Disapproval Of ‘Breaking Bad’

In the five decades that I have been a member of ACS, I have never felt the need to write a letter to the editor of C&EN. However, the article "Breaking Bad" prompts me to do so at this time (C&EN, March 3, page 32). Devoting two pages in the Science & Technology section to a TV show featuring a chemist who makes his living preparing crystal meth was disgusting, to say the least. Considering the problems of illicit drug use in this country, articles of this type, even though they describe fictional characters, are a disservice to our honorable profession. Those responsible for this article should be taken to task.

George F. Fanta
Morton, Ill.

The ACS President should retract and apologize for the article "Breaking Bad." Is this how you try to make chemistry look good: By writing about a TV show about a chemistry Ph.D. and high school teacher turned methamphetamine manufacturer and distributor? It seems your writer finds it more regrettable for one to perform below his Ph.D. status as a high school teacher than it is to turn into a justifiable criminal. Doesn't that moral view just fit beautifully with the rotten decay of our times?

Burke Ritchie
Livermore, Calif.