Henry Eyring Research Articles

Henry Eyring and the Nobel Prize

Henry Eyring (1901–1981) was in a recent article from this journal mentioned as a Nobel laureate. Although he should have received the Nobel Prize in chemistry, he was never awarded it. His case is in fact considered among oversights or errors of the Nobel Prize committee (similarly to the cases of D. I. Mendeleev, L. Hammett, or Lise Meitner).

Analysis of theoretical methods for interpretation the non-Newtonian fluids viscosity experimental data

Using a rotary viscometer Brookfield DV-II+Pro, the viscosity of an almost one-component (1-2% impurity) sample of synthanol ALM-7 was studied. In the presented work, this reagent is use as a sample of a highly viscous non-Newtonian fluid and a concentrated micellar disperse system, the particles of the dispersed phase in which are micelles from molecules of this surfactant with dimensions less than 10 nm. Using the example of such a fluid, it is shown that the decrease in viscosity observed in it, typical for dispersed systems, as the shear rate increases, is accompanied by an increase in the activation energy of the viscous flow, which is inconsistent with the Arrhenius and Frenkel equation. The reason is that these equations do not take into account the changes in entropy ∆S during the viscous flow of the non-Newtonian fluid, the value of which actually determines the sign of the change in the viscosity of the non-Newtonian fluid with increasing velocity or shear stress. The only way to calculate ∆S now based on the use of the Eyring equation. However, for the correct calculation of ∆S by the temperature dependence of the dynamic viscosity of the non-Newtonian fluid and the Eyring equation, an independent correct way of finding the value of the preexponent B in this equation is necessary. The article analyzes the methods described in the literature for calculating the values of B, including those proposed by Henry Eyring himself. As a result, it was revealed that only the experimental method we developed for estimating the values of B corresponds to real processes in the non-Newtonian fluid, since only with such calculations does an increase in temperature and shear deformations lead to values of ∆S > 0, indicating the destructive effect of these factors on the non-Newtonian fluid. It is shown that other methods of calculating B can lead to incorrect values of ∆S < 0 and, as a consequence, erroneous conclusions about the processes occurring inside the non-Newtonian fluid.

Gone but not forgotten

In this reminiscence I discuss the influence of Henry Eyring and John Barker upon my life and work. Others, especially my family, have been of even greater personal influence. However, these two great and grand men were of tremendous scientific influence. Of course, others who came before Eyring and Barker, especially Boltzmann and van der Waals and later Onsager and Eyring's contemporary, Kirkwood, have been influential, but only indirectly as I never met them. Eyring and Barker are not the only scientists who have inspired me. Many who influenced me have contributed articles to this special issue or have worked with me. I single out Eyring and Barker because I met them early in my career and because they have passed away and are now present only in spirit. They are gone but should not be forgotten; I take this occasion to remind the readers about these two outstanding scientists and fine men and offer this reminiscence as thanks to them.

The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out by Clayton M. Christensen and Henry J. Eyring (review)

