Why does matter stick together? Why do gases condense to liquids, and liquids to solids? This book provides a detailed historical account of how some of the leading scientists of the past three centuries have tried to answer these questions. The topic of cohesion and the study of intermolecular forces has been an important component of physical science research for hundreds of years. This book is organised into four broad periods of advances in our understanding. The first three are associated with Newton, Laplace and van der Waals. The final section gives an account of the successful use in the twentieth century of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics to resolve most of the remaining problems. The book will be of primary interest to physical chemists and physicists, as well as historians of science interested in the historical origins of our modern day understanding of cohesion.
Sir James Dewar was a major figure in British chemistry for around 40 years. He held the posts of Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at Cambridge (1875a€“1923) and Fullerian Professor of Chemi
Rowlinson (chemistry, U. of Oxford) and Widom (chemistry, Cornell) trace the history of thought on the molecular origins of surface phenomena, and provide a critical, detailed discussion of modern the
This much-cited thesis by J. D. van der Waals, the recipient of the 1910 Nobel Prize in physics, is accompanied by an introductory essay by J. S. Rowlinson and another work by van der Waals on the the
This fascinating and unique history reveals the major influence of the Oxford Chemistry School on the advancement of chemistry. It shows how the nature of the University, and individuals within it, ha
