What is a Chemist and a Chemical Engineer ALBERT L. ELDER Corn Products Refining Company, Argo, Illinois enthusiasm for the chosen field must be considered also. On the surface this seems to be a minor factor, yet there have been instances where a man's interests were many and covered a wide range. Aptitude tests may show equal and high ability in any one of several fields, such as music, engineering, or salesmanship. In making a choice between three such fields, a man's liking for a subject will probably be the determining factor, although chances for success in any of them on a pure ability basis are approximately equal. In this case, he would probably choose one as a vocation, retaining the other two as avocations. There are many chemists who are equally adept in several lines, but they have chosen chemistry as their major field. Sir Humphrey Davy once said, "The task of an investigator requires for his success the toughness of a soldier, the temper of a saint, and the training of a scholar." Among the personality factors involved in determining aptitude for chemistry are persistency, pyacticality, curiosity, imagination, observation, and honesty. Some of these can be cultivated, others are native. Of these traits, the chemist must possess especially adaptability, imagination, and observation. The chemical engineer must have more practicality than a chemist, although ordinary good sense cannot be dispensed with in the chemist. Numerous articles and books have been written with the purpose of stimulating and interesting people in chemistry. The little 128-page book by Herbert Coith (McGraw-Hill Book Company), entitled "So You Want to Be a Chemist"; "Industrial Research by F. Russel Bichowsky (Chemical Publishing Company); "Without Fame" by Otto Eisenschiml (Alliance Book Corporation); "A Treasury of Science" edited by Harlow Shapley, et al. (Harper Brothers); and "Crucibles" by Bernard Jaffe (Tudor Publishing Company), are among the more recent books in the field. The average man of the street can name for you a well-known crooner, movie star, conductor of music, lawyer, or physician. But try asking him to name just one chemist or chemical engineer who is making an important contribution to the war effort. As William James said, "The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated." In general chemists and chemical engineers are looked upon as toolsmagicians who are expected to pull the unexpected and desired out of a hat on a minute's notice. If you wished to become an artist you would not only study the works of famous artists but also the lives of these men. The young chemist or chemical engineer would be well advised to do likewise. Select some famPaper presented at the Third National Chemical Exposition, ous chemists and chemical engineers and find out how they got that way. Many people consider the chemChicago, Illinois, November 18, 1944. 123
E approach this question as we would a Chinese box, where a large box encloses a smaller box, which in turn encloses a smaller box, and so on ad infiniturn. We can define a chemist as a species in the genus called scientist. A scientist is merely one who is curious in an organized fashion. The mark of distinction of the species chemist is his curiosity about a division of science which deals with the composition of matter and the changes taking place therein. This division of science is called chemistry and its definition is properly broad, because in almost every branch of science some chemistry is involved. Chemistry, in turn, may be subdivided into subspecies relating to particular aspects of the larger subject; for instance, inorganic, organic, physical, analytical, and biological. These groups vary to some extent one from the other, but all have many attributes in common, and i t is the common attributes that form the basis of this definition. Whatever is said about a chemist applies to the chemical engineer as well. Certain personal factors are of lesser or greater importance in the engineer than in the chemist, and these generally, though perhaps unconsciously, result in the choice made. A chemist, as any other Scientist, may be considered from at least three points of view: his aptitude, his training, and his professional standing. The aptitude of any man for his work is an evaluation of his probable success in a chosen field. Aptitude involves consideration of certain fundamental factors of which the most important are: native ability, liking for the field, or enthusiasm, and an intangible combination of certain personality factors which frequently become important enough to weight the scales pro or con. Regarding native ability, a man has it or he does not have it. Usually any pronounced ability along scientific lines becomes evident early in life, and education is a development of this ability. The recognition of such ability is usually not difficult. A person of scientific ability is most often mechanically minded, possesses insatiable curiosity, particularly regarding natural phenomena, and displays a good deal of persistence in trying to learn the "why" of everything. Aptitude tests, dexterity tests, and personality tests perfected in recent years, serve to simplify this matter of detecting native ability. It is possible that a child may show no promise along scientific lines, yet aptitude tests may indicate a great native talent in this direction. Further training usually brings this out. While such tests are useful in many cases where native talent is divided or not very strong in any field, they must not be relied upon as a positive criterion of success. The liking and
definition be accepted and the following conditions be prescribed for one to qualify as a chemist. "1. Educational requirement: Certification b y a college of high standing t h a t the person has completed satisfactorily t h e requirements for a bachelor's degree, the courses leading t o which shall have included not less than 40 per cent of studies in the humanities and 60 per cent of chemistry and related sciences. I n addition one year of postgraduate study, not less than 75 per cent of which is chemistry or chemical engineering. This educational requirement may he waived where accomplishment in the profession proves a person t o have its equivalent. The acceptance of evidence that one has met the educational requirements for the profession admits him to the rank of , iunior chemist. "2. Experience: .4 minimum of two ycars of continued expcrience in chemistry or chemical engineering may qualify a junior chemist for consideration of hi, accwtance as s chemist. This request may also be met b y two years of graduate study in chemistry or chemical engineering. The experience must inoculate the young chemist with the virus of practicability without immunizing him against original thinking. "3. The junior chemist, having met the minimum experience requirement must provide affidavits from five responsible chemists, in a position t o know of his work, that in their judgment he qualifies for the profession. "4. Having demonstrated that he has met the above requirements, the chemist shall receive a certificate of his admission to the profession as a chemist." ~~~~~
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The original definition of chemical engineering was that written by Dr. Arthur D. Little in 1922 and is as follows : "Chemical engineering, as distinguisked from the aggregate number of subiects comorised in courses of that name. is not a cornyosite of vhemistry and mcchnnical and civil cngincering, hut is ilcelf a brnxch of enfineertnt, the basii of which is those unit operations which in their proper sequence and cwrdinatian constitute achemical processascondudedon theindustrial scale."
