THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE IN AMERICA 7 



I think that there has been a feeling among chemists during 

 the past ten years that America was making rapid strides in this 

 particular branch of science. Superficially this would appear 

 to be the case. In 1895 tne membership of the American 

 Chemical Society was 850, in 1905 it was 2,675 ^d m I 9 I 5 ^ 

 was in excess of 8,000. This would appear to indicate a rapid 

 and steady expansion of the science of chemistry. Examination, 

 however, shows that the gain has not been in proportion to 

 membership. The expansion of the Society reflects, rather, 

 American industrial development. 



In 1895 American chemists supported two journals compris- 

 ing 1,821 pages, a fair proportion of the contributions dealing 

 with technical subjects. In 1905 American chemists supported 

 three journals comprising 3,712 pages, nearly all the contribu- 

 tions relating to pure science. At the same time a number of 

 American contributions were published abroad. In 1915, as 

 already stated, American contributions comprised 3,615 pages. 

 Thus we see that between 1895 and 1905 scientific activity in 

 chemistry advanced markedly, while from 1905 to 1915 it was 

 practically at a standstill. 



That technical chemistry made great advances between 1905 

 and 1915 is undeniable. This is indicated not only in the rapid 

 growth in membership of the American Chemical Society, but 

 also in the establishment of a new journal devoted exclusively 

 to the interests of applied chemistry. During the past ten years 

 the number of students, both graduate and undergraduate, has 

 increased enormously, with teaching staffs in proportion ; yet 

 productiveness in pure chemistry has been practically at a stand- 

 still. The causes underlying these conditions form a pertinent 

 subject of inquiry to all those interested in the development of 

 American science. 



I would not have it inferred that I decry the development of 

 technical chemistry; quite the contrary, the development of 

 technical chemistry is fundamentally necessary and anything 

 which makes for its healthy growth should be encouraged. It 

 is an open question, however, whether the diversion of a con- 

 siderable proportion of the academic staffs in our educational 

 institutions from the pursuit of investigations in pure cheirn 



