Vail, James

Designed by James J. Johnson and set in Aster type by Running Feet Books, Durheim, NC. Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press, Binghamton, New York. 

James G. Vail joined PQ Co. in 1905 before finishing college. He then finished his formal chemical education at the Institute of Technology, Darmstadt, Germany, became president of the U.S. Society of Chemical Engineers in 1945-46 before retiring finally in 1952 and wrote the major books on soluble silicates issued in 1928 and in 1952,0) the year he died. 

James Vail was a great publicist. Besides writing many articles and reports on all phases of silicate technology, he put out a small monthly sheet - P s and Q s - for over twenty years, and this was known in the chemical industry far beyond the silicate field. In 1928, he published ACS Monograph 46 "Soluble Silicates in Industry" and thirty years later he acceded to many requests and wrote ACS Monograph 116 "Soluble... 

Silicates" in two volumes.O) While much has happened since 1952, the book has not yet been replaced as the primary reference for soluble silicate technology and should be reviewed for references and basic information on processes and products I have so briefly mentioned. James Vail was a man of great insight, a poet, author, and above all a humanitarian. 

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