 80 O N READER SERVICE CARD 5 6 2 A · ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 5 1 , NO. 6, M A Y 1979
