REPORT FOR ANALYTICAL
CHEMISTS
The Analysis of a Profession by David N. Hume, Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 39, Mass.
This Report for Analytical Chemists is the text of the Fisher A w a r d Address given on A p r i l 2, 1963 at the Spring National ACS Meeting in Los Angeles b y the recipient, Dr. D a v i d N. Hume. In the address, Dr. Hume discusses the nature of analytical chemistry as a separate discipline a n d the responsibilities of the teacher of analytical chemistry A N E OF THE MOST difficult problems facing the analytical chemist today is that of explaining to others just what analytical chemistry is. Much of the difficulty derives from changes in the nature of the profession and the fact that a given word may have a whole spectrum of meanings. Even the very general definition of an analytical chemist as one who determines the composition of matter (in contrast to the synthetic chemist who prepares, purifies, and isolates chemical compounds) leads to a paradox if we compare the synthetic organic chemist determining the structure of his product by infrared, NMR, and mass spectrometry with the analyst preparing, purifying, and isolating silver chloride preparatory to weighing it. The increasing complexity of modern chemistry is to some extent the cause of this confusion, as is the fact that a chemist seldom works on only one branch of the subject, more often combining the techniques and approaches of several. The subdivision of chemistry into several fields—analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical, for example—has, nonetheless, real utility, even though precise definitions of these fields are difficult to formulate. An unfortunate consequence is, however, that without a clear definition the individual substitutes an image, and this image may be distorted or even damaging. We shall perhaps make faster progress in our thinking if we avoid the problem of trying to define chemistry as a whole, and instead
merely note its fluidity and, in particular, the haziness of the borderline between it and physics. Let us view the practice of chemistry as the attacking of chemical problems, and divide these problems into those of a preparative nature and those involving the properties of chemical systems. There is an ever-growing array of methods applicable to chemical problems, and I would like to suggest that a good practical description of the modern professional analytical chemist is one who is a specialist in the methodology of solving problems having to do with the properties of chemical systems. I specify the professional analytical chemist because it makes a very great difference whether one is a highly educated specialist or a trained technician. The matter of images enters here. If the image of the technician is confused with that of the professional, there can be trouble. We all know that most chemical analyses are done not by analytical chemists but by technicians, just as most organic syntheses are done not by the organic chemists but by chemical operators. In the latter instance, there is no problem of confused images. The chemical operator wears coveralls and a hard hat, adds reagents with a longhandled shovel, and attends to his duties in an easily recognizable production area. There is no difficulty in distinguishing him from the research synthetic chemist in the laboratory. The analytical technician, on the other hand, may wear the same white coat and use the same
instruments in the very same laboratory as the research analytical chemist. With outward appearances so much alike, it is very easy for observers to get an entirely false image of the analytical chemist, particularly if their own experience with analytical chemistry was limited to an exposure to traditional qualitative and quantitative analysis taught in the sophomore year. If one attempts to clarify the nature of modern analytical chemistry by describing some of the research currently under way in this field, he may run into another type of conceptual difficulty. The listener, after hearing about kinetics of electrode reactions, equilibrium constants in low dielectric constant solvents, and the mechanism of excitation in flame spectroscopy, is likely to say, "But what you are doing is really physical chemistry. Why don't you call yourself a physical chemist?" But we are not physical chemists because, although the phenomena may often be the same, the outlook is quite different. This is well illustrated by a specific example. One of my colleagues, a physical chemist, enjoys studying the vapor-liquid composition of threecomponent systems as a function of temperature. He views such a problem as having two parts. The first is the annoying, but necessary, matter of having to find—or worse yet—develop methods suitable for the determination of his components in each phase with a precision and accuracy sufficient for his purpose. Once this unpleasant (to him) preVOL. 35, NO. 1 3, DECEMBER 1903
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liminary is out of the way, he can proceed to gather very precise data with loving care and then fit equations to it—an activity which gives him great personal satisfaction. I also see the problems as having two parts of dissimilar attractiveness. For me t h e interesting part, the aspect of the problem t h a t represents a real challenge and calls for imagination, orginality, and creativity, is the development of the method which makes a solution to the problem possible. Once this is done, the " p u r e " research is over and there remains only the " a p plied" gathering of data and calculation of results, an activity which I find quite unexciting. Here is a real difference in outlook, and it is one thing which characterizes the analytical chemist and makes it necessary to consider analytical chemistry as a discipline separate from the other branches of chemistry. The analytical chemist must be a realist. H e does not have his quarters in an ivory tower. H e is concerned with "the analysis of things as they are," as one of my predecessors so aptly p u t it. This concern with real systems implies no slight upon theory. T h e analytical chemist needs and applies all the theory he can get, but he is forced by the nature of his activities to recognize t h a t much of the theory available today is of limited applicability in real situations.
