Some comparisons of chemical education in Britain, Canada and the U.S.A.
In this comparison of chemical education in Britain, Canada and the U.S.A. I have drawn primarily upon personal experiences as an undergraduate, and graduate student at King's College in the University of Durham ('51—'57), and faculty member at the Universities of British Columbia ('58—'66), Princeton ('66—'69) and the University of California at Berkeley (from 1969). There have been changes at my alma mater since I graduated and at U.B.C., since I was there, and I hope that my generalized account has taken some heed of them. The University of British Columbia offered an unusual opportunity for the comparison I am making here, since both the faculty and students (particularly graduate students) were drawn from Britain and the U.S.A. as well as Canada. Some of the comparisons I shall make do not involve national features. Thus many of the aspects of a chemical education at Princeton arise from the small numbers of students at that University and stand in contrast to features at Berkeley. In many ways the large State and Provincial Institutions of Berkeley and U.B.C. are more akin than are Berkeley and Princeton. As might be expected, Canadian universities show relationships to both British and United States universities. In training in chemistry, however, the U.S. and Canadian systems have more in common. In some respects the Canadians suffer from burdensome combinations of British and U.S. traditions, particularly in their graduate schools.