The Cover
m· ·
Foster Dee Snell w.
HAT are the influences in an in dividual's early life that make him choose a career in chemistry? There are almost a s many answers to this question as there are chemists, but it is probable that if a poll were taken the attic laboratory of a friend, the hero worship of a high school science teacher, or the admiration of a technically bent elder would emerge as the most often given reasons for selecting t h e study of substances, their composition, and trans formations as a life's work. Descrip tions of the manner in which famous chemists were first lured by the call of the molecules often furnish their biog raphers with a convenient "peg" on which to hang their stories—except in the case of the infrequent subject who. for some nebulous reason, "just na turally wanted to be a chemist" for as long as he can remember. Such a subject is Foster D e e Snell, the well known consulting chemist and recipient of the Medal of the Society of Chemical Industry at the annual meeting of that group in Manchester, England, on July 13. For a man who entered chemistry without the benefit of a novel introduc tion, Snell has had a remarkably in teresting and productive career. After a youth spent in Bingham ton, Ν . Υ.. where he was born on June 29, 1898, Snell entered Colgate University. A short interruption of his college life, due to service in the N a v y during World War I, did not prevent his graduation from Colgate in 1919 with a B.S. degree on schedule. Jobs in chemistry in those days were hard t o find, and a kindly professor encouraged Snell to continue his studies i n chemistry while waiting for the economic clouds to roll by. The young chemist, however, successfully used his salesmanship, fostered b y summer time jobs as a seed salesman, to land himself a job with the Binghamton gas works. Snell held this, his only indus trial job, for a period of two months before h e quit to devote himself to the task of writing a thin volume on colorimetric analysis. This book, published in 1921 by D . Van Nostrand, was one of the foundation stones of this field of analysis and has since been followed by several other tomes on the subject by Snell and his collaborators. Frictionless Collaboration Speaking of collaborators, it was in this same year that Snell married Cornelia A. Tyler, a Syracuse University graduate whom he met while he was
VOLUME
2 7,
NO.
32
taking graduate courses in chemistry at Columbia. Except for the three-hour period in November of every year when Colgate and Syracuse fight their classicfootball duel, the collaboration has been frictionless. Mrs. Snell, who received her Ph.D. in chemistry shortly after her husband obtained his in 1923, has been Snell's favorite co-author in the 68 papers and books he has published to date. While doing his work at Columbia. Snell was an instructor at the College of the City of N e w York. After the receipt of his doctorate, he accepted a position at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn under the famous Allen E . Rogers. H e was placed in charge of the courses in technical chemistry during the day ses sion and given the task of developing a course in organic chemistry for the night session. His remaining time began to be filled by numerous consulting jobs with which he was approached. Tail Wags Dog B y the time Snell had been at Pratt only two years, the volume of his con sulting activities grew to a point where it became necessary for him to open a separate laboratory t o handle it. Three years later the press of work as a con sultant brought about his decision to resign from Pratt in order to devote himself completely to the business of "experting." The increase in the number of con sulting problems offered to Snell brought with them a need for an increased staff and facilities. B y 1929, the office and laboratory space of his organization had doubled and the staff had grown to 25 in number. In 1930, Foster D e e Snell, Inc., of which Snell is president, was formed and t o the astonishment of busi ness experts grew and prospered during the gray depression years at about the same rate that other commercial enter prises were withering and dying. In 1933, Snell moved his company into several floors of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Building, where it continued its seam-bursting growth. I n the latter part of 1946, Snell de cided to take Horace Greeley's famed advice and Foster D . Snell, Inc., with its staff of 90 migrated westward—about four miles to West 15th St. in Man hattan, where it now occupies a 10-story elevator-equipped tepee in the shadows of N e w York's skyscrapers. I t would be hard to name a field of applied chemistry in which Snell's or ganization has not tackled some par
» » » AUGUST
8,
1949
ticularly k n o t t y problem. Successful solutions to sticklers on acidproof ce ments, silicates, mortar, glass, cosmetics, foods, and leather have been ground out by the technically well rounded group Snell has gathered around him. Con siderable work has been done on prob lems involving soaps and detergents, a field in which Snell has always had a particular personal interest and has pub lished extensively. Consulting work is not without its lighter side, however, and the files of Foster D . Snell, Inc., contain the case histories of several whimsical problems that have been solved. Among these are the development of a "magic" powder for use by a magician to put an in stantaneous "head" on beer. Another of these assorted gems was the task of formulating a nonpoisonous stable white liquid for use in dolls' nursing bottles. Affiliations and Avocations The head of this organization that wrestles with the technical problems of magicians and magnates alike is a m e m ber
of
the
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
and is at present serving his third term as a councilor of its N e w York Section. He is also a member of the American Oil Chemists Society, the American I n stitute of Chemical Engineers, a fellow of the American Institute of Chemiste of which he was president from 1946-8, and a past vice president of the Society of Chemical Industry. H e is also a fellow of the Chemical Society of London and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A t the six teenth meeting of the International Union of Chemistry in London in 1947, Snell served as an official United States delegate as well as a member of the council. Social clubs that claim him as a member are T h e Chemists' Club, the Columbia University Club, and the Tarry town Boat Club. I t might seem that a good way to interrupt this long list of technical as sociations and the active positions that Snell has held in them would be to start a discussion of the subject's hob bies, but the dilemma is only heightened. In college, it was winter sports and tennis; a little later golf was added, and still later bridge entered the picture. For the past several years, power boat ing has headed the list and come a nice week end F D S , family, and friends, can be seen cruising up or down the Hudson River in the Sliver, a 33-foot cabin cruiser. On longer vacations, the Sliver's two 100-hp. engines will carry the party through the picturesque canals of N e w York State to the Great Lakes and the shores of the dominion to the north. For the record, it should be noted that the vessel is the nicknamesake of the Snells' daughter, Barbara Anne, a recent graduate of Wellesley now studying for her doctorate in psychology at Columbia.
2257
