Strong emergence

This relation between emergent properties and properties of the basic components has been much debated in the literature. One school of thought claims that the properties of the higher hierarchic level are in principle not deducible from the components of the lower level. This is the so-called strong emergence or radical emergence, that demands, as formulated by Schroeder (1998) that ... 

The opposite to strong emergence is weak emergence, a point of view that more pragmatically asserts that the relationship between the whole and the parts may not be established because of technical difficulties, such as the lack of computational power or insufficient progress of our skills. Atmanspacher and Bishop (2002) discuss at length this point. 

Personally, I believe that the discrimination between a matter of principle (strong emergence), and a matter of practical difficulty (weak emergence), is not always possible - and perhaps it does not always make sense. Take the case of myoglobin, with its 143 amino-acid residues. Can the properties of myoglobin be predicted on the basis of the properties of the twenty amino acids ... 

After reading this chapter, do you adhere more to the view of strong emergence - or weak emergence ... 

While both of these areas are the classical realm of Advances in Polymer Science we see the strong emergence of another area in the last 100 Volumes biomedically relevant polymers. This includes synthesis of biocompatible polymers, polymeric drugs, apphcation and evaluation of polymers in the medical field and in bioengineering which are summarized in well over 40 reviews. 

Strongly Emergent Resihence the resilience that cannot be explained by any combination of individual agent properties, examples used are culture and self-ftilfilhng-prophesies . 

Niels Bohr was frequently quoted to have said, you must be prepared for a surprise, but at the same time you must also understand what your findings mean and what they can be used for. To me, this is the lesson of the norbornyl ion controversy. I strongly believe it was not a waste of effort to pursue it, and eventually it greatly helped to advance chemistry to new areas of significance that are still emerging. 

In the earliest interface, a continuous moving belt (loop) was used onto which the liquid emerging from the chromatographic column was placed as a succession of drops. As the belt moved along, the drops were heated at a low temperature to evaporate the solvent and leave behind any mixture components. Finally, the dried components were carried into the ion source, where they were heated strongly to volatilize them, after which they were ionized. 

The high potential and small radius of curvature at the end of the capillary tube create a strong electric field that causes the emerging liquid to leave the end of the capillary as a mist of fine droplets mixed with vapor. This process is nebulization and occurs at atmospheric pressure. Nebulization can be assisted by use of a gas flow concentric with and past the end of the capillary tube. 

A sample to be examined by thermospray is passed as a solution in a solvent (made up separately or issuing from a liquid chromatographic column) through a capillary tube that is strongly heated at its end, so the solution vaporizes and emerges as a spray or mist of droplets. As the droplets... 

Since the principal hazard of contamination of acrolein is base-catalyzed polymerization, a "buffer" solution to shortstop such a polymerization is often employed for emergency addition to a reacting tank. A typical composition of this solution is 78% acetic acid, 15% water, and 7% hydroquinone. The acetic acid is the primary active ingredient. Water is added to depress the freezing point and to increase the solubiUty of hydroquinone. Hydroquinone (HQ) prevents free-radical polymerization. Such polymerization is not expected to be a safety hazard, but there is no reason to exclude HQ from the formulation. Sodium acetate may be included as well to stop polymerization by very strong acids. There is, however, a temperature rise when it is added to acrolein due to catalysis of the acetic acid-acrolein addition reaction. 

---