Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Chemistry of the Non-Benzenoid Hydrocarbons and Their Simple Derivatives
The mechanical art and engineering of petroleum refining has been perfected to a degree which, measured by. Profit and general utility, deserves commendation, but it is a development which has been very little dependent upon chemical knowledge. More thorough knowledge Of the chemistry Of the non benzenoid hydrocarbons will surely re sult in better and less wasteful methods of refining and may lead to the conversion of petroleum hydrocarbons into other useful products by chemical methods. In the present state of our knowledge, it would be rash to prophesy what may be accomplished in this direction; but be fore much work of this kind can be done, a great deal of painstaking, systematic research in the field of the non-benzenoid hydrocarbons must be carried out which may never be utilized directly in an industrial process. The writer does not urge research in this field solely on the ground of the utility Of the possible results. Those who attempt to justify scientific research by financial returns do not always have a very strong case, and to attempt to balance any particular industry upon the point of an original scientific discovery is to leave out of ao count the contributions Of a host Of other people, which the scientist seldom appreciates. Such arguments convince nobody and Often arouse the resentment Of engineers and business men and others who know better. The upbuilding of a great mass of information and generaliza tions, new experimental methods and new substances, in the field of the non-benzenoid hydrocarbons, will enable industry to select certain bits of knowledge suited to further progress and our everyday welfare. Every original-investigator making real contributions to the fabric of knowledge is thus a contributor to the common weal. This, while not the sole justification of research, is the correct form of the argu ment of the utility Of scientific investigation.
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