SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 681 



tured to himself, he blames the system of 

 education, and not entirely without cause. 

 There are too many graduates of the tech- 

 nical schools, especially of the middle west, 

 who are spoiled by being educated beyond 

 their capacities. They would be better off 

 with a good high school education and with 

 a trade. This, however, is a different prob- 

 lem from that which we are considering. 

 What we must take up is: how can the 

 student of sufficient capacity obtain the 

 training and education for which I have 

 pleaded? It wiU, of course, involve the 

 expenditure of more time and money than 

 if the mere technical training is sought. 

 If time and money are insuperable objec- 

 tions, the more satisfactory course must be 

 abandoned, and reliance placed upon the 

 possibility of making up the deficiencies 

 in the school of application in after life. 

 It is my belief, however, that great efforts 

 should be made to foUow the course which 

 I have laid down. On its completion, the 

 man will find himself a more matured and 

 better informed person, he will have greater 

 confidence in himself, he will make a better 

 impression on those with whom he comes 

 in contact, and will command a greater 

 remuneration. He will find that he is well 

 repaid for the effort which has been made. 

 Of course, in the case of the individual who 

 is not hampered for means or time, there 

 can be no question, for the same reasons, as 

 to what to do. 



It has not been the usual course for the 

 chemist as yet. It approaches more nearly 

 to that of the college graduate who, with 

 the A.B. degree, spends three or more years 

 in obtaining a Ph.D., and, as far as a knowl- 

 edge of chemistry is concerned, such a 

 course would be satisfactory. As Professor 

 L. M. Dennis has remarked: 



There should be no distinction between the 

 training of the technical chemist and one who is 

 to devote himself to pure science and investigation. 



The chemist who is to become a chemical 



engineer, however, must also be equipped 

 in other ways which can not be done in the 

 mere attainment of a doctorate. He must 

 acquire his professional attainments in a 

 different school and atmosphere. He must 

 perfect himself in allied subjects and be 

 competent to cooperate with other engi- 

 neers. 



My own idea is that the plan offered by 

 Harvard will furnish the most desirable 

 training for the chemical engineer, whether 

 practised at that university or elsewhere. 

 At Harvard, on the point system, a liberal 

 education and the bachelor's degree can 

 readily be attained in three years by one of 

 slightly more than average ambition. Dur- 

 ing these three years he will have been sub- 

 ject to an environment which wiU mature 

 and broaden him if there are any broad 

 qualities to be brought out. He will find 

 himself and his capacity, and how to direct 

 himself. He can, in addition to the liberal 

 courses which he may take, select such 

 others as will enable him to satisfactorily 

 enter the graduate school of applied science 

 and to there pursue his technical studies. 

 He is in a position to take up the profes- 

 sional work of the school with every prob- 

 ability of approaching it as a mature and 

 well-balanced man. Two years in this 

 school is rewarded with the degree of mas- 

 ter of science in chemistry, and the gradu- 

 ate is then ready for more advanced studies 

 or for entrance into the final and great 

 school of application. 



At the present time the number of stu- 

 dents in the graduate school of applied 

 science at Harvard is sixty-three, of which, 

 I regret to say, only one is a student of 

 chemistry. This is not large as compared 

 with many of our scientific and technical 

 schools, but the quality of the men enrolled, 

 and the number of undergraduates in Har- 

 vard College who look forward to entering 

 this school later, and are planning their 

 work to that end, is so large that the cor- 



