Profile, Demarcation and Power Balancing

According to the rules of the Association of Danish Engineers, members had to have a formal training in engineering from either the Polytechnic College or Den kgl. militaere Hojskole (the Royal Military High School) Harnow (1998), 203. 

Distribution of the membership group of the Danish Chemical Society, 1879-1914 (selected years).  

Year Pharmacists Polytechnic graduates University graduates Medical Graduates Misc.j Unknown Total number 

I would Kke to suggest two possible reasons for the dominant position of the very small group of university-trained chemists within the society. The first is that the Danish Chemical Society wanted to gain prestige by what appears to be a deliberate choice of profile. The strong emphasis on basic science in the 

My second suggestion is that the members could have their interest in applied and technical chemistry covered by other societies and therefore wanted and expected to be kept informed of the developments of pure chemistry by being a member of the Danish Chemical Society. With this approach and as most of the polytechnic graduates and pharmacists were consumers rather than producers of pure chemical knowledge, it should not be surprising to find the university graduates in the lead.  

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