We’ve all seen the ad on television with it’s folksy music and mosaic of compelling images while the voice-over waxes philosophic about the “Human Element”. It is a very well done piece of public relations art.  The theme is that the practice of chemistry is ultimately about serving people.  I’m inclined to agree, though the ad does gloss over the imbalance between service to the stakeholders and the shareholders.  But that is the general state of affairs with the whole of the corporate world.  We’re all stakeholders, but only a few are actual shareholders.

Few people outside our field associate chemistry with the term “high technology”.  That is commonly reserved for medicine, electronics, and aerospace.  Just look at any news outlet or magazine. If it ain’t happenin’ in space or in the hospital or it doesn’t involve TV or cell phones, it is too boring for words. 

But in fact, chemistry deserves to be in that elite group as well.  We chemists know that the ballyhoo about advances in medicine typically resolve to advances in the chemical sciences.  It’s the same for electronics and even aerospace because they rely heavily on the material sciences. OK, so our chosen field is not the object of admiration. We’re probably better off for it.

It is an understatement to say that the human element is important.  My observation is that resolving issues with the other elements is almost always easier than issues relating to this one element- Hu.  Using it to titrate buy-in, cooperation, or just help often requires the most subtle interactions and the results can be spectacularly non-linear. 

Sometimes Hu is refractory, other times it is pyrophoric.  It can be most agreeable, or not.  I still do not understand it very well.  But I’ll keep trying.