Aug., 1922
T H E JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
of 30 per cent m-cresol in order to be well above the eutectic point, of specially purified m- and p-cresols. It was found that the freezing point of p-cresol was dePressed to almost exactly the same extent equal weights of either 0- or m-cresols, and the two freezing-point curves were almost identical. This has since been confirmed by the more exhaustive work on the freezing points of known
737
mixtures of phend and the three cresols by Dawson and Mountf ord.6
ACKNOWLEDGNENT The author desires to express his gratitude to the directors of Messrs. Hardman & Holden, Ltd., Manchester, England, for permission to publish these results,
J. Chem, sot., 113 (1918),923.
T h e Training of t h e Industrial Chemist’ By George Warren Walker HUPP MOTORCAR CORPORATION, DETROIT,MICHIGAN
I
N any adequate consideration of the training of the industrial chemist, two things must be kept in view: first, what are the conditions requisite for the best training or education of the individual? and second, what are the conditions in industry for which that individual is to be fitted? The latter will be considered first. What are the industrial conditions and the demands of industry? Whatever other purposes and demands may be put forward from time to time, it must be kept in mind that, in the United States a t least, the primary and fundamental purpose of industry is to produce Q pro$t, either immediately or without any considerable delay. General managers and stockholders do not look kindly upon any proposed investigation which does not promise, with some degree of certainty, adequate profits in the near future. Any investigation, however sound theoretically, which would involve considerable cost and a somewhat prolonged period of time for its completion, would receive scant attention, especially if the question of profit was a t all uncertain. In the main, then, industry is confined to fairly well-established lines of business in which the profits are fairly certain, that is to say, lines of business in which the investigation of new processes and products is given little or no consideration as the main lines of development work have been completed. Of course, here and there a firm or a n individual may be doing considerable work in developing new products and processes as a result of exceptionable management or conditions. But these exceptions only serve to emphasize the conservative character of industry as a whole. In industry conducted for a profit it follows that, of necessity, a large part of the work has been reduced to a routine, mechanical, chemical, etc. This a t once facilitates the calculation of gains and losses, and renders more certain the adequate control of profits. From time to time, a new process or a new product is brought out by some struggling concern or individual. The improvement may be of such a novel or revolutionary .character that established lines of industry are compelled to readjust themselves. Such changes are generally the exception. Most changes are made slowly and in minor details and extend over considerable periods of time so as not to disrupt the business and interfere with profits. An industrial chemist on entering the factory will find that the majority of the work is of a routine character. Industries of considerable size and supposedly founded on the results of chemical investigation often do little or no work in the development of new products and processes. The management is satisfied with profits and the public is apparently satisfied with IReceived May 11, 1922.
the product. To improve the product means a decrease in profits in the case where more costly processes are involved; so why change? The industrial chemist as a general thing devotes a large part, if not all, of his time to routine work. The examination of the raw material which comCs into the factory, the testing of the products turned out, some supervision of the processes of manufacture by way of addition tests cover about all that is expected of him. He is occasionally called upon to exercise some originality when a routine process breaks down or fails to function properly. On this occasion, if on no other, the management is desirous of knowing why it happened. In view of the above, what are the conditions requisite for the best training or education of the individual chemist? The first and most important thing is to forget all about industry. Too many universities and colleges have endeavored to convert their laboratories into small factories to the advantage of neither students nor industries. The purpose of an institution of learning is to instruct and not to train factory hands. A student who intends to make a life-work of chemistry should study it from the standpoint of a scientist rather than from the standpoint of a factory manager. About the saddest spectacle a person can view is that of a university laboratory fitted out on the factory plan. No university laboratory can present the conditions found in a factory, and if i t did succeed in duplicating the conditions it would cease to be a place of learning and become a factory. The purpose of the university is to instruct; the purpose of the factory is to produce a profit, and these purposes are distinct and not complementary. The industrial chemist should have a thorough training in mathematics, physics, and chemistry as the three fundamental branches of his course. The training in mathematics should include calculus, differential equations, Fourier’s theorem, etc.a course sufficiently thorough and extensive so that the student can read with understanding and appreciation the advanced works on physical chemistry which should be included in his course. I n addition to the above, a course or two in philosophy and a language, preferably German, could be included with profit. With such a training a student should go into a factory and “work up.’’ He would have few things to unlearn. He would approach industrial problems with a fresh mind and insight, not distorted by a knowledge obtained from industrial courses which did not correspond to actual conditions. Approaching industry with a trained mind, acquiring industrial knowledge under industrial conditions, a student will advance not only with greater satisfaction to himself but with greater profit to industry.
