Thermodynamic properties of liquid metals

Technique for determining heats of fusion and heat capacities of liquid metals at high temperatur

The flow of metals, in particular lead, under simple shear

Imperial Users onl

Thermodynamic property determination in low gravity

Techniques for determining heat capacities and other properties of molten metals were investigated and critically evaluated. Precisely determining heat capacities calorimetrically in space poses several problems. The weight of a drop calorimeter block along with the necessity of obtaining a large number of data points tend to make traditional approaches appear infeasible. However, for many substances exhibiting sufficiently high thermal conductivities and with known emissivities, it appears possible to investigate their properties by observing the rate of cooling of a levitated sphere which is initially at a uniform temperature above the melting point. A special advantage of the levitation method is that considerable supercooling is expected, making the study of the heat capacities of molten metals both above and below their melting points possible

RESEARCH IN FLUORINE CHEMISTRY. Final Report, June 1, 1961 to February 28, 1963

Research and development activities in the field of fluorine chemistry are summarized. Information is included on: synthesis of tetrafluorochlorates, formation of boron nitride and titanium oxides, properties and reactions of silicon fluorides and germanium fluorides, thermodynamic properties of fluorine compounds, and synthesis of halide compounds. (N.W.R.

The Role of the Paterson, NJ Silk Industry in the 19th-Century Atlantic Economy

No abstract is available at this time

Early Developments of Ecofeminist Thought in French Women’s Early Romantic Fiction

Ecocritical analysis of women’s sentimental novels has thus far been overlooked, yet, as this paper argues, we can trace the development of ecofeminist thought to early Romantic women writers. Cultural ecofeminist arguments that ‘[t]he ancient identity of nature as a nurturing mother links women’s history with the history of the environment and ecological change’ (Merchant, 1990, p.xx) ring true in Cottin’s Malvina and Amélie Mansfield and in Staël’s Corinne. Traces of radical ecofeminism are also evident, since the novelists use ecological devastation to highlight patriarchal oppressive treatment of women. However, like Souza’s Adèle de Sénange, these novels go further, bringing us towards a social ecofeminist perspective, by showing how women and nature are dominated by a combination of hierarchical ideologies

Re-working boundaries: values and legitimation at the climate science–policy interface

Acknowledging the science–policy interface as an important site through which climate change is framed; this thesis provides an examination of the politics of boundary work. Through an analysis of the Scottish climate science–policy interface, the thesis draws attention to the discursive value framings involved in the making of climate responses – understood as discourses in which value commitments and orientations towards particular outcomes have been foregrounded. Empirical research focuses specifically on boundary work undertaken by ClimateXChange, a boundary organisation established by the Scottish Government in 2011. Comparing the work of ClimateXChange with boundary work by other science–policy actors, the thesis examines how different forms of boundary work enable different types of knowledge to circulate. Practices such as translation, science communication, co-production and knowledge brokerage construct legitimate knowledge differently, contributing to the legitimation and reproduction of particular discursive value framings over others. Offering an in-depth analysis of these boundary processes, the thesis opens up critical questions about the concept of ‘translation’, draws attention to how boundary practices construct claims for legitimacy, and to the multiple, cumulative and interacting micro-sites of boundary work through which passionate actors are legitimating different forms of political subjectivity. Combining an STS approach to science – policy boundary work with Chantal Mouffe’s political theory to foreground questions of values, legitimacy and hegemonic power, the thesis draws attention to the value commitments of discourse. In doing so the thesis suggests potential for re-theorising values from a post-structuralist perspective, in order to contest hegemonic claims to value neutrality and account for passionate affective relations with discourse. This attention to the politics of boundary work illustrates the way in which scientific knowledge circulating at the science–policy interface in Scotland frames possible responses to climate change through discourses of economic growth and quantifying and pricing carbon. Such moves reproduce hegemonic policy values and prompt critical engagement with moves towards demand-led science–policy interaction

Matrix isolation as a tool for studying interstellar chemical reactions

Since the identification of the OH radical as an interstellar species, over 50 molecular species were identified as interstellar denizens. While identification of new species appears straightforward, an explanation for their mechanisms of formation is not. Most astronomers concede that large bodies like interstellar dust grains are necessary for adsorption of molecules and their energies of reactions, but many of the mechanistic steps are unknown and speculative. It is proposed that data from matrix isolation experiments involving the reactions of refractory materials (especially C, Si, and Fe atoms and clusters) with small molecules (mainly H2, H2O, CO, CO2) are particularly applicable to explaining mechanistic details of likely interstellar chemical reactions. In many cases, matrix isolation techniques are the sole method of studying such reactions; also in many cases, complexations and bond rearrangements yield molecules never before observed. The study of these reactions thus provides a logical basis for the mechanisms of interstellar reactions. A list of reactions is presented that would simulate interstellar chemical reactions. These reactions were studied using FTIR-matrix isolation techniques