FATHERS and SONS in CHEMISTRY The Hales of Arkansas
Harrison Hale, Sr.
Harrison Hale, Sr., was born in Columbus, Miss., December 27, 1879. After graduating from Boys High School of Atlanta, Ga., and obtaining an A.B. degree from Emory University in 1899, he was assistant principal of the Edgewood, Ga., public schools for two years before obtaining his master of science degree at the University of Chicago in 1902. As Harrison Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, he was granted his Ph.D. degree in 1908. While at Pennsylvania he studied under Edgar F. Smith, with whom he maintained a close friendship. Drury College bestowed upon him its honorary doctor of laws degree in 1928. His scholarship is attested by his membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of Alpha Chi Sigma. His chemical interests in industry have been varied and include positions in consulting chemistry, city waterworks chemistry, boiler water and industrial water chemistry, the chemistry of zinc ores, the use of chlorine in preserving milk and as a preventive of influenta. Recognizing his broad knowledge and active interest in water and sewage problems, the Annual Arkansas Water and Sewage Conference has elected him secretary every year since its organisation 10 years ago. His general interest in industrial chemistry is evidenced by his book "American Chemistry" and his contributions as associate editor of "Chemical Formulary" (Volumes I and II) and "Handbook of Chemistry and Physics" (Volumes 18to23, inclusive). Dr. Hale's most valuable contribution to chemistry has been in the field of chemical education. He was professor of chemistry at Drury College for 16 years, leaving in 1918 to accept his present position as head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the
University of Arkansas. When he took charge of the department the enrollment in chemistry was less than 200; this year it is 850. Properly to train this everincreasing number of students and to provide for normal growth of the department, Dr. Hale and his colleagues planned the design and equipment of a modern chemistry and chemical engineering building which was dedicated in 1935. No doubt Dr. Hale is best known by the deep and lasting impressions he has made on his students. After working quietly but persistently with them in the classroom and laboratory to give them a sound training in the fundamentals of chemistry, he keeps in constant contact with his graduates by writing each an annual "chemical family" letter and receiving a reply from most of his graduates. In recognition of this continuing interest and to exemplify their esteem for their "chemical father", Dr. Hale's students contributed the "Harrison Hale Library Fund" at the dedication of the new chemistry building at the University of Arkansas. Probably Dr. Hale derives his greatest teaching pleasure from his course in the history of chemistry. Because of his active interest and broad knowledge of the subject, all of his lectures are enthusiastically received by his students. The subject becomes personal when Dr. Hale traces the relationship of the members of his "chemical family" back to the great Berselius. This he does because he studied under Edgar F. Smith, who studied under W6hler, who in turn studied under Berselius. Dr. Hale is a member of a number of organisations and societies but is particularly active in the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, having served as Councilor for the Arkansas Section and as Chairman of the Division of Chemical Education. He has also served as chairman of the Arkansas chapter of American Association of University Professors. In addition to Dr. Hale's varied professional activities, he has taken a very active interest in civic affairs. He has served two terms as president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce and one term as president of the Rotary Club. He was chairman of the Fayetteville Centennial Celebration in 1928. For many years he has been a member of the Boy Scouts of America Council, has taught a Sunday school class composed of college students, and has taken an active part in all church affairs.
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Arthur Hays Hale Arthur Hays Hale, Dr. Hale's elder sou. was born in Philadelphia, Penna., on April 5, 1908. After receiving his A.B. degree with a chemistry major from the University of Arkansas in 1929, he accepted a fellowship at Emory University, where he received his master's degree in 1930. He then worked under Gregory P. Baxter at Harvard University for his Ph.D. degree, which was granted in 1936. While at Harvard, Arthur served first as an assistant, then as Austin Teaching Fellow, and later as a full-time research associate. Arthur Hale's work with Professor Baxter on the atomic weights of sodium, iodine, and carbon was an important contribution to the present accepted atomic weights of these elements, especially of carbon. He is now employed as an assistant group leader at the Experimental Station of E. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc., Wilmington, Del.
Harrison Hale, Jr. Harrison Hale, Jr., who was born in Springfield, Mo., November 11, 1909, is having his chemical career in the business field. He obtained the A.B. degree with a major in chemistry at the University of Arkansas in 1930, followed by the master of business administration degree from Harvard in 1932. Soon after he hadfinishedschool work, the Russell-Hale Chemical Co. was formed and started business selling heavy industrial chemicals. The company is
August 10, 1940
NEWS
located at 2812 Center St., Houston, Texas. In 1938, a Russell-Hale Chemical Co. branch office was started at 858 South Front St., New Orleans, La. A subsidiary known as the Russell-Hale Co. sells foundry supplies. As undergraduates, both Arthur and Harrison, Jr., were active in sports and school affairs. Arthur received three "A's" and Harrison two as players on Arkansas
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University basketball teams during the time when Arkansas won five consecutive Southwest conference championships. Arthur was president of his senior class and of the Arkansas chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma, while Harrison, Jr., was secretary of the A. B. C. Club and an active member of Scabbard and Blade. All three of the Hales are members of Kappa Alpha (Southern). BERT H. LINCOLN
National Standing in Nobel Awards in Chemistry Harrison Hale, University of Arkansas, Fayettevilie, Ark.
