414 



NA TURE 



[June 3,, 1909 



pected the new technical education movement to staff their 

 works with expert technologists underestimated the com- 

 plexity of their own industries. Those teachers, on the 

 other hand, who are clamouring for the stafifing of our 

 factories by scientifically trained chemists, as distinguished 

 from technologists, have damaged their case by leaving 

 out of consideration the expert technologist altogether — 

 the man whose knowledge of technique enables him to 

 translate a discovery into pounds, shillings, and pence. 

 The education of the " chemical technologist " is of the 

 same importance for chemical industry as the education 

 of the " pure " chemist. Highly competent scientific 

 Chemists are as inseparable from the " technologist " or 

 the " chemical engineer " or the " practical manu- 

 facturer " as were the Siamese twins from one another. 

 Severance is death to both ; and the manufacturers cannot 

 afford to leave out of account the scientific chemist any 

 more than the teachers can afford to ignore the techno- 

 logist. In these discussions on education the teachers 

 have had in mind the research chemist and the manu- 

 facturers the chemical engineer. The research chemist 

 ought to be producible from the universities and technical 

 colleges. With respect to the chemical technologist, the 

 question is whether he can be produced under any of our 

 existing educational curricula, or whether the factory is 

 the only proper training ground. 



The Works Chemist. 



So long as we know what kind of student we are talk- 

 ing about there need be no confusion. The research 

 chemist is a man who has received the highest possible 

 training as a scientific chemist, and whose resourcefulness 

 has been developed by prolonged systematic research. It is 

 immaterial whether he receives his training in a university 

 or in an efficient technical college. When we come to the 

 consideration of the chemical technologist there must be 

 more^ discrimination between the different branches of 

 chemical industry before the conflicting views of teachers 

 and manufacturers can be brought into harmony. The 

 requirements of a chemical factory mav be thus 

 classified : — 



(i) Research for the discovery of new products, or of 

 new processes for producing known substances, or for the 

 improvement of processes already being carried on. 



(2) Supervision of the factory operations with respect 

 both to plant and products ; the valuation of the raw 

 materials and finished products ; the testing of intermediate 

 products. 



(3) A knowledge of the markets with respect to the 

 supply and cost of raw materials and the demand for the 

 finished products. 



The " works chemist," or technologist, must be qualified 

 to come under category No. 2, with (possibly) an incursion 

 into the domain of No. i. Bv the " works chemist " 

 (■excluding the analyst, the mechanic, and the workman) 

 I mean a chemist with more or less knowledge of the 

 general principles of engineering as applied to chemical 

 factory plant. He cannot be too much of a chemist, and 

 the more he is of an engineer the more competent will he 

 be to discharge his duties. Where is this combination of 

 qualifications to be acquired? I consider the question first 

 from the point of view of the technical college. 



Theoretical and Practical Instruction. 

 We have to deal with the student who is entering the 

 technical institution for a systematic three years' course 

 with the view of his becoming a chemical' technologist. 

 We much prefer that the student should come to us with 

 no previous school training in science, which is generally 

 too shallow to be of use, and stiffens the mental attitude 

 to the point of conceit, though there is no reason why 

 school science should not be taught in such a way as to 

 make it of preparatory value. In the technical ' college 

 we haveto begin from the beginning. The subjects which, 

 in addition to chemistry, are indispensable for the future 

 chemical technologist are mathematics, physics (including 

 electricity), and mechanics (including drawing-room prac- 

 tice). It takes at least two years to lay an elementary 

 foundation in these subjects : 'there is left but one year 

 for advanced instruction. This course is not more than 

 a preliminary training; it cannot pretend to add to the 

 NO. 2066, VOL. 80] 



scientific training that " something more " which is neces- 

 sary for the technologist. There is no time for specialisa- 

 tion, and there are few technical schools in this country 

 (exclusive of universities) where specialisation is possible. 

 Can the technical education given in technical colleges- 

 be developed into technological training? Can the teach- 

 ing in technical schools be made to approach the 

 diversified requirements of the different branches of 

 chemical industry so as to make the preparation for 

 technology more effective? I believe it can, if we are- 

 prepared to give the necessary time. If I were unable to. 

 justify this belief, these newer institutions could not 

 claim to be discharging any function differing from those 

 discharged by educational establishments of all ranks, in- 

 which chemistry is taught for purely academic purposes. 



Specialisation should follow upon the general training ;, 

 but it is this specialised training which the manufacturer 

 has in mind when he speaks of " technical " education. 

 The chemical teaching of technical schools can be given a 

 bias in the specialised direction without detracting from its 

 value as an educational discipline and without damage- 

 to its theoretical treatment. Chemical manufacture 

 consists in converting certain raw materials into usefut 

 products, with maximum yield and minimum expenditure. 

 The systematic treatment of elements and compounds, 

 say in the second- and third-year courses, can be developed' 

 in much greater detail in cases where technical products 

 are concerned. There is as much pure scientific doctrine- 

 to be deduced from the study of useful products as from 

 the study of useless products. By giving a technical bias 

 to the teaching it is not proposed that technical chemistry, 

 in the sense of chemical technology, which is a specialised 

 subject, should be made a part qf that preliminary training 

 which up to this stage I have alone had under considera- 

 tion. Why should not the " preparations " in the 

 laboratories of the technical schools be made quantita- 

 tively? It gives zest to the work if the student is sup- 

 plied with a known weight of raw material and given 

 to understand that the value of his results will be estimated 

 by the yield and purity of his product. A series of 

 " preparations " might be arranged in which, not only 

 the weight of the raw materials and of the final product 

 were taken into consideration, but also the quantities of 

 the various reagents used, and from these data, making 

 sufficient allowance for the usual — not the laboratory — 

 " working expenses," the actual cost of the product 

 ascertained. I advocate the introduction of the large- 

 scale practical exercise into the advanced stage of the 

 preparatory training. The first difficulty the college- 

 trained student has to face in the factory is his want of 

 familiarity with large-scale operations. 



With advanced students in the technical colleges the- 

 preparation work should be increased in scale so as to- 

 introduce an element of training in chemical handicraft. 

 I am not now advocating the introduction of working" 

 models of special plant used in particular industries. 

 The plea is for the handling of apparatus illustrating such 

 general operations as are carried on in all factories — 

 heating and cooling, evaporating, distilling, mechanicar 

 mixing, grinding, solution, filtration, &-c., on somethings 

 more than the ordinary laboratory scale. This plea does 

 not mean that the colleges should be expected to teach 

 chemical technology in the strict sense — that is a distinct 

 question ; nor that nil preparation work should be done 

 on this increased scale. 



Chemical Technology. 

 The stage of technical chemistry should lead to that of 

 chemical technology. Manufacturers ought not to be 

 satisfied with the youth who has spent his thre£ years 

 at a technical school. The chemical technologist is a 

 chemist plus a great deal more. The factory is not the 

 proper place for beginning the technological training. 

 During the supplementary period following the preparatory 

 training in the technical school there should be opportunity 

 for research work. The supplementary advanced or 

 technological training should do for industrial chemistry 

 what the post-graduate training does for academic chem- 

 istry — it should enable us to sort out the different orders 

 of faculty. A few students would be found capable of 

 development as research chemists, a larger number as 



