PAUL G. I. LAUFFER, MAN AND SCIENTIST EuLoc¾ H. D. GOULDEN* I AM to tell you something about Paul Lauffer, Scientist. It is not my intention to discuss in detail or to enumerate his many contribu- tions to scientific literature but to cite instances and examples which, I believe, will interest you and indicate in some measure why he is so es- teemed by his colleagues. I shall be brief, because I am under admonition from our honored guest to keep this brief, the briefer the better. Twenty years ago, shortly after I came to The Toilet Goods Association, your toastmaster introduced me to Paul during luncheon. I became thoroughly convinced that here was one of the great minds, a true scientist. Quite naturally, I cultivated his acquaintance. He has been friend and counselor, and, since he has always had the industry point of view, a much appreciated ally. Whenever in the course of my activities it becomes necessary to form a committee for any purpose, I always try to place Paul on the committee. Why.• Because he will sit quietly listening to what all the other members of the committee have said when I ask for his opinion, there is complete silence, and then he will in a few well-chosen sentences summarize all the facts developed, the conclusions to be drawn and the indicated actions, if any. Invariably he is right, and all agree. I doubt very much that Paul is aware of this situation however, I have seen it happen time and time again. Committees of which he is a member frequently tell me they feel they accomplished something and acknowledge that it was largely through Paul's efforts that they did. lie is truly a scientist's scientist. During the war years, while Paul was at the George W. Luft Co., he was involved in making gas detection kits for the government. As you all know, the purpose of these kits was to detect extremely small con- centrations of poisonous gases in the atmosphere. The chemicals used for this purpose were quite sensitive and often would detect traces of other chemically similar substances hence, misleading conclusions would often result. Paul, I am informed by those who worked with him, devised tests for identifying these contaminants and methods for eliminating these unwanted reactions during production. I understand that his co-workers were dumbfounded at the speed with which this problem was solved. The * The Toilet Goods Association, New York 20, N.Y. 95

96 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS production problems which arose were many and complicated enough to rattle ordinary men, but not Paul. This ability to remain calm and objective under all circumstances is characteristic of Paul and most fre- quently mentioned by his many admirers. I can tell you, because I visited him at his plant, that he is not only a great "theoretical" scientist but a very practical one too, for that production line for turning out those gas tester kits was as sweet and ingenious a job as I have ever seen, and I have seen many. In the laboratory, Paul is engrossed in the task at hand, so much so that he may not speak more than two or three words to the man alongside of him. I am told that on one occasion a rather talkative chemist, who was working in the same laboratory with our honored guest, became rather annoyed with this habit and decided not to talk to Paul at all. After a month of this treatment, the talkative one had to break the silence and admit that this was concentration the like of which he had never seen. Paul was completely unaware of what had been going on. When he is concentrating on a problem, he is oblivious of everything about him. Paul is an avid reader of all scientific literature. He amazes all of us. We can't understand where he gets the time to do it--but he does. A former co-worker, and most of these refer to themselves as his students, informed me that Paul has, since his early days in the industry, kept chronological abstracts of scientific data pertaining to cosmetic science and related fields. It didn't take these co-workers long to discover that when assigned a new research problem, or when in need of up-to-date information on a cosmetic problem, the initial action was a search of Paul's files, and frequently one did not need to go further. I wonder how many of you know that Paul, since receiving his doctor's degree, has devoted his life to the cosmetic industry. He has taken an active interest in the industry, not confining his activities to the particular company by whom he may have been employed. Organizing the first scientific organization in the domestic cosmetic industry was quite a task. Paul was of very great help to me, chiefly by encouraging me to keep at it and backing me up when needed. That was back in the days when your chemist, if seen talking with my chemist, would result in both being fired. Paul, I guess that more or less reveals how old we are, and I'm sorry--but don't you forget that I'm eleven days your senior and shall expect the respect and deference due your senior in years. His scientific contributions to the literature are many and cover a wide range of subjects, including amine soaps, emulsions, odor and olfaction, acridine, lipsticks, chapters on cosmetics in books and encyclopedias. His annual literature review under the title "Some New Keys to Cosmetic Chemistry" is most often cited as a major contribution by cosmetic chemists here and abroad. I do not need to tell you that cosmetic scientists face the ahnost impossible