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In 1935 the American Institute of Chemical Engineers redefined chemical engineering in more positive terms as follows: "Chemical engineering is that branch of engineering cancerned with the development and application of manufacturing processes in which chemical or certain physical changes of materials are involved. These processes may usually be resolved into a coordinated series of unit physical operations and unit chemical processes. The work of the chemical engineer is concerned primarily with the design, construction, and operation of equipment and plants in which these unit operations and processes are applied. Chemistry, physics, and mathematics are the underlying sciences of chemicsl engineering, and economics its guide in p r a ~ t i c e . " ~
Chemical engineering, as a clear-cut field, was an outgrowth of the first World War. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was an early leader in recognizing the field of chemical engineering. A chemical engineer should be in charge of the design and installation and should supervise a plant manufacturing chemicals and allied products. It is common practice to divide chemical engineering into unit processes or chemical changes and unit operations or physical changes.
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NEWMAN, quoting KIRKPATRICK, "Development a € chemical engineering education." Supplement to Trans. Am. lnst. Chem. Engrs. 34, No. 3a, 5 (July 25, 1938): see also ibid.,32,568 (1936).
A well-trained chemical engineer has a thorough grasp of both. In any unit process the chemical engineer must understand the basic chemistry of the reaction, recognize the limitation of the equipment to be used in the operation, and be able to determine the cost of the process. In the early days unit operations were very few and included combustion, neutralization, causticization, and calcination. Many unit operations such as alkylation, isomerization, high pressure hydrogenation, and diazotization are of more recent origin. Physical changes are involved in unit operations. Many these are much older than unit processes. ~ m o &the important unit operations are drying, evaporation, distillation, gas absorption, filtration and heat transfer. The chemical engineer must be capable of determining both material and energy balances. Every chemical which goes into a process must be accounted for as product, by-product, or loss to the atmosphere or sewer. The success of a process often depends upon a high yield of primary product. Swedish chemical engineers are probably more conscious of energy balances than those of any other nation because their most important source of fuel is wood. Every chemical engineer who has approved the design of a plant should ask himself the question: "What per cent of my salary is represented each year by saving 5 per cent of the energy required to operate the process?" Such a calculation has made many a chemical engineer spend extra time in redesigning his plant. The chemical engineer may find a position in development, research, design, plant production, sales and sales development, management, consulting, or teaching. Although very few women have been attracted to the field of chemical engineering, a large number of women take courses of chemistry in the colleges and universities and many are now employed in research and control work in the United States. Very few women hold responsible research positions. In my years of teaching I had over a thousand women in my classes and very few of them showedthat spark of curiosity and initiative required to be outstanding leaders in research. In general, women are cautious, conservative workers in the research laboratory and seldom have that spark of curiosity necessary to try something entirely new and different. This is not to be construed in the sense that I believe there is no place for a woman in chemistry or chemical engineering. Irrespective of race, color, creed, or sex there is a place in science for anyone genuinely interested in the search for scientific truth. Many women chemists can and will continue to do good research work. One of the greatest faults of research workers is their inability to recognize variables. One wartime development in which variables were controlled with unbelievable speed has been the production on a large scale of the miracle drug penicillin. When work with a
of
culture of Penicillin noleturn was started in this country in 1941, the mold would produce only a very few units of penicillin per ml. of broth in 10 days. Bacteriologists, chemists, and chemical engineers of universities, government, and industry tackled the variahles of medium, fermentation conditions, methods of recovery, concentration, drying, and packaging. A new medium containing lactose and corn steep liquor gave the mold a more desirable environment and the yield was increased 40-fold and the fermentation time cut to less than half. Recovery processes were doubled in efficiency, and new drying techniques decreased losses still further. Some 20 plants costing over 20 million dollars now produce over 200 pounds of this precious drug per month. Important variables which had to be controlled were the strain of the mold used, its vitality as an inocculum, the composition of the culture medium, the temperatare of growth, the growing conditions, the extraction process, and the method of drying. At least a thousand bacteriologists, chemists, and engineers have had a part in the development of the processes used today. Speed in recognizing the variables, accuracy in recording them, and careful planning for their control has made passible the production of sufficient penicillin so that several hundred thousand patients can be treated each month. Penicillin is but one chapter in the book of science; other equally thrilling chapters have and will he written. In this country, as in no other, there are organizations of people interested in almost every phase of human activity. From such august bodies as the National Academy of Science to the Society for the Prevention of Calling Pullman Porters George, Americans as no