NEWS OF THE WEEK
PACIFICHEM '89 Chemists ponder the 21st century "The 'new chemistry' will undoubtedly be the key science of the 21st century and the key action will be long-range basic research focused on satisfying human needs." That's the perspective of Yoshikazu Ito, chairman of Japan's Toray Industries and a former president of the Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ), speaking at a symposium at the recently concluded 1989 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies. CSJ was the host society at the conference, the second in a series sponsored jointly by CSJ, the Chemical Institute of Canada, and the American Chemical Society. ACS hosted the first conference five years ago. The 1989 edition drew more than 7300 registrants—including some 300 involved only with the congress exhibit—to Honolulu the week before Christmas. In Ito's view, society in the future will enter an ideal humanoriented civilization. "It is my opinion," he says, "that there will be a fusion of Western civilization and Oriental culture. In this neo-society, mankind will pursue individual affluence, realize true global communication, and enjoy a healthy, long life in a comfortable environment." The "new chemistry," Ito says, is a science that will meet and satisfy the new human needs of the 21st century. It is the chemistry being born from the fusion of traditional chemistry—which deals with molecules and molecular aggregates— with other leading-edge sciences and technologies, such as electronics and biotechnology. To consultant W. H. Clive Simmonds of Futurescan International, Ottawa, the problems of the 21st century are basically molecular or biomolecular. "So," he says, "the 21st c e n t u r y may well become 6
January 1, 1990 C&EN
known as the Chemical Century— in the same way that the 20th century could be called the Century of Physics." Focusing on the Pacific Basin, Simmonds notes that the East Asian group of nations is the only one of the three major trading areas in the world that is enjoying the three major stimulants for growth in markets for chemicals—population growth, economic growth, and rising market sophistication. If this growth is met by chemicals produced by the "old" processes and used in "old" ways, he says, pollution, wastes, and contamination will rise also. "The challenge to the chemical industry," Simmonds says, "is therefore to adopt new processes and new chemicals that do not have these characteristics." It is success in these areas, he says, that would make the 21st century become known as the Chemical Century. But how or whether the bright chemical future foreseen for the 21st century is realized may depend on education. In a talk at PACIFICHEM '89 addressing the public perception of chemistry, Cornell University chemistry professor and Nobelist Roald Hoffmann stressed that education is a crucial part of the democratic process, a privilege and a duty of the citizen. Two matters concern Hoffmann about chemical illiteracy prevalent among the public, which he sees as a failure of the educational process. First is that if people do not know the basic workings of the world around them—especially that component added by h u m a n beings themselves—they become alienated. "Alienation, due to lack of knowledge," he notes, "is impoverishing." Hoffmann's second concern is that "ignorance of chemistry poses a barrier to the democratic process." Or-
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Hoffmann: education and democracy dinary people, he says, must be empowered to make decisions—on genetic engineering, on waste disposal sites, and on dangerous and safe plants. "They can call on experts to explain the advantages and disadvantages, the options, benefits, and risks. But experts do not have the mandate; the people and their representatives do." The task of the chemist in society may seem dishearteningly complex, Hoffmann notes. "How," he asks, "can we educate people to our complex, well-developed science? How can we make them aware of their own molecular nature?" It will take a collective, multipartite effort, Hoffmann says, but the task cannot be done unless chemists take a role individually. For chemistry and chemists, Hoffmann says, "there is no choice other than responsibility, personal and collective. No choice but education and democracy." James Krieger
