Research Catalog

Title

Cathedrals of science : the personalities and rivalries that made modern chemistry / Patrick Coffey.

Author

Coffey, Patrick.

Publication

London ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xix, 379 pages : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

"In Cathedrals of Science, Patrick Coffey describes how chemistry got its modern footing-how thirteen brilliant men and one woman struggled with the laws of the universe and with each other. They wanted to discover how the world worked, but they also wanted credit for making those discoveries, and their personalities often affected how that credit was assigned. Gilbert Lewis, for example, could be reclusive and resentful, and his enmity with Walther Nernst may have cost him the Nobel Prize; Irving Langmuir, gregarious and charming, "rediscovered" Lewis's theory of the chemical bond and received much of the credit for it. Langmuir's personality smoothed his path to the Nobel Prize over Lewis. Coffey deals with moral and societal issues as well. These same scientists were the first to be seen by their countries as military assets. Fritz Haber, dubbed the "father of chemical warfare," pioneered the use of poison gas in World War I-vividly described-and Glenn Seaborg and Harold Urey were leaders in World War II's Manhattan Project; Urey and Linus Pauling worked for nuclear disarmament after the war. Science was not always fair, and many were excluded. The Nazis pushed Jewish scientists like Haber from their posts in the 1930s. Anti-Semitism was also a force in American chemistry, and few women were allowed in; Pauling, for example, used his influence to cut off the funding and block the publications of his rival, Dorothy Wrinch. Cathedrals of Science paints a colorful portrait of the building of modern chemistry from the late 19th to the mid-20th century."--Publisher's description.

Subject

• Langmuir, Irving, 1881-1957
• Lewis, Gilbert Newton, 1875-1946
• Langmuir, Irving, 1881-1957
• Lewis, Gilbert Newton, 1875-1946
• Langmuir, Irving 1881-1957
• Lewis, Gilbert Newton 1875-1946
• Langmuir, Irving
• Lewis, Gilbert N
• 1900-1999
• Geschichte 1900-1950
• Discoveries in science
• Chemical weapons
• Chemists > Psychology
• Science > Moral and ethical aspects
• Chemistry > History > 20th century
• Chemical Warfare Agents
• 35.01 history of chemistry
• Chemistry
• Berufserfolg
• Chemie
• Chemiker
• Chemische Waffe
• Ehrgeiz
• Militärische Forschung
• Persönlichkeitsstruktur
• Wissenschaftsentwicklung
• Chemie
• Chemische wapens
• Ontdekkingen
• Ethische aspecten
• Psychologische aspecten
• Kemi > historia > 1900-talet
• Kemister > psykologi
• Naturvetenskap > etik och moral
• Nobelpristagare > historia
• Nobelpriset i kemi > historia

Genre/Form

• Biographies.
• History.
• Biographies (form)

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 324-329) and index.

Contents

The ionists: Arrhenius and Nernst -- Physical chemistry in America: Lewis and Langmuir -- The third law and nitrogen: Haber and Nernst -- Chemists at war: Haber, Nernst, Langmuir, and Harkins -- Science and the Nazis: Nernst and Haber -- Nobel prizes: Lewis and Langmuir -- Nuclear chemistry: Lewis, Urey, and Seaborg -- Secret of life: Pauling, Wrinch, and Langmuir -- Pathological science: Langmuir -- Lewis's last days.

ISBN

• 9780195321340
• 0195321340

LCCN

2007048304

OCLC

• ocn182573623
• 182573623
• SCSB-1492738

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library