ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY EDITORIAL
April 1968,Vol. 40, No. 4 M , ,,,,,,,, m ”. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,” ,,,,,,,,,,,,,m,nm,m..................................
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,111YIYU,,,I. Illtl,,, I
~
m1.110
Editor: H E R B E R T A. LAITINEN EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS Washington, D. C. 20036 1155 Sixteenth S t N.W. Phone: 202-737-3331 Teletype WA 23 Associate Editor: John K. Crum Assistant Editors: E. Stewart
Josephine Pechan, Virginia
Editorial Assistants: Eugenie C . Callaghan, Ana Sol de GutiCrrez Contributing Editor:
R. H. Miiller
Product ion Staff- Washington : Director of Design: Joseph Jacobs Production Manager: A r t and Layout: Kuttner
B a d Guiley
Norman W. Favin, Herbert
Production Staff-Easton, Pa.: Associate Editor:
Charlotte C. Sayre
Assistant Editor:
Elizabeth R. Rufe
Advisory Board: C. V. Banks, R. G. Bates, W. J. Blaedel, S. Br,uckenstein, A. E. Cameron, Lyman Craig, Henry Freiser, Marcel Golar, Joseph Jordan, D. W. Margerum R. A. -Osteryoung, R. L. Pecsok, C.’N. Reilley, I). H. Wilkins AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS Director of Publications, Richard L. Kenyon Director of Business Operations, Joseph H. Kuney Publication Manager, Journals, David E. Gushee Executiue Assistant to the Director of Publications, Rodney N. Hader Circulation Development Manager, Herbert C. Spencer Assistant to the Director of Publications, William Q. Hull REGIONAL EDITORIAL BUREAUS N E W YORK, N. Y. 10017 733 Third Ave. PHILADELPHIA Pa. 19107 Philadelphia National Bank Building Broad & Chestnut Streets PITTSBURGH Pa. 15219 530 William P e i n Place CHICAGO, 111. 60603 36 South Wabash Ave. CLEVELAND, Ohio 441 14 1367 East Sixth St. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. 94104 57 Post St. LOS ANGELES, Calif. 90005 422 South Western Ave. HOUSTON, Texas 77002 514 Main Bldg. 1212 Main St.
The Two Faces of Science s
THIS MOSTH’S EDITORS’ COLUMS,
p. 89A, extensive quotations are
I presented from an article by Dr. Alvin 11. Weinberg, Director of the Oak Ridge Xational Laboratory, on the “two faces of science.” Describing the two faces essentially as search and codification, D r . ]Ireinberg emphasizes the importance of both. H e deplores the distortion of values, especially in academic circles, that exaggerates the importance of abstraction and denigrates the contribution of those who consolidate and solidify our structure of knowledge. T o analytical chemists, it is most refreshing to have this viewpoint expressed, especially by a physicist of the background and stature of Dr. Weinberg. I t is a historical fact that advances in theory and abstraction are possible only after verification (and correction!) of past theoretical models. ilnalytical chemistry is not concerned solcly with solidification and verification, but it can serve a vital function in correcting the distortion to which Dr. Weinberg refers. Yet today the pressure for increasing abstraction and decreasing emphasis upon the solid body of descriptive knowledge and laboratory discipline is endangering analytical chemistry’s rightful place in the undergraduate curriculum. I t is the preoccupation of academic leaders with the growing edge to the exclusion of the consolidated parts t h a t generates a scientific “elitism” and a scorn for anything that smacks of the practical or descriptive. The fascination of analytical chemistry is its tremendous scope, extending from the use of age-old reactions for gathering reliable data t o the fanciful study of recently discovered phenomena for potential interest in measurement systems. It is by nature interdisciplinary and, therefore, by Dr. Weinberg’s reasoning more involved with the consolidation than with the fuzzy fringes of science. It is to be hoped that the wisdom of scientists with the insight of Dr. Teinberg will sooner or later bring realization to our curriculum planners that students need the substance as well as the froth. A solid basis of meat and potatoes should precede the dessert in our curricular diet.
FRANKFURT/MAIN, West Germany 32 Grosse Bockenheimerstrasse LONDON, W. C. 2, England 27 John Adam St. TOKYO Japan Iikura Ckntral Building, 4th Floor 12,Iikura Kata-machi, Azabu Minato-ku: Tokyo WASHINGTON, D. c. 20036 1155 Sixteenth St., N. W. Advertising Management REINHOLD PUBLISHING CORP. (for Branch Offices, see page 178 A)
For submission of manuscripts, see
page 2 A .
VOL. 40, NO. 4, APRIL 1968
0
665