Reviewed by: The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out by Clayton M. Christensen and Henry J. Eyring Diane Wood (bio) Clayton M. Christensen and Henry J. Eyring. The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. 475 pp. Cloth: $32.95. ISBN-13: 978-1118063484. In The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out, Clayton Christensen (Harvard Business School) and Henry Eyring (Brigham Young University—Idaho) introduce Christensen's theoretical construct of "disruptive innovation" (Christensen, Horn, & Johnson, 2011) by applying it to current higher education systems. The authors contend that universities are at a critical juncture. They are either at risk of "competitive disruption" or strategically positioned for an "innovation-fueled renaissance" (p. xxii). The authors reinforce their assertions by presenting their ideas in a historical context, detailing what has emerged in higher education systems over time and using two distinctly different organizational models as case studies: Harvard University and Brigham Young University-Idaho (BYU-Idaho). They use innovation as a lens to expose the critical challenges and to explore the grand possibilities for the traditional higher education system of today. The authors contend that this system is in a real crisis, and they place the bulk of the blame squarely on the higher educational communities themselves. In so doing, they challenge the paradoxical underpinnings that exist in the university system and step beyond the crisis points in order to create "practical strategies for success" (p. xxvi). They conclude that traditional higher education systems have "in the spirit of honoring tradition," hung on to their "past practices to the point of imperiling their futures" (p. xxii). Christensen and Eyring break their ideas into five separate themes. In Part 1, "Reframing the Higher Education Crisis," they examine internal and external "threats" and a rationale for "hope" as the university communities look to the future (p. 3). Then they introduce two university case studies, one that reflects a belief in a traditional "bigger is better" model and the second that emphasizes the importance of an on-going innovation and change model, based on an understanding of the needs of their particular educational communities (p. 24). A historical perspective in Part 2, "The Great American University," provides a general overview of the origins and the evolution of American systems of higher learning, beginning with the establishment of the Massachusetts 1636 act that provided for a "schoale or colledge." The founders of Newtowne, which would evidently become Harvard University, looked to England's University of Cambridge as a model for its foundational constructs, or, as the authors term it, its DNA (p. 33). Christensen and Eyring used the significant milestones in the emergence of Harvard University's system as a traditional model for developing a context for understanding the greatness of the American higher education system. A detailed historical discussion early in the text begins with an explanation of the original Puritan College, continuing with Charles Eliot's contributions to the higher education system at large, to the pursuit of "excellence" and Harvard's "growing power," and conclude by extrapolating important elements related to topics specific to "staying close to its roots" (p. 157). Using Harvard and BYU-Idaho as current models, the authors discuss how a contextual framework impacts innovation in today's educational community. In Part 3, "Ripe for Disruption," Christensen and Eyring examine internal and external factors that have played an integral role in impacting systems of higher learning since the 1960s, reviewing vulnerabilities within the competitive marketplace at all levels, including "funding challenges," "lower-cost providers of higher education," "2008 financial downturn," and "powerful new competitors to traditional universities [who] turn their attention to these dissatisfied and left-behind college students" (p. 205). The authors include several more recent challenges to higher educational systems such as the 2006 Spellings Commission call for greater accountability, along with the long-delayed debate associated with the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (p. 206). Christensen and Eyring further explore the issues unique to the creation of on-line for-profit universities, individual on-line programs, the emergence of new technologies for teaching and...

On Simple Gas Reactions

[Following the publication of Arrhenius's paper (Paper 2) on the significance of the temperature dependence of the rates of chemical reactions, a number of workers interested themselves in the problem of the significance of the activation energy. With the advent, in the nineteen-twenties, of the new quantum mechanics it was natural to see to what extent activation energies could be calculated by the same methods that were beginning to be used for the calculation of the energies of stable molecules. The most successful of the early attempts of this kind was that described in the paper reproduced in part below. In it Eyring and Polanyi show that a reasonable estimate of the activation energy of a reaction involving three atoms can be obtained by applying quantum-mechanical procedures with some assistance from empirical methods. A particularly important feature of the Eyring–Polanyi work is their use of potential-energy surfaces, which provide a very valuable pictorial representation of the course of a chemical reaction. Henry Eyring was born in 1901, and at the time this paper was written was a (U.S.) National Research Fellow in Berlin. Later he became Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University and is now Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Utah. He has made many distinguished contributions, particularly in the application of theoretical methods, to the understanding of the rates of chemical and physical processes. Perhaps his most pioneering work is represented by the present paper and by Paper 5, which deals with the application of statistical methods to the rates of chemical reactions. Michael Polanyi was born in 1891 in Budapest, and at the time this paper was written was a member of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut fur Physikalische Chemie in Berlin. He was later Professor of Physical Chemistry at Manchester University, and in 1948 became Professor of Social Studies at that University. He has made important contributions in kinetics and in related branches of physical chemistry, and is the author of a number of books on sociology.] Abstract A further development of London's theory of adiabatic chemical processes, especially atom reactions. The total binding energy of single pairs of atoms is determined from optical data as a function of the interatomic distance and is corrected for the coulombic parts by means of the Heitler–London relation. As examples are taken the linear conversions in the systems The course of a conversion is represented as a motion of a representative point over a surface which represents the binding energy of the atomic system, plotted in space as a function of the interatomic distances.

