LETTERS. More on peer review

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More on peer review

Although I agree with Foluso Adebo-dun's suggestion that peer review of pro-posals and manuscripts ought not to con-sider the reputation of the author as the primary factor (C&EN, Feb. 12, page 4), I doubt that his method of double-blind re-view would be adequate in many, if not most, cases. My unscientific impression is that, in the introductory paragraph(s) of a majority of manuscripts, frequent citations are made to an author's previous work. Thus, even without a byline, a reviewer in-tent on judging a work on the basis of the author's affiliation would have little diffi-culty identifying the author.

I suspect that grant proposals would be even more difficult to make truly blind, given the desire of both investigators and funding agencies to use track records as part of the basis for decisions to fund fu-ture work. Thus, for Adebodun's sugges-tion to work, the editor or funding agen-cy also would have to strip the introduc-tory section from the manuscript or proposal. Whether this is feasible, and how editors and agencies would deter-mine where to cut, are questions I will leave to others. Perhaps our colleagues in the clinical sciences, with their experience in double-blind experiments, might have some suggestions.

George O. Bizzigotti

McLean, Va.

Patent protection

As a patent attorney specializing in chemi-cal and biotech patent prosecution, I read your editorial "Secrecy in Science" (C&EN, Feb. 19, page 5) with great interest.

Steven A. Rosenberg's position, how-ever, is more than extreme. It is untena-ble. Rather than an "immediate improve-ment" should scientists refuse to accept funds contingent upon a secrecy agree-ment, scientists would see funds from

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private companies disappear. Quite sim-ply, there is not a capitalist worth his or her salt who would invest large sums of money in a speculative venture with no hopes of a reasonable return.

Much of the delay in disclosure is due to the "absolute novelty" patent laws of much of the rest of the world. In the U.S., an inventor who publishes a scientific pa-per before a patent application on the in-vention is filed has a one-year grace peri-od to file a U.S. patent application. That same paper, however, will act as an irre-vocable bar to securing patent protection almost everywhere else in the world. In the rest of the world, a patent application must be filed prior to any public disclo-sure of the invention or the rights to the invention are donated to the public.

Joseph T. Leone

DeWitt Ross & Stevens Madison, Wis.

More Ph.D. debate

The letter from James Sandifer (C&EN, Feb. 26, page 4) was not only eye-opening but downright depressing. His descrip-tion of how technical personnel with ad-vanced degrees are essentially inden-tured in industrial positions brings out some real concerns that could well have some verity inside some companies. However, as an employee of a Fortune 500 company that does value research, and where upper management is almost entirely composed of people with techni-cal degrees, I'd like to offer a dissenting opinion.

Never will I even attempt to infer that

Correction

• Feb. 19, page 41: John Howard Purnell wrote a text entitled "Gas Chromatography," not "The Physical Chemistry of Gas Chromatography."

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LETTERS

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graduate school prepared me in any way for my industrial career. My graduate studies armed me with the technical com-petencies necessary to participate and compete in a variety of professions, but it didn't give me the life skills needed to sup-plement this technical proficiency. What prepared me for industry was my work experience prior to graduate school. Hav-ing worked at a restaurant, a supermarket, in a stamping plant for a major automobile manufacturer, and in a quasi-professional role as a computer technician gave me the breadth of experience necessary to aid my choice of a career. Without these experi-ences, I can well imagine what a shock to one's system an initial position in industry might be. And as a recruiter of technical professionals, it never ceases to amaze me how many people with Ph.D.s have never held a job outside school.

A life skill important to any professional is the ability to translate what he or she has learned academically into the reality of his or her role in the workplace. An academic institution should not be held responsible for non-program-related skills any more than a public school should be held fully responsible for a child's socialization or sex education. It has become too easy for peo-ple to point a finger at someone else every time they find they lack something that they need for success.

When I look around me and consider why some of my colleagues have been more successful than others, even if all have comparable technical capabilities, the answer is obvious. People who can relate to things other than their field of expertise—for example, the business en-vironment, customers, and economics— are the people who can leverage their ex-pertise more successfully. Where does this skill come from? It is hoped that in-dividuals pick it up via the right life ex-periences prior to graduate school. If someone realizes that he or she is defi-cient in a particular area, undergraduate programs are a great place to take elec-tives meant to round out the individual.

