Samuel Glasstone (3 May 1897 – 16 November 1986) was a British-born American academic and writer of scientific books. He authored over 40 popular textbooks on

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

and

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between Electric potential, electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve Electron, electrons moving via an electronic ...

reaction rate The reaction rate or rate of reaction is the speed at which a chemical reaction takes place, defined as proportional to the increase in the concentration of a product per unit time and to the decrease in the concentration of a reactant per u ...

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

effects Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, ...

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

engineering,

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

sciences, the environmental effects of

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity *Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy, the pot ...

and

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...

Early life

Glasstone was born on 3 May 1897 in London. He received two doctorates, in 1922 and 1926 (PhD and DSc), in chemistry at London University. Glasstone discovered the

C–H···O interaction In chemistry, a C–H···O interaction is occasionally described as a special type of weak hydrogen bond. These interactions frequently occur in the structures of important biomolecules like amino acids, proteins, sugars, DNA and RNA. History ...

in 1937. After several academic appointments in England, he moved to the US in 1939 and became a naturalized citizen in 1944.

Career

After numerous studies of physical chemistry, for example the discovery of the C–H···O interaction mentioned above, Glasstone worked with Henry Eyring and Keith Laidler on the theory of absolute reaction rates. He was an accomplished author and consultant to the AEC at the time. Former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairmain Glenn T. Seaborg wrote:

''Over a period of 17 years he has produced for the AEC 12 classical nuclear texts or reference books, each a model in its field. His books ... show what science writing at its best can be – unfairingly correct, but also fluent, lucid, gracesful and superbly organized.''

Publications

Popular works are: * ''A Textbook of Physical Chemistry (1943)'' * ''Elements of Physical Chemistry (1960)'' * ''Sourcebook on Atomic Energy (1950)'' * ''The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (1950)'' * ''Nuclear Reactor Theory (1970), with George I. Bell'' * ''Controlled Thermonuclear Reactions (1960), with Ralph H. Lovberg'' * ''The Elements of Nuclear Reactor Theory (1953), with Milton C. Edlund'' * ''Principles of Nuclear Reactor Engineering (1963), with Alexander Sesonske'' His book ''The Effects of Nuclear Weapons'', has appeared in three editions: 1957, 1962, and 1977 (originally titled ''The Effects of Atomic Weapons''), and documented the effects of nuclear explosions. The 3rd edition was co-authored with Philip J. Dolan.

References

* on AtomicArchive.com website Technical writers 1897 births Manhattan Project people American science writers 1986 deaths American physical chemists British emigrants to the United States 20th-century American chemists {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub