The Structure of This Study

The institution of chemistry in America may be approached from many different angles. In Chapter 2 chemistry is treated first as an occupation — what occupies one, the means of filling one s time, temporary or regular employment . Such an approach implies a broad, inclusive view of chemists and chemistry. In the second part of the chapter, a somewhat narrower approach will be taken in terms of chemistry as a profession. A professional will be viewed as one who is trained and skilled in the theoretic or scientific parts of a trade or occupation, as distinct from its merely mechanical parts . In contrast to the occupation of chemistry as measured in, say, the official Census tabulations, where self-designation results in a promiscuous mixing together of those trained in theory with those simply occupied in chemistry as mechanical activity, our accounting of the profession of chemistry will focus on those who possess certain intellectual skills. While membership implies possession of these skills, the activity of the profession is best understood in terms of the application of such skills to the affairs of others or in the practice of an art .  

Chapters 3 and 4 consider two of the principal contexts in which chemists are employed and their skills are utilized. Both contexts offer support to the institution of chemistry in ways that transcend the question of employment. Chemical education serves social purposes beyond the employment of the present - or the training of the next - generation of chemists. Similarly, chemical industry fulfills many functions for the institution of chemistry, even as chemists play varied roles in chemical and non-chemical industries. Chapter 5 returns from these wider considerations to take a closer look at the employment of chemists. Doing so helps set the stage for a consideration of the discipline of chemistry in Chapter 6. 

Chemistry is not simply an occupation, a profession, a means of education 

Oxford English Dictionary. Definitions of professionals range from Everett C. Hughes s terse professionals profess to the list of twenty-three essential traits adduced by Geoffrey Millerson in The Qualifying Associations (II, 1964). The vast literature on professionalization is thoughtfully addressed in II, Freidson, 1977. 

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