CHEMISTRY International The News Magazine of IUPAC July-September 2019 Volume 41 No. 3 Special IUPAC 100 INTERNATIONAL UNION OFBrought to you by | IUPACA Glance The International at Union The of Pure Union and Applied History Chemistry PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY Authenticated Download Date | 7/9/19 4:46 PM Special IUPAC100 e embarked on the adventure of researching IUPAC’s his- International CHEMISTRY tory a few years ago, inspired by the looming IUPAC 100 The News Magazine of the anniversary in 2019 and the desire of the French National International Union of Pure and W Committee to host that year’s Congress and General Assembly in Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Paris. The proposal to host the fiftieth IUPAC General Assembly and All information regarding notes for contributors, sub- forty-seventh Congress in Paris was received and approved by IUPAC scriptions, Open Access, back volumes and orders is Council during its assembly in 2013. Soon after, Jean-Pierre Vairon, a available online at www.degruyter.com/ci member of the organizing committee of the IUPAC 2019 Congress, contacted Danielle Fauque, and together we started to think about Managing Editor: special symposia devoted to the history of IUPAC. At the Congress in Fabienne Meyers 2015 in Busan, Korea, the idea was met with enthusiasm and interest IUPAC, c/o Department of Chemistry from Natalia Tarasova, then president of the Union, and the project Boston University of this special issue was formed with Fabienne Meyers, Chemistry Metcalf Center for Science and Engineering International editor. We also met with Christopher Brett later that 590 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA 02215, USA year to speak about this project. E-mail: [email protected], Phone: +1 617 358 0410 The well-known History of IUPAC by Roger Fennell and its sequel by Production: Joshua Gannon Stanley Brown sketch the inner workings of IUPAC’s structure, and Design: Stuart Wilson provide a first basis for historical exploration. IUPAC also published Printed by: Sheridan Communications many printed documents over its years of existence as “color books,” Subscriptions articles in Pure and Applied Chemistry, and diverse reports and pro- Chemistry International (ISSN 0193-6484) is published ceedings including CI. Amazingly, it’s hard to get a hold of complete 4 times annually in January, April, July, and September sets of these kinds of publications, even though they were printed by De Gruyter, Inc., 121 High St., 3rd Floor, Boston, MA and distributed in large numbers. This “grey literature” had to be as- 02110 on behalf of IUPAC. Periodicals postage is paid sembled piece by piece. The IUPAC archives kept at the Science His- at Durham, NC 27709-9990 and additional mailing tory Institute were crucial to getting closer to decision processes and offices. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to to the core of the discussions involved. IUPAC Secretariat, PO Box 13757, Research Triangle Park, What we discovered through the process is the difficulty in -ap NC 27709-3757, USA. proaching the history of such a delocalized, multinational, and multi- layered organization, which is in itself a world with many inhabitants ISSN 0193-6484, eISSN 1365-2192 and cultures. As such, and with the present knowledge of the histori- Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27709-9990 cal documentation at hand, it’s a challenge to speak of IUPAC as a and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send cohesive body and to describe its actions and impact. At the core, address changes to Chemistry International, IUPAC these actions are, of course, made by men—and more recently also Secretariat, PO Box 13757, Research Triangle Park, NC a few women—but while a narrative centered on individuals provides 27709-3757, USA. trajectories and explains the fine structure of negotiations before de- cisions and recommendations, such a narrative is not enough. Another © 2019 International Union of approach would be to simply list the decisions, but then one misses Pure and Applied Chemistry. This the mediation and the interplay inside and outside of IUPAC—outside work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- because IUPAC is far from alone on the international playground. As NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. working groups, the commissions could also provide coherent objects for a series of dedicated histories, and we hope that someone will take Front Cover: Luncheon by The Society of Chemical on such research. Industry to the XIth International Congress of Pure As to the present publication, we have chosen a mixed approach, and Applied Chemistry at the Mayfair Hotel, London, giving a survey that includes persons, topics, and achievements, and July 18, 1947. Some impressions by Fred May. See putting them in the context of the challenges