Chemistry as a Social And Disciplinary Subject

ONE of the members of C&EN's editorial staff recalled recently that when he embarked upon his freshman year in chemical engineering he was not quite sure that engineering was what he should have chosen for a lifework. The dean of the engineering school advised him thus: "If you are not sure what you expect to do in life and feel that an engineering education would not be distasteful, by all means take engineering rather than a liberal arts course?." Most of the dean's conversation has been forgotten, and the young man made a success in directly applied chemical engineering fields before joining the fourth estate. Yet the gist of the dean's remarks lingered—that an engineering education teaches any student to think, to organize work, to develop sound methods and techniques, in a fashion not found in arts courses. Not long ago we picked one of our neighbors up on the way to work. This man ...