Editor's Page

Disturbing Trends IN CONVERSATIONS I'VE HAD RECENTLY with leaders of the chemical enterprise, I've picked up on several troubling developments. I do not know precisely what they indicate, but I am pretty sure they do not bode well for our science or our profession. A Harvard University chemistry professor told me that a proposed revision of the university's science curriculum divides the sciences into "Life Sciences" and "Physical Sciences" headed by two distinct science deans, both of whom are already at Harvard. One is affiliated with the biological sciences and one with physics/engineering. Non-chemistry majors would be exposed to chemistry only through two required courses, "Life Sciences A/B" and "Physical Sciences A/B." "Perhaps you see where I am going with this—chemistry remains central but now is caught in the middle," the professor said. "My worst fear, and something that would be terrible for science, is that the chemistry department ...