D. Stanley Tarbell and Ann Tracy Tarbell1 Vanderbilt University Nashville. Tennessee 37235
The Role of Roger Adams in American Science
In the present paper, we wish to consider three aspects of Adams' career ( I ) which were of importance to the growth of American chemistry and of American science in general. (1) Adams developed, to a greater degree than others, a distinctively American type of graduate department, having a number of outstanding faculty members instead of one as in Europe, with informal relations between faculty and students, and with high student morale. (2) He had important influence in the development of industrial research laboratories, through his consulting, his personality, the large number of his students (and other Illinois students) who had successful industrial research careers, and his continuing interest in them. (3) Adams was a leading ambassador of American science to foreign science. Adams was a direct descendant of the uncle of President John Adams, the latter being in the fifth American generation of the Adams family and Roger Adams in the tenth (2). His father, Austin Winslow Adams (1845-1916), married Lydia Curtis (1843-1919) and was anofficer of several transportation companies in Boston. Roger was born in Boston in 1889; he had three older sisters. Roger entered Harvard in 1905. His first years were undistinguished academically, but he completed the requirements for his A. B. in three years, earning high grades in his major courses and in his graduate program. What awakened his interest in chemistry is not clear. Adams continued a t Harvard for his Ph.D. (1912) and, as an outstanding student, was awarded a Parker traveling fellowship for 1912-1913, which he spent partly in the laboratory of Otto Diels a t Berlin on the advice of his Harvard mentor, C. L. Jackson, (his Ph.D. adviser, H. A. Torrey, had died in 1910) and partly with the brillant Richard Willstitter in the latter's new laboratory in Dahlem, near Berlin. Although this European year did not result in scientific publications, it is clear that it was a key influence in his c a ~ e e r . ~ Adams' European year was the beginning of his lifelong interest in European science and scientists. He clearly found distasteful the European university system in which there was only one professor in each department or institute, who controlled absolutely the activities of all research students and junior staff members3. Later generations of young American physical scientists are deeply indebted to Adams' unwavering attitude in this respect; he designed the program of the Sloan Foundation, which gives unrestricted grants to promising younger workers. Adams returned to Harvard in 1913 as research assistant (at $800 per year) to C. L. Jackson, and was shortly appointed instructor in chemistry. He was a very successful teacher, so that James B. Conant, who succeeded him, did so with some trepidation about his own ability to interest an elementary class in organic chemistry (3). In 1916, Adams accepted an offer from William A. Noyes, head of the Illinois chemistry department, to become assistant professor a t a salary of $2850 per year4. He was ambitious to accomplish something notable in science; he undoubtedly saw that the Illinois department, already well known for its research and teaching under Noyes'leadership, offered potentially a larger opportunity than Harvard, better laboratory facilities, and the challenge of a position outside New England. Adams may also have felt financial obligations to assist his parents, who were elderly and not prosperous. He took the
position at Illinois with no reservations and with the determination to devrlop his own research program and that of the department, and Urhana rrmained his home for the rest of his life i n spite of many attractive oftPrs to move. It is indicative of his nerional dedication to Illinois as his residence that he later joined the Rotary Club and served as its president in 1932 (4).
At Illinois, Adams took charge of the important "prep labs" started by his predecessor, C. G. Derick, for the synthesis of necessary organic chemicals cut off by the ~ e r m &blockade. This was expanded, and with the help of graduate students, narticularlv E. H. Volwiler and C. S. (Sneed) Marvel. over 100 'key cornp&nds were made available for s k e and for Illinois use (5). . . The tested nrocedures develoned in "nrens" led to the indispensable ann;sl publication, brgnniE ~ i n t h e s e s ,of which 50 annual volumes were published under Adams' watchful eye (6). Conant later said that the publication should have been named "Adams Annual," because he was the moving spirit. After World War I, many of the Illinois preparations were taken over by the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester under H. T. Clarke. This was the origin of the Eastman line of organic chemicals. Adams ~ u r s u e dresearch vieorouslv on the nrewaration of local anest'hetics with Oliver ~ a m m of'the lllinois f<y, kept in close touch with Abhott Laboratories and became a consultant to Ahbott in 1917, a relationship which lasted on a formal hasis until the 1960's. E. H. Volwiler, his first Ph.D., joined Abhott as research chemist in 1918. Adams was drawn into research for the army in 1917 and with other chemists worked on problems connected with war gases. Adams and Conant became Majors in the Chemical Warfare Service and headed research groups in Washington under Professor (then Colonel) James F. Norris of MIT. Adams was recognized as the leading figure in the group (7). Adams was married to Lucile Wheeler. Aueust 29.1918. a t White River Junction, \i:rmnnt. lfrs. ,o~n;;~and ;he phenomenal growrh or rhemiral research and prcdurtion in industrv. His influence on the development of ~ i e r i c a nscience rested partly on the period in which he lived. hut to a greater extent on his own kxtraordinary personality and abikty. Adams is a good example of Dr. Samuel Johnson's definition of genius: "a mind of iarge general powers, accidentally deteikined to some particular direction." Acknowledgment Some of the costs associated with the research on which this paper is based were defrayed by a Centennial Grant of Vauderbilt University. We are indebted to Dr. E. H. Volwiler for suggesting that we undertake an Adams biography, and to Lucile Adams Brink for her gracious approval for family documents. Adams documents in the University Archives a t Illinois have been examined, as well as archives at Harvard and Radcliffe, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Archives. Many associates and colleagues of Adams have contributed useful information. Literature Cited
Chapter X. Tho Robert A. Welch Foundation, Houstan. 1977. (21 The sourcefor Adams genealogy is Adams, Andrew Napolwn, "A GenealogicalHistory of Henry Adamr ofBrainfree."Tuttle Ca., Rutland. Vt., 1898.Manuseriptexfrscts of Adsma genealoe ace available. (31 Consnt, J. B.. "My Several Lives: Harper and Row, New Vark, 1970.p. 45. 14) Rose, W. C., private eummunication, January L977. (5) Contemporaryaecount. hy Adams: Science, 47.225 (1918):J. Ind. Eng Chsm., 9,685 ,>O>", ,.".,,.
(61 Adamr reviewed hisearly erperioncesin findingapublisher in Organiehnlhraes, 50 (19701.A more formal history is by Shriner, R. L., and Shriner, R. H.,"Curnulafive Indices Oqanie Syntheses: Wiley, New Yark, 1976,pp. 423427. (71 Conant'nuicw; Ref. (31,p. 50. A detsiledaccounlaf fheehemieal research la in Jones, Daniel P.,"TheRoleofChemi~t.in Research on War Gelpa During Wodd War :1 Dissertstion. Unlu. of Wisconsin. 1969: Univemity Micmfilms 69-22406. (81 Private cummunication from J. R. Johnson. (91 Tarboll, D. S., and A. T.. Tarbell, unpublished studien of J Amer Chem Soc. pa-
in his Rotarian friends in Urbana. The National Archives (Record Group 227) contains extensive documentation
Volume 56, Number 3. March 1979 / 165