Analytical Chemistry as a S e p a r a t e Discipline
I t is important t h a t analytical chemists themselves realize t h a t analytical chemistry is a separate discipline and why it is different. I t is of concern to us t h a t other chemists realize t h e distinction, because out of an understanding of the nature of modern analytical chemistry will come an increasing respect for it. I t is therefore essential t h a t students of chemistry become aware t h a t analytical chemistry is a separate discipline and t h a t it is an important, an interesting, and a rewarding field of professional specialization. This thought focuses our attention on some of t h e responsibilities of the teacher of analytical chemistry. I t is, first of all, his responsibility to have a clear conception of his profession in order t h a t he m a y impart it to his students. As an analytical chemist, he should have a feeling of identification with the profession, and he should give his students a feeling for its distinctiveness and its importance. He also needs to m a k e his students aware t h a t there are worthwhile scientific activities outside of teaching and academic research. The three branches of our profession— academic, industrial, and governmental—are equally honorable, and educators need to recognize this. The teacher of chemistry needs con-
Dr. David N. Hume, Fisher Award winner for 1963, is professor of chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Active in a number of research areas, Dr. Hume has published over 80 papers in such fields as polarography, complex ion equilibria, thermometric and photometric titrations, radiochemical analysis, and statistical methods. Dr. Hume has also been extremely active in modernizing the teaching of analytical chemistry and has been influential in revising both the undergraduate and graduate curricula in analytical chemistry at MIT. Dr. Hume was born in 1917 in Vancouver, B. C. He received his B.A. in 1939 and his M.A. in 1940 from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his Ph.D. in 1943 from the University of Minnesota. During the war, Dr. Hume worked with the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago, and at the Clinton Laboratories, Oak Ridge, Tenn. After the war, Dr. Hume taught at the University of Kansas until 1947 when he joined MIT. Dr. Hume is author of the review "Polarographic Theory, Instrumentation, and Methodology" for ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. He has served as a member of the advisory board of ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY and is an editor for the McGraw-Hill Advanced Chemistry Series. He is a member of the ACS, Sigma Xi, Phi Lambda Upsilon, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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t a c t with industry to give him a balanced outlook on chemistry as a whole. Without such an outlook, he is likely to be capable in only p a r t of his subj ect. Failure to give adequate recognition to the chemist in industry is, alas, a not uncommon sin among teachers. There is a t least one wellknown and otherwise reputable institution in which the graduate students are all but told outright t h a t to go into the chemical industry would m a k e them second-class citizens ! I think this is a crime. Some of the best minds in chemistry are in the chemical- industry. This is not just because of money. Industry is the source of extremely interesting and stimulating problems. Some of the best work t h a t is done comes from non-academic laboratories, and very real opportunities exist there. For m a n y individuals, too, there is far greater personal satisfaction possible from being creative in a dynamic, modern research, development, and production group t h a n in " p u r e " research where a problem and its outcome m a y not really m a t t e r to anyone else. We should not forget t h a t were it not for the practical side of chemistry— t h a t is, the chemical and p h a r m a ceutical industry—our Society would not be enjoying a membership approaching 100,000. Chemists would stand in science, both in numbers and in status, down with the ichthyologists and herpetolo-
New S&S gists. If you do not know who the ichthyologists and herpetologists are, I have made my point. To return to the responsibilities of the teacher of analytical chem istry, it is clear that a prime respon sibility is to teach analytical chem istry as it is actually practiced to day. It is a modern subject and a subject requiring more background and sophistication than has been at tained by the average sophomore. The traditional approach which devotes over half the time spent on analytical chemistry to classical quantitative inorganic analysis in the sophomore year is clearly not adequate for present day needs. If analytical chemistry is to be taught as methods for attacking chemical problems, the student must be far enough along to know what chemi cal problems are, and he must have the background for understanding methods based on physical and phy sico-chemical, as well as chemical principles. This suggests that be ginning analytical chemistry should be taught at a level more advanced than is possible in the traditional spot in the sophomore year. The addition of a semester of instrumen tal methods in the senior year is not a sufficient solution. The under graduate's time is too short and too valuable to permit an entire year or even a semester to be devoted to the traditional techniques alone. Approaches in Teaching Analytical Chemistry
