Edwin Emery Slosson: A Chemist of the West' DOROTHY BARTON University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
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N THIS age scientific discoveries and inventions come rapidly. But ignorance on the part of the general literate public concerning these matters sometimes makes the going diflicnlt for the researchers and workers in the field of science. I n order to have a well-balanced program science must have as well as its research workers those who are capable of clarifying and humanizing the knowledge brought to light in laboratories. There must be a group of men who are willing to take the time to make the man on the street understand the mysteries of science so that he can adapt himself t o an ever changing world. It is very difficult to popularize abstract truths and any person who succeeds in the task must of necessity be gifted. He must first of all grasp the full significance of the facts himself and then must be careful not to distort them in order to make the common mind appreciate and understand them. Such a person was Dr. Edwin Emery Slosson. Very often when ~ d w i nE. Slosson's name is mentioned i t is as a former member of the staff of The ZnAnd he is frequently dependent magazinein New cited as the director of the Science Senrice in Washington, D. C., up to the time of his death. But important positions of that nature demanded a vast knowledge in the field of science. Slosson's and some experience fundamental knowledre of chemistrv and science in general was obtained in the West, alihough sometimes to chemistry that fact is overlooked. is while residing in Kansas and Wyoming and while doing graduate work a t the University of Chicago prepared him for his work in the East. His father, Wfiiam B. Slosson, lived originally in New York, but in 1857, a t the age of 21, his adventurous spirit prompted him to become one of the fmt settlers and the of K ~ H~~~ ~ he made ~ a home ~ ~ established . h t store in Albany. His job was a difficult one because he had to haul his goods for the store 60 miles by ox team from the Missouri River a t St. Joseph, Missouri. It was a t Albany, Kansas, that Edwin Slosson was born on June 7, 1865. His mother, Louise Lilly Slosson, had been a school teacher in New York prior to moving West. She taught her son many valuable lessons, among them an appreciation and love of books. After Edwin Slosson had finished his grammarschool education he attended the Leavenworth (Ransas) High School. Then he took up his studies a t the University of Kansas a t Lawrence. He was much interested in science, specializing in chemistry. However, his interests were diversified and his work at the University was evidently well done, since he was elected
to both the literary and the scientific honorary societies. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. In 1890 he obtained his B.S. degree and took some graduate work a t the University.
UK E D T ~ ~ 13I N SLOSSON IN T CHEMISTRY AT THE UNIVERSITY 1897
~ LECTURE E ROOM,TEACHINO OF WYOMING I N THE FALLOF
Then he was faced with a serious problem indeedthe age-old one that confronts a large Percentage of graduates every year. Although he had applied a t several different places, a job did not seem to be immediately forthcoming. Finally he took temporary work as a member of a paleontological expedition a t a solitary spot in Kansas. Then, by coinadence, in one day he received two offersof positions. One came from a large university on the Atlantic coast, the other from the small University of Wyoming. It was not only a choice of residence but the choice of a career. The offer from the Atlantic coast was for work in the field of p s ~ c h o l o g ~whereas , the one from Wyoming was for the position of Assistant in Chemistry. After a shod time be made his decision. So in 1891 Slosson was called t o the University of Wyoming a t Laramie, where he bad charge of teaching chemistry and chemical research a t the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station. In addition to this he accepted another responsibility of a different type. On August 1%1891, he married May Preston of Cent r a h Kansas, a Young woman who was outstanding as the first woman t o get a Ph.D. degree a t Cornell University. The work a t the Experiment Station was determined largely by the nature of the land of the state. Attention was concentrated on the study of aridity. In ' Presented before the Division of the History of Chemistry there were two acnlties, the a t the lOlst meeting of the A. C.S.,St. Louis, Missouri. April 8, 1941. supply of sufficient water and the dispersing of the ac17
ogy. He evidently did good work in that field too, for he became noted in the community as a teacher of psychology, having established laboratory practice in the school. This was another indication of his wide diversity of interests. 1 The Universitv a t that time had no remlar summer ,, .. .., ."-school, but it is reported that Slosson taught a few students of chemistry in the summers oi 1897-99. Another studcnt activity of that time was the Camera Club. Dr. Slosson was intcrested in the subject and lectured on ohotoma~hvin Laramie and Cheserme. : , 'i ~ His sense of humor was noted on the campus. It ::i must have helped him a great deal when faced with disciplinary prLblems. &d apparently he was fond of writing poetry. That fondness, combined with his meat sense of humor. often entertained his students. However, he was known as a very thorough teacher of chemistry and one who demanded much of those who worked under him. EXPERIMENT STATION COUNCILAT LARAMIE, WYOMING, Another side of the picture is presented when we see (E. E. SLOSSON IS I N THE BACKROW,AT THE ~ C H 1893. , Lem) Slosson in the role of a preacher. As a professor he was called upon many times to give talks in the chapel cases he found that there was no excess of alkali on the and he occupied the pulpit a number of times when the surface of the soil, hut there might be beds of it several regular minister could not fulfil the appointment himfeet below. In the bulletins of the Experiment Sta- self. Later (1925) he published a collection of some tion he published many observations on the origin, of the sermons and talks he h a d delivered, entitled constitution, and distribution of alkali in Wyoming. "Sermons of a Chemist." Because his wife had a Ph.D, degree and he himself He tried to find some means to retard or diminish the accumulation of alkali and to redeem the soils that were ~ ~ so alkaline as to heof little apicultural importance. . . -.. .. ... . ,. Another phase of chemistry that Slosson worked on 2 ; h.4"1-.~+. k s - h l h ) C . a t thc Experiment Station was that of petroleum oil. All this work was to help him a great deal later when he wrote his well-known book of "Creative Chemistry" and articles on petroleum products, coal-tar dyes, etc. He studied the heating power of Wyoming coal and oil. He published many items in the bulletins of the Experiment Station on the geology of the gypsite deposits of Laramie, the chemistry and the manufacture of cement plaster a t Laramie, the effect of sand on the crushing strength, and certain retarders and accelerators. His series of papers on petroleum was also extensive. Much activity centered around the agricultural school. In 1893 the University entered a grass exhibit a t the World's Fair in Chicago and received a medal for it. Slosson acted as a special demonstrator in chemistry a t the Fair. But his work a t the Experiment Station was only part of his job. The other half consisted of teaching chemistry classes of the University students. The president of the University was a great advocate of University extension courses in the state. After a speech of his in 1892 some twenty-four Laramie citizens signed up for a course and as first choice elected to take chemistw under Slosson. This must surely have affected hi; work later on as a popularizer of chemistry. In the following terms a t the University of Wyoming NOTESON A LECTURE BY DR. PACEPROM SLOSSON'S some new courses were introduced. It is to be noted STIEOLITZ ON ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AT THE UNIVERSITY that Slosson handled a course in experimental psycholoa cnruco aoa 0cros.s~ 5. 18g6 cumulated soluble salts known as alkali. Most of the salts of Wyoming consisted of NazS04, MgSO,, and NaCl in varying proportions. Slosson studied the effect of salt solutions on germinating seeds. In many
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