Analytical Chemistry December 1955 [antikvár]

ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY WALTER J. MURPHY, Editorial Director Your Journal in 1955 ith this issue we conclude still another milestone (the twenty-seventh) in the history of Analytical Chemistrt. The year 1955 has been au eventful one, with naany new services and innovations added—all for the purpose of serving you, the reader, more effectively. More than 2100 pages have been required this year to publish the accepted papers dealing with many varied facets of the broad field of analysis, and to provide additional services of practical value to the subscriber. This figure is in marked contrast with 238—the total number contained in Volume I (1929). Surely the field has gro™ tremendously. There is no point in enumerating the many additional services that have been introduced in the journal down through the years. While much has been accomplished, we hope that we never become complacent. There are opportunities for further improvement every year. In glancing at Volume I we were very much interested in the first article—"Quantitative Analysis with the Spectrograph," by Charles C. Nitchie of the New Jersey Zinc Co. We quote all of paragraph one and part of paragraph two: In order to satisfy the requirements of modern industrial operations, a laboratory must be in a position to turn out analytical results in the shortest possible time, consistent with reasonable accuracy. Too often the result of a perfectly good analysis is of value only as an e.xplanation of defects and difficulties, rather than as a guide in the production or selection of the material involved. This is particularly true with analyses for those minute amounts of impurities, or of necessary constituents, which often modify to a remarkable extent the chemical or physical properties of materials. This being the case, it is surprising that so little attention has been paid to the spectrograph as a means for carrying out quantitative analyses. It has long been recognized as an instrument for qualitative work, but even in this field its usefulness has not met with the general recognition which it deserves, particularly in industrial laboratories. . . . Could any words of ours more dramatically demonstrate the progress that has been made in analysis and quality control since 1929? We think not. However, we cannot forego the opportunity of saying what we have said previously on many occasions, that modern continuous manufacturing processes, so characteristic of the chemical process industries, would not be possible if these tremendous strides in instrumentation had not been made. Are You Going to Give a Paper? \ nalysts will have no dearth of meetings in 1956 where they can present papers. Indeed, one addition to the usual list was commented on briefly several months ago—the XVth International Congress of Pure and Applied Chemistry, to be held in Lisbon, Portugal, September 9 to 16. This congress will be devoted exclusively to the field of anals^tical chemistry. Papers by U. S. authors should be submitted by December 31, 1955, to H. A. Laitinen, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111., who is chairman of the National Research Council Committee to Receive and Review Papers. Each manuscript should be accompanied by a 200- to 300-word abstract. We hope the U. S. will be well represented at Lisbon. It will at least be 1959 before another analytical congress can be held at the same time as a general lUPAC meeting. We also would like to report that the February issue of Analytical Chemistkt (out late in January) will be an "exposition" issue. It will contain complete details of the Seventh Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy to be held in the William Penn Hotel, February 27 to March 2. An exposition mil be held again in conjunction with the conference. The opportunity to view new developments made in instruments during the past year and to establish personal contacts with a large number of manufacturers and distributors of laboratory supplies of all kinds, certainly is a very compelling reason for attending the Pittsburgh conference. Each year the conference has established a new attendance record. We anticipate another new high in 1956. The ACS Pittsburgh Section analysts and the members of the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh are to be congratulated on the continued success of a venture that started only a few short years ago as a modest one-day meeting. 1851