Abstract
IN his address at San Francisco on August 19 in receiving the Priestley Medal of the American Chemical Society, Prof. W. A. Noyes said that the two outstanding problems to be solved by our generation are the abolition of war, and a better distribution of work and the products of our industries. Chemistry can no longer be thought of as an isolated branch of science, and independent of the rest of our lives. While providing for the development of personality and initiative, it is necessary to restrain those who will not contribute their share in cooperative service. Discussing the growth of the American Chemical Society, Prof. Noyes referred to the proposal to start a journal of organic chemistry as the outcome of a feeling that the Society does not sufficiently provide for the publication of non-industrial research. Emphasising the fact that chemistry is not an isolated science sharply divided from physics, biology, or even economics, sociology and political science, Prof. Noyes suggested instead the publication of the existing journal in two parts. The first part, published early each month, would contain the papers at present classified under the heading, “General, Physical and Inorganic”. The second part, published late in each month, would appear under the sub-heading “Organic and Biological”. Both parts would appear under the heading Journal of the American Chemical Society, and the pagination would be continuous. A single index would be issued, but each part would have its own editor. In concluding, Prof. Noyes discussed the question of training, the importance of giving all students a broad knowledge of our chemical heritage, and of encouraging the chemist to see his work as a unit in a co-operative democratic organisation which serves the community and gives a reasonable return to workers, directors and capital.
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Function of the American Chemical Society. Nature 136, 1020–1021 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/1361020c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1361020c0