V O L U M E 19, NO. 5, MAY 1 9 4 7 19 A

the analyst's column

IT is commonplace to say that individual.- experience growth and change in their lives without really being aware of it.

Most of us live in the present and must concern ourselves with situations demanding our immediate concentration and decision. At the Atlantic City meeting of the A.O.S., with weather alternat­ing between rain and brilliant sunshine, I talked with old friends and new and kept thinking how much broader the interests of analysts are now than they were thirty years ago.

When I attended the symposium on statistical methods in which industrial chemists, management, engineers, analysts, mathematicians, and statisticians were all talking of common problems, I admit that I quickly tried to rationalize why this should be. I thought how, in my own courses in college, the determination of inorganic materials with organic reagents, then a new development, was looked upon with fishy-eyed sus­picion and open disapproval because it was the contamination of inorganic, elements with organic compounds. But, when I thought how, over the years, analysis has grown in the com­plexity of its problems in fields of research and manufacture with oui- constant search for better equipment and methods, if is logical that this breadth of interest is dictated by force of circum­stances imposed by modern research. So broad are these in­terests that analysts in research should have a broader training and perspective than in any other field. During the period of rationalization, I thought that the analyst is not unlike the pro­fessional golfer who carries many clubs, a few of which he uses often but many of which are reserved for especially difficult shots.

THE well-attended symposium on statistics turned out to be a

finely balanced program of the practical and theoretical view­

points, and clearly demonstrated how important this subject

can be in research and analysis. It was particularly gratifying

to hear many of the speakers caution that statistics are useful

but must be applied only when judgment dictates that they can

give valuable information.

As IN the past, the divisional dinner was well attended. The speakers' table was graced by the presence of A.O.S. President Moves, who delighted those present with a few informal remarks on his early experiences with analytical chemistry.

Chester Alter introduced K. Bowling Barnes, who gave an interesting talk on some uses of instruments in the solution of chemic al problems. His opening remarks regarding a proposed symposium on the purity and identity of organic compounds opened up a subject too little considered by all chemists. We have talked or read too much concerning the features of design and details of instruments and not enough of their limitations and how to use them intelligently. Every new development in science goes through such a necessary cycle, but the proposed meeting, as outlined, would focus attention on the basic question of what constitutes a proof of structure. The work carried on by the laboratories here and in England during the war on the structure of penicillin has forced many organic chemists, and those employing instruments designed to prove structure, to evaluate the synthetic and the newer physical approach to structure studies. Such a meeting, with outstanding men in various fields, should interest a large section of our industrial and academic research chemists, and we hope that more than tentative plans can be reported in the near future. From experience we know how much work is required to organize such a meeting, but a subject of such fundamental and timely interest should be well worth the effort expended. Dr. Barnes is eminently quali­fied to undertake the task, and we wish him success.

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