The chemist performs analytical and research work in the field of chemistry, and may make quantitative analyses to determine chemical and physical properties of many substances. Chemists are also trained to make a variety of chemicals and perform tests on manufactured goods, such as foods, drugs, plastics, dyes, paints, and petroleum products. They may also supervise research activities in industry and prepare reports about research projects.
It can be noted that chemistry was first studied and applied more than 5,000 years ago. Originally, chemistry was the art of extracting medicinal materials from plants through laboratory jobs. In the Middle Ages, chemistry or alchemy as it was then called, concerned itself with the study of metals and the search for a universal cure for disease. Today, with the increasing speed of scientific and material progress, chemistry is concerned with a great deal more than medicines and precious metals. Chemists contribute to advances not only in medicine, space science, and other similar frontier areas, but also in a wide range of manufactured goods and consumer products. Moreover, about one-half of today’s chemists are engaged in research and development. The majority of these chemists work on applied research projects in which they apply their knowledge to the improvement and creation of new products. Wonder drugs for use in medicine, synthetic materials to replace the demand on dwindling natural material supplies, and fuels that can meet the demand of space travel are only a few examples of the products that chemists have helped develop.
Furthermore, the remainders of research chemists usually work on basic research projects. The main purpose of basic research is to extend scientific knowledge rather than to solve immediate practical problems. Many important practical applications, however, have resulted from basic research. Part of its scientist jobs, chemists also work in analysis and testing because various tests must be made at practically every stage in the manufacture of a product. Some chemists are employed in college teaching and administrative work, while still others are employed in production, patent work, technical sales, technical writing, technical library work, materials purchasing, and market research. Within the various branches of chemistry, there are many fields from which to choose. Agricultural chemists, adhesive chemists, paint chemists, nutritional chemists, leather chemists, and pharmaceutical chemists are examples of specialized chemists. Though chemists may specialize in one of the particular industrial fields, their training and interest usually transcend the academic limitation inherent in specialization. While completing their training in college or in graduate work, chemists usually concentrate their work in one of the five main branches of chemistry: organic, inorganic, physical, analytical, and biochemistry. The organic chemist specializes in the chemistry of carbon and its compounds, most of which are substances originally derived from animal and vegetable matter. The main job is to determine structure, composition, and other physical and chemical properties through clinical research jobs and methods. Meanwhile, the inorganic chemist is concerned with compounds of non-carbon structure, including most of the metals and minerals. The physical chemist is interested in the study of the quantitative relationships between the chemical and physical properties of organic and inorganic substances, for example, how a substance designed for use in a space capsule is affected by heat of reentry. Meanwhile, the analytical chemist, as the term implies, analyzes the exact chemical composition of substances and tests them to determine quality, purity, and other characteristics.
A bachelor’s degree in chemistry is usually regarded as the minimum educational requirement for the beginning aspirant chemist involving jobs in science and its related fields. Persons hoping to obtain better, more responsible jobs should plan on extensive graduate work. Chemists employed in supervisory positions in industry, in teaching, or in research positions in industry or universities usually have their doctorates. People with superior intelligence and with a marked proficiency in mathematics and the natural sciences, combined with an ability to express themselves easily in the company of others, and should examine chemistry as a possible science career. An imaginative and orderly mind, one that combines the exactness required of mathematics with the experimentation employed in science, is an important personal asset of the prospective chemist. A preoccupation with the “why” of things as well as keen interest in the “how” is also important in this field.
Being able to communicate and get along with others is a significant personal quality needed especially in today’s chemical laboratories, where teams of specialists work together on problems requiring close cooperation. A chemist must also be endowed with more than average patience and a capacity to stick with the job despite the many delays and pitfalls to which experimentation is the subject
