DECORATIVE BRONZES in the GEORGE EASTMAN RESEARCH LABORATORY of the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE4 TECHNOLOGY TENNEY L. DAVIS Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambrrdge. ,Xassachusetts
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HE travertine-walled foyer of the George Eastman Research Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has recently been decorated with bronze bas-reliefs,* attached to the north and south walls and designed to symbolize the universality and broad human significance of physics and chemistry. A new ceiling has been built for better acoustic and lighting effects. Stone benches have been installed and display cases for the exhibition of commemorative medals, pieces of apparatus, old books, and other scientific memorabilia. The whole was designed and executed by G. Thayer Richards, son of the chemist Theodore W. Richards, and was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on May 24, 1938. The designs and plans were made by Mr. Richards after many conferences, during more than a year, with the Moore Committeet of the Chemistry Department and with other members of the Departments of Chemi s t and ~ ~Physics. The problem of this Committee may perhaps be not without interest to the readers of -IS JOURNAL. F i s t it seemed necessary to reach an opinion-ne which could be expressed succinctly-as to the nature and principal achievements of each of the two sciences. Since the decorations were to be of enduring bronze, to last, as we hope, for centuries, i t was necessary that they should symbolize long-range and permanent conceptions of the sciences, as valid today as a century ago and a century hence, nnwarped by present speculations, by transient motives, or by popu* T h e plaques were modeled and erected by George K. L. Loeser (deceased), D. L. Gattoni (head of firm), and Otis A.
lar trends in research. The factual findings were a t issue-unequivocal positive knowledgeneither things guessed nor interpretations offered, nor applications either for applications change. The gas lights produced by the chemistry of a century ago are gone with the hard, impenetrable atoms of the time, but the
earlier chemistry, like the chemistry of five hundred years ago or even longer, had already a considerable accumulation of positive knowledge, forever good, never to be retracted. Hood (modeler). All brbnze work was made by the Gorham Chemistry concerns itself with the properties of the Company, The display cases were built by Truman H. Thorpe, different kinds of matter, with their combinations and the stone benches by the Freeport Marble and Tile Company, Inc., and the ceiling by Muir Brothers. Certain novelties of changes. Dealing with changes, i t has needed means structure and craftsmanship are described elsewhere in an article for the certain identification of kinds, for the recognition by G. Thaycr Richards. t The costs were paid from the Forris Jewett Moore Fund of the of the varieties of the elements, which, unchanging in Chem~stryDepartment, a fund given by Mrs. Moore in memory substance, by their permutations and combinations of her husband, the income to be used for the purpose of increas- give rise to its phenomena. It has identified them, and ing the interest of the study of chemistry. The Moore Committee consists of Professors Frederic G. Keyes, Arthur A. Blan- has classified them in the Periodic Table. The classichard, and Tenney L. Davis, and has been aided in the present fication suggests interpretations, but the physical and undertaking especially by the coaperation and advice of Profes- metaphysical accounts of the causes of the Periodic sors Robert S. Williams (Metallurgy) and John C. G. Wulff Law are liable to change. The facts which the Law (Physics). p
summarizes are permanent. In front of the bronze Periodic Table stand representations of three of the most important instruments, hence symbolizations of three of the most important methods of investigation and of thought, which have led to the great generalization. Chemical change is symbolized by the alembic which shows the action of fire, the study of the extent of the change by the balance which suggests not only weight but number, for the Periodic Table is a table of numbers as well as of elements, and the final identification of the elements is symbolized by the spectroscope. Around the sides of the Periodic Table are bronze representations of eleven men who have made outstanding
crystal. The forces by which matter is actuated are, first of all, matter itself acting by gravitation, then the more subtle forms of energy, first mechanics, then light and heat, for this is the historical order of studies upon them, then electricity and magnetism, and finally radiation in all of its tenuous kinds; and all of these, matter, energy, and radiation alike, are ultimately the same, metamorphic forms of the stuff of the universe. Gross matter is symbolized by the great world and the little, by the pendulum and the hour glass; energy by the dynamo; and radiation by the Herz oscillator. The eleven physicists, pictured by the bronze plaquettes of the border, are those who have contributed most no-
contributions to chemistry, contributions of fact which time and changing interest and advancing knowledge will not alter. Physics is concerned with matter in general, without distinction of kind, and with the modes of the behavior of matter under the influence of the various forces to which it is responsive. Above and below the behavior is the same, in the great world represented by the stars in their courses, in the small world symbolized by the model which shows the arrangement of atoms within a
tably to our permanent knowledge of the modes of behavior of matter. The choice of the eleven chemists and the eleven physicists was a difficult one to make. No living man could be represented. We are too near to the living properly to evaluate their work or to estimate its durability. Contributions were to be represented about the enduring value of which there could be no quesl tion. After much discussion, the twenty-two were chosen unanimously. Without pretending that we
have made the best possible list of eleven great chemists and eleven great physicists, we truly believe that the of the names which we have chosen inevitably be found on the best possible list of the same Ienhh. One man has sueeested to have . . . .--.. .--~ ~ s o that we oupht " selected such-and-such two or three in place of two or three whom he thinks unqualified for our list. Another has found no objection to those whom the first disap-
proved, but has judged two or three other, different changes to be desirable. No qualified person with whom we have talked has failed to approve two-thirds of the list. The distribution among the various nationalities is as it fell out naturally. No deliberate effort has been made to demonstrate either the international character of science or the superiority in science of one nation over another. The following notes indicate the nature of the remarks which were made about these men at the time of the dedication on May 24th. CHEMISTS
Zorimos of Panopolis (late 3rd or early 4th century A.D.).Alexandrian school. Had a wide knowledge of the practical chemistry of metals and alloys, and of chemical processes, sand
bath, water bath, distillation. Had a dualistic theory of the c O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ , h e z ~ most ~ ~ distinguished ~ ~ i ~ , - of T hthe e Chinese alchemists. Wrote extensively on alchemy and on practical chemistry, and described clearly many experiments in the chemistry of lead, mercury, and tin. Probably the first man
to~',u~p~$~~CC iZ1-817),-Arabic
school, Acquainted
with sulfuric and nitric acids, alkali, alum, corrosive sublimate, and with many other chemical substances. Described cupella-
tion. Sulfur-Mercury theory of the composition of the metals. The Latin writings of "Geber" were an important source of the chemical knowledge of Latin Europe. Robert Boyle (1627-1691).-English. Careful experimenter and clear thinker on chemical problems. Defined "element," hut was unable to find an experimental criterion for determining the applicability of the definition. Had a corpuscular theory of matter. Discovered methyl alcohol, acetone, phosphorus, etc. Michajl Vaiosilzeuii Lomonnsov (1711-1765).-Russian. Defined physical chemistry and W e d the prohlems of its study. Believed in the conservation of matter which he held to he atomic, foresaw isomers, and had a kinetic theory of gases. The first in the world to introduce the laboratory teaching of chemistry to university students. Anloine Lauren1 Lavoisier (1743-1794).-French. Founded modern chemistry, using weight'for the interpretation of chemical reactions. Proved the nstnre of acids, of combustion and respiration, and the composition of water. Developed a new chemical nomenclature.
