The Fifth Summer Symposium I J all its ~ pretlecessors. ~ the~ sumniei’ symposium held last month a t the nen-ly completed Kellogg Center on tlie caainpus of llichigan State was an outstanding succes. The niajor credit for the success of the meeting a t East Lansing sliould go to R. P. Chapman of American Cyanamid, general clinirman of the symposium. and Elmer Leininger of the cheniisti.- staff at Michigan State, in charge of local arrangements. I-ery foltunately the symposium committee of the division :m1 the executive committee were able to come to an early tleciaion, not onlj- on the subject for next year’s symposium, h i t the place and the general chairman as well. Xext June :it Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, S.I-., Herman A . Liebhafsky of the General Electric Laboratories, Schenectady. S.I-.! will be chairman of a symposium on the topic. “The =inalytical Chemistry of the Lesser Known Elements.’’ One other step was taken by the Executive Committee oi the division a t the meeting a t East Lansing. B. L. Clarke, lrercli &- Co., Inc.. chairman of the division, has announced that a new standing committee on programs will be appointed in t’he very near future. Each of the specialized fields of :inalytical chemistry will be represented on this committee. The object is to strengthen still further the quality of the division’s programs and to make certain that all fields of specialization are covered adequately.
The Practice of Analytical Chemistry EVERYOKE is familiar with the expression “the
practice of medicine.” Less familiar is “the practice of analytical chemistry.” Indeed, until we listened to S.E. Q. Ashley of General Electric present the keynote address a t the fifth summer symposium, sponsored jointly by the Division of Analytical Chemistry and AXALYTICALCHEmsTRY, TT e had never heard any one make a direct comparison of the work of the analyst with t h a t of the medical practitioner. The more one reflects on the role of the analytical chemist, the more one becomes convinced that the professional analyst ic the “physician” to the all-inclusive field of chemistry. Mr. Ashley hinted strongly in his prepared paper that he believed this analogy to be a sound one. Later in an extensive infoimal discussion he and others expressed the hope that the analyst might be so described in the future. IYewill notattempt to present hereall of the many stimulating and challenging thoughts voiced by A h . Sshley. His paper will be published in full in the Kovember issue, together with the other papers in the Symposium on the Analysis of lraterials for Ingredients of Unknown Constitution. K e do wish to quote briefly certain passages from his text and to comment on them a t this time because we feel they areparticu1 d y timely and worthy of serious discussion. “A4nalyticalchemistry,” stated 11r. Ashley, ‘.is often spoken
of :is though it eoiisi>tetl of tn-o zoi,t>.o r order,*. ‘~.ese:ii~.Ii’ and ‘routine.’ I should like to submit that ‘i,outine’is not :in order of nnaljtical cheniistry. but a quality which n-oultl apply to any of the three orders of professional analytic-a1 chemistry, dominated in m y scheme of nomenclature, as ’research,’ ‘teaching,’ and ‘practice.’ The word ‘professional’ is important’ because it implies the exercise of skill, judgment, creative ability, and a knowledge extending to tlie current’ frontiers of chemical analysis-all applicable to tlie three orders of ‘research,’ ‘teaching,’ and ‘practice.’ Each of these professional activities may have routine aspects which demand only a limited exercise of the faculties that have been referred to. By way of illustration, medical science has fields of ‘research’ arid fields of ‘pract’ice’-there may be routine accumulations of data for research purposes, or there may be routine physical examinations in the practice of medicine. I have never heard anyone try to divide medical science into research and routine, and I a m convinced that it is inappropriat’e to do so in the field of analytical chemistr-.” It is particularly appropriate to consider a t this time the subject of routine work performed by the professional analyst. If one accepts the premise that a shortage of well-trained and highly qualified chemists exists, then it is imperative that the professional utilize his time a t the highest rate of efficiency. TYe do not gain the impression that l I r . Ashley or any other professional analyst of long standing advocates professionals performing routine and repetitive tasks 15-hich can be done as efficiently by a technician. He does believe a certain amount of “routine” is inevitable and cannot be avoided in the “practice” of analytical chemistry. TWh this point we are in complete agreement. Good judgment is needed to keep it to a minimum. Indeed, the exercise of this kind of judgment is one of the distinguishing marks of a professional analyst’. I n defining the “practice of analytical chemistry,!’ A h . Ashley points out that the modern analyst, now very frequently an individual with Ph.D. training, is required to exercise a high order of professional skill, judgment, and intellect which does not follow the pattern of research, but for which a man of lesser academic training would not be so well qualified without long years of experience. As we see it, the analytical chemist who today is making a real contribution must necessarily be highly skilled and, above all, especially versatile. He must possess a high degree of specialization and yet, like the practicing physician, he must have much more than a mere smattering of knowledge about a great many other fields. His training and experience must parallel closely those of t’heindependent consultant. I n his address, Mr. Ashley asked his audience for possible improvements over his “practice of analytical chemistry.’’ K e personally can think of nothing better by way of describing the role of the professional analyst, but we think l I r . Ashley’s proposal should be placed before the thousands of analytical chemists who constitute a major portion of the subscribers ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ k ~ to A 4 ~ . k CHEMISTRY. 1079