Milestones in Physical Chemistry (I) – A Special Issue Honoring the Seminal Work of Henry Eyring and Michael Polanyi

Milestones in Physical Chemistry (I) – A Special Issue Honoring the Seminal Work of Henry Eyring and Michael Polanyi

Ready, Set and no Action: A Static Perspective on Potential Energy Surfaces commonly used in Gas-Surface Dynamics

In honoring the seminal contribution of Henry Eyring and Michael Polanyi who first introduced the concept of potential energy surfaces (PESs) to describe chemical reactions in gas-phase [Z. Phys. Chem. 12, 279-311, (1931)], this work comes to review and assess state-of-the-art approaches towards first-principle based modeling in the field of gas-surface dynamics. Within the Born-Oppenheimer and frozen surface approximations, the O2-Ag(100) interaction energetics are used as a showcase system to accentuate the complex landscape exhibited by the PESs employed to describe the impingement of diatomics on metal substrates and draw attention to the far-from-trivial task of continuously representing them within all six molecular degrees of freedom. To this end, the same set of ab initio reference data obtained within Density Functional Theory (DFT) are continuously represented by two different state-of-the-art high-dimensional approaches, namely the Corrugation-Reducing Procedure and Neural Networks. Exploiting the numerically undemanding nature of the resulting representations, a detailed static evaluation is performed on both PESs based on an extensive global minima search. The latter proved particularly illuminating in revealing representation deficiencies which affect the dynamical picture yet go otherwise unnoticed within the so-called "divide-and-conquer" approach.

The many footprints of Henry Eyring

Henry Eyring is most well-known as the proponent of the activated complex (transition state) theory for chemical reactions. He was also the one to construct the first Potential Energy Surface along with Michael Polanyi. Apart from his exemplary work in chemical kinetics, the plethora of problems he engaged in establish his versatile genius. Evaluation of dipole moments in complex molecules, one-electron theory for optical activity, conformation changes in proteins, deformation kinetics in materials are some of the fields where his contributions have been immensely significant. He was a prolific writer and authored more than 600 articles and 10 scientific volumes. This article will discuss the contributions of Henry Eyring.

The life of Henry Eyring

In this era of blurring boundaries between various disciplines of science and technology, Henry Eyring stands tall as one of the earliest examples. Starting with a degree in mining, to becoming one of the greatest theoretical chemists ever; it was a journey guided by passion and curiosity. Eyring’s first brush with reaction kinetics came at the age of 23, after which his enthusiasm for the subject continued unabated. ‘Potential Energy Surfaces’, that he developed along with Polyani and his ‘Activated Complex Theory’, completely changed the face of reaction kinetics. This article will cover the exciting life of Eyring.

ChemInform Abstract: Perspective on “The Activated Complex in Chemical Reactions”

A general theory of the absolute rates of chemical reactions proved to be an elusive goal for nineteenth century chemists. This goal would only be achieved through a combination of statistical mechanics with the new quantum mechanics of the early twentieth century, when the insights of Henry Eyring and his contemporaries lead to the absolute rate equation that we are only now beginning to rigorously evaluate. The conceptual focus of absolute rate theory is the transition state (or activated complex), the window through which the future plunges into the past, and this is still the foundation of our understanding of chemical reaction rates as we enter the new millennium.

Henry Eyring, fisicoquímico mexicano. Reminiscencia de una conferencia y algo más

Author found that Henry Eyring, renowned scientist and one of the developers of the Transitionstate Theory or Activated Complex Theory, was born in Mexico and remained Mexican for many years. That fact brought him memories of an unforgettable conference and lead him to know more about Henry Eyring's life.

