44 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



It is perhaps worth while glancing at one or two of the chief avenues 

 in the region of chemical knowledge opened up by such fundamental 

 research. 



While our knowledge of atomic structure is to be credited mainly to 

 the work of physicists, the chemist's technique has revealed the mole- 

 cular architecture of the most complex natural products, and on the basis 

 of this knowledge the same materials can be synthesised in the laboratory. 

 One has only to think of the sugars, the alkaloids, the anthocyanins, to 

 realise the astounding results which have been achieved in this field of 

 investigation, while such elusive substances as the vitamins and the sex 

 hormones are rapidly yielding their secrets to the strategy of the organic 

 chemist. 



Take again that region in the scale of size which lies between the 

 molecule and the visible particle — the colloid region — the ' world of 

 neglected dimensions ' as it was once described. In this region, as the 

 physical chemist has shown, the relatively great extent of surface is marked 

 by quite special behaviour, and the labile systems encountered exhibit 

 peculiar characteristics — characteristics which are highly significant for 

 the understanding of physico-chemical changes in the living organism. 

 Our knowledge of this field of surface chemistry is still extending rapidly. 



Once more, think of the tracking down of the factors which affect the 

 rate of chemical change and the elucidation of the mechanism of their 

 operation : a little moisture, a speck of dust, a trace of acid, a roughened 

 surface, a ray of light, a rise of temperature : any of these may have a 

 notable influence on the rate of a reaction. The physical chemist has 

 been remarkably successful in unravelling the role of these various 

 factors and in interpreting their significance. It is in such a field as this 

 — the field of kinetics and catalysis — that the progress of chemical science 

 from the qualitative and descriptive way of treating phenomena to the 

 rational and quantitative has been particularly marked. 



These are only one or two of the directions in which the pioneering 

 work of the chemist has opened the way to a fuller knowledge of Nature, 

 especially in the more delicate aspects of her balance and her trans- 

 formations. In the pursuit of natural knowledge for its own sake, the 

 chemist has indeed travelled far and his exploration has yielded an 

 abundant harvest of discovery. For the pioneer himself it is an adventure, 

 and original research may provide thrilling experiences. All this, however, 

 is far from the common ways of men, and the investigator in the field of 

 pure chemistry moves in a region mostly inaccessible to ordinary folk, 

 and he speaks an unintelligible language, as indeed is true of specialists 

 in other sciences. The so-called ' jargon ' of science, inevitable as it is 

 to some extent, presents a real difficulty in the transmission of knowledge 

 and ideas from the specialist to the average educated man, but it should 

 not be forgotten that other specialists besides scientific workers have a 

 jargon of their own: to wit, lawyers, financiers, and even sportsmen. 



It has been maintained that the pursuit of learning for its own sake 

 is a selfish occupation ; that knowledge should be a means to life, 

 not an end in itself, that knowledge is of value only in so far as it leads 

 to action, directly or indirectly. With this view I have much sympathy, 



