Instinct

Odor is of prime importance because a petroleum solvent is often used in closed rooms moreover, the idea of odor is tied instinctively in the public image to toxicity. Odor is a function of the solvent s composition and volatility. Generally, the paraffin hydrocarbons are less odorous while the aromatics are more so. 

Chemists learn to use the thermodynamic probability almost instinctively in a qualitative manner it is quantitatively related to entropy through an equation due to Boltzmann ... 

These simple examples serve to show that instinctive ideas about symmetry are not going to get us very far. We must put symmetry classification on a much firmer footing if it is to be useful. In order to do this we need to define only five types of elements of symmetry - and one of these is almost trivial. In discussing these we refer only to the free molecule, realized in the gas phase at low pressure, and not, for example, to crystals which have additional elements of symmetry relating the positions of different molecules within the unit cell. We shall use, therefore, the Schdnflies notation rather than the Hermann-Mauguin notation favoured in crystallography. 

Probably the first to take up this technique for purposes of scientific research was Michael Polanyi (1891-1976) who in 1922-1923, with the metallurgist Erich Schmid (1896-1983) and the polymer scientist-to-be Hermann Mark (1895-1992), studied the plastic deformation of metal crystals, at the Institute of Fibre Chemistry in Berlin-Dahlem in those days, good scientists often earned striking freedom to follow their instincts where they led, irrespective of their nominal specialisms or the stated objective of their place of work. In a splendid autobiographical account of those... 

Ohl demonstrated his results to Kelly early in 1940 Kelly felt that his instincts had been proved justified. Thereupon, Bell Labs had to focus single-mindedly on radar and on silicon rectifiers for this purpose. It was not till 1945 that basic research restarted. This was the year that the theorist John Bardeen was recruited, and he in due course became inseparable from Walter Brattain, an older man and a fine experimenter who had been with Bell since the late 1920s. William Shockley formed the third member of the triumvirate, though from an early stage he and Bardeen found themselves so mutually antagonistic that Bardeen was sometimes close to resignation. But tension can be productive as well as depressing. 

Water must have eye appeal and taste appeal before we will drink it with much relish. Instinctively we draw back from the idea of drinking dirty, smelly water. Actually far more important to our well-being is whether or not a water is safe to drink. If it holds disease bacteria, regardless of its clarity and sparkle, we should avoid it. Let s consider these two highly important aspects of water potability and palatability. 

Figure 4-7. An illogical arrangement of burner controls for a kitchen stove (from Norman, 1992)- Note The author who drew this figure had a difficult time getting it "right."His instinct was to connect the controls and burners in a logical fashion.

Our immediate and instinctive reaction to an impact or explosion leaves a mental image of utter chaos and destruction. There may be a fascination with the power of such events, but our limited time resolution and limited pressure-sensing abilities cannot provide direct information on the underlying orderly mechanical, physical, and chemical processes. As with other phenomena not subject to direct examination by our human senses, the scientific descriptions of shock and explosion phenomena rest upon a collection of images of the processes which are derived from a range of experiences. The three principal sources of these images in shock science—experiment, theory, and numerical simulation—are indicated in the cartoon of Fig. 3.1. 

If the operator had not opened the valve when he found it shut, the explosion could have been avoided. However, it is hard to blame him. His action was instinctive. What would you do if you found something undone that you should have done some time ago ... 

An operator donned a fresh-air hood to avoid breathing harmful fumes. Almost at once he felt ill and fell down. Instinctively he pulled off the hood and quickly recovered. It was then found that the hood had been connected by mistake to a supply of nitrogen instead of compressed air. 

Several electrical scientists in the early part of the nineteenth century, influenced at least in part by their understanding of German natiirplnlosophie, expected forces of nature to be intimately connected to each other, and some of them spent extraordinary amounts of time looking for the relationship. One of these was a Dane, Hans Christian Oersted, who, after an exhaustive series of experiments, in 1820 found that electricity could indeed produce a magnetic effect. Further experiments by Michael Faraday demonstrated, in 1821, that by proper orientation of an electric current and a magnetic field it was possible to produce continuous motion in what soon would be called a motor. It took an additional ten frustrating years for him to prove what he instinctively felt to be true, that, in a fashion inverse to what... 