of the times in which more on page 20. they existed. The results shared in this special issue are but a mile- stone in a longer research described in the epilogue (p. 58). As we were working on the history of IUPAC through several workshops and panels over the last two years, we were fortunate to find historians whose interest and research crossed paths with continued on page 1 Brought to you by | IUPAC The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Authenticated Download Date | 7/9/19 4:46 PM Contents CHEMISTRY International July-September 2019 Volume 41 No. 3 Editorial by Brigitte Van Tiggelen facing page on the left The Union in the interwar period 1919-1939: The First Life of the Union by Danielle Fauque 2 The International Research Council and Its Unions, 1919-1931 7 by Robert Fox Ernst Cohen and the Challenge of a Truly International Union 9 by Jorrit P. Smit IUPAC in Brussels in 1921: A Historical Photo by Ernst Homburg,, 11 Danielle Fauque, Peter J. T. Morris, Franco Calascibetta, and Santiago Alvarez Pioneers of Japanese Participation in IUPAC by Yoshiyuki Kikuchi 16 After WWII: a fresh start London 1947: A Caricature by Brigitte Van Tiggelen, Danielle Fauque 20 and Fabienne Meyers Rebuilding IUPAC after WWII by Danielle Fauque and Brigitte Van Tiggelen 22 Ellen Gleditsch: Woman Chemist in IUPAC’s Early History 26 by Annette Lykknes IUPAC Expansion from 1957 to 1975 by Danielle Fauque and 28 Brigitte Van Tiggelen The First Russian President of IUPAC: Victor Kondratiev 33 by Elena Zaitseva-Baum IUPAC Engagement in the Instrumental Revolution by Carsten Reinhardt 35 IUPAC’s achievements and actions A History of CNIC by G. Jeffery Leigh 39 IUPAC and the Naming of Elements by Ann E. Robinson 44 A Century of Nomenclature for Chemists and Machines 46 by Evan Hepler-Smith and Leah Mc Ewen The mole and IUPAC: a brief history by Roberto Marquardt 50 Stepping in the new century Women’s increasing Responsibilities in IUPAC since 1975 53 by Nicole Moreau The Historical Archives of IUPAC at the Science History Institute 56 by Ronald Brashear Epilogue by Brigitte Van Tiggelen 58 Mark Your Calendar 59 the international organization of scientifi c work. Some in several older photographs. Last but not least, we of them have authored a piece in this issue. At the want to express our thanks to Fabienne Meyers, who workshop held in Paris in November 2018, the time has accompanied us since the project of this spe- was ripe to share perspectives with actors who wit- cial issue to celebrate the 100th anniversary of IUPAC nessed and participated in IUPAC’s actions over the emerged. Over the last year, we have benefi tted from last decades. We want to acknowledge Maurice Chas- her advice and thoughtful remarks, and she was also trette, Yves Jeannin, Jeff Leigh, Roberto Marquardt, of crucial help connecting us with many present and and Nicole Moreau, as well as others who could not former IUPAC active offi cers and members. She has be present in person but shared their experiences and shepherded the special issue with care, creativity, and memories with us by other means: Ted Becker, James imagination. Bull, Michael Freemantle, and John Malin. A special thanks to Yves Jeannin, who dug into Brigitte Van Tiggelen, Special issue editor his photo albums and helped us to identify people Brought to you by | IUPAC The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Authenticated Download Date | 7/9/19 4:46 PM 1919-1939: The First Life of the Union by Danielle Fauque that had been initiated during the war. The SCI-UK had also fostered the creation of the British Federal Coun- n April 1919, delegates of five allied nations gath- cil for Chemistry chaired by Sir William J. Pope. The ered in Paris, at the initiative of the Société example of these two societies was followed by Amer- Ide Chimie Industrielle (SCI-F) and the French ican chemists affiliated with the American Chemical Federation of Chemical Associations (FNAC) to Society (ACS). By March, a Belgian national committee decide on the creation of an interallied confederation had been created and the founding of an Italian com- for pure and applied chemistry. The delegates were mittee was underway. following up on a proposal made by the Interallied In Paris, on 14 April 1919, 49 chemists coming from Conference of Scientific Academies that had met in these five countries approved the creation of an inter- London and Paris in 1918. Each country was asked to allied confederation for pure and applied chemistry create a national body in each discipline, and these [5]. They stated the principles for the statutes, and a entities would be united into a Union, at first an inter- special commission chaired by Charles Moureu (1863- allied then international union when the wounds of 1929), was set-up to write them. The morning after, the war healed. The whole structure was to be headed by statutes were discussed and approved.