While I can sympathize with Sandifer's situation, I cannot concur with his argu-ments and conclusions. There are many or-ganizations, industrial and academic, that are highly motivated to reward and pro-mote technical excellence. The key to achieving recognition and reward lies in how well a person can shape what they of-fer into the vision or mission of their work-place institution. You don't even have to sell your soul or turn your back on what you know best; you merely have to realize that there's a delicate balance between what you should do and what you want to do. Until you show that the latter has

val-ue, you're making the wrong choice every time you pursue it—unless you're doing it on your own time.

William J. Schulz

Midland, Mich. Ronald Breslow's reply to the letters prompted by his ACS Comment "The Edu-cation of Ph.D.s in Chemistry" (C&EN, Dec. 11,1995, page 65) does not really address the underlying concern in James Sandifer's letter nor, I suspect, many other letters not pub-lished. This concern is the value that indus-try puts on chemical research as a contribu-tor to corporate revenue. If the chemical in-dustry believed—as it once did—that research was an important part of financial growth strategy, then researchers would be valued and compensated accordingly. With the fine-tuning Breslow's conference de-scribed, the classical academic Ph.D. pro-gram would still be an appropriate vehicle for training industrial researchers.

While Breslow defends the absence of significant industrial representation at his conference by pointing to the two indus-try representatives present and the con-sulting experience and networking of his academic peers, this group represents a now atypical slice of U.S. chemical and chemistry-related industry—namely, the few companies that still hold to the afore-mentioned view of the value of research. This is not what much of the employer base of chemistry Ph.D.s wants.

Instead of seeking to discover new op-portunities by understanding phenomena and exploring new realms, what most companies now believe they can financial-ly justify as chemical research is a combi-nation of increasingly sophisticated, but not necessarily intellectually informed, for-mulation with off-the-shelf components combined with short-term invention-on-demand—what a former industrial col-league called empirical heroism. As some-one who has worked in both academia and industry, I am personally uncomfortable with this definition of research. But we must recognize that it can be financially and intellectually defended. Let's admit that the classical academic Ph.D. degree, with its emphasis on the systematic acqui-sition of understanding combined with ex-ploration of novel realms, is poor prepara-tion for this kind of work.

It is this disconnection between two defi-nitions of chemical research that is at the heart of the debate over the preparation of chemistry Ph.D.s. Including a business course in the Ph.D. curriculum is an excel-lent idea, but it will not change this funda-mental difference. I call upon Breslow, his academic colleagues, and the American Chemical Society to do a better job of

ex-plaining the real value of doctoral-level re-search to the U.S. business community. And lef s really try to involve more of the chemical industry in these discussions. Only when the meaning and value of research is agreed upon will complaints about Ph.D. preparation go away and the demand for chemistry Ph.D.s increase. Otherwise, the day will not be far off when Breslow's col-leagues are no longer in demand as consult-ants because companies will have cut third-party spending in chemical research.

Louis S. Stuhl

Bedford, Mass. James Sandifer and Ronald Breslow are both partly right. From my 60-year career in chemistry, I would like to add some-thing of a personal nature: A senior-year chemistry major asked me, "How am I going to use what I learn here when I get a job?" I was surprised that he hadn't been introduced to the chemical indus-try—unless his teachers were training him as their replacement.

I agree that to prepare for a highly paid job in a field other than academe, stu-dents should be given the opportunity and time to include courses in business administration, English and other lan-guages, psychology for productive team-work and interaction with nonprofession-als, public speaking, and golf or fishing. I arranged for my students to take field trips through paper plants, power plants, ink and paint factories, and the like. I suggested industrial internships for my instrumental analysis class, but I was shot down immediately by the department head. He said this was the last chance students had to learn "pure chemistry."