other national group are joiners. In the field of chemistry and chemical engineering the three outstanding organizations are: the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the American Institute of Chemists. The subspecies of the families of chemists and chemical engineers will find other associations catering to their individual interests. The field of influence of an association, be i t the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, or the labor union, is directly proportional to its membership. Those people who have given a great deal of time and energy in the development of technical associations are anxious to have all those who are qualified join them. Your benefits from joining will be directly proportional to the interest you take in the affaits of the associations. If the chemists and chemical engineers are to have the status and enjoy the prestige which they deserve, i t will only come about if those earning their livelihood from these' professions join these organizations and participate in guiding their affairs. The responsibility for defining the terms, chemist and chemical engineer, will ultimately rest with the group taking the most active interest in the welfare of those employed in these professions. If our technical
societies do not do it, then it is quite likely that it will fall into the hands of government leaders or labor union organizers, neither of whom have any qualifications for this task. The most heated debate a t the present time hinges on whether chemical engineering is a branch of engineering or whether the chemical engineer should be called an engineering chemist. There are many chemists who have neither aptitude nor interest in the manufacturing of any commodity and by no stretch of the imagination could they be called engineering chemists or chemical engineers. Likewise there are many chemical engineers wholly unqualified to do research work on the synthesis of a new compound, such as penicillin. There are many chemists and chemical engineers who, because of their liaison duties between chemistry and engineering,will find it to their advantage to participate in the affairs of the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The present trend in definitions is clearly indicated by the research organizations which are being established by large companies. Some companies have a vice-president in charge of research and development. The vice-president, in turn, divides his organization into the following headings: Research Department, Engineering Department, Sales Development, Chemical Sales, and Patent Department. The Director of Research has the responsibility of developing new substances and a working hypothesis for their production. The Director of Engineering has in many instances found i t advisable to divide his organization into two groups: Process Engineering and Engineering Development, and Pilot Plant Development. A chemical engineer from the Process Engineering and Development group goes into the Research Laboratory and works with the research chemist until he is familiar with the proposed process. He then takes it to the Engineering Department and works on the process until he believes that he has sufficientcontrol of the variables so that a pilot plant can be built. A chemical engineer from the Pilot Plant group is called in and after he is sufficiently familiar with the process a pilot plant is constructed; from the operation of this pilot plant, data are obtained from which a determination is made either to construct a manufacturing unit or abandon the process. The chemist serves as an adviser to both of the chemical engineers from the Engineering Department. The Sales Development group has the responsibility of investigating both old and new uses for the commodity. It comes into the picture just as soon as there is some assurance that the quality of the product can he duplicated in production in the Research Laboratory by the Engineering and Development group, or in the Pilot Plant. The Chemical Sales and Technical Sales groups lean heavily upon Research and Engineering for advice in connection with their contacts with the consuming public. The Patent Department may or may not be under the control of the vice-president in charge of Research
and Development. In any case i t must have capable men, trained in chemistry and engineering, who can serve as liaison representatives with the Research and Engineering Departments. Today competition in the field of chemistry and chemical engineering is too keen for many eight-honr-aday men to become either famous chemists or chemical engineers. All of us believe that research workers should have avocations. One avocation which develops leadership and creates satisfaction will be a great asset to the average scientist. The 20-hour-aday research worker will soon burn out, but the eighthour-a-day man rots out. Somewhere between the two is the level of maximum productivity for the longest time. Under-Secretary of War Robert Patterson summed this up when he said, "There is no four-lane highway to scientific achievement; a bulldozer is needed every inch of the way." Time and again i t has been pointed out that the most productive years of research for the chemist are those before 45. Harvey C. Lehman in the Scientific Monthly, November, 1944, has plotted curves of man's most creative years in music, art, pzetry, chemistry, mathematics, and many other fields. In general, the majority of lasting and important new creations have been those of youth. We should realize in interpreting such results that many men of creative ability are given administrative positions in later years and therefore do not find time for c r e a ~ v eresearch. In the academic fields this has occurred so frequently that i t is often said, "Why take a good research man and make a poor Dean out of him?" Numerous articles have been written on the necessity for the scientist to broaden his interests and participate in local affairs. It is true that the ,average chemist is regarded by the layman as a peculiar type of individual who prefers to spend his days, and frequently his nights, poring over some unsavory