Roald Hoffmann

Frank H T Rhodes Professor Emeritus of Humane Le Roald Hoffmann

Nobel laureate Roald Hoffman confronts some of the major ethical controversies in chemistry today. Expertly weaving together examples from the worlds of art, literature, and philosophy, Hoffmann illustrates his uniquely accessible dialectic about the creative activity of chemists.

The Same and Not the Same

Roal Hoffmann

"Roald Hoffmann's contributions to chemistry are well known; this Nobel laureate has published more than 500 articles and two books. As an "applied theoretical chemist," he has made significant contributions to our understanding of chemical bonding and reactivity, and taught two generations of chemists how to use molecular orbitals for real chemistry. Less well known, however, are Hoffmann's important and insightful contributions to the areas of scholarship surrounding chemistry. Over a career that spans nearly fifty years, Roald Hoffmann has thought and written copiously about the broader context of chemistry and its relationship to the arts and poetry. This book contains Hoffmann's essays and is organized around several major themes: chemical reasoning and explanation, writing and communicating in science, ethics, art and science, and chemical education. A few are unpublished lectures that are valuable additions to the volume. The editors have the full cooperation of Roald Hoffmann in this project. Most of the published work will be reprinted verbatim, but a few of the essays will be revised to eliminate redundancy. The unpublished lectures will also be edited since they were originally intended to be delivered orally at specific occasions. The editors will provide an introduction to the book, and some introductory material for each section. In introducing the material, they will highlight the intrinsic importance and interest of the ideas, as well as the places where Hoffmann's thought makes novel contributions to cognate areas"--

Roald Hoffmann on the philosophy, art, and science of chemistry

La chimica allo specchio

Dieses einzigartige Buch läßt Chemie und Physik im festen Zustand und auf Oberflächen 'zusammentreffen'. In einer lebhaften und anschaulichen Weise bringt es Chemikern die Sprache bei, mit der sie die Elektronenstruktur ausgedehnter Systeme verstehen lernen können. Gleichzeitig zeigt es, wie auch von Seiten der Chemie Modelle über den festen Zustand sowie über Bindungen und Reaktivität von Oberflächen erstellt werden können. Das Buch bedient sich zunächst der Sprache von Kristallorbitalen, Bandstrukturen und Zustandsdichten. Danach stellt es die Werkzeuge bereit, mit denen der Leser weg von den stark delokalisierten Orbitalen des Festkörpers gelangt, darunter der Zerfall von Zustandsdichten und die Population von Kristallorbital-Overlaps. Mit diesen Werkzeugen schafft es der Autor, detaillierte quantenmechanische Berechnungen mit der chemischen Betrachtungsweise mit Grenzorbitalen zu verknüpfen. Die beschriebenen Anwendungen umfassen eine allgemeine Vorstellung der Chemisorption, Bindungsbildung und -zerfall im festen Zustand, Bindungen im Metall, die Elektronenstruktur ausgewählter leitender und supraleitender Verbindungen sowie die für die Deformation ausgedehnter Systeme verantwortlichen Kräfte.

A Chemist's View of Bonding in Extended Structures

Solids and Surfaces

This study confronts some of the major ethical controversies in chemistry today, taking on such touchy subjects as the use of thalidomide, a tranquillizer once given to pregnant women and later found to cause serious birth defects

This unique book shows how chemistry and physics come together in the solid state and on surfaces. Using a lively, graphic, descriptive approach, it teaches chemists the language that is necessary to understand the electronic structure of extended systems. And, at the same time, it demonstrates how a chemical, frontier-orbital, approach to solid state and surface bonding and reactivity may be constructed. The book begins with the language of crystal orbitals, band structures and densities of states. The tools for moving back from the highly delocalized orbitals of the solid are then built up in a transparent manner; they include decompositions of the densities of states and crystal orbital overlap populations. Using these tools, the book shapes a meeting ground between detailed quantum mechanical calculations and a chemical frontier orbital perspec- tive. Applications include a general picture of chemisorption, bond-breaking and making in the solid state, bonding in metals, the electronic structure of selected conducting and supercon- ducting structures, dissociation, migration and coupling on surfaces and the forces controlling deformation of extended systems.

The book begins with the language of crystal orbitals, band structures and densities of states. The tools for moving back from the highly delocalized orbitals of the solid are then built up in a transparent manner; they include decompositions of the densities of states and crystal orbital overlap populations. Using these tools, the book shapes a meeting ground between detailed quantum mechanical calculations and a chemical frontier orbital perspec- tive. Applications include a general picture of chemisorption, bond-breaking and making in the solid state, bonding in metals, the electronic structure of selected conducting and supercon- ducting structures, dissociation, migration and coupling on surfaces and the forces controlling deformation of extended systems.

Carl Djerassi

What motivates a scientist? One key factor is the pressure from the competition to be the first to discover something new. The moral consequences of this are the subject of the play "Oxygen", dealing with the discovery of this all-important element. The focus of the play is on chemical and political revolutions, as well as the Nobel Prize, which will be awarded for the 100th time in 2001. The action takes place in 1777 and 2001; and the play is written for 3 actors and 3 actresses who play a total of 11 characters. The world premiere will take place in early 2001 in San Diego, and the German premiere in September. The world-famous authors Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffmann are a guarantee of excellence and suspense, both in their role as scientists -- Carl Djerassi is known as the "Father of the Pill" while Roald Hoffmann received the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1982 - as well as in their role as authors -- Djerassi has written several successful novels, while Hoffmann is renowned for his poetry.

Roald Hoffmann

About

Books

Join the club