THE CHEMICAL W O R L D THIS WEEK

The Cover .

Princeton Dean Leads the Field In Catalytic Studies τ TUGH Stott Taylor, the four th dean -*· **• of the Princeton Graduate School and holder of numerous scientific honors, is the Reinsen Memorial Lec­turer this year. That he should choose as his subject "Solid State and Physics Catalysis" conies as n o surprise. As a mailer of fact, the foremost authority in the fields of contact catalysis and sur­face chemistry is proLably none other than Hugh T?.yior.

His formative years as a young chemist were well spent under the direction of such uotables as F. C. Donnan, the best pHysical chemist in England, according t o Taylor; Svante Arrhenius at the NJobel Institute of Stockholm in Sweden ; and Bodenstein in Germany under wliom h e received a thorough grounding in chemical ki­netics.

Taylor took his B.S. a t Liverpool University in 1909, and followed up with an M.S. in 1910 and his doctorate in 1914 at the same university. He came to the United States shortly there­after for a short stay, but decided to make a career of it.

As an instructor at Princeton Univer­sity, Taylor was soon tabbed a s a very erudite young cheinist who could call his shots with a h igh degree of accu­racy. An anonymous writer h a d this to say about him: "It is the winter of 1914. A Nobel Prize winner, t h e great­est authority in his field, is lecturing to an awed faculty group in the old chem lab. He concludes ri is Delphic remarks and asks for discussion. Bearded pro­fessors comment deferentially. Sud­denly, a very b lond and very young man rises to confute the learned visitor. Eyebrows are raised throughout the hall, for instructors are supposed to speak diffidently, if at all. The eye­brows soon descend, however, for the youngster speaks n o t only with spirit and critical vigor, b u t with exceptional common sense. Eight years later, this young man became a full professor; four years more, a n d at the age of 36 years, he was chairman of t h e Chemis­try Depar tment ."

In the meantime, his researches led to the production o f improved hydro-genated fats, cheaper product ion of formaldehyde, and an industrial syn­thesis of wood alcolnol. Through much of his work, hydrogen seems t o play an important part , b u t the predominant role is that of catalysis.

His most recent thinking on the sub­ject of active centers in heterogeneous catalysis involves a n understanding of

the mechanism whereby chemical re­action occurs at surlaces which in turn requires a more complete understanding of the solid state and its physics. Tay­lor has pointed the way by interpreting data on catalysis at meta l surfaces and binary compounds in terms of the con­cepts of defect s t ructures and of the metallic state ( Pauling's theory of resonance ).

In 1935, Taylor and coworkers had "boiled" 75 tons of wa te r down to 10 drops of heavy water containing one part of hydrogen of mass three in 10,-000 parts. This heavy hydrogen ( t r i ­t ium) is normally found in ordinary water in concentrations of 1 par t in 10 billion parts. A later discovery that tritium was radioactive cast some doub t on the Princeton work, and Taylor was lectured rather severely by Lord Ruther­ford for arriving at a "foolish" conclu­sion. Taylor has been gratified to learn very recently tha t Rutherford's own heavy wate r was also radioactive.

His scientific honors are numerous and include his recent election to t h e presidency of the Society of Sigma Xi and an honorary doctorate of laws to be conferred July 7, 1951, by his a lma mater in Liverpool. H e is a member of the Royal Society of London, and in 1943 became a fellow, American Acad­emy of Arts and Sciences. Among other awards are several honorary d e ­grees; he has been elected a foreign member of academies and societies in Italy, France , Belgium, and Poland; h e was made Commander of the Order of Leopold II of Belgium in 1938 a n d was Francqui Professor, University of Lou vain during 1937. In recognition of his research work in the field of catal­ysis, Taylor has received the Nichols Medal of the A M E R I C A N C H E M I C A L SOCIETY in 1928; the Mendel Medal in 1933 at Villanova College; the research award and plaque of the Research Corp. of New York ( along with Van-nevar Bush in 1939) ; the Frankl in Medal of the American Philosophical Society in 1941; and the Longstaff Medal of the Chemical Society of Lon­don in 1942.

In chart ing the course for the future, Taylor envisions a br ight opportunity to devise new approaches to old objectives through the use of tracer techniques. He says that " the isotope has become the chemist 's messenger boy in jour­neys of discovery," and he foresees a brilliant future for " t racer chemistry." Doubtless, Dean Taylor will play an important role in tha t future.

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