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CHANDLER FOUNDATION LLCT U R L-1914

The Chandler Lecturesh ip was inaugurated in H avem eyer Hall, Colum bia U n iversity, on M a y 29th, during the celebration of the F iftieth A n n iversary of the founding of the School of Mines. Professor E m eritu s C harles Frederick Chandler pre­

sided and introduced th e lecturer, D r. Leo H. B aekeland, whose address is printed in full below.

A fter a few w ords in appreciation of the im portance of the lectureship and of the w ork of the speaker, President Nicholas M urray B u tler presented to D r. B aekeland the first impression of the C handler M ed al. [ E d i t o r . ]

S O M E A S P E C T S O F IN D U S T R IA L C H E M IS T R Y B y L. H . Ba e k e l a n d

W hile I appreciate deeply the distinction of speaking before you on the occasion of th e F iftieth A nniversary of the Columbia School of M ines, I realize, a t the same tim e, th at nobody here present could do b etter justice to the subject w hich has been chosen for this lecture th an th e beloved m aster in whose honor the Charles Fred erick C handler Lectureship has been created.

Dr. Chandler, in his long and em inently useful career as a professor and as a public servant, has assisted a t the very be­

ginning of some of the m ost interesting chapters of applied chemistry, here and abroad.

Some of his pupils h ave become leaders in chemical industry, others h ave found in his teachings the v ery conception of new chemical processes w hich m ade their nam es known throughout the whole world.

IS INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY A MERE MONEY-MAKING PROPOSITION.

Industrial chem istry has been defined as “ the chemistry of dollars and cen ts.” T h is rath er cynical definition, in its narrow er interpretation, seems to ignore entirely the far-reaching economic and civilizin g influences w hich h ave been brought to life throug 1

the applications of science; it fails to do justice to the fact th a t the whole fabric of modern civilization becomcs, each day, more and ever more interw oven w ith the endless ram ifications of applied chem istry. T he earlier effects of this influence do not date back much beyond one hundred and odd years. They became distinctly evid ent during the first French R epublic, increased under N a p o leo n ,. gradually spread to neighboring countries, and then reaching o u t farther, their influence is now obvious throughout the whole world.

CREATION OF FRENCH PATENT SYSTEM

France, during the revolution, scattered to the w inds old tr a ­ ditions and conventionalities, in culture as well as in politics.

U ntil then, she had m ainly impressed the w orld b y th e barbaric, wasteful splendor of her opulent kings, a t whose courts th e d ev­

otees of science received scant atten tion in comparison w ith the more ornamental artists and belle-lettrists, who were petted and rewarded alongside of the all-im portant men of the sword.

In fact, as far as the culture of science was concerned, the N eth er­

lands, G erm any and Ita ly , and more particularly, England, were head and shoulders above the F rance of “ le R o i Soleil.”

T h e struggles of th e new rig im e p u t France in the aw kw ard position of the legendary beaver w hich “ had to clim b a tree.”

If for no other reason, she needed scientists to help her in her wars against the rulers of other European nations. She needed them ju st as m uch for repairing her crippled finances and her b ad ly disturbed industries w hich were dependent upon natural products im ported until then, b u t of ifh ich th e su p p ly had suddenly been cut off b y the so-called C ontinental B lockad e.

M oney-prizes and other inducem ents had been offered for stim u­

lating the developm ent of chem ical processes, and— w h at is more significant— p atent law s were prom ulgated so as to foster invention.

ÏS ¡colas L eb lan c’s m ethod for the m anufacture of soda to replace the im ported alkalis, B erth o lle t’s m ethod for bleaching w ith chlorine, the beet-sugar in du stry to replace cane sugar im ported from the colonies, and several other processes, were proposed. A ll these chem ical processes soon found them selves lifted from the hands of th e secretive alchem ist or the tim id pharm acist to the ran k of real m anufacturing m ethods. In ­ dustrial chem istry had begun its lu sty career.

h irst successes stim ulated new endeavors and sm all w ond er is it th at F rance, w ith these favorable conditions a t haiid, for a w hile a t least, entered in to the m ost glorious period of th a t p art of her history w hich relates to the developm ent of chem ­ istry, and the arts dependent thereon.

