GINEERING CHEMISTRY R I C A N C H E M I C A L SOCIETY A L T E R J. M U R P H Y , E D I T O R
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Pskterson Defines the Chemist UNDERSECRETARY Of war Pit+& in a recent letter to The'New York Times criticizing that newspaper's stahd on the drafting of technicians
&der 26 stated that "the War Department is in a b e t ter'position than mcst to understand the importance of research and development work to success & war". We agree readily that it should, hut, after reading the Undereecretary's letter, senonsly Festiao that at l&t he has a well-rounded undersianding of the subject. Certainly in several parts'of h;s communicatiCm Mr. Patterson indicates' an aby&al ignorance of what a chemist is, the work that a chemist does, and the trrii;ling and experiencerequired to k a l i i y an individual &'be a chemist. 'He cites the example of a large ordnance plant where a plan was worked out with high schaols and.normal sch0ot.l to train girl students of chemistry in the operations necessary €or production; He then goes on to say "upon graduation .in June, these girls w ill be able, to replace mast'of the ch !employed a t that plant. The ch&ts in quationare not engaged in m sxwc4...- They are engaged is ~roduction.and canlik adeqnatdy replqced by girls.". , . It Q.true, .sf.course. that ~ m w~laboratwiea t have . ewaged .g& and . b v e: trained them,,.for .routine testing. It iq &,true, we would.lie: ts point outtp IMF..,hitason, that our hospitals are ,u%ing nurses' -.hut would he suggest, because of tbia inpgvatiqn, Perhaps the U n d e d r e t a r y 'Could he induced "to that .nurses' aides:ye capable of substituting fq regtake time'.out from his admittedly important tasks to iswet$nurw .wd, in turp, reejstered .nursci.are at+ eXpl& m deteil why it i4 adviaable and necessary to qwtqreplacementsfor 3hysifians and surgeons? . s& &erica's "Chemical hrssedal 'of Dembcracy" of Myl Pattmon.suggqts ' d t l y that thpw who .ai&- its'.brilliant you$ chetnisia; chemical engineers; physicizetb High Copmend for its policies on defermeqt of .c @ , ~ ,etc., while our hjlih, .Great Sntain,' Rueia, hisblJl tr+g technjcalimqpower are s e w blanket such irreplacieable:r%' Cahada, and Austrdia husband' . . del[esmenta. .This Socmrr has nevw taken w h lib p&t'.wodd be of murces. Such a d p i t h as regards chemists and &emicd engipeers. ,general'pubEc. ' We', It bas,insisted that drafting .irreplaceable men w;tb special.ek&wd engaged:invital reeearch.and,prcdw: tioe.reg& of :age was,.a,.wagicW e . .It depkq.strippjng our colleges and Un;.ver&ties of wellqualified, bona-fide students of chemistry and chqnical who will be W Q ~ Y . needed in the,.next fe+v;wary,ears andimthe ppstwqcpericd. Honestly.and ob@tively it has critic&ed.the lack of. an.ipt@gept: , cripple us &IT, + sustained l .Selective Service policy. It decries B. our enemies &d most e r t $ @ y wjll nrnbly in &t postwar era. Under prasent draft deferbungring ineptitude ,that,leavesyoung In$ irreplaceable t&nob&ta so bewildered dbwt that they v41uE-, meet regUl&m we ,,dpl m have~ ,plenty 'of preachem iwthe brave new world of tomomw but preteer for service in the Armed Form +ea their talppts cious few scientists. are sorely needed in reeeamh and production. It has 485 .'(
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proved irrefut+ly again and again that age is no Titerion of ability in the technological fields; that for maiy of our most essential activities young men are better equipped thin the okler ones. , w e can only d - 3 ~ it aS a national tragedy that ow graduating classes of June 1944 in chemistry and chemical engineering will not be utilized in .their technical capacities for' the winaing orthe wac. The S O C I ~ Y urges immsdiate abapdo-ent of the present makeshift known as the critic4 list.of actiyitiea for. occupational deferment of men under 26 as hued by the War Manpower Commission Intm-&sency.Committee on Occupational Deferments, and requesta substitution of 'an,+telligent program which gives proper recognition to the broad fiqld of chemistry and,c%emical engineering. It may inteTest the undersecretary to'kn~wthat nowhere in the 1nter-Agency.list is provision made for the deferment of chemists wd.chemical engkpers in the food fieid, ,aside from i&xe engage3 in wet.nGllisp o€ corn. Such.inclusionwas made in part at least because of tbe importance of this product as a raw material in the manufacture of -tial industrial items. The chemical industry supplias raw materials to nearly all other industries. Approximately 500 different chemicals are e q l o y & 'aiM construction of a"'$~he, battleship. . , .. , , . . , . ,.