Personally, I don't consider that my ca-ree in chemistry was miserable—even though I was born before women were freely admitted to medicine and "hard" sciences like chemistry or physics. In 1977,1 was president of the ACS Dayton Section and president of the Society for the Advancement of Material & Process Engineering, Midwest Section. In 1986, I was president of the Cincinnati Federal Environmental Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society. In 1978, the Affiliated Societies Council of the Engi-neering & Science Foundation of Dayton, Ohio, gave me an Outstanding Profes-sional Achievement Award. The award reads, "Your professional accomplish-ment is worthy of special recognition for enhancing the stature of the engineering and scientific professions." I value that above monetary compensation. It makes me proud that I am an American woman. Intelligent associates who recognize

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UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

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236. Simultaneous Determination of Diphaci-none and ChlorophaciDiphaci-none in Fortified Steam-Rolled Oats and SRO/Paraffin Baits. D. L. Griffin, T. M. Primus, J. J. Johnston

237. Diblock Copolymer Adsorption: Effects of Surface Modification and Chain Compo-sition on Film Properties. D. J. Bihm, R. S. Pai-Panandiker, J. R. Dorgan

238. Quantitation of Oxygen Functionalities in Fulvic Acid Using FTIR Spectroscopy. T. I. Noyes, J. A. Leenheer

239. New Membranes for Hydrogen/Oxygen Fuel Cells Based on Heteropolyacids. A. M. Herring, R. L. McCormick

240. Effects of Exchangeable Cation and Layer Charge on the Microporosity of Montmorillonite. D. W. Rutherford, C. T. Chiou, D. D. Eberl

241. Correlation of Soil and Sediment Organ-ic Matter Polarity by Solid-State 13C NMR with the Aqueous Sorption Coefficient of Nonpolar Solutes. D. E. Kile, C. T. Chiou, R. L. Wershaw

242. Effects of Exchangeable Cation on the Uptake of Polar Vapors by Montmorillon-ite. C. T. Chiou, D. W. Rutherford 243. Extraction of Uranium from Soil Using

Oxidizing Agents with Selective Chelators. B. L. Duran, D. S. Ehler, J. R. Brainard, N. N. Sauer

244. Sonication of Aqueous Organic Solu-tions. E. E. Fahrenkrog-Hallman, N. N. Sauer, D. J. Casadonte

245. Removal of Toxic Metals from Contami-nated Surfaces Using Chelators. D. S. Ehler, B. L. Duran, S. Kung, N. N. Sauer 246. Polarization-Enhanced Complex

Forma-tion in Aqueous Strontium Chloride Solu-tions. D. E. Smith

247. Semiempirical and Ab Initio Computa-tional Studies of Small Molecular Belts Composed of Cyclic Polyacene Systems: "Cyclo-Anthracene" and Beyond. T. G. Neville, R. W. Zoellner

248. Synthesis of Precursors for Cathodes of Lithium Batteries. C. J. Tafoya, T. J. Boyle, D. H. Doughty, J. A. Voigt, B. Johnson 249. Novel "Sol-Gel" Precursor Solutions for

Generation of PMN Thin Films. G. J. Moore, T. J. Boyle, D. B. Dimos 250. Thin-Film Preparation and Analysis of

SrBi2Ta209 Produced by Alkoxy-Acetate Method. C. D. Buchheit, T. J. Boyle 251. Designing a Lab Module: Synthesis,

Re-action Kinetics, and Characterization of fra/7s-Dichloro(ethylenediamine)cobalt(lll) chloride. M. H. Rakowsky, D. R. Cahill, K. E. Layman, S. Mahapatro

252. Crystal Structures and Solution Properties of the Tetranuclear Oxovanadium Trialkoxide Complexes. F. L. Jiang, D. C. Crans, H. J. Chen, O. P. Anderson, M. M. Miller 253. Molecular Mechanics Studies of

Uncon-strained, Sterically Bulky Alkyl-Corrin Complexes. J. M. Sirovatka, A. K. Rappe, R. G. Finke

254. Oxygenation of Nitrosyl Myglobin. D. S. Bohle, E. V. Arnold

255. 1-D and 2-D Paramagnetic NMR of High- and Low-Spin Nonplanar Iron(lll) Porphyrin Complexes. H. Ogura, F. A. Walker, C. J. Medforth, K. M. Smith 256. Study of the Temperature Dependence

of Relaxation Times for Several Paramag-netic Metalloporphyrin Complexes. K. I. Momot, F. A. Walker

257. Novel Iron Complexes Containing a Multidentate Sulfur Ligand: A Step Toward New Active-Site Models for Nitrogenase. J. D. Niemoth-Anderson, T. A. George 258. Ultrahigh Atomic and Molecular Rydberg

States. E. Lee, A. Brunello, D. Farrelly 259. Exploring Charge Polarization in the

