Abstract
INTERESTING developments of the work of the Mellon Institute in the University of Pittsburgh, recorded in the last annual report, are the new departments for analytical chemistry under Dr. G. D. Beal and for ‘pure chemistry’ under Dr. L. H. Cretcher. When the Institute,was originally established, the question of the position of research in ‘pure’ chemistry and other subject was considered. No one will contradict the director's statement that “to the pure science investigator, who is the father of all our efforts in industrial research, falls the glory of making those discoveries that lie at the ground- work of all our knowledge of nature, and of all our powers of utilising natural products.” But the practical question is whether ‘pure’ research should be centralised in another department of the Univercity, under the control of a director specially interestd in abstract science, and, if so, what liaison should exist between such department and the Institute; or whether an Institute primarily dedicated to industrial research should make provision also for ‘pure’ research. Apparently the original, decision has been reversed, or perhaps it would be truer to say that the development of the work of the Institute has rendered necessary some provision for ‘pure’ research. In a research institute of this magnitude, the need for advisory and consultative work both in analytical chemistry and in pure chemistry can readily be understood.
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The Mellon Institute. Nature 120, 785–786 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/120785b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/120785b0