Summaries of Addresses of Presidents of Sections: Training the Chemist for Service to the Community

Abstract

THE place of the chemist in the present-day community, and the manifold ways in which chemistry is involved in the solution of national and industrial problems, is the topic of the presidential address to Section B (Chemistry) by Prof. J. C. Philip. Any society which is intellectually alive will foster the spirit of inquiry, and the prosecution of research is perhaps the fundamental service which the chemist renders to the community. Mere accumulation of knowledge, however, which does not lead to action directly or indirectly is inadequate and unsatisfying, and it is because in the field of chemistry the academic search for new knowledge has led to such abundant practical achievement in the industry of the nation and the health of its citizens that the science deserves fuller recognition by the public.