concoction whose composition is known only to himself. Some believe that the trend indicated for the future is that men of science will assume a more prominent position in public affairs and that the chemist will be in a position of leadership, such as he has not known before. There are some Shemists who must be able to carry this dual load. In this day and age of fast communication and transportation it is all too easy for the chemist and chemical engineer to become overburdened with extracurricular evening activities. A political meeting on Monday, concert on Tuesday, board meeting on Wednesday, club meeting on Thursday, farewell or welcoming party on Friday, bridge on Saturday, and Charlie McCarthy on Sunday leaves no time for research in the laboratory or reading of technical journals. The primary problems facing the human race are those of providing food, clothing, shelter, and facilities for the betterment of health. Secondary in importance are such everyday things as entertainment, transportation, vacations, sufficient work to go around, and companionship. If we are to have any of the four freedoms, freedom
of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want, we must satisfy the freedom from want first. If the scientists of Germany had been given an opportunity to put their wealth of talent to solving the problem of more living room in a peaceful scientific fashion a war might have been averted. Perhaps scientists of today will take this lesson t o heart and assume their full share of responsibility in the social welfare of the country. Social obligation is proportional to ability. Since scientists have a broad, long-range picture of what the future may hold they must take a more active part in directing human events. At the close of the war we will owe ourselves billions of dollars. This national debt is a challenge to the inventive genius of the American people. Our inventive genius is the secret weapon with which this and other postwar problems may be solved. The national debt can be paid by inflation or invention. Inflation is cowardly, invention is constructive. Many industrial organizations recognize that, in order to hold their relative positions in their own industry, that is, to improve their present processes and products, and to develop new processes and products, they must expand their research organizations. These companies are looking ahead 5, 10, 25, and even 50 years. We recognize that finding qualified technical personnel for our enlarged programs is a most difficult task. During the war Russia, England, and Canada have faced the task of harboring and nurturing technical personnel with much more thought to the future than has our country. Our short-sighted policy during the past few years can only bring forth a meager crop in the years of need. I t will be many years before the true equilibrium will be established between supply and demand for well-trained chemists and chemical engineers. One aid in national and technological security rests in the withdrawal of men with technical potentialities who are not using this ability to the greatest advantage in the Armed Forces and placing them in training programs as quickly as possible. Reports are coming back of a few chemists and chemical engineers who have been released during the past few months from the Armed Forces. Many of these men will require long periods of careful readjustment and the greatest of patience on the part of persons employing them. Refresher courses and training programs must be set up in order that these men may have the opportunity they deserve to advance rapidly in competition with their fellow chemists and chemical engineers who have been deferred for essential war work. With the ever increasing number of new chemical compounds, new types of reactions, and new tools of science, the training period of technical men must be expanded. As one example of this, our company is a t present sponsoring three post-doctorate fellowships. Many companies do this now, and the number will be greater after the war. In 1800 all of the known chemical facts could be described in one good-sized book. Now whole books are written on isolated divisions of (Continued m f m ~ e135)
MARCH,1945
WHAT IS A CHEMIST AND A CHEMICAL ENGINEER (Catinuedfrom page 127) chemistry. The developments in chemical engineering readily available for improving our postwar world. One big problem will be that of knowing how to use are most recent, but they are growing very rapidly. It is quite likely that the greatest advances in civiliza- this "know-how" for the common good. Somehow, tion during the next 25 years will not result from new sociological progress has lagged far behind that in the discoveries but from harnessing the "know-how" avail- technical field. Milestones are needed to measure able a t the present time, which for various reasons is not technical progress in the last 100 years, whereas microbeing utilized. equipment is needed to record social progress. There There is no one who would disagree with the broad is no reason why technological advances, wars, and statement that there is sutficient technical "know-how" unemployment should go hand in hand. Out of this in this country to produce an abundance of all items war must come a "know-how" capable of solving the which are rationed, except those imported. It has problem. been our inability to harness this technical "knowAny wide awake industrial company will hy to hold how" which makes rationing necessary. its position and make its contribution to society, its It is obvious that we will come out of this war with employees, and its stockholders by improving present new "know-how" in the fields of medicine, surgery, processes and products and developing new ones. dentistry, and with a deeper appreciation of physical The well-trained chemist or chemical engineer must fitness. We will have new methods for the production play an important role in our industries and uniof clothes and shelter, better methods of transportation, versities if this nation is to continue to be the leader in and all down the line technological advances will be the development of a better world.
