Scientific history

The value of hard work and logical thinking shouldn t be underestimated but pure luck also plays a role in most real scientific breakthroughs. What has been called "the supreme example [of luck] in all scientific history" occurred in the late summer of 1928 when the Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming went on vacation, leaving in his lab a culture plate recently inoculated with the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. 

J. S. Rowlinson, Cohesion—A Scientific History of Intermodular Forces, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK (2002). 

As an example of the insufficiency of present usefulness and self-consistency as grounds for belief in a scientific construct, it may be in order to recall some scientific history. In our own field we have the familiar example of phlogiston and in astronomy the example of epicycles. By the use of epicycle superimposed on epicycle, the geocentric theory was able to give a self-consistent, popular, and accurate description of apparent planetary motions. The epicycle treatment is analogous to a Fourier analysis of the motions and its accuracy did not guarantee the physical reality of epicycles. 

The early years of the twentieth century saw giant advances in man s understanding of nature which must be mentioned in any synopsis of the scientific history of this era. Thus, in 1901, M. Planck (NLP 1918 ) published his first paper on the black-body radiation law which ushered in the era of quantum mechanics. In 1905, A. Einstein (NLP 1918 ) published his Anna Mirabilis Papers on the photo effect, on Brownian motion, and on the theory of special relativity and the equivalence of matter and energy. 

P.-J. Macquer has left us, in his Dictionary of Chemistry, a fine first-hand account of the scientific history of this gem (255). On July 26, 1771, Macquer and Godefroy de Villetaneuse, in presence of Jean Darcet (1725-1801), Hilaire-Marin Rouelle (Rouelle the Younger), and others, heated a flawless diamond in a refractory capsule in Macquer s wind furnace. When it reached the temperature of melting copper, a flame could be seen surrounding it, and in less than an hour the gem disappeared without leaving a trace (257, 258, 259). 

Goldschmidt, B. 1989. Uranium s scientific history 1789-1939. Uranium Institute 14th International Symposium, London, September 1989. (World Wide Web Address http //ist-socrates.berkeley. edu/ rochlin / ushist.html.)... 

Complexity has a straightforward intuitive meaning (it is the opposite of simplicity), but its scientific history is littered with the corpses of discarded definitions. There simply is no hope of achieving a general consensus on a comprehensive definition of complexity, and this implies that any attempt to give a mathematical formulation to the problem of epigenesis is apparently crippled at the very beginning by lack of a definition. 

It would be interesting to know the full story of Figure 7.1 and of the people in it. The principal investigators and founders of NDRC were in their thirties or forties or older during World War II, and survivors today are in their nineties or over a hundred. The graduate students on those projects were typically in their early twenties then and in their early eighties now. If someone would contact the survivors in Division 8 to obtain their recollections, old letters, diaries, and pictures, one would probably find a richer vein of human interest and a more solid sample of scientific history than I have provided in this book. 

Many authors, in different comprehensive books dedicated to freeze-drying, have already described in full detail the scientific history of this method [3], and we will not attempt to do it again. Moreover, in the last 60 years, much research and substantial development have been devoted to freeze-drying, and it would be of little use to list papers that are well known and available to all of the specialists concerned. 

The equivalence law governing the phenomenon was established in the early scientific history of the subject, as also was the fact that some ions were more easily exchanged than others in other words ion exchangers showed greater selectivity or affinity for different ions. That an exchanger could be chemically synthesized proved to be of the utmost importance it is for this reason that ion exchange studies and applications have reached such an advanced state today. 

Acceptance of the notion that behavioral measures could yield evidence of toxicity also benefited from the insistence of Soviet scientists that central nervous system (CNS) function and behavior offered more sensitive and appropriate measures of toxicity than the criteria prevailing in the West. Because of its own scientific history, especially the influence of Pavlov,... 

The scientific history of the red grape since 1881, when its first medical publication was recorded by PubMed, shows that attention has been directed to its phytochemicals mainly from the skins and seeds, both of which contain a greater diversity of compounds that may benefit health more than the pulp. 

A poll can be conducted of an opinion leader when it is assumed that the renown, experience or recognised scientific history will have an impact on the expression of their point of view. 

The first edition of Palladium in Heterocyclic Chemistry - A guide to the Synthetic Chemist, published five years ago, was warmly received by many readers. Five years is a fleeting interval in scientific history, but palladium chemistry in general, and palladium in heterocyclic chemistry in particular, has matured considerably. In order to make the second edition more thorough and up-to-date, we aie fortunate to have recruited a group of stellar authors to take on the challenge. As a consequence, not only have we attempted to improve and update each chapter, but we have also added three new chapters Chapter 12 Quinolines Chapter 13 Pyridazines Chapter 14 Industrial scale palladium chemistry. We are indebted to all authors for their contributions. 

The purpose of this chapter is to briefly trace some of the historical aspects of analytical separations involving ion-exchange resins. It is of at least passing interest to take a peek at ion-exchange chromatography as it was practiced in the old days. But in the present time frame, we continue to write scientific history. There is always a certain logic in past developments that might provide ideas for future innovations. 

This book describes my personal scientific history. I hope you will enjoy it. By knowing the past achievements, you will attain your own insights for planning a better synthesis in future. 

John Freind, Praelectiones Chemicae—ann. 1704, Oxonii, in Museo Ash-moleano habitae, Londini, 1709 translated as Chymical Lectures—Read at the Museum at Oxford, 1704, London, 1712. For discussions of this book see Thackray, ref. 4, and J. S. Rowlinson, Cohesion a Scientific History of Intermolecular Forces, Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 19-20,26-27. Gunther, ref. 47, pp. 55-56. 

Kutney, Gerald. Sulfur History, Technology, Applications Industry. Norwich, N.Y. William Andrew Publishing, 2007. This book is a scientific history of sulfur, tracking the technologies, applications, and the industry itself from ancient markets to the current global economy. 

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