In memoriam: Walter Kauzmann (1916-2009).

Walter Kauzmann came to Princeton in 1946 to replace his former mentor, Henry Eyring, who went back to Salt Lake City and his Mormon roots. He has written about his reminiscences in physical chemistry, proteins, and related topics in Protein Science,1 and a special issue of Biophysical Chemistry has been published containing tributes of his many students and admirers.2 These sources, together with his published work and our own personal experiences, have provided the material for this tribute and review. In his early days, WK was at once shy and modest and a wondrous communicator. The simplicity of his laboratory–office, where this communication took place, has already been described.3 His reputation for “knowing everything” was quickly perceived by students, faculty members, and visitors. There were no limits on subject matter. Sometimes discussions involved a blistering array of quantum mechanical or statistical mechanical formulas; at other times quite basic ideas for beginning students, for example, partition coefficients or elementary discussions of the entropy. The range of topics was very large and went from mathematical science, to history, geology, paleontology, and many others. A major part of learning in these early days came from observing how a real scientist worked and thought. In the first 5 years (1946–1951), there were at least 10 students and two postdocs associated with the laboratory. Clearly, they did not fit in his small space and most spent much of their time either in the library, their rooms, or at instruments outside the laboratory, for example, the polarimeter. He was not especially solicitous with his students. You had to have something to say to get his attention. (There is a small percentage of disgruntled students.) A disagreement or a misconception on our part was especially effective as a conversation starter. His trips to the Carlsberg laboratory in Copenhagen, where science and fun were mixed in a very natural way, made a lasting impression on him.1 After returning from his first trip, he spent less time in his office, adopted an interest in tennis, not discussed, but obvious to his laboratory mates, and signs appeared of a lady in his life, Elizabeth Flagler, who was to become his wife in 1951. His life was a very busy one outside of his research. One of his constant lines of interest was the structure and thermodynamics of water. Also, he published a book with David Eisenberg on water and extensive papers with Kuntz and Henn (see section on Water). He was avidly interested in his courses including those for undergraduates. A result of this interest was the publication of two excellent books4,5 at the undergraduate or beginning graduate level and one at the graduate level on quantum mechanics.6

Henry Eyring (1901-1981): A 20th-century architect of cathedrals of science

Henry Eyring (1901-1981): A 20th-century architect of cathedrals of science

Opening Address at the Henry Eyring Symposium

Opening Address at the Henry Eyring Symposium

On the role of lubricant rheology and piezo-viscous properties in line and point contact EHL

Accurate prediction of elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) characteristics, i.e., film thickness and traction coefficient, requires the knowledge of lubricant rheology. The EHL analyses based on Newtonian fluid model may be useful primarily for film thickness prediction of mineral oils. However, for applications involving mineral oil/polymer blends and synthetic oils that exhibit shear-thinning behavior, the use of an appropriate non-Newtonian fluid model is required to predict the EHL behavior correctly. It is, thus, no surprise that characterization of non-Newtonian fluid behavior in EHL studies has been the focus of attention over last four decades. In this regard, several types of non-Newtonian EHL models have been presented and solved using different methods. Unfortunately, many of these studies suffer from various drawbacks such as use of inappropriate non-Newtonian model, approximations in the numerical solution and lack of sufficient experimental data pertaining to lubricant rheology as well as piezo-viscous properties. Over the years, some of these shortcomings have been transferred erroneously from one generation of researchers to the next. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the sinh-law lubricant model (commonly referred to as the “Ree–Eyring” model) was actually rejected for use as a shear-thinning model by Henry Eyring himself, it is still being widely used to describe the shear-thinning behavior of EHL lubricants. The present paper discusses the recent developments clearly indicating the incapability of sinh-law for the EHL applications. This paper also reviews the perturbation method often used to reduce the actual constitutive equation to a simplified form in order to derive a Reynolds-type equation to which normal EHL solvers can be applied. This approach is still in use even though appropriate procedures for implementing the generalized Newtonian approach are available that can conveniently and accurately allow the use of the exact constitutive equation in its original form. In the light of above facts, this paper presents a collective perspective in an effort to emphasize the importance of implementing realistic non-Newtonian and piezo-viscous models with accurate treatment methods in EHL applications.