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INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
YOU Are Public Relations
INDEED,
it is true that to a considerable extent material printed in this and other technical journals on the subject of deferment of chemists, chemical engineers, etc., can be characterized largely as “talking to ourselves”. lye editors realize this, but publish such material, first, to keep our membership posted, employers informed, and second, to provide authoritative ammunition and catalysts for what we hope will be efforts by thousands of chemists, chemical engineers, and executives to publicize in hundreds of n ays the shortsighted policy of taking technical manpower away from production and research where it is critically needed to ~ 7 i nthis war in the shortest possible time. Fortunately, the AMERIC 4~ CHEMICAL SOCIETY News Service brings to the lay press of hmerica all pertinent statements on this important subject appearing in our journals, and Chemical and Engineering News is read by a large number of editors, science editors, and writers on technical subjects. You are not absolved, ho\T-ever, from doing your part. Although you may not have the opportunity to wri te an editorial in The Saturday Ewning Post, as did Dean Whitmore, nevertheless, you can write your representatives in Congress, your newspapers, magazines, etc., and you can educate your lay friends concerning the danger of the present draft practices both to the war effort and to the postwar period. An aroused public, equipped with the essential facts, can and \Fill do wonders, but everybody must participate to win. Back issues of Chemical and Engineering News give the vital facts.
Credit Where Credit Is Due the hundreds of wartime government agenA”O” cies in crowded Washington, the Kational Roster TG
of Scientific and Specialized Personnel is probably the least publicized and appreciated by the general public, yet the contribution it has made to the mar effort is substantial. Under the direction of Dr. Leonard Carmichael, President of Tufts College, it has served many useful purposes aside from the main objective of collecting data on the technical manpower of the Nation. It has not received at times proper recognition, nor has it been utilized to the fullest extent possible, but that is the fault of others who have failed to appreciate its true value and unique possibilities. Because of its completeness, the Roster has rendered valuable aid to the Armed Forces and to war industries seeking individuals with special talents.. Little can be added to this statement at present because many of the projects it has served are in the hush-hush category. It can be disclosed, however, that the Roster has the impressive record of having certified ne11 above 150,000 specialists to various agencies engaged in the war effort. Unfortunately, the Roster’s direct role in the draft
Vol. 36, No. 6
problem was short-lived, but its staff continues to function efficiently in all matters referred to it. The Roster is now seeking complete data on every technically trained individual in the hrmed Forces. Employers should furnish it with the serial number and technical training and experience of every man inducted or who volunteers. Employers should request all technical men in their employ to register ~ i t the h Roster if they have not already done so. Men entering the Armed Forces either through induction or voluntary enlistment should make certain that employers furnish this information to the Roster or do so themselves. Men now in the service of their country should keep the Roster advised at all times not only of their serial number, but of all other pertinent data that can be disclosed. If and when it becomes necessarg to return men to production and research it will be to the Roster that authorities will turn for advice and assistance. The Roster has demonstrated that no elaborate bureau is necessary to find the technical personnel required to win the war. In the postnar period the Roster can serve a most useful purpose by indicating the numbers available in the principal fields of science. Heretofore, such information has not aln ays been readily available. It would serve as a guide to our technical schools and colleges, to students and to industq-.
T h e Future Training of Chemists
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E MUST now accept, temporarily at least, the loss of students in our technical colleges and universities, except for a fern 4-F’s and a wholly inadequate number of women, as a f a i t accompli, although we will continue to urge that such a disastrous procedure be corrected a t the earliest possible moment. The only bright spot in an otherwise dismal picture is the opportunity presented to our educators to revamp established curricula and to revise educational programs and policies where such action appears desirable. That such thoughts are uppermost in the minds of progressive educators in the field of technology is apparent from the paper on “The Future of Technical Education”, presented by Dr. Harry S. Rogers, President of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, before SOCIETYin Cleveland in the AMERICANCHEMIC~L April, and the speech “Postwar Goals in Engineering Education”, delivered at the banquet of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in the same city last month by Dr. ’CTilliam E. Wickenden, President of Case School of Applied Science. A well-planned symposium covering every phase of our future technical educational program and participated in by educators at each educational level, and by representatives of industry, research, production, and government would serve to bring into the open many angles that to date have only been hinted at or vaguely described.
Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY HekSat ch Unirai
Phllrd.lL%.,
d P.~nkala, R.
Symposium Committee
M. C k k d , CWII.. T. H. C h T. a DW CMbopa J. H.RrL(D.
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AGITATION and MIXING Nature and Measure of Agitation
1
Arthur
, A M a m Velocity Theory for Liquid Agitation
Heat Transfer Coefficients in Agitated Vessels GavLiquid Contacting b y M i x e n
488
Everett 5. Bissell 497
&sic Problems in Conducting a Research Program
Performance of Agitated Gas-Liquid Contacton
W.Hixson
F. D.
Miller and J. H . Rushton 499
C.M. Cooper, G.A. Fernfirom, and S. A. Miller T. H. Chilton, F. 8. Drew,
and
504
R. H. Jebenr 510
H. G.Foust, D. E. Mack, and J. H. Rushton 517
Heat Transfer in tho Votator
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Mass Transfer and Chemical Reaction in Liquid-Solid Agitation
H. G. Houlton 599 Arthur
W.Hixson and Sidney J. Baum
5Q8
