NEWS
World's Oldest Laboratory? Ancient writings and illustrations suggest that the earliest known sci entific laboratory belonged to the well-known Greek scientist and philosopher Pythagoras of Samos (ca. 570-497 B.C.). According to Andrew Dimarogonas, professor of mechanical design at Washington University, the illustration shows Pythagoras experimenting with bells in what Dimarogonas believes was a home laboratory. The drawing, probably a woodcut, is taken from a fifthcentury A.D. book by the Roman author Boethius. The book also describes a legendary incident in which Pythago ras, as he passed a local shop, became curious about the tones produced by workmen hammering metal. After con ducting an impromptu experiment, Pythagoras realized that the sounds were independent of the worker's strength and instead depended on the hammer's mass. Pythagoras weighed the hammers and noted their ratios, establish ing—claims Dimarogonas—integer fractions and multiples of basic sounds as the basis of musical instruments. "He conducted experiments to prove that the natural frequency of a system is a property of that system and not something dependent on external excitation," explains Dimarogonas. According to the ancient book, Pythagoras continued his sound experiments in his home laboratory by vibrating strings, pipes, vessels, and circular plates, thereby discover ing that natural frequencies depend on dimensions. As for Pythagoras's better known feat, relating the lengths of the sides of a right triangle, Dimarogonas says that dates back to at least the Babylonians. "Like Newton and Galileo, Pythagoras is the first to popularize a princi ple . . . so that he has become associated with its discovery."
Eastern Analytical Symposium Award Winners The Eastern Analytical Symposium has announced the winners of three awards to be presented at the symposium November 12-16 in Somerset, NJ. Bruce Chase, of Du Pont Central Research, will receive the New York Section's Society for Applied Spectroscopy Medal. Chase is being honored for his work on vibrational spectroscopy and for FT-IR and Raman techniques that have been applied to industrial IR emission, diffuse reflectance, and in situ measurements of photo-induced re actions. His research has also dealt with phase correction problems in interferometry, artifacts attributable to nonlinear detector
response, FT-Raman spectrometer design, and develop ment of a microRaman capability using a laser microscope. Prior to joining Du Pont, Chase received a B.A. degree from Williams College (1970) and a Ph.D. from Princeton University (1975). He is also a former member of ANALYTI CAL C H E M I S T R Y ' S Instrumentation Advisory Panel. The American Microchemical So ciety's Benedetti-Pichler Memorial Award in Microchemistry will be presented to Peter Carr of the University of Minnesota. Carr's re search has included work in elec trochemistry, ion-selective elec trodes, thermochemistry, and chro matography. His recent research has focused on the nature of sol ute-solvent interactions as they pertain to predicting retention, se lectivity, and optimization in chromatography—particular ly for the affinity chromatography of proteins. Carr earned a B.S. degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (1965) and a Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University (1969). He then joined the faculty at the University of Georgia, leaving in 1977 for Minnesota. Carr is also a former member of A N A L Y T I C A L C H E M I S T R Y ' S
Advisory Board. Donald Burns, of Los Alamos Na tional Laboratory, will be honored with the ΕAS Award for Achieve ments in Near-Infrared Spectrosco py. In addition to his work with near-IR, Burns has worked on the automated analysis of actinides, automated wet chemistry involving autoanalyzers, and continuous-flow GC/HPLC. Burns received an A.B. degree from Syracuse University (1951), an M.S. degree from the University of Puget Sound (1955), and a Ph.D. from Purdue University (1958). He has held positions with Dover Medical Research Center, Abbott Laboratories, and Technicon Instruments Corp. In 1988 he founded a consulting firm, NIR Resources. Since 1984 Burns has presented an ACS short course on practical near-IR, and currently he is editing a book on this subject. Two other awards will be presented to Allen Bard and Daniel Armstrong (see February 15 NEWS) at EAS in No vember.
Nominations Call Now that the 1990 awards are official, EAS is seeking nominations for 1991 awards. Nomination letters contain ing a biographical sketch and a list of the nominee's achievements should be sent by August 1 to Chairman, EAS Awards Committee, Eastern Analytical Symposium, Inc., P.O. Box 633, Montchanin, DE 19710-0633.
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