HIV-1 Protease Active Site. G. B. Mc-Gaugney, A. K. Rappe

260. Geometric Preferences of rc-Stacking in Biology and Chemistry. G. B. McGaugney, A. K. Rappe

261. Modeling the Catalytic Formation of Elastomeric Polypropylene. M. Peitsch, A. K. Rappe

262. Helping Force Fields Resonate. M. Peitsch, A. K. Rappe

263. Modeling the Catalytic Formation of Iso-tactic Polypropylene. L. M. Bormann, A. K. Rappe

264. Beyond Atom-Centered Electrostatic Models. M. Win-Gildenmeister, A. K. Rappe

265. Effects of Vibrational Relaxation on Sol-vation Dynamics in Acetonitrile. J. P. Cushing, B. M. Ladanyi

266. Nonlinear Solvation Effects on Optical Spectra in Polar Liquids. D. Matyushov, B. M. Ladanyi

267. Effects of Induced Dipoles on Dielectric Properties of Methanol-Water Mixtures. M. Kriebel, B. M. Ladanyi

268. Carbonyl-Compound Emissions from Woodsmoke: Laboratory and Field Studies in New Mexico. S. Galanis, C. J. Popp, R. S. Martin, D. A. Jones, J. A. Knowlton, P. Bonkmeyer

269. Reactive Air-Pollutant Behavior in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. S. Galanis, R. S. Martin, C. J. Popp, R. Dixon, J. Noce, L. G. Reyes, M. J. Hind

T U E S D A Y EVENING General Poster Session

R. W . Schwenz, Organizer, Presiding 7:00—9:00

270. Evaluation of Tetra- and Penta-Chlorobenzene for Physiological Markers in Coyotes. C. A. Furlow, L. A. Windberg, J. J. Johnston

271. Confirmation of Residues of Flume-quine, Nalidixic Acid, and Oxolinic Acid in Incurred Shrimp and Salmon Tissue by GC/MS. A. P. Pfenning, S. B. Turnipseed, J. E. Roybal, A. R. Long

272. Structural Elucidation of the Major Pyr-rolidine Alkaloid from Dasynotus

dauben-mirei. C. C. Briggs, S. K. Carney, J. L.

Nicklas, R. B. Kelley

273. Synthesis of ((2-Methoxyphenyl)methyl-idene)propanedinitrile and Related Com-pounds. M. Romero, F. Wilson, C. Townsend, T. Myers, T. Parham, S. Mc-Call, B. Cardelino, C. Moore, B. Penn, R. D. Clark

274. Synthesis of 4-(A/,/V-Dimethylamino)-3-dodecylamidonitrobenzene. L. Romero, B. Penn, R. D. Clark

275. Glucose as Chiral Auxiliary for C2

-Sym-metric 2,2'-Bipyridines and Bispyridyl Silanes. M. A. Peterson, N. K. Dalley 276. Use of Ultrasound in

Manganese(lll)-Mediated Lactonization of Alkenes. T. Ro-mero, T. H. Cheavens

277. New Route to a Key Intermediate in a Pro-posed Route to Stenine. S. Marchese, M. Martinez, M. Mascarenas, T. H. Cheavens 278. New Approach to an Intermediate to

Croo-mine. M. Mascarenas, T. H. Cheavens 279. Model Reactions and Intermediates for

Preparing a Key Acyloin Intermediate in a Proposed Route to Stemonine. F. Mu, M. Tao, T. H. Cheavens

280. Synthesis of Nitroxyl Spin-Labeled Fe(lll) Porphyrins. T. K. Davis, J. B. Sluiter, M. Rakowsky

281. Nitrosyl Metalloporphyrins: Synthesis and Characterization. A. D. Kini, J. S. Washington, C. P. Kubiak, B. H. Morimoto

282. Solid-State and Aqueous Studies of Va-nadium(IV) and Vanadium(V) Compounds with Polydentate Imidazole-Containing Li-gands. S. Amin, A. D. Keramidas, D. C. Crans, O. P. Anderson, M. M. Miller 283. Structural and Solution Studies of

Vana-d i u m ^ ) HyVana-droxylamine Complexes with Biologically Relevant Ligands: Imidazole, Glycine, Serine, and Glygly Complexes. A. D. Keramidas, D. C. Crans, O. P. Ander-son, M. M. Miller

284. Iron Loss from Ribonucleotide Reduc-tase R2. N. J. Umback, J. R. Norton 285. Spectral Analysis of the

Lactoperoxi-dase: Evidence for the Identity of the Mammalian Peroxidase Heme. L. A. Andersson, S. A. Bylkas

286. Using CD Spectroscopy for Protein-Structural Analysis: A Consensus Ap-proach. J. N. Morris, L. A. Andersson 287. Spectroscopic Studies on the

Hyper-active Co(ll)-Substituted Aminopeptidase from Aeromonas proteolytica. B. Bennett, R. C. Holz

288. Inhibition of the Aminopeptidase from

Aeromonas proteolytica by Fluoride Ions.