REMEMBERING HENRY EYRING

IN “MORMON SCIENTIST: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring,” the author and subject’s grandson, Henry J. Eyring, has collected a vast amount of anecdotal historical information primarily related to his grandfather’s personal character and his interactions with friends, family members, and leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon). The vast majority of the book relates to these more personal matters rather than to science. Young chemists who read the book can be inspired by learning about Eyring’s approach to science, his dedication to hard work, and the manner in which he related to other people. Professor Eyring was my colleague and friend from 1971 when I joined the University of Utah chemistry faculty until his death in December of 1981. I very much admired him as a scientist and as a human being. Because I am not a member of the Mormon Church, I am not informed enough ...

ROBERT PARRY DIES AT 89

ROBERT W. PARRY, 89, distinguished professor of chemistry, emeritus, at the University of died on Dec. 1 from a stroke suffered on Nov. 23. Colleagues describe the inorganic chemist's 60-year career as combining excellence in education, research, service to the American Chemical Society, and advancement of the profession. was a true scholar and a gentleman, says Peter B. Armentrout, Utah's current chemistry chair. A real class act. Together with Henry Eyring and Cheves Walling, Parry played a key role in the growth and development of chemistry at Utah, says Peter Stang, who is also a professor there as well as editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society . Born and raised in Parry graduated with a B.S. in soil chemistry in 1940 from Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University). He received a master's degree in soil science from Cornell University in 1942 and a ...

Working tools for theoretical chemistry: Polanyi, eyring, and debates over the “semiempirical method”

Following along with the development of electron theory and quantum mechanics in the 1910s and 1920s, physical chemists began incorporating these new theories and approaches in their studies of activation energies, transition states, and chemical reactions for simple atomic and molecular systems. Among these chemists was Michael Polanyi, one of the founders of modern chemical dynamics, who collaborated with Henry Eyring in the development in the 1930s of a theory of the activated transition state and absolute reaction rates using potential energy surfaces and a semiempirical methodology. This paper examines the circumstances of their collaborative work, its reception, and its implications for further chemical research.

The Mechanism of Hydrated Proton Transport in Water

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVCommunicationNEXTThe Mechanism of Hydrated Proton Transport in WaterTyler J. F. Day, Udo W. Schmitt, and Gregory A. VothView Author Information Department of Chemistry and Henry Eyring Center for Theoretical Chemistry 315 South 1400 East, RM 2020, University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0850 Cite this: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 48, 12027–12028Publication Date (Web):November 14, 2000Publication History Received12 July 2000Revised16 October 2000Published online14 November 2000Published inissue 1 December 2000https://doi.org/10.1021/ja002506nCopyright © 2000 American Chemical SocietyRIGHTS & PERMISSIONSArticle Views1618Altmetric-Citations154LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InReddit Read OnlinePDF (27 KB) Get e-AlertsSUBJECTS:Hydrogen,Molecules,Noncovalent interactions,Oxygen,Reaction mechanisms Get e-Alerts

Nalin Mukherjee 1922”1984

Professor Nalin Mukherjee passed away in January 1984. He was loved and respected by colleagues all over the world. Nalin Mukherjee received his bachelor's and master's degrees in Bengal, India. He was awarded a Ph.D. in physical chemistry by the University of London in 1949. Shortly afterward, Sydney Chapman brought him to the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska, in Fairbanks. Later, Mukherjee taught at the University of Washington, Seattle, and then at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, where he worked closely with Henry Eyring.