EDITORIALLY SPEAKING
The most appropriate first lines of t,ype for a new volume of the JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION should contain greetings and promises t,o the 1236 new friends who added their names to our subscription list in 1960. This expression of confidence is a t t,he same time the most heartening and humbling ~tat~istic among the consistently record-breaking dat,a for Volume 37. The November, 1960, issue went to 12,924 paid subscribers. The 12 issues for 1960 contained 764 pages of editorial material, 15 more t,han 1959. Several circumstances made possihle this bonus bargain for t,he same four subscription dollars. The phenomenal increase in advertising revmue (57 more pagcs in 1960 than in 1959) is also an agreeable fact-of-publishinglife! (Readers can best say "Thanks" to the enterprising Mr. Gould by let,ting advertisers know that, t,hey read the JOURNAL ads!) Prospects for the volume t,hat begins with this issue will, we hope, reffect the confidence that a gro~vingsubscription list gives us. Readers can look for features treating such topics as diamond synthesis, nucleogenesis, SAMA, Dexter and other award addresses, and the important "recent, advances" symposia sponsored by the Division a t national ACS meet,ings. Geochemistry is scheduled for February, Inorganic for April, Solid State for May, and Organic for June. We call attention to the new monthly Chem Ed feature, "Chemical project,^," beginning on pages 6-9 of this issue. "Research Ideas for Young Chcmist,s" is the very apt sub-title. The proposal is to focus on the "research" emphasis instead of t,he "project" aspect which often degenerates into gadgetry aud chartlettering in so many Science Fairs. These will be challenging; perhaps they will appear to be too high a level for the bewildered beginner or the timid teacher. Frankly, the aim is to help raise standards. Kor is the pre-college course for the future chemist the only one that needs standards raised! We hope t,his series can catalyze what every teacher should oft'er his students: research as an organized att,ack on a problem for which the answer is not known.
Professor Lewin's Chem Ed featnre series on "Chemical Inst,rnmentationn will continue to make each 1961 issue increasingly valuable. The discussion of infrared measuremcnt,~begun in 1960 will cont,inne for several months. Nuclear instrumentation ndl he the next topic for three or four issues, followed by an equal number each to be devoted to chmmatography and polarography. Preliminary plans are being made to publish in book form sometime this year the material which has appeared in 1959 and 1960. The valuc of the . J O U ~ N AOF L C K E M I ~ EDTJC.~TION AL to all chemistaswill he enhanced by two ot,hcr publications anrlou~~ccd in this issue. A Ten Year Cumulative Index covering volumes 26 through 35 ill be published next month. Professor 1,loyd B. Howell of Wabash College has put prodigious effort int,o huilding an index for t,he working chcmist,ry t,eachcr. Far more t,han the convrntional author and title compilations, this more-than-9000-item listiug includes a great vnriety of cross-refcrencing and "sub-subject" entries that is the out,growth of personal experience in using THIS JOURXAL as a "living t,exthook." . I grant from the XS1" has underwrit,trn t,he prrparatiou of this volume to make its bmk-even price of $2.50 a terrific bargain. Combining this new index with the existing 25year Cumulativc Index makes THIS JOURXAL uniquely useful. The other 1961 project is thc publicat,ion of another collection of reprints. (Sce advertisemcnt on page .457 of this issue.) Although "Supplement,ary Readings for the Chemical Bond Approach" was conlpiled as resource material for those engaged in the CRA project, all readers of t,hese pagcs will recognize the appeal of the article t,it,les. Many modern interpretdcions of chemical bonding are developed further t.han usually found in text,hooks. The utility of the idras in t,hese papers is shown by t,he fact that most of the aut,hors' stocks of reprints havc long since heen exhausted. This volume fills a real need. (Again at a bargain price, thanks to NSF underwriting of the editorial work.) We appreciate you 13,000 friends. c~ldand new. We hope yo11 will not be disappointed in 1961.
Volume 38, Number I , January 1961
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