Why do we teach chem?

Is it just to prepare a new 

generation of lab grunts who keep repeating the same 
experiments? WHAT DO CHEMISTS DO? This is the topic of our first
discussion.

Discuss the various things chemists do (or you think 

that they do)and the various fields and endeavors they 
are involved in. You may approach this from a factual or purely
philosophical manner. It could be actual lab manipulations or general
work on a broader scale.
I would like to know what you think on the
following topic. It may be thoughts, philosophies or facts from some
internet research. I would like to know - What Do Chemists DO?

In fact chemists do many things:

- As scientists in lab they carry out many functions, for
example they synthesize molecules

- As professionals chemists serve many functions and have

varied careers

Discuss the various things chemists do (or you think 

that they do)and the various fields and endeavors they 
are involved in. You may approach this from a factual or purely
philosophical manner. It could be actual lab manipulations or general
work on a broader scale.
I would like to know what you think on the
following topic. It may be thoughts, philosopies or facts from some
internet research. I would like to know - What Do Chemists DO?

I had some firsthand experience working in organic-synthesis labs, while pursuing industrial
chemistry course. Thus, I would like to describe responsibilities and learning of a chemist in that
context. Most of my learning comes from the course labs, vendor workshop, and by reading
information on polymers and paints-where old paints are soon to be replaced by more eco-
friendly once.

I believe one of the first chemistry labs would have been set up by alchemists, as they were
trying to synthesize gold in labs. Today a chemist is more about chemical process involved.
Nowadays a chemist is to spend hour’s rigorously applying analytical techniques in-order to find
evidence and then defend their work. They are expected to prepare molar solutions,
chromatographic plates, Spectroscopy, slides, selection of appropriate indicator, calculating
percentage yield in synthesis to name a few. You could see that each of these processes here
depends on the conscious choice made by the chemist. This reveals the underlying concept; that
with hands on practice, a chemist is expected to be well read about various process and
compositions in chemistry. They are personally needed to be patient and proactive at the same
time, as many experiments needs to be assessed closely and repeatedly in labs. Calibration also is
one of the foremost responsibilities of a chemists, as a single mistake in weighing or pH
calculation can cost much.

Earlier in times of Mandleef and Morey there was much work going on the identification of
composition of various molecules in nature. Today, Chemists use this knowledge to learn the
composition, and properties of unfamiliar substances, as well as to reproduce and synthesize
large quantities of useful naturally occurring substances and create new artificial substances and
useful processes. For example: In the other class I learned how naturally occurring scares
quantities of Taxol, instigated chemists to look for semi synthetic sources for producing Taxol.

Ideally not all chemists are required to perform similar reactions/tasks: they differ by laboratory
type and the goal of research. Like for example in a pharmacy laboratory a chemists is expected
to produce consistent and accurate results with least deviations repeatedly. While on the other
hand a synthetic research lab would expect a chemist to study the cause of deviations in the
repeated experiment results, then would deduce the required information by plotting a graph with
appropriate axis.

Refrence

http://www.ltu.edu/arts_sciences/chemistry/what_do_chemists_do.asp