S
INCE the first Nobel prize was announced in 1901, there have been 34 awards in chemistry, as no awards were made in this field in the five years 1916, 1917, 1919, 1924, and 1933. These prizes have been given to chemists in only eight countries, the record being shown in Table I. Table.
Nobel Prizes in Chemistry 1901-39
Germany England France United Sweden Switserland Holland Austria
States
15.5 5 4 3 2.5 2 1 1
Two and a half of the last four chemical prizes have been awarded to Germans, although the last two winners, announced in 1939, are not permitted under Hitler's ruling to receive them. Richard Kuhn of Berlin was awarded the 1938 prize for the isolation of vitamin B1, while that for 1939 was shared by Adolf Butenandt of Berlin and Leopold Rusicka of Zurich for their independent work on androsterone, the male sex hormone. Peter Debye won the 1936 prize. This emphasizes the preeminence of Germany in chemistry as represented by the Nobel awards. Omitting England, the number of prizes won by Germans is clearly greater than the total of all other nations combined. Though the first prize in 1901 went to Van't Hoff in Holland, Emil Fischer won the second. This was the only one of the first four which was won by a German, but the prize in 1905 was given to von Baeyer. In the first ten years Germany won half of the chemical prizes and in only two years since has the German percentage of the total awards been below 40. At present it is 45.6 per cent. Germany's outstanding position in chemistry is emphasized by Table II. Preeminent in the three scientific fields, though much less so in physics and in physiology and medicine than in chemistry, Germany has won few prizes in peace. This is not difficult to understand. The United States did not receive a single award in chemistry for fifteen years, the 1914 prize to Theodore William Rich-
Table.
COUNTRY
Nobel Prize Awards
PHYSICS
Germany England France United States All others
CHEMITRY
PHYSIOLOOT AMD MEDICINE
%
%
%
27.8 20.8 11.1 12.5 27 8 100.0
45.6 14.7 11.8 8.8 19.1 100.0
21.2 10.6 10 6 12.1 45.6 100.0
ards of Harvard being announced a year late. Seventeen years passed before the 1932 prize was given to Irving Langmuir, quickly followed by that to Harold C. Urey in 1934. There has been no American chemical award in the pastfiveyears. As shown in Table III, only in literature has the percentage been so low as in chemistry. Never has the number of chemical prizes coming to the United States reached 11 per cent. Now it stands at 8.8 per cent, while the percentage in physics is 12.5, in physiology and medicine 12.1, and in peace 19.0. Of all the Nobel prizes 11.9 per cent have been awarded to Americans. Nobel awards in chemistry during the past forty years are by no means the sole criterion in determining a nation's chemical achievements today. A considerable number of German winners would not now be recognized as citizens of that country. These figures do emphasize the splendid
Table III Nobel Prize Awards COUNTRY
Germany EncUnd Frmnc United States All others
LITERATURE
PEACE
%
%
13 0 8.3 15.3 8.3 54.2 100.0
6.9 15.5 12.1 19 0 46 5 100.0
ALL PRIZES
2J .» 14.0 12.2 11.9 38.7 100.0
achievement and thorough training in chemistry in Germany during the closing years of the nineteenth century and the early years of this century, when those who later became prize winners were being trained. Undoubtedly the distance of the United States from those making the awards has been a handicap to Americans in each of the five fields set up by Alfred Nobel. Other criteria emphasize America's preeminence in chemistry. The AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY is by far the largest
organization of chemists in the world. Approximately half of all the world's chemicals are manufactured in the United States. In the number of chemical articles published as given by Chemical Abstracts recently, the United States held first place with Great Britain second and Germany third. Confidence in our resources and in the ability of American chemists leads to the expectation that before many years the percentage of the United States in Nobel chemical awards will surpass that of France and of England and eventually rival that of Germany.
GUSTAVUS J . ESSELEN, INC., c o n s u l t i n g
chemists and chemical engineers, 857 Boylston St, Boston, Mass., will close its laboratories for a two weeks' vacation from August 19 to September 2. The office will remain open to handle emergency matters. A similar "mass" vacation in 1939 proved so successful that it is being repeated this year.
Nobel Prise Awards in Chemistry