BACKWARD POSITION OF GERMANY

I t is difficult to im agine th at, a t th at tim e, G erm an y, w hich now occupies such an enviab le position in chem istry, w as so far behind, th at even in 1822, w hen L ieb ig w anted to stu d y chem istry a t the best schools, he had to leave his ow n co u n try and turn to G ay-L u ssac, T hénard and D ulong in Paris.

DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

7 7° T H E J O U R N A L O F I N D U S T R I A L

B u t the B ritish w ere n o t slow to a va il them selves of the new opportunities in chem ical m an ufacturin g so clearly indicated b y the first successes of the French. T h e ir linen bleacheries

Th e Ch a r l e s Fr e d e r i c k Ch a n d l e r Me d a l

in Scotland and En glan d soon used an im proved m ethod for bleaching w ith chloride of lime, developed b y T ennant, w hich )rought along the m anufacture of other chem icals relatin g thereto like sulfuric acid and soda. T h e chem ical reactions involved m all these processes are rela tively sim ple, and after th ey were once w ell understood, it required m ainly resourceful engineering and good com m ercial abilities to build up successfully the indus­

tries based thereon. From this epoch on dates the beginning of the developm ent of th a t im portan t in dustry of h e a v y chem icals in w hich the B ritish led the world for alm ost a cen tu ry. In the sam e w a y , En glan d had becom e the leader in another im ­ p ortan t branch of chem ical in dustry— the m anufacture of coal- gas.

LIEBIG ’S INFLUENCE IN GERMANY

T h e G erm ans w ere soon to m ake up for lost tim e Those sam e G erm an universities, w hich w hen Liebig w as a you n g man were so p oorly equipped for the stu d y of chem istry, were now enthu siastically a t w ork on research along the new er develop­

m ents of the physical sciences, and, before long, th e form er pupils of F rance, in their turn, becam e teachers of the world L ieb ig had inaugurated for the chem ical students w orkin g under him his system of research laboratories; how ever m odest these laboratories m ay have been a t th a t tim e, th ey carried bodily the stu d y or chem istry from pedagogic boresomeness in to a c ap tiv a tin g cross-exam ination of nature.

A n d it seemed as if nature had been w aiting im p atien tly to im part some of her secrets to the children of men, who for so m an y generations had tried to settle T ru th and K n ow led ge b y w ords and oratory and b y brillian t disp lays of m etaphysical controversies. Indeed, a t th a t tim e, a few kitchen tables, some clum sy glassw are, a charcoal furnace or tw o, some pots and

pans, and a m odest balance w ere all th a t was needed to make nature give her answers.

DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY IN GERMANY 1 hese m odest paraphernalia, eloquent b y their v ery simplicity, brought forth ra p id ly succeeding discoveries. One of them was tru ly sen satio n al: L ieb ig and W ohler succeeded in accomplishing th e direct synthesis of urea; thinking m en began to realize the far-reaching im port of this revolu tion ary discovery whereby a pu rely organic substance had been created in the laboratory b y startin g exclu sively w ith inorganic m aterials. This result upset all respected doctrines th a t organic substances are of a special enigm atic constitution, altogether different from inor­

ganic or m ineral com pounds, and th at th ey could be built up on ly b y the agen cy of th e so-called “ v ita l fo rce ’ ’— whatever th a t m ight mean.

R esearch in organic chem istry becam e more and more fascinat­

ing; all availab le organic substances w ere being investigated one a fte r another b y restless experim entalists.

Coal-tar, heretofore a troublesom e b y-p rod uct of gas manu­

facture, notw ith stan din g its uninviting, ill-smelling, black, stick y appearance, did n ot escape the general inquisitive tendency;

some of its constituents, like benzol or others, were isolated and studied.

THE INFLUENCE OF K K K U LE’s THEORY

U nder the brillian t leadership of K ek u le, a successful attempt w as m ade to correlate the ra p id ly increasing new experimental observations in organic chem istry in to a new th eo ry which would tr y to explain all the num erous facts, a th eo ry which became the sign-post to the roads of further achievem ents.

d i s c o v e r y OF ARTIFICIAL d y e $ —'The d isco very of quickly succeeding processes for m aking from coal-tar derivatives num erous artificial dyes, rivaling, if not surpassing, the most b rillian t colors of nature, m ade the group of bold investigators still bolder. R esearch in organic chem istry began to find rapid rew ards; entirely new and successful industries based on p u rely scientific d a ta w ere springing up in En glan d and France, as well as in G erm an y. Som e w id e-aw ake leaders of these new enterprises, more p articu larly in G erm an y, soon learned that th ey were n ever ham pered b y too m uch know ledge, but that, on th e con trary, th ey w ere alm ost con tin uously handicapped in their im patient onw ard m arch b y insufficient knowledge, or b y m isleading conceptions, if not b y incorrect published facts.