G. Chen, R. C. Holz

289. Spectroscopic Studies on the Methio-nine Aminopeptidase from Escherichia

coli. V. M. D'souza, B. Bennett, R. C. Holz

290. Mechanism of CO Oxidation Catalyzed by Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase from

Clostridium thermoaceticum. J . Seravalli,

S. W. Ragsdale

291. Catalytic Properties of the Heterodisul-fide Reductase in the Acetate-Grown

Methanosarcina thermophila. M. C.

Simia-nu, D. F. Beker, S. W. Ragsdale 292. Characterization of Methyl-SCOM

Re-ductase from Methanosarcina thermophila and the Catalytic Role of Factor 430. D. F. Becker, S. W. Ragsdale

293. n-Butyl Isocyanide: A Structural and Functional Analog of Carbon Monoxide from Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase from Clostridium thermoaceticum. M. Ku-mar, S. W. Ragsdale

294. Substitution of Nickel with Cobalt at Acetyl-CoA Synthesis Site of Carbon Mon-oxide Dehydrogenase from Clostridium

thermoaceticum. E. Murakami, S. W.

295. Cloning and Expression of the Gene Encoding O-Demethylase in Clostridium

thermoaceticum. R. Dhanyamraju, S. W.

Ragsdale

296. Progress toward Crystal-Structure De-termination of Methyltetrahydrofolate: Cor-rinoid/lron-Sulfur Protein Methyltrans-ferase from Clostridium thermoaceticum. T. I. Doukov, S. Zhao, S. W. Ragsdale, J. J. Stezowski

297. Demonstration That Generation of CO Is Required for the Synthesis of Acetyl CoA by Clostridium thermoaceticum. S. Menon, S. W. Ragsdale

298. Heat Production during a Solid-State Fermentation of Sorghum to Ethanol. L. L. Henk, J. C. Linden

LETTERS

Continued from page 3

cere effort far outweigh and outlast any re-muneration. I hope more students—men and women—will choose chemistry as a career. America needs you if we are to con-tinue to keep the high standards that made the U.S. a world leader. Does this sound like a political speech? If only someone empowered to plan for the 21 st century would realize the important role of re-search for improving the enjoyment of life, the scientific community would be recog-nized for its contributions.

Jacqueline Front March Delray Beach, Fla.

Dining the past two years, numerous com-ments have appeared in science news re-ports concerning the declining job opportu-nities for graduating Ph.D.s in physics, chemistry, and engineering. Often-listed fac-tors were the narrow breadth of experience provided to students, and the mind-set in-culcated by current programs of graduate study. The charge that many professors nur-ture students—mostly unintentionally—to become clones of themselves, is widespread.

The cultural imperative that permeates the leading graduate programs led to nar-row, highly focused training. Only the most advanced laboratory devices, the most

elab-orate experimental protocols, and the most involved computer simulation programs are deemed worthy of support. It is inevitable that when many people must collaborate to perform a task, each person becomes an ex-pert in a limited part of the overall project.

There is also an ethical question. Al-though the fundamental concepts of a re-search project and the technical approach-es are formulated by one or a small num-ber of research directors, the many people involved in its consequent implementation are included as collaborators. Do all the knob turners and widget manipulators de-serve Ph.D. degrees?

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LETTERS

The primary factor that differentiates the research experience provided in the post-1960 era from that of the pre-1940 era is the spurt in evolution of complex, costly, gov-ernment-funded equipment and the sti-pends provided for the multitude of stu-dents and technicians required to operate these devices. There remain a vast array of significant basic problems that merit atten-tion using simpler but ingenious approach-es. I believe that the problem is the unques-tioning acceptance of the //reductionist/,

im-perative by physical and biological scientists. One has only to recall the hubris of particle physicists who, during their failed struggle to obtain huge funds for the Superconduct-ing Super Collider, claimed that those funds should have been allocated because the planned experiments would answer the question 'Why are we here?"

