PROBLEMS IN SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION
By Charles Lee Reese, Ph.D., Sc.D., Chemical Director of E. I. du Pont de Nemours
and Company
During the last twenty years, I have had to handle thousands of men,
coming from many institutions of learning throughout the country; in fact,
during the war I had to do with about ten per cent. of all the chemists in our
land, at least forty-five of them being graduates of the University of Virginia.
They were men of various degrees of training in chemistry, and consequently
I have been able to observe many of their shortcomings. Among
these might be mentioned a lack of sufficient training in English to enable
them to express their thoughts, and the results of their work, in clear concise
language, a tendency toward what I might call "sloppiness" for the lack of a
better word, lack of thorough preparation in literature study before entering
upon a particular piece of work, and even lack of knowledge as to how to use
the literature, and what kind of information can be obtained from the
literature; in other words, entering upon a piece of work without a thorough
knowledge of the state of the art. The ability to judge the value of information
found in the literature is often found wanting, and I might easily go
on in such an enumeration regarding sufficient training in methods of
research, and lack of judgment in selecting the best method of attack.
"Sloppiness," I might almost say is a characteristic of the American
people, due to the fact that they are almost always in a hurry to get through
with what they are doing in order to take up something else, a tendency
which prevents thoroughness. Our primary schools are affected by it,
attempting generally to fill the heads of the pupils with knowledge, instead
of training the mind to habits of care, accuracy and efficiency. Even our
college entrance requirements are possibly responsible for too much pressure
for knowledge rather than training. The Germans have overcome this
tendency by making machines out of their school children, and it is questionable
how far we should go in this direction. When I was at the University
it was said that it took all of a man's first year to learn how to study, and
some of them never learn, consequently many never reach their senior
year.
Now to come down to the college work. Most important of all is the
personality of the teaching staff, and the effect of that personality on the
attitude of the student to his work. I have always felt that the undergraduate
should have personal contact with the principal men of the faculty,
the men who are most inspiring from a moral as well as a professional standpoint;
men who are character builders and leaders who inspire confidence
and interest in the work. As a friend of mine once said in speaking of
college athletics creating loyalty and college spirit, why should the work
not be made just as interesting, and as much enthusiasm be created over it
as over athletics. This can only be done by the ability of the professors to
create such interest and enthusiasm. Mallet, Remsen and Bunsen were
men of this type in my day, and no doubt there are many to-day of the same
kind. Owing to our hurried life, and the desire and necessity, in many
cases, for men to reach the bread winning stage, too many men enter the
profession without that liberal education included in the old-time college
course, involving modern and ancient languages, physics, mathematics,
arts and letters, history and philosophy, which fit a man for the higher
side of life, and I wish to emphasize the importance of such training wherever
possible before a man enters upon the pursuit of his professional course.
This applies to the chemist, the physicist, the lawyer, the engineer, as well
as the business man, or a man in any other walk of life. I am quite sure
that the chemist who has had such an education will forge ahead much faster
than his less fortunate fellow-chemist. With this kind of training a man
is in a much better position to determine the professional career best suited
to him.
There has been during the past thirty years a tendency to make the
training of chemists more practical, as they say, and many committees have
been appointed to study and recommend courses of training for technical
chemists. I have often been asked by professors and students to outline a
course of study for a chemist who wishes to enter the explosives or dyes
industry for instance, and my reply has invariably been to teach them
chemistry, physics, mathematics and English, and the experience and
application will come fast enough when they are up against the problems to
be met in any industry.
There is at present a tendency to make a compromise between the
liberal education and the professional education to meet the undoubted
demand, and those of you who will read the Yale Alumni Weekly of
April 29th, will see what Yale expects to do in her four-year course in
Chemistry.
In their Freshman year, besides their usual course in Chemistry, they
have English, Language, History, Mathematics and Government. In the
Sophomore year much stress is laid on Mathematics and Physics, as well as
Mineralogy and Crystallography with English and the Languages, also
electives in Drawing and Bacteriology. The Juniors devote seventy per
cent of their time to Chemistry, with some Geology, and as new features,
very important courses in Economics and Business Finance are introduced.
The Seniors devote most of their time to Chemistry, with lectures on
Industrial Chemistry, Metallurgy and Metallography, with a chemical
seminar and a course in Business Management as a supplement. As electives,
they have courses in Statistics, Business Law and Principles of
Accounting.
When I was here we had General Industrial, Analytical and Agricultural
Chemistry, with a short course in Pharmaceutical Chemistry for the
"Meds."
General Chemistry included lectures on Physics, Organic and Inorganic
Chemistry. Industrial Chemistry was a most comprehensive lecture course
on the subject, and has proved of inestimable value to me in my career.
