Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
average person in the chapter 'All the Comforts of Home' (Figure 5a).
The chemist is presented in his priestly garb, but rather than commanding
nature or celebrating a chemical Mass, he is working to make a home for
an American family. The beautiful home appears in a burst of radiance
and a cloud of smoke that are thrown out by the chemical equipment.
The four other figures, father, mother, son, and daughter, hold hands with
the chemist, and look up at the house. The large suburban home was pre-
sented as the ideal dwelling for the modern, middle class American
family. In this case, Söderston was using an existing motif of the middle
class home, but the illustration inserts a twist on the structure of the
family. Rather than the father being shown as the patriarchal provider for
the family, Söderston makes the chemist the source of family comfort. In
the context of the Great Depression such a house could only be a dream
for many Americans. The topic's view of the future was a promise of
material wealth for everyone through modern chemistry.
Morrison's text in 'All the Comforts of Home' was primarily didac-
tic, consisting of a long list of consumer goods such as rayon ('better
than silk') or aniline dyes ('better than natural dyestuffs') that were the
product of chemical industry. Morrison tells the reader that Americans
use the most soap in the world, at 27 pounds per person annually. This
beats out other 'clean' countries such as Holland, Germany, and Eng-
land. The Chinese were the least clean people, using only six ounces of
soap each per year (ibid., pp. 165-6). This brief passage establishes a
clear hierarchy of nationalism, with the United States at the top (clean
and industrial) and China at the bottom (dirty and unindustrialized).
Although
Man in a Chemical World
was unrelentingly positive about
chemistry, Morrison could not completely ignore the military aspects of
chemistry. He included chapter nine, 'Security', to cover the topic of
chemicals and warfare (ibid., p. 230-41). Public concern about chemical
warfare had been heightened by the rise of fascism in Europe, particu-
larly as Germany rose in power. As late as January 1927, the
New York
Times
reported that the Germans were operating a secret phosgene plant
called the “Rusko-Germanskaya Fabrika Bersol” in Russia (Anonymous
1927a). This was followed by a report that all the European powers were
continuing to manufacture war gasses and train their military forces to
use them (Anonymous 1927b). In the same year that
Man in a Chemical