The pursuit of first principles is a cor-nerstone of all scientific research. But for the multitude of researcher clones who have been produced during the past three decades, this pursuit appears to be expressed in measuring or analyzing multitudes of details that remain for ar-chival retrieval. Sadly, the gurus in each field who are the gatekeepers for the par-tition of funds find these approaches

ac-ceptable. Minimal weight is allocated to "carryover," in the sense that the derived results of this work would make some significant conceptual contribution.

There is a flaw in blind acceptance that a reductionist philosophy is the primary goal of science. Not only is this mantra a will-o'-the-wisp, it is intrinsically mislead-ing. The representation of all physical, chemical, and biological phenomena in terms of a few basic principles does not take into account that what is observed more often than not is limited by random perturbations, each of very low probabili-ty. Although most practical systems are in-trinsically chaotic, experiments are sani-tized to minimize such "noise."

Assemblies have significant properties not expressible in terms of the sum of properties of the constituent parts. The narrow focus of directed research, based on the drive toward reductionism, pro-vides students with minimal recognition of relationships even between the subfields within their own general discipline. But the depth of conviction among scientists that the distillation of knowledge to a small number of fundamental laws is the ultimate goal of scientific endeavor will not be altered.

However, we could be more forthright with our students and reduce emphasis on reductionism. At the earliest teaching level, we should impress students with the significance of mutual interactions be-tween components in an assembly and consider how to treat truncated data sets. A practical program to enhance diversi-ty would be to require all graduate stu-dents to serve as teaching assistants in a variety of undergraduate courses. Strange-ly, such a requirement will be resisted most by the younger academic appointees. Because they feel the pressure to generate ever longer publication lists for their appli-cations to tenure, they have pressured de-partments to reduce the required number of related minors and reduced overall the graduate course requirements so as to in-duct their students early to their research projects.

S. H. Bauer

Cornell University

Robotic Instruments

I wish to call attention to an omission in the "Combinatorial Chemistry" special report (C&EN, Feb. 12, page 28).

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though in general the article presented a wide-ranging description of the state of the art of one of the most exciting trends in drug discovery, my colleagues and I were somewhat surprised that it gave only brief mention of the accomplish-ments and technology of the robotic instru-ment manufacturers, including those of my company, Advanced ChemTech (ACT). Other, competing technologies were provid-ed very broad coverage. Indeprovid-ed, an entire article could be devoted to discussing the advantages and disadvantages perceived in the various approaches to molecular diversi-ty generation.

ACT has been designing, developing, and manufacturing instrumentation for synthesis for more than a decade, starting in the peptide arena and now utilizing the expertise gained in the development of multiple peptide synthesis instruments into the newer markets of combinatorial chemistry for biomolecules and small or-ganic compounds. We introduced the Model 357 FBS three years ago to auto-mate the portioning-mixing methodology of A. Furka [Int. J. Pept. Protein Res., 37, 487 (1991)]. This was illustrated without citation in the article as the split synthesis technique. It is also difficult to imagine an article on combinatorial chemistry that does not acknowledge the pioneering work of H. Mario Geysen of Glaxo Well-come who, at the Western Biotech Con-ference /ACS Western Regional Meeting in San Diego last October, was awarded the inaugural ACT Award in Combinato-rial Library Sciences.

The Model 357 FBS, although unique in its capability, is not the only instru-ment that impacts this area. It was pre-ceded by the Model 396 MPS, which provided the peptide chemist with the capacity to construct 96 peptides simulta-neously. More recently, the Model 496 MOS was developed, adding tempera-ture and inert atmosphere control along with wide options in reagent and reactant configurations and more powerful soft-ware for applications in the broad field of automated multiple-organic synthesis. All of the above are proven robotic in-struments and would seem to merit more than a cursory single-sentence mention.

We respect and commend the efforts of other companies—many of them out-lined more thoroughly in your article— who are following us into this market. We are well aware of the challenges that must be overcome in order to be success-ful in this field. Indeed, that is why we have always practiced continuous im-provement of our instruments to make them amenable to the ever-changing needs of scientists.

Mark L. Peterson

Advanced ChemTech Louisville

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