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Volume 6
SEPTEMBER 10, 1928
Number 17
Second Session, Institute of Chemistry of the A. C. S. With the conclusion of events scheduled for Saturday, August 18, the curtain w a s rung down on the Second Session of the I nstitute of Chemistry of t h e American Chemical Society, held a t Northwestern University, July 2 3 to August 18, 1928, leaving those who are careful students of this newest experiment under t h e auspices of the SOCIETY convinced that it has served a definite purpose and has succeeded. There are many ways of measuring the success of such an a c t i v i t y , maintained at concert pitch for four weeks. The scheduled speakers numbered 118, and many of these appeared more than once. These m e n came without expense t o the Institute to set forth their views and participate in the discussions. T h e total registration, not including those who a t t e n d e d single lectures, w a s 6 3 3 . Of these, 70 remained throughout the 4 weeks, 17 were there for 3 weeks, 29 for half t h e time, a n d 89 for one week only. Attendance for shorter periods made up the balance and, in addition, 382 attended individual lectures, principally those of a semi-popular nature scheduled for the evenings. A classification of the attendance follows: ( 1) OCCUPATION
Teachers College or university . . . . High school . Industries Cellulose, rayon, etc. DyestufTs. coal tar. . . Leather Metals, steel, e t c Packing Paint and varnish. . . Petroleum Public utilities Rubber Textiles
131 :M
3 7 2 7 16 14 23 5
Industries (continued) Miscellaneous chemical Miscellaneous non-chemical Miscellaneous Consulting chemists. . . . Government chemists . Research Institute, etc. Students Unknown
fi.3 92
16 23 30 32 139 240
TOTAL N U M B E R REGISTERED BY NAME
633
( 2 ) GEOGRAPHICAL
Alabama 3 Arizona 1 California 3 Canada 2 Connecticut. .. 4 Delaware 21 District of Columbia 26 Florida 1 Georgia 3 rilinois. . . 33o Indiana 26 Iowa 11 Kansas 3 Maine 1
Maryland 7 Massachusetts.. 9 Michigan 9 Missouri 5 Minnesota 4 Mississippi . . . 1 Nebraska 6 New Hampshire 1 New Jersey. - . . 13 New Mexico.. . 2 New York 27 Norway 1 Ohio 29 Oklahoma. . . .
Oregon
4
5
Pennsylvania. Philippine Is lands . Scotland. . . . South Dakota Tennessee. . . Texas. . . . . Unknown. . . . Utah Virginia Washington. . . Wisconsin. . . .
4 21
TOTAI
This does not tell the whole story, as the roster included chemists of several varieties, of several ages, and of both sexes, a s well a s business men and others concerned with t h e topics under discussion. The daily average attendance approximated 150. Special mention must b e made of several industrial trips sponsored b y the Institute. The Corn Products Refining Co. kindly opened its Argo plant. The North Side and D e s Plaines Sewage Treatment Works were visited, and expeditions were made t o the Whiting, Ind., refinery of t h e Standard Oil Co. of Indiana, to the laboratory of the Universal Oil Products Co., at Riverside, 111., t h e Sherwin-Williams Co., the Universal Portland O m e n t Co., and the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric C». T h e cooperation of all these organizations was greatly ^Appreciated. A special journey w a s made one Sunday by a party of 4,5 t o Lake Geneva and Williams Bay t o be the guests of K. B. Frost, director of the Yerkes Observatory. T h e opportunity to attend the grand opera in the open air at Ravinia was seized b y many.
Elsewhere in this issue i s a list of the motion pictures, some of which were shown on five evenings of each week in different programs. A particular showing was included in the address by C. E . K. Mees, when a film of the Institute membership taken but t w o days previously was shown in Kodacolor. T h i s film is believed t o be the first colored pictures of the new t y p e made in the Chicago area. In addition to the scheduled films, several reels of amateur movies were taken and exhibited at t h e social functions and now form a part of the Institute archives. In the "Axe-Eye/' the official daily mimeographed publication of the Institute, various social events, some quite impromptu, were announced, together with changes in the program. These carried note of the hostess for the evening "mixer," where pretzels and punch were served, popular diversions supplied, and on some occasions talks of note. Louis N . Crill, Secretary of Agriculture of South Dakota, recited Anglo-Norwegian dialect poems of his own composition; Earl Otto gave an exposition of t h e Chinese language and discussion of the problems of the chemistry teacher in China; and Principal Sir James C. Irvine$presented a description of student life at S t . Andrews. Twice the mixer w a s transformed from Willard Hall t o a wiener roast on Lake Michigan Beach, the donated wieners being of the skinless variety. The Institute membership had the good fortune to be t h e guests of the Chicago Chemists' Club at an outing on August 4. T h e recreation included golf, tennis, and swimming. An innovation was introduced at the suggestion of Sir James, the swimming party being regularly greeted each afternoon by a member of the Institute staff equipped with thermos jugs of hot tea. Very few of the lectures and addresses were presented in the form of papers, t h e majority of the discussions being presented extemporaneously or from notes, while questions a n d answers following were of course spontaneous. T h e Institute i s the kind of meeting which one cannot attend by proxy. However, in addition t o those who attended t h e Institute proper, others profited by the occasion through 7 addresses given over radio W G N and by appearances before 19 luncheon clubs and other organizations. The interest and generosity of the daily press in reporting the Institute need not be stressed, as it has been apparent everywhere. Everyone with actual Institute experience will h a v e his own way of stating h i s impressions. Unfortunately, there is not room t o quote all, but w e give here the opinion of Sir James Irvine, one of those who knows from personal contact t h e potentialities of this new undertaking. After taking part in the Evanston session I have formed very definite opinions as to the value of the Institute of Chemistry which has been operated by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY for the past two years.
The ac-
tivities of the Institute are many-sided, and one of the most important is the opportunity for chemists of maturity and experience to discuss in a leisurely manner the problems which lie at the root of the industries of today and of tomorrow. B u t the Institute is not exclusively a gatherinR of experts and most of the prominent members who were in residence for 'the entire session attended largely with the view of receiving instruction, either from the formal lectures or. more particularly, from the informal discussions. In such a friendly atmosphere, the youngest chemist had no diffidence in approaching the oldest concerning any problem which perplexed him, no matter how profound or how trivial the question might be. In this way the Institute has a personal human side which reacts greatly to the benefit of both investigators and teachers all over the country. There is also the important national side to its functions, as no outstanding issue in which chemistry and national interests are intermingled is likely t o be overlooked in such a gathering. N o other organization known t o me plays precisely the same valuable part in fostering an active interest among the workers in chemistry and in educating public opinion.