T his is precisely where th e stu d y of organic chem istry received its greatest stim u lating influence and soon put Germ any, in this branch of science, ahead of all other nations.

^ -Money and effort had to be spent freely for further research.

I he best scholars in chem istry w ere called in to action. Some m en, who w ere preparing them selves to becom c professors, v’ ere induced to ta k e a leading p a rt as directors in one or another of the new chem ical enterprises. Others, who refused to for­

sake th eir teaching careers, were retained as advisers or guides, and, in several instances, the honor of being th e discoverer of a new process, or a new dye, w as m ade m ore su bstantial b y finan­

cial rewards. The m odest G erm an u n iversity professor, who heretofore had lived w ithin a rath er narrow academ ic sphere, w ent through a process of evolution , where the rap id ly growing chem ical in du stry m ade him realize his la ten t pow ers and greater im portance, and broadened his influence far beyond the confines of his lecture-room . E v e n if he w ere altru istic enough to re­

main indifferent to fam e or m oney, he felt stim ulated b y the very th ou gh t th at he w as helping, in a direct m anner, to build up the nation and the w orld through the im m ediate application of th e principles of science.

i n d u s t r i a l r e s e a r c h l a b o r a t o r i e s

In the beginning, science did all the givin g and chemical in- d u strj go t m ost of the rew ards; b u t soon the roles began to change to th e point where frequen tly th ey becam e entirely inverted.

A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y V o l. 6, N o. 9

Sept., 1 9 1 4 T H E J O U R N A L O F I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y

The universities did not furnish knowledge fast enough to keep pace with the requirem ents of the rapidly developing new in­

dustries. M odern research laboratories were organized b y some large chemical factories on a scale never conceived before, with a lavishness w hich m ade the best equipped university labora­

tory appear like a tim id attem p t. G erm any, so long behind France and En glan d, had becom e the recognized leader in organic m anufacturing processes and developed a new indus­

trial chemistry based more on th e thorough knowledge of organic chem istry th an on engineering skill.

In this relation, it is w orth w hile to point out th at the early organic industrial chem istry, through which G erm any was soon to become so im portant, a t first counted its output not 111 tons, but in pounds— not in size nor in qu an tity, b u t in v ariety and quality. N ow le t us see how G erm an y won her spurs in chemical engineering as well.

DEVELOPMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING IN GERMANY A t the beginning, the m anufacturing problems in organic chemistry in volved few , if an y, serious engineering difficulties, but required, m ost of all, a sound theoretical knowledge of the subject; this p u t a prem ium on the scientist, and the engineer could be ignored for aw hile a t least. B u t when growing devel­

opments began to claim the help of good engineers, there was no difficulty w h atsoever in su pplyin g them , nor in making them cooperate w ith th e scientists. In fact, since then, Germ any has solved, ju st as successfully, some of the m ost extraordinary chemical engineering problem s ever undertaken, although the development of such processes w as entered upon a t first from the purely scientific side.

In almost every case, it w as on ly after the underlying scientific facts had been w ell established th a t any attem pt was made to develop them com m ercially.

METHODS OF HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES Healthy com m ercial developm ent of new scientific processes does not build its hope of success upon the cooperation of that class of "p ro m o te rs” w hich are alw'ays eager to find any available pretext for m aking “ q u ick m on ey,” and whose scientific ignorance contributes con ven ien tly to their com fort b y not interfering too much w ith th eir self-assurance and their voluble assertions. The history of m ost of the successful recent chem ical processes abounds in exam ples w here, even after the underlying principles were well established, long and co stly preparatory team-work had to be u nd ertaken; w here forem ost scientists, as well as engineers of great a b ility , had to combine their knowledge, their skill, their perseverance, w ith the support of large chemical companies, who, in th eir turn, could rely on the financial backing of strong banking concerns, w ell advised b y tried expert special­

ists.

