Evening star., 1935-04-06
CHEMISTS TO TALK
BUILDING ADVANCE
Plans to Speed Recovery
Through Science to Be
Made.

Plans to accelerate building recovery
through chemical science will be made
at a national symposium in New
York April % and % in connection
with the weeks celebration by the
American Chemical Society of the
300th anniversary of the founding OF
the chemical industries in America,
It is announced by Prof. Arthur w.
Hixson of Columbia University, chair
man Of the Tercentenary Committee.
Fortified by creative chemistry, the
building industry is entering a period
Of expansion in which new materials
the product of research, will bring
revolutionary improvements" the an
nouncement declares.
Prof. James R. Withrow of Ohio
State University has been appointed
chairman of the symposium, at which
SO papers and addresses will be pre-
sented by representatives of the build
ing, chemical. steel, metal, electrical.
rubber, ceramic, air conditioning, and
other industries. Architecture, the
Federal Service. insurance, and in
dustrial and educational laboratories
will also be represented. Materials
of Construction in the Building In
dustry" will be the dominant theme.
Untapped Resource.
Greater utilization of modern chem
ical science in developing future con-
struction activity in this country will
be urged. Chemistry as a resource
Is as yet untapped." asserts Prof.
Withrow in statement explaining
the purposes of the symposium, the
first Of its kind to be held.
THE building industry is turning
upward. and its progress will be
speeded by the new chemical industry.
which in the last two decades has
developed into a gigantic enterprise
with an annual output running into
the billions. The lull in business has
given just the space needed for re-
search, growth, and time experiments
. all essential to success in this field
Science and its application. which
never stop for depreSsions, intensity
business faith in recovery. Basic
standard building materials will be
far better and more intelligently
used"
The building industry. and even
chemical engineers. to say nothing of
the public, are only remotely aware
Of the vast possibilities of the new
chemical industry in reshaping the
construction practice of the Nation,
Prof. Withrow points out.
Stainless Steel.
The use of stainless steel and special
alloys in prefabricated buildings was
cited as one development which is
destined to exercise a permanent and
far-reaching influence. Another step
forward is the production of synthetic
organic chemicals which yield resins
from which whole sections of houses
can be built
Erection of Boulder Dam. according
to Prof. Withrow. impaired new sig
nif1cance to the fundamental chemis-
try of cement. Boulder Dam. one
OF the most impressive modern engi-
neering achievements. has been built
by the use of special coment developed
to minimize the overheating which
would have been produced within so
huge a monolith by the setting of
ordinary Portland cement" he says.
THE concrete block of Boulder
Dam is so huge that serious over
heating would have occurred deep
within its mass if only common Port
land coment had been used as
binder in its construction BY reduc-
ton of the illuminate and increase of
silicate in the cement the production
of chemical heat particularly at early
dates, was sharply reduced. Such
items as grouted contraction cracks.
refrigeration, particle size and control
OF aggregate size have featured the
studies leading to the final production
Of an extremely secure monolithic
block"
The synthetic home has already
been achieved through the use of
vinyl resins, Prof. Withrow states.
These resins are applicable to con-
struction of small homes and offer
solution, with further development. to
this phase of the building industry's
problems.
Fresh Burst of Activity.
IL WAS IdGurdl LlldC llle depression
should be severely felt in the build
ing industry" Prof Withrow explains.
However, during the lag since 1929
the industry has been gathering
strength for fresh burst of activity,
in which no source will be more i'm
portant than new applications of
chemistry.
The chemical engineer now builds
libraries of cellulose, as he once made
the glass beads of the Pharaohs and
the enameled brick of Babylon Chemi-
cal engineering is one of the most
virile of the engineering fields with
an overwhelming scope of usefulness,
which will be indicated in the sympo-
sium.