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E D I T O R I A L

Keeping Sophistication in Perspective

ne of the questions we hear frequently in our travels concerns 0 advanced chemical technology, and can be paraphrased as “Who needs it?” The article by Donald Othmer in this issue on predicting vapor pressure and latent heat data-which in essence takes to task some aspects of advanced techniques-might well be construed as asking this question. On the other hand, it may well be asking us to pose a much more penetrating question-namely, “When do we need ad- vanced technology, and when, instead, would ‘rules of thumb’ be better?”

Speaking in gross generalities, the current fractionation of what used to be an integrated chemical engineering profession can be traced to narrow, or shortsighted, or biased answers to this latter, and indeed most pressing question. There is no doubt that much of “chemical engineering science,” when viewed from the position of having a tough production problem to solve, is akin to going eruditely around in circles. There is equally little doubt that much of chemical engineer- ing practice resembles Scotch tape and baling wire mechanics to the chemical engineering scientist. There is precious little chemistry in the unit operations; and there is little direct industrial utility in most molecular orbital calculations.

The fact that one engineer’s point of view may be vastly different from another’s because their problems differ so much merely obscures the essential unity of purpose of all these disparate disciplines; it does not negate it.

It is clear that Dr. Othmer and his “protagonists” can all be correct, even though they may politely disagree about when to use the fliwer and when to roll out the limousine. The point is that the creative technical practitioner needs both vehicles in his garage and enough experience with each to know how to choose between them for a given objective. The essence of engineering, as a crusty veteran once told his engineering rookies, is to be only as complicated as you have to be. What he left unsaid, though not undemonstrated, is that you must also be able to get as complicated as the problem demands. And for that, you have to keep your intellectual arsenal stocked.

No simple truism lights the way into a problem. There is no sub- stitute for judgment, and no judgment can be any better than the breadth of understanding with which one marshals the factors that affect his decision.

Yet all these factors go into industrial chemical technology.

VOL. 5 7 NO. 1 0 O C T O B E R 1 9 6 5 5