Jons Jekob Bereelius (1779-1848).-Swedish. Discovered cerium, selenium, and thorium; isolated silicon, zirconium, and titanium. Developed analytical methods, drew up a table of equivalent weights, devised symbols for inorganic compounds. Studied many organic compounds. Catalysis. Friedrick Wdhler (180&188?).-German. Isolated beryllium, aluminum, boron, and silicon. Studied peroxides, hydrides, cyanogen, benzoyl, etc.; synthesized oxalic acid and urea. Stanislao Cannieearo (1826-1907).-Italian. Secured the acceptance of the earlier views of Gaudin. Amp&, and Avogadro, and established correct atomic weights from vapor density data. Created order in chemisty. Contributed to organic chemistry. Marcellin Berthelot (1827-1907).-French. Founded organic synthesis from the elements (acetylene, ethylene, alcohol, benzene. etc.). Fixation of nitrogen. Thermochemistry. Science of explosives. Dmitri Imnotit Mendelem (188M907).-Russian. Periodic classification of the elements, the basis for the later unitary theories of the constitution of matter. Predicted the existence of elements which have since been discovered. Contributed t o inorganic and organic chemistry. PHYSICISTS
A~chimedw of Syracuse (c. 287-212 B.c.).-The greatest mathematician, physicist, and engineer of antiquity. Laid the foundations of statics and hydrostatics, enunciated the notion of specific gravity, invented many useful machines and mechanical devices, compound pulley, endless screw, etc. Alhaeen (c. 965-1039 A.D.).-Arab, flourished in Egypt. Astronomer, mathematician, physicist, physician, and one of the greatest students of optics. An experimentalist. Understood the lens, refraction, vision, etc. A Latin translation of h is work on optics exerted a great intluence on western science and did much to establish the experimental method. Galileo Gdilei (1564-I642).-Italian. Investigated and established the laws of falling bodies, projectile motion, elastic behavior of solids, gas and liquid pressure, sound, and thermometry. Applied optical instruments in astronomy. Stimulated studies on celestial mechanics. Christian Huygens (1629-1695).-Dutch. Enunciated the
wave theory of light. Carried out experimental work of fundamental importance in mechanics and optics. Measurement of time. Iseac Nmton (1645-17?7).-English. Established the laws of motion and gravitational attraction, and is t o be credited with a new conception of the universe which is essentially that which prevails a t present. Founded the infinitesimal calculus. Wrote "Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis." Contributed also to optics, acoustics, and various branches of mechanics. Benjamin Thornfiron, Count Rumford (1753-1814).-Americanborn cosmopolite. Physicist. engineer, philanthropist and social worker. Contributed to knowledge of heat and light, demonstrated conversion of work into heat. invented useful- household appliances, founded the Royal ~nstititionof Great Britain which has played an important part in the rapid development of modern science. Andrk Marie Ampdre (1775-1836).-French. Pioneer experimenter and interpreter of electrodynamic phenomena, of the magnetic fields of currents and of the behavior of magnetic materials. Augwtin Fmnel (1791-18?7).-French, Engineer, mathematician, and physicist. His work on interference, polarization, double refraction, and diffraction of light established the wave theory and laid the foundations of physical optics. Michael Faraday (1791-1867).-English. One of the greatest of experimentalists. Discovered electromagnetic induction, laws of electrolysis, benzene, diamagnetism, and so forth. Experimented with the passivity of iron, borosilicate glass. Many contributions to physics and chemistry. HermannHelmholta (1821-1894).-German. Anatomist, physiologist, and physicist. Clear thinker and great teacher. Founded the modern study of physiological optics. Developed analytical methods in hydrodynamics, thermodynamics, and acoustics. James Clerk Mawell (1831-1879).-Scotch. Gave mathematical form to electrodynamic theory. Certain of his conclusions, demonstrated experimentally by Herz, are the basis of communication by electromagnetic waves. Made mathematical interpretation of the behavior of elastic solids, of the Faraday lines of force, of the stability of Saturn's rines. - of color. and of the kinetics of gases. ~
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