Chemistry: Opportunities and Needs

National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Chemistry Opportunities and Needs. A Report on Basic Research in... 

National Academy of Sciences, Chemistry Opportunities and Needs, 103. 

To address the funding problem, in February 1964 Frank Westheimer, an organic chemist at Harvard University, was elected to head a committee, under the auspices of the Committee on Science and Public Policy of the National Academy of Sciences, to make a comprehensive study of American basic research in chemistry. The report of the committee, titled Chemistry Opportunities and Needs, came to the basic conclusion that scientific opportunities were being lost for lack of support- ... 

Westheimer, F.H. 1965, Chemistry Opportunities and Needs (The Westheimer Report) , Chemical and Engineering News, Nov. 29, 72-102. 

The growth in federal funding for academic science during the early 1960s helps to explain the tone of the Westheimer Report on Chemistry Opportunities and Needs (IB, NAS, 1965). In his letter of transmittal George B. Kistiakowsky warned that chemistry was not as well supported as is research in other natural sciences, if qualified requests for funds and the training of scientific personnel are proper yardsticks (ibid., iii). 

Two years ago, the National Research Council published a report on research frontiers and needs in chemistry entitled Opportunities in Chemistry, and known colloquially as the "Pimentel Report" after its chairman, George C. Pimentel. That report identified many of the same areas discussed in this report and focused on how chemists contribute to them. This committee endorses the recommendations contained in Opportunities in Chemistry, and urges their implementation in addition to the recommendations contained in this volume. The two reports, like the two disciplines, should be seen as complementary, not competing. A vital base of chemical science is needed to stimulate future progress in chemical engineering, just as a vital base in chemical engineering is needed to capitalize on advances in chemistry. 

Green chemistry does not have to be complicated, but it does need to be intentional. Faculty members should look for opportunities to introduce green chemistry concepts and examples into the classroom and the laboratory. A simple example is atom economy, which is a natural fit when discussing the basic types of organic reactions. Addition and rearrangement reactions inherently have a higher atom economy than elimination and substitution reactions. The same concept of atom economy can be introduced into general chemistry in discussions of mass balance. 

The emphasis of this report is placed on technical aspects of electrochemical phenomena, both those that have clearly defined commercial potential (Chapter 5, "Opportunities in Particular Technologies") and others where new understanding and capabilities may ultimately lead to new products (Chapter 6, "Opportunities for Cross-Cutting Research"). These issues were addressed only peripherally by recent studies on chemistry (Opportunities in Chemistry, National Academy Press, 1985) and chemical engineering (Committee on Chemical Engineering Frontiers Research Needs and Opportunities, a current National Research Council activity). The committee notes that the findings of these studies are compatible with those in this report. 

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