Recent developments have persuaded me that we may be doing the current
generation of graduate students in chemistry a disservice by our failure to
transmit to them a better knowledge of the background of our science. At
one time there were many more graduate courses. These were presented
more leisurely and there was time to discuss how major developments had
arisen, as well as stories of individual chemists, their difficulties in getting
started, and the methods used to overcome the experimental difficulties they
faced. This historical background provided a valuable asset for the new
generation of students facing similar problems.