Tribute to Norris Rakestraw
To the Editor: The recent death of Norris Rakestraw and the appearance of an article1 on the Wiswesser notation in THIS JOURNAL together prompt me to write about his editorship. Rakestraw was editor during a difficult period, 1940-1955, as he has described.2 About the middle part of that span, the Division of Chemical Literature (now Chemical Information) was formed. As a consequence, manuscripts became available about newly important topics that did not fit normal publishing outlets. As a measure of his openness, and of his editorial merit, Rakestraw accepted a considerable number of such items from this new field. I believe he did this on his own conviction that education can be of many forms and that some non-academic material might be of general usefulness.
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Journal of Chemical Education
Subsequently, many journals have appeared that cover this and related topics, not least the Society's own Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Sciences. I ask that present and future editors keep this example in mind when considering manuscripts in years to come.
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Volrner,J. J., J. CHEM. EDUC.,60, 192 (1983). 2Rakestraw, N. W., J. CHEM. EDUC., 50,801 (1973).
Karl F. Heumann Federation of American Societies lor Experimental Biology Bethesda. Maryland 20814