Physical Chemistry, as a subdivision, was hardly known then, but now has
grown to be one of the most important branches of the science, and Organic
Chemistry was in its youth in this country. The word "Colloid" was used
in contradistinction to "Crystalloid," but Colloid Chemistry was still to be
born, and it has hardly yet got out of its swaddling clothes. Catalysis was a
name for the unknown, and if you should hear Dr. Bancroft deliver his three
celebrated lectures on that subject, you would learn that the theories of
Catalysis are mainly postulatory, and most of the postulates advanced can
be disposed of, in spite of which many important discoveries and accomplishments
have been attained through Catalysis, and I believe I can safely say
that it presents as fertile a field for research as any other field in the chemical
science.
It has been suggested that I say what I think the opportunities of the
Universities are in the future, and how they best can be realized, especially
as regards graduate work in pure and applied chemistry.
What I have already said is perhaps more or less generalization, but it
expresses thoughts that I have had for sometime, and you will forgive me if
I have taken this opportunity to express them.
The fields of natural science covered by the Academic and Graduate
Schools at present are Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Geology and Physics,
to all of which Chemistry is related to a greater or less degree, for we
are able to apply Chemistry even to the stone. Physiological, Biological,
Pathological and Pharmacological Chemistry seem to be included incidentally
in the Medical Department. In the chemical courses we have General,
Analytical, Organic, Physical, Colloidal, Industrial, Agricultural, Theoretical,
Metallurgical and Physiological, all covered by a few men, and these
same men must take care of the post-graduate work in any of these subdivisions,
if required. Attempts are made in other institutions to cover
special subjects such as ceramics, cements, dyestuffs and dyeing, electrochemistry,
fermentation, photography, etc. Without a very large
staff, I doubt the advisability of undertaking such special subjects, and even
then a man properly trained in the principles and practice of the science will
soon become expert in these special lines after once being connected with the
industry, and his future training in these lines can thus be carried on after
he becomes a bread winner.
The Endowment Fund will assist materially in many ways, but first
of all it should be used to increase the compensation of the present members
of the teaching staff to give them a living compensation, and the ability to set
something aside for a rainy day, and also enable the University to secure
the services of able men in the future. Second, to increase the teaching
staff to such a point that they will have time to devote to study and research
work, and enable them to gain reputations which will induce students to
remain at the University for post-graduate work, and attract men from
other institutions to study under such men. At present the number in the
post-graduate schools is small, but owing to the great impetus which has
been given in this country to the pursuit of the natural sciences, especially
Physics and Chemistry by the late war, the establishment of the Dye
Industry and the Chemical Warfare Service will create increasing demands
for many men thoroughly trained in these sciences, especially in the fields
of fundamental and applied research, so there is room for growth in the
University in this direction.
I hope to see the day, or at least the day will come, when the University
can have professors who can specialize in each subdivision of the sciences;
men who will have only a few hours each week to devote to the lecture room
and the seminar, and much time to devote to research and study, and
become leaders in research, and developing methods of research which will
draw to them a group of students devoted to their particular specialty. It
is only by such methods that rapid progress can be made in our search for the
truth, and advance in science and the arts. It is as important for our great
universities to develop great men in the field of professors and teachers; men
who can devote their entire time to the search for truth in the fields of
natural science, as it is to develop the young men of our country to practice
their profession in their particular fields, for the former is essential to the
latter.
With the establishment of such highly developed scientific industries
as the dye industry, and the recent tendency to utilize science in all industries,
many such men as I feel the universities should develop will be utilized
in the industries.
As the industries become more and more highly developed, they will
need more highly trained men in the special subdivisions of the sciences.
The present demand for highly trained specialists in the industries is a serious
menace to our country and the world, and if our great universities are to
maintain their force of such men to train others, this can only be done by
ample provision for their support. This brings me to a point where I wish to
bring up for discussion a plan which I have been able to follow in a few cases
for relieving, to a small degree, this serious situation. It is a plan which
has been followed extensively in Europe. An industry, with or without
a very complete research organization, can profitably retain professors, who
have made reputations, at a salary which, in some cases, may exceed that
which they receive from the university, by consulting work. This has
proved of great advantage to the professor himself, not only from a financial,
but also from a professional point of view in his work for the university, and
of great advantage to the university. Of course this should be done with
the distinct understanding that the consulting work is not to interfere in any
way with duties to the University. The unselfish character of some of our
consultants has been demonstrated by the fact that one of them has used his
retainer to employ a man to carry on some of his work.
The research student is much benefited by the presence of a number of
others in the laboratory doing research work, whether in the same or other
branches of science, or divisions of his science. It makes it possible for each
to be familiar with a number of problems, and the method of prosecuting
them, and increases the value of the seminar.
In closing I want to thank you for your indulgence, and although there
is nothing very striking in what I have had to say I hope it may lead to some
discussion which will be constructive, and of value to our Alma Mater in the
future.
