INDUSTRIAL
andENGINEERING CHEMISTRY Harrison E. Howe, Editor 0
EDITORIALS UTURE CHEMISTS. Among the record of cycles should be recorded that which seems to demand periodically an increased supply of the best tr&ned men. The rapid expansion of the chemical industry a t the close of the World War found so many of the promising men leaving the academic halls as to lead the Rockefeller Foundation to supply funds through the National Research Council for a series of fellowships, the primary purpose of which was to save for science and research some of those graduate students who might otherwise immediately enter the employ of industry. Some of these fellows chose research careers in educational institutions as their life’s work, but many have since found their way into industry. The result of that increased demand for scientific personnel is recognized to have had another effect upon American chemistry, being in a large measure responsible for the decrease in the number of those really qualified now to assume the duties and direct the activities of the departments of chemistry in educational institutions. This dearth of material unfortunately comes concurrently with the retirement through age limitation of a considerable number of those whose names have become synonymous with progress in American chemistry. It is not at all surprising that many men look to industry as the proper outlet for their scientific talents. The chemical industry may be proud of its depression record. This is not only a splendid showing as regards earnings, but with respect to employment as well. A survey made by the Chemical Alliance, Inc., comparing the statistics for two dates representing periods respectively about three months before the expiration of a code for the chemical manufacturing industry and six months after its annulment-a period that marks slow progress-indicates a good record. There have been slightly increased hours in factory occupations but they have not advanced beyond the average permitted by the former code and in nonfactory occupations they have not increased and are still considerably below the code maximum. I n both classifications the workers are paid a t higher rates than the code minimum and this proportion tends to increase. There are also indications
F
of higher average rates, while the income of workers, their average and weekly earnings, have increased. But what of the future? The demand is always for the best trained men. Some of those who will take their doctorate in 1937 are already employed as of the date of their degree. If this sort of thing continues, how are we to be sure that the graduates of the future will really be adequately trained and up to the standard? ISit wise to leave to anyone but the very best among our scientists the task and responsibility of training successive classes of the younger men? How can anyone less qualified be expected to train men of ever increasing capability which the situation demands? Might it not be in the interest of both industry and education to work out some co6perative plan to make it attractive to selected men to remain in research and teaching and give leadership where it will actually do the greatest good over a period of time-namely, the academic institutions CHEMICAL which can be certified by the AMERICAN SOCIETY’S Committee on Accrediting Institutions Offering Instruction in Chemistry as places where men are really trained?
P
UBLlCATION POLICY. Here and there in the field of chemistry and the industry we find those who continue to pursue a very conservative policy regarding publication. Many reasons are advanced and when these are debated by the technical editor he is likely to be accused of selfish motives and insufficient regard for trade property. The technical editor, however, has seen so many examples of benefit derived from adequate publication at the right time that he continues to urge it. Many great organizations have their own experience in publication to guide them, and we are pleased to quote here from the Review of Scientific Instruments for March, 1936, the remarks of Dr. Buckley in the report of the Conference on Applied Physics, who discussed the liberal policy of the Bell Telephone Laboratories toward publication: We publish extensively in the engineering and scientific journals, in our own journals, always, of course, using care lest 753
754
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
publication be premature from the business standpoint. Why have we made this change from little to liberal? We have found that it pays. We do not publish merely to be charitable or to advertise. One reason for publishing is that the man who is doing a research is forced to round out the job in a technical way because the results are going to be read by his scientific peers. Another special benefit in a large industry is this: Although a good research job is respected in the laboratory its publication in a journal gives it a standing demanding attention throughout the rest of the organization. It is often the best way of making the work of the research people effectively available to other departments. Moreover, publication gives a personal satisfaction to the scientific worker in the public esteem which he gains. The result is usually to stimulate him to further effort and to make of him a more valuable employee. Still another benefit from publication is the effect on the problem of employment of high-grade men for scientific work. The prospective employee welcomes association with others of his own type and the opportunity for maintaining his place in the scientific world. On the basis of some 20 years of experience I can recommend the policy of liberal publication very wholeheartedly.
This liberal attitude is shared by most of our great industrial units whose success is definitely bound up with scientific progress. They have found that profits increase for all as the literature is made richer by such contributions. HE INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY. A few SOCIETY held years ago the AMERICANCHEMICAL two sessions of an Institute of Chemistry, with a view to giving any who could attend the opportunity t o bring himself quickly up to date on a number of subjects, to meet leaders in various fields, and to combine such a stimulating period with activities characteristic of vacations. The plan could not be continued for want of financial assistance, since, like everything of its type, the institute could not be run on a strictly self-supporting basis. Some argued that the number of those who took advantage of what the program offered was out of proportion to total costs. Others thought the idea was ahead of its time. All these factors, together, cut short the experiment. We wonder if the project should not be revived. It is the common experience in educational institutions and industrial plants that, the depression has added t o the load carried by the chemist. The necessity for more work to be done in the discharge of one’s regular duties has served to decrease time for accessory reading, while concurrently the literature has grown and has increased in its specialization. This situation makes it more desirable than ever to give men and women who are becoming more and more specialized the opportunity which the Institute of Chemistry was designed to afford, The specialty will not suffer, but will be advanced by programs like this of the institute. I t is quite likely that, if attempted again, still larger numbers can find it possible to attend and the venture might be more nearly self-supporting. Nothing can be done about 1936, but it is none too early to consider the project with the summer of 1937 a possibility.
T
VOL. 28, NO. 7
I
NDUSTRY AND THE PROFESSOR. The several problems involved in establishing coiiperation between gown and overalls have long had expert cons:deration. The educator interested in research of value to industry obviously can do his best work if his own information is kept up to date. The industrialist hesitates to reveal trade secrets, even in the patent literature, and too often leaves his professorial colleague so much in the dark that the value of his work suffers. On several occasions papers of academic origin submitted for publication have had to be rejected on the basis that those who had conducted the research were obviously unfamiliar with the latest industrial practice, though it was admitted that the details such as are expected in a technical paper had not been published. Rely on the patent literature as an adequate source of information? Well, hardly. And so we are often confronted with the question, how can the abilities of our professors be utilized to the best advantage? Might not industry at least suggest from time to time the problems in pure science, the solution of which would be of considerable interest, and with the knowledge that the results obtained would appear promptly in the chemical literature? Should not such programs of work be accompanied with enough data to serve reliably as a guide to ensure really useful work? There ought to be a satisfactory method for guiding this research effort.
P
LAIN RESPONSIBILITY. Several cases of physical handicaps, which under state laws and regulations make it practically impossible for men to enter industrial employment, have come to our notice recently. While it is easy to say that the teacher should make plain to a pupil what he may expect to encounter in pursuing a certain line of work under a physical handicap, it is unquestionably difficult and embarrassing to do so. In the long run, however, a discussion of the limitations confronting one so unfortunate is a humanitarian act and the duty of the teacher. These instructors, who appreciate such difficulties in the career of one pursuing a profession, are therefore faced with the performance of an act which, while unwelcome, is nevertheless kindly. What we urge must not be confused with scholarship. It is seldom safe to guide a man into other activity because his early record in the subject of his choice is not satisfactory. There are many examples to condemn such practice, but personalities, physical handicaps, and obvious inaptitude could form the basis of beneficial conferences. Far better to help those who might find places elsewhere t o change the direction of their work early than to graduate them as chemists and chemical engineers, only to have them find no employment.
