Man in a Chemical World

Moore, Marianne. Collected Poems. Faber and Faber Ltd, London. No date. Morgan, Charles. The Fountain. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1932. Morrison, A. Cressy. Man in a Chemical World. Charles Scribner s Sons, New York. 1937. 

Although the public concern about chemical warfare was significant, the story was not completely negative. The dramatic rise in the number of American-born and educated chemists attested to the increasing acceptance of chemistry as an academic subject and career choice. The appetite among publishers for popular science titles such as Morrison s also reflected a growing public interest in science. Man in a Chemical World joined a substantial list of other popular books on chemistry from the era that tried to make clear the importance of chemistry. These included multiple editions of Floyd L. Darrow s The Story of Chemistry (1927, 1930) and Alexander Findlay s A Hundred Years of Chemistry (1937, 1948, 1955, 1965). H.E. Howe s two volume Chemistry in Indus-... 

It is against this mixed image of chemistry that Morrison s book must be read. The genesis of Man in a Chemical World started with one of the most significant attempts to promote and Americanize chemistry undertaken by the American Chemical Society (ACS). For the 1935 conference, the ACS chose as their theme the tercentenary of chemical industries in America. (Morrison 1937, p. x) This offered an excellent platform to promote chemistry as an important American industry. The official poster (Figure 1) for the tercentenary showed a native in loin-... 

Although Man in a Chemical World was Morrison s most significant work of science popularization, his most widely circulated work was an article cum pamphlet entitled Seven Reasons Why a Scientist Believes in God Morrison further explored the issue of religion and science in his 1944 book Man Does Not Stand Alone (Morrison 1944). It is important to see the material in Man in a Chemical World as part of Morrison s larger conception of science and religion. Chemistry, and science more generally, was linked to the divine. 

If readers are aware of any information about the production of Man in a Chemical World, the author would be grateful for the assistance. Publishing records are often difficult or impossible to find. 

The direct metonyms in Man in a Chemical World are relatively mundane the Soderston images attempt to encapsulate the thematic material of the text. For example, in chapter eight Serving Industry , Soderston illustrates the pouring of molten metal (most likely steel) in an industrial plant. While the illustration can evoke the concept of all heavy industry, it does not carry the same complex package of meaning as other images. 

There is some debate about when scientists were first shown in lab coats. Their appearance in Man in a Chemical World does not represent a new image, but rather an important interpretation of the image that contributed to the creation of a powerful visual metonym in the public sphere. The use of the lab-coated scientist as a metonym does not have a single source of origin. In part, it evolved Ifom images of chemists and other... 

There is a temptation to see the illustrations in Man in a Chemical World as containing some hint of irony, since the religious references seem so extreme. There was, however, no hint of levity or ironic awareness in Morrison s writing. In Morrison s text, food does literally flow from the work of chemists. It is an actual life and death stmggle, and we are reliant upon chemistry for survival ... 

As an argument brought to the agora of American public discourse, Man in a Chemical World was extremely bold. Its nationalism lit well with the concerns of many scientists, particularly the leadership of the ACS, that the U.S. needed to establish strong industries and train American... 

Morrison, A.C. 1937, Man in a Chemical World The Service of Chemical Industry, Scribner s Sons, New York. 

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