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WALTER J. MURPHY, EDlToR
How Big Is Big? somewhat moth-eaten expression about the trees aud
Y theyTthet hforest, we suspect, applies at times to chemists when i i of the size of the chemical industry. Really how HE
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big has it become? It is d a c u l t to say, because there are many Merent views on what constitutes the industry. In the narrowest sense (value of chemicals manufactured), the industry ranke ninth in annual sales. If we include allied products for the ultimate consumer, we are talking about an industry with a 1952 sales volume of $18.660 billion. If we consider the chemical and chemical prows industries, we discover that in 1952 they did approximately $50 billion worth of business, or about 15% of U. 8. output of all goods and services. Truly a giant among giants. Perbapa each of the three de6nitions in many respects is justified; each has taken on particular meaning and therefore serves a specializedand highly useful purpose. Let us consider the second definition-many insist that “Chemicals and Allied Products,” as defined by the U. 8. Department of Commerce in 1947 ‘‘Censusof Manufactures” and the annual surveys, although somewhat liiited in 1953, is closest to defining the scope of modern chemical industry. In this grouping are included: industrial inorganicand organic chemicals, drugs and medicines, soap and related producta, paint and died products, gum and wood chemicals, fertilizers, vegetable and animal oils, and miscellaneous products. In 1899 the value of products shipped in these categories amounted to 61.319 hillion. By 1929, the figure had climbed to $3.759 billion. Ten years later it was $4.339 billion. The 1947 total wa8 an w i n g $13.698 billion, and, of course, the 1952 estimate of nearly $17 billion dramatically demonstrate the phenomenalgrowth in slightly more than a half century. Defining the chemical industry 88 “chemicals and allied products,” we find that in 1951 it ranked sixth, outstrip& only by food, Lon and steel, petroleum and coal products, mschinery except electrical, and automobilae and automotive equipment. Indeed, except for food (W.aO0 billion) and Lon and steel ($26.700 billion) the others have only a very slight lead over chemicals and allied products. The inadequacy of the category “chemicals and allied products” is obvious to the readera of I m C . What about aynthetic fibers,synthetic rubher, plastics, agricultural chemicals, the food processing industry? To go a step further, if we examine the fields of activity of the readers of IEkEC, we we that “chemical and chemical procaas industries” more nearly defines the acope and breadth of the chemicalprofession,if not the chemicalindustry. And we believe strongly that as time goes on the term “chemical industry” will be interpreted by most to mean “chemical and chemical p r o w mdustries.”
The exceptionallyinformative “FactaBook of the Chemical Industry,” just published by the Manufacturing Chemists’ Association, points out that chemistry is a young ~ c i m ~It. is only a little more than 150 years ago that Lsvoisier “laid the base for modern chemical devdopmenta when he first explained the nature of elementary and compound subatmces and the role of oxygen in combustion.” He destroyed the last veatiies of alchemy and supplied the atart& point for the most dynamic of all sciences, the one which has contributed to the great& degree to modern civilisation. In a foreword t o the MCA brochure, W.E. Ward of DI Pont, until recently MCA chairman, states: The direot results of technology have hen the vast outpourof our factories and the abundance d our harvmta fro? ”%? w oh have stemuned the ease, comfort, and convfmiencn of lIfe In the U D i y states. The indxect effectsare our standards of eduoatiOn and hea1t.h. the dignity of leisure and personal development; the Bociai reaponaibihties we assume in our m e of the young, the aged, and the infirm, Chemistry, of coum, is not the only science whish has contributed substantially to the material advancement of the human race over the past century or so, but no other has contributed more. The chemical industry has been built on rewar&, and we were very happy t o see the recognition afforded the role of m a r c h by the chemical manufacturers. Men of industry and finance have shown great faith in the creative ability of the chemist and the chemical engher and, of course, one of the great distinguishing feature8 of the chemicalindustry is the increase in the number of technically trained individuals who have been draftsd from the labomtory and the plant to administrative and managerial p d . If we of the chemical profession and the chemical industry 6nd it difficult to believe the fantastic growth of the past 50 years, how will we view future posaibilities? According to some business forecasts, the chemical industry in the next decade will increase 75%, four to five times faster than other industry. A 400% increase has been proiected for 1975. Synthetic fibers, now 20% of all textiles, are expected to be 40% of total M e consumption by 1975. Plastic and synthetic resin production, already greater than any nonferrous metal, isexpeetedtoincrease8000/0inthenextqusrtereentury. In 1975 petroleum is expected to supply 2,000,000 tons Of nonoelldosic synthetic fibem, 2,000,000 tons of synthetic detergenta, and 1,200,000 long tons of synthetic rubbers. These are just a few examples of what the future holds. Countless others could be cited. How big is big? In the chemical ind y limiting factor is man’s vision and initiitive.