During this training, an engineer surveyor can expect to be shown examples of the defects that he is likely to encounter. Many inspecting authorities have a black museum of such defects or they are described and illustrated by photographs in the training literature. He will also be instructed, both in the classroom and on-site, about locations where defects are likely to occur. Most surveyors develop an instinct , which helps them to find defects, and this can only be acquired through practical experience of different types of plant. 

Perhaps our first instinct is to take the most direct approach. Namely, to simply write down and solve a set of Newtonian cquations-of-motion describing the scattering dynamics in terms of basic system valuables. While this naive, intuitive approach might be attractive, we show below that it turns out to be both right and wrong . 

Llsing my printout, Ms. Jackson mixed Champagne, Chambord, dry vermouth and lime with a bartender s instinct. 

Instinctively it would seem that Step C would be rate controlling and the slowest. In the case of the Fischer-Tropsch reaction, one would postulate that the surface would offer more methylene groups for chain polymerization. This mechanism differs from that of Vlasenko and Uzefo-vich (4) essentially in the concept that the whole molecule interacts with the surface. Furthermore, the HCOH intermediate is wholly horizontal to the surface rather than perpendicular. 

Motivation 4 In case the yield and your instinct are currently the only clues for the quality of your ideas or syntheses. 

Plainly, instinct plays a significant part in conducting this method, personal experience playing an important role and each substance requiring a specific approach. 

That night at Northampton we dined, and drank a little but not too much, and used each other courteously, making plans for the progress of the King and the coronation. I had not long since begged Richard of Gloucester to arbitrate in a dispute with one of my tenants, and we spoke of that and other business of our private estates. He has a quick mind for such matters, and an instinct for what is both fair and politic. At dawn I rose and made ready to go to Ned we were but a day s ride from London. 

Haber worried about his career. When he was passed over for a promotion, he suspected that his Jewish background was the reason. As a Jewish friend sardonically joked, Before 35 I was too young for a professorship, after 45 I was too old, and in-between I was a Jew. Professional jealousy may have played a role as well. Haber s enthusiasm for interdisciplinary science often swept him into the bailiwicks of rival professors. Wilhelm Ost-wald, the scientist who had refused Haber s applications for study, warned him, Achievements generated at a greater than the customary rate raise instinctive opposition amongst one s colleagues. Privately, Ostwald complained that Haber emptied a large pail of facts over our heads far too fast. 

The quantum efficiency of fluorescence of a molecule is decided by the relative rates of fluorescence, internal conversion and intersystem crossing to the triplet state. Up to the present time it has proved impossible to predict these relative rates. Thus, whilst it is now possible to calculate theoretically the wavelengths of maximum absorption and of maximum fluorescence of an organic molecule, it remains impossible to predict which molecular structures will be strong fluorescers. Design of new FBAs still relies on semi-empirical knowledge plus the instinct of the research chemist. 

More important, however, is to consider the contributions—good and bad—which explosives have made to the history of mankind. Any real assessment of this must show that the benefits which explosives have produced far outweigh their misuse in military pursuits. The explosives technologist, who has usually seen and perhaps even experienced the effects of explosives, is the last to want war or to want his products to be used for warlike purposes. It is no accident that Nobel, who founded the modern explosives industry, also founded the Peace Prize associated with his name. In this book the writer has followed his instincts and given pride of place to commercial, beneficial applications of explosives. 

Robert Richards . .. that the immediate contract that the mother had with her child if that is delayed a great deal, the attachment, the kind of what I would think of as an instinctive response of the mother to the child, is proportionately less. So that s something we didn t know before. We do know it now. But all of this. .. even though these are facts one would think of as a very simple sort, they do cry out, or they need an explanation. And it seems to me the evolutionary explanation is straightforward, and I doubt that many people in this room would deny it. 

Goudie, A. (2000). The Human Impact on the Natural Environment. Blackwell Science, Oxford Pinker, S. (1994). The Language Instinct. Morrow, New York Pinker, S. (1998). How the Minds Work. Allen Lane - The Penguin Press, London Southwood, R. (2003). The Story of Life. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 

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