American Chemistry in Cultural Context

The modern natural sciences are among the most distinctive institutions of industrial society. Indeed, they may be used as definers of that society. The countries that constitute the core group of advanced industrial nations are set off from the rest of the world as much by their contributions to the specialized literature of scientific research as by their gross national products. At present, the United States dominates. According to one estimate, it is responsible for 33% of world GNP and 41% of all publishing scientists. The fate of the natural sciences in the United States has therefore, and properly, been the subject of increasing attention in recent years. The main thrust of inquiry has been toward questions of policy. By comparison, less attention has been directed toward understanding the historical forces at work in the development of the American scientific estate . Little is known of the dynamics by which the sciences have evolved in America over the past one hundred years, or of the cultural constellations in which those sciences are embedded.  

American chemistry offers a strategic site for research. For a start, chemistry occupies a central place among the natural sciences. Its methods, concepts, theories, and techniques merge imperceptibly with those of physics 

While American chemistry offers a strategic site for research, it also provides the investigator with special problems. The history of American chemistry has been greatly neglected, and little reliable literature exists. Problems of definition are acute. The scale and complexity of the phenomena to be studied are such as to pose severe analytical problems. A full, cultural history of American chemistry remains a distant goal. 

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