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Chemical Intelligencer Istva'n Hargittai, Ed. Springer-Verlag: New York; $29.00/year (personal subscription). The inaugural issue of this quarterly “magazine” was January 1995. The editor and major-domo of this unique (and it is unique) publication is István Hargittai. Besides editing he often supplies some of the photographs, writes some of the articles, does some of the book reviews, and conducts interviews of people such as Pauling, Olah, Hoffmann, Fukui, Seaborg, Polanyi, Westheimer, Prelog, Lipscomb, and Ernst. I would not want to give the impression, however, that this wonderfully eclectic periodical contains only Hargittai’s contributions because the scope that it has demonstrated is so huge that no one person could stretch that far. It is described by a letter from the editor-in-chief as not another research journal but a magazine containing interesting, instructive, and entertaining articles for, among others, chemical engineers, chemistry teachers, bench chemists—just about all of us who are in, or have an interest in, chemistry. In these pages you will find history, puzzles, interesting applications of chemistry, chemical education, chemistry in the arts and humanities, and places and museums of interest to us. “Intelligencer” in an old English word meaning newspaper but it also means “one who conveys news, a secret agent or an informer”, so it is as interesting as gossip but much more reliable. It is truly an international publication informing us about issues and chemical history in other countries, including emerging countries. Alan Marchand has contributed a breezy, informative, and intriguing story of the cubane saga, which is supported by a generous array of references to the primary literature. In it he gives a quick overview of the pioneering work of Phil Eaton’s group at Chicago and expands the scope to look at other adventures in cubyl derivatives from various laboratories. He discusses the practical as well as the theoretical applications of this bizarre molecule, its uses in medicine, energy, and materials. Finally, he forecasts its future applications. One can also find, in the same issue, an article on waters, super and poly, by Irvin Klotz, followed closely by Iclal Hartman’s discussion of folk medicine exploring the efficacy and biochemical basis of ancient medical practices. One of my favorites is a paper by Linus Pauling. That's
right, it is a manuscript that his secretary, Dorothy Munro, transcribed from his ancient Dictaphone. It was written in 1983 at a request of an editor, to be included in a book, and it has never been published. It is entitled “The Discovery of the Alpha Helix” and is a wonderful account of how Pauling thought about the problem, who helped him to eventually see a protein molecule as an alpha helix or as the (now neglected) gamma helix form. This is just a great story about how a master goes about finding solutions to difficult problems. More recently there can be found articles exploring the human adventures of the chemist in the corporate world. Remember the chemist who was an avid art collector and whose collection provided the covers of the Aldrich Chemical Company, now Sigma–Aldrich catalogs? He, of course, was—and happily is—Alfred Bader. He started the Aldrich Company, which was later merged with Sigma, and therein lies the basis of this strange and somewhat sordid corporate tale that led to the demise of Bader in what was his own company. It involves good old-fashioned subterfuge, misunderstanding, and hidden agendas that forced Bader to plead his case publicly to the chemical world. The piece was written by P. Bruce Buchan, a specialist in the study of the behavior of boards of directors, and since it was the board that forced Bader out it is a most informing article positing him as a victim of a way this particular board worked. When you hear the name “Beckman” what do you think of? A DU spectrophotometer that lasts forever, right? In the latest issue of the Chemical Intelligencer there is a threepart article with an interview with Arnold O. Beckman, then a hearty 96 years old, a lively give and take with the irrepressible Harry Gray, the Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Beckman Institute at the California Institute of Technology. The article is concluded with the story of the Snub Cube, a sculpture that decorates the courtyard of the Beckman Institute. The “Cooking Chemist” is a regular feature and so are “Notes”, which are short articles about anything at all that might interest readers of this publication. The “Chemical Tourist” and the “Stamp Corner” give you some measure of the diversity of this publication. The Chemical Intelligencer is a very entertaining read with enough good science in it to allow you to escape that guilty feeling when you enjoy it. E. J. Walsh Department of Chemistry, Allegheny College Meadville, PA 16335
[email protected] Vol. 74 No. 3 March 1997 • Journal of Chemical Education
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