Stoneham, M

Materials Today

English

UCL Discovery

MARCH 2006  |  VOLUME 9  |  NUMBER 3  56BOOKS & MEDIA UPDATEPhotophysics ofMolecular Materials Guglielmo Lanzani (ed.) John Wiley & Sons • 2006 • 600 pp ISBN: 3-527-40456-2 $259 / £140 / 210 Subtitled From Single Molecules to SingleCrystals, this comprehensive review ofthe elementary excitation processes anddynamics of carbon-based π-conjugatedmaterials merges the two differing viewsof their properties: molecular solids andlow-dimensional covalentsemiconductors. In each chapter, a broadtutorial introduction gives a solid physicalbackground, further discussed via recentresults. Both the molecular, intra-chaincharacter and the solid-state, inter-molecular physics are addressed. Reportson single-molecule and single-polymerchain spectroscopy introduce the on-sitephenomena. Chapters are dedicated tonano-probes, and steady-state andtransient spectroscopies. The highlyordered state in single crystals is alsodiscussed, as are less conventional toolssuch as terahertz spectroscopy. Biomimetics: BiologicallyInspired Technologies Yoseph Bar-Cohen Taylor&FrancisCRCPress•2005•552ppISBN: 0-849-33163-3 $139.95 / £79.99 Containing pioneering approaches tobiomimetics, this book includes a newperspective on the mechanization ofcognition and intelligence, as well asdefense and attack strategies in nature,their applications, and potential. It surveysthe field from modeling to applicationsand from nano- to macro-scales,beginning with using biology to inspiredesigns as well as biological mechanismsas models for technology. It discussesevolutionary robotics; genetic algorithms;molecular machines; multifunctional,biological, and nanomaterials; nasticstructures inspired by plants; andfunctional surfaces in biology. It alsocovers biomimetic materials, structures,control, cognition, artificial muscles,biosensors that mimic senses, artificialorgans, and the interfaces betweenengineered and biological systems. What is a memoir? Politicians may be tempted to offerpublic self-justification by rewriting selections fromhistory. An autobiography for a scientist like Robert Cahnis an opportunity to give shape to events in his life.Moreover, it lets him look at some critical developmentsin science and the forces that shape future research. Cahn was born in time to experience life in a musicaland intellectual family environment. With the rise ofGerman anti-Semitism, he and his family were forcedinto different paths and countries, giving seriousmeaning to his memoir’s title, The Artof Belonging. Younger scientists mayneed to be reminded of howprofoundly World War II affectedscience. That war was global, on awholly different scale, dwarfingsubsequent conflicts. As a result, itaffected research emphasis, the routesto scientific information, and the livesof individual scientists. Sometimes thescience led to important civilapplications after the war, even in thecase of work that was seeminglyspecifically military, like the Manhattanproject, or the less well-known, butseminal, work by Mott on fragmentation. AlthoughCahn was too young to be directly involved in suchprograms, his own research on the science of materialstook on a new urgency. The evolution of materialsstudies is well captured in his book The Coming ofMaterials Science (Elsevier, 2001). I was fascinated to realize how much Cahn’s career has incommon with my own. We share an education in whatis now Cumbria, in northwest England, and a formativeexperience at Harwell, a center that has been beneficialto many UK scientists. We both recognize gains fromworking in a large technology-based organization thatneeds scientific solutions to new challenges. What wasspecial about the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Harwellwas the combination of a challenging atmosphere andworking with excellent and supportive colleagues. Cahn’s memoir shows a young scientist involved in theemergence of materials science from many incoherentstrands and different technologies. The field benefitedfrom the new tools that were evolving and theincreasing sophistication and understanding of solid-state physics. The role of dislocations became familiar,transforming fracture and deformation studies. The roleof the electron became understood, and the materialsscience of semiconductors gave birth to silicontechnology. But a change in attitude created materialsscience. In a world war, getting materials right was amatter of life and death. Radical new approaches wereaccepted, leading to many of the areas in which Cahnhas made personal scientific contributions, as well as hissubsequent election as a Fellow of the Royal Society.These changes relied on the synthesis of uncorrelatedideas into a cohesive intellectual whole and, hence, topublishing, a major theme runningthrough this book. Here Cahn’s role has been seminal.Three examples show this. First, he wasthe founding figure in establishing newjournals of excellence. ActaMetallurgica set important and highstandards of quality, while the Journalof Nuclear Materials is unique andfulfills a very important role. Second,he wrote stimulating and perceptiveessays on materials issues for Nature,reissued as Artifice and Artefacts (IOP,1992). Third, his role as editor of amajor encyclopedia must be unique. Editing anencyclopedia is no simple task, even if authors supplywhat they promise on time. Structure, coverage, choiceof authors, and timeliness all make demands on thebreadth and depth of an editor’s knowledge. What willbe needed at the time the volumes are published? Thelarge number of volumes one sees around labs andoffices attest to the success of Cahn’s judgement.This memoir contains much more, such as Cahn’simportant involvement in establishing the SciencePolicy Research Unit at the University of Sussex, UK. Hemakes telling comments about the way bureaucracy hastaken over so much of science. He also makes it clearhow much he values the international nature of science,and the benefits and pleasures of scientific friendships. I hope, therefore, that many people, especially youngerscientists, read this perceptive and sympathetic book.R Ro ob be er rt t   C Ca ah hn n’ ’s s   m me em mo oi ir rs s   r re ec co ou un nt t   t th he e   e ex xp pe er ri ie en nc ce es s   o of f   a a   y yo ou un ng g   s sc ci ie en nt ti is st td du ur ri in ng g   t th he e   e em me er rg ge en nc ce e   o of f   m ma at te er ri ia al ls s   s sc ci ie en nc ce e   a af ft te er r   W Wo or rl ld d   W Wa ar r   I II I, ,   a an nd de ex xt to ol l   t th he e   v va al lu ue e   o of f   s sc ci ie en nt ti if fi ic c   f fr ri ie en nd ds sh hi ip ps s   a an nd d   t th he ei ir r   i in nt te er rn na at ti io on na al l   n na at tu ur re e   Marshall Stoneham FRS|Centre for Materials Research, University College London, UK|a.stoneham@ucl.ac.ukM Ma at te er ri ia al ls s   f fo or r   a a   l li if fe e   s st to or ry y   Robert W. Cahn The Art of Belonging: A memoirBook Guild • 2005 • 178 pp • ISBN: 1-85776-993-7 £15.99 ExpertGraduateUndergraduate

Materials for a life story

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

UCL Discovery