H istory does n ot record how m an y processes thus subm itted to careful stu d y w ere rejected because, on close examination, they were found to possess some hopeless shortcomings. In this w ay, num erous fruitless efforts and financial losses were averted, where less carefully accum ulated knowledge might have induced less scrupulous prom oters to secure money for plausible b u t ill-advised enterprises.

sy n th e sis o f in d ig o— I n the history of the m anufacture of artificial dyes, no chapter gives a more striking instance of long, assiduous and expensive prelim inary w ork of the highest order than the developm ent of the industrial synthesis of indigo.

Here w as a substance of enorm ous consumption which, unti then, had been obtained from the tropics as a natural product of agriculture. Professor von B aeyer and his pupils, b y ong and m arvelously clever laboratory work, succecded ma >

in unraveling the chem ical constitution of this indigo d>e, an finally indicated som e possible m ethods of synthesis. N o t withstanding all this, it took the Badische Anihn & Soda Fabrik abou t tw en ty years of p atient research work, carrie

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out b y a group of em inent chem ists and engineers, before a satisfactory method was devised b y which the artificial product could compete in price and in q u ality w ith natural indigo.

i n f l u e n c e s OF A g o o d p a t e n t s y s t e m— G erm any w ith her well administered and easily enforcible p atent laws, has added, through this very agency, a m ost v ital inducem ent for pioneer work in chemical industries. W ho otherwise would dare to take the risk of all the expenses connected w ith this class of creative work? M oreover, w ho would be induced to publish the result of his discoveries far and wide throughout the whole world in that steadily flowing stream of patent literature, which, much sooner than an y text-books or periodicals, enables one worker to be benefited and to be inspired b y the publication of the latest w ork of others?

INTERNATIONAL SCOPE OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH The developm ent of some problems of industrial chem istry has enlisted the brilliant collaboration of men of so m any differ­

ent nationalities th at the final success could not, w ith any m eas­

ure of justice, be ascribed exclusively to one single race or nation;

this is best illustrated b y the invention of the different methods for the fixation of nitrogen from the air.

T his extraordinary achievem ent, although scarcely a few years old, seems already an ordinary link in the chain of common, current events of our bu sy life; and ye t, the facts connected w ith this recent conquest reveal a m odem tale of great deeds of the race_ an Epos of Applied Science. Its story began the d ay when chem istry tau g h t us how indispensable are the nitrogenous substances for the growth of all living beings.

DEFICIENCY OF NITROGEN FERTILIZERS IN AGRICULTURE Generally speaking, the most" expensive foodstuffs are pre­

cisely those w hich contain m ost nitrogen, for the sim ple reason th at there is, and alw ays has been, a t sometime or another, a shortage of nitrogenous foods in the world. A griculture furnishes us these proteid- or nitrogen-containing bodies, w hether we eat them directly as vegetable products, or indirectly as animals which have assim ilated the proteids from plants. I t so happens, however, th at b y our ill-balanced m ethods of agri­

culture, we take nitrogen from the soil much faster than it is supplied to the soil through natural agencies. W c have tried to remedy this discrepancy b y enriching the soil w ith manure or other fertilizers, bu t this has been found to tally insufficient, especially w ith our m ethods of intensive culture— our fields w ant more nitrogen. So agriculture has been looking anxiously around to find new sources of nitrogen fertilizer. F or a short time, an excellent supply w as found in the guano deposits of Peru’; but this m aterial "was used up so eagerly th at the supply lasted only a very few years. In the m eantime, the am monium salts recovered from the by-products of the gas-works h ave come into steady use as nitrogen fertilizer. B u t, here again, the supply is entirelv insufficient, and during the later period our m ain reliance has been placed on the natural beds of sodium n itrate which are found in the desert regions of Chile. T h is has been, of late, our principal source of nitrogen for agriculture, as well as for the m any industries w hich require saltpeter or nitric acid.

CHILE SALTPETER AND ITS APPROACHING EXHAUSTION In 1898, Sir W illiam Crookes, in his memorable presidential address before the B ritish Association for th e A dvancem ent of Science, called our attention to the threatening fact th at, at the increasing rate of consumption, the n itrate beds of Chile

CHILE SALTPETER AND ITS APPROACHING EXHAUSTION In 1898, Sir W illiam Crookes, in his memorable presidential address before the B ritish Association for th e A dvancem ent of Science, called our attention to the threatening fact th at, at the increasing rate of consumption, the n itrate beds of Chile

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