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Show THE READER'S DATE BOOK Chemistry Has Changed Life In the Small Towns of America i Chemists and chemical engineers are transforming the life of small towns and rural areas as completely as they are remolding metropolitan city life, Dr. N. Howell Furman, president of the American Chemical Society, reported recently. "Chemical scientists and technologists serve modern man every moment of his life, wherever he may go," Dr. Furman asserted, as-serted, outlining the theme of the society's diamond jubilee meeting meet-ing which will be held in New York September 3-7, and by local WfliMx..v,u f .. ,tlffi i mmr-'i sections in nil parts of the country during National Chemistry Week, September 2-9. When a handful " j of chemists or- A ganized the Ameri- i , can Chemical Soci-Mnln. Soci-Mnln. Pty in 1876, chemi-fTBEKT chemi-fTBEKT cnl activity was irnCfcf confined to a few FEATURE centers, principal-I principal-I y in the larger cities. Although they met in a small room they constitute! con-stitute! a substantial part of the natiuii'x chemists at that time. Today the American Chemical Society with 05,000 members Is the largest organization of professional sci.-nti.sts in the world. Its 137 sections sec-tions include membership in every Dr. N. Howell Furman In addition to reviewing the progress prog-ress made by chemists and chemical chemi-cal engineers during the past 75 years, Dr. Furman declared, the diamond jubilee observances will focus attention on the prospects for even greater progress in the future. Since smaller communities will not only benefit from new chemical developments, but will play a substantial sub-stantial part in bringing them about, the American Chemical Society through its local sections will parallel paral-lel the program of National Chemical Chemi-cal Week observances in New York with observances in communities and schools throughout the country- The week of September 2-9 is the opportune time for the people of America's home towns to learn the fabulous story of chemistry and the vital effect it has had on the ordinary ordi-nary man in his everyday living. Here again Is an opportunity for the local merchant, by exhibits and advertising, to tell the local community com-munity a worthwhile story, the story of "Chemistry Key to Better Living." state in the union. Chemicals have not only become the nation's first industry, Dr. Furman Fur-man noted, but the tendency of industrial in-dustrial establishments to locate plants near sources of raw materials materi-als has led to widespread diffusion of chemical manufacturing and processing. Many new towns and cities formerly rural or even uninhabited unin-habited areas owe their existence and growth to the expanded activities activi-ties of chemists and chemical engineers engi-neers in serving modern civilization. The profound changes these scientists and engineers have brought about in our daily lives are by no means confined to communities with chemical Industries, In-dustries, Dr. Furman observed. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the clothing we wear, the health we enjoy, the cars we drive, the houses we live In and the wide range of objectn we use throughout the day ail reflect this transformation. Chlorination of drinking water, for example. Is a feature of modern life In the smallest towns as well as the largest cities. Fluoridation of water to prevent tooth decay, especially espe-cially in growing children, has recently re-cently met with medical approval following a five-year test and promises prom-ises to take its place with chlorination chlorina-tion as a public health practice in our cities. Large cities like Rochester, N.Y., sre now fluoridating their water supplies, but Dr. Furman found it significant that the tests were first made in two smaller New York cities, Newburgh and Kingston. Records of tooth decay among children chil-dren In these adjoining communities communi-ties during the test period clearly established that the incidence of dental carles, or tooth decay, was less in Newburgh where the water tupply was fluoridated than In Kingston, the control community, where there was no fluoridation. Maysvllle, a small Kentucky city, was the first in that state to treat Its drinking water with fluorides. Dentists at Maysville were chiefly responsible for promoting fluoridation fluorida-tion of water. Larger Kentucky cities followed suit. Life in West Branch, Iowa, three-juarters three-juarters of a century ago is compared com-pared with small town life today by former president Herbert Hoover In his memoirs. The townspeople then churned their own butter and made their own dyes. Many of the necessities of life which people then provided for themselves are now lupplied by industries founded on die research and technology of :hemists and chemical engineers. A wide range of products of chemical research and engineering engi-neering has special Importance , for the home town dweller and the Main Street businessman. Enjoying more living space than the city dweller, with room for a garden and driveway drive-way and with his own roof overhead, over-head, be Is the particular beneficiary bene-ficiary of such products as plant foods, pesticides and roofing-materials, roofing-materials, to name only a few. The need for education in science ind technology to keep abreast of e expansion of the chemical industry in-dustry and profession was stressed 3y Dr. Furman, who is head of the :hemistry department at Princeton University. "Many members of the profession receive their first scientific training train-ing in the high schools of our smaller small-er communities," he pointed out. "The American Chemical Society is interested in aiding high school teachers to interest young boys and iris in the profession. Many local lections of the society make a practice prac-tice of inviting high school students ind teachers of chemistry to attend at-tend section meetings. |