Another profession that spans the sciences is that of the technical writer or editor. In a laboratory he translates the notebooks of the scientist into reports. In an editorial office he edits manuscripts for publication. On a newspaper staff he translates scientific findings into articles for the public.
It is difficult, undesirable, and usually impossible, for a scientist to confine himself to his own field because all sciences affect one another. A chemist may use the tools of the physicist and become a physical chemist; a physicist may go in the other direction and become a chemical physicist. It is not uncommon for a chemical engineer to find himself doing the work of an instrument engineer, or the mechanical engineer to find himself doing the work of an electrical engineer, or both of them doing the work of a nuclear engineer.
The physicist, the chemist, the physician, and the engineer who once thought that outer space was the exclusive domain of the astronomer now find themselves solving reentry problems for missiles, stirring up rocket fuels, testing the effect of weightlessness on the body, and examining diagrams for space craft. Perhaps the botanist who today is totally concerned with the flora of earth will tomorrow find himself fingering a bit of fungus from Mars.
Location of the Atomic Scientist
In the rapidly changing world, each year finds the scientist increasingly important. He is needed to maintain and improve fast-changing technology, to combat disease, to develop natural and man-made resources, to improve food sources and production, and, in general, to work for the betterment of mankind.
The graduate scientist and the engineer will find jobs waiting and will be able to choose, to some extent, the sort of work they wish to do and where they wish to do it.
It is impossible to list all types of organizations open to science graduates, but it is relatively simple to divide them into general groups.
The United States Government
Scientists are needed in federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Bureau of Standards, the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Public Health Service, the National Institutes of Health, and the Departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. Positions in these and other federal organizations are open in program administration, basic research, development, and applied research. Numerous positions exist at AEC laboratories that operate under contract—Ames, Argonne, Berkeley, Bettis, Brookhaven, Hanford, Knolls, Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Sandia, and Savannah River, as well as at the Health and Safety Laboratory in New York City.