There are various approaches to the teaching of chemistry which make it possible to do something about this problem. The great di versity of sizes and objectives in our educational institutions makes it unlikely that there is any one plan which is suitable for all. I am firmly convinced that there are many paths to excellence, as well as to mediocrity, and it is not appro priate that I go into an analysis of all the various educational experi ments now in operation. I should, however, like to mention what are perhaps the two extremes. One of these is the technique of "integrat ing" analytical chemistry into the entire curriculum, with the idea that analytical principles be learned in context rather than separated
from the rest of chemistry. Unfor tunately, the integration may take the form of obliteration. A de partment that is unsuccessful in its efforts to hire a capable analytical chemist may divide up the respon sibility for analytical instruction among the remaining members of the staff and then, to make a vir tue out of necessity, cite theoreti cal educational advantages in de fense of its expediency. Whatever the particular circumstances may be, the result is almost inevitably the same: analytical instruction is neglected and the student leaves with a serious deficiency in his chemical education. The other extreme is the approacli taken by MIT, the University of Illinois, and a number of other in stitutions, most of which are large enough to have several professional analytical chemists on staff. An alytical chemistry is not introduced until the student has had a good grounding in the other branches of chemistry, and in mathematics and physics as well. Analytical chem istry is then taught as an advanced subject, making full use of all that has come before. The advantages of this are numerous and obvious. Analytical chemistry can be taught as it is actually practiced. Organic and inorganic analysis can be given equal status. The theoretical basis of analytical methods need not be slighted. The application to all branches of chemistry is immedi ately evident to the student, and he finds it a stimulating synthesis of the theoretical and practical. The rapid spread of this approach to the teaching of analytical chemistry is a most encouraging development, and it promises to do a lot toward alleviating the most crucial problem which faces the profession at the moment, that of interesting under graduates in going on to graduate work in the field. The demand for Ph.D. analytical chemists is intense and continuous. The problem has been to transmit this information to the undergraduate and make him aware of the opportunity which it affords. Placement of analytical chemistry at an advanced level in the curric ulum gives the teacher an oppor tunity to present a truly interesting
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REPORT
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and worthwhile course. It is a course which, quite naturally, draws from the stream of current analytical research, and in this connection the importance of the teacher being himself involved in analytical research must be stressed. The contribution which a balanced graduate research program can make to the improvement of undergraduate teaching needs to be recognized and utilized. The enthusiastic teacher, who knows the significance of his subject and who maintains its freshness by drawing on today's research discoveries today, is not likely to find lack of student interest a problem. Chemistry as a whole is undergoing rapid change and, in some respects, the field of analytical chemistry more than the others. Such change does not come without dislocations and uncertainties, inconveniences and upsets. Some observers, focusing on particular aspects of the present state of transition, have expressed concern for the future of our profession and there has been talk of a crisis in analytical chemistry. I do not subscribe to any such pessimistic view. If one looks at the present status of analytical chemistry in the light of any sort of historical perspective, if he compares the number, importance, opportunities, recognition, and relative pecuniary reward of analytical chemists today with those of twenty years ago, he sees that as a whole we are prospering. There are problems—of course! Progress never comes without its difficulties. But many of these problems were always with us, and among the new ones it is encouraging to note that a number of them are actually problems of growth. There is much to be done and much that can be done to improve the state and the status of analytical chemistry. A great deal of it involves taking a positive approach toward our subject and informing people what it is and why it is significant. If we fail to do this and our status declines, we have only ourselves to blame. If, on the other hand, we put aside our pessimism and emphasize the positive, we actively contribute to the improvement of our professional standing. END •
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