Chemical Engineering March 2014 - 8

Chemical Engineering e 1.2
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2013
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Circle 26 on p. 68 or go to adlinks.che.com/50974-26
An American Scientist. By Gabor
A. Somorjai with Mitch Jacoby.
Archway Publishing. 1663 Liberty
Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403.
Web: archwaypublishing.com.
2013. 250 pages. $27.95.
Reviewed by Scott Jenkins,
Chemical Engineering magazine,
New York, N.Y.
F
or those working in the chemical process industries,
addressing the immediacies of work makes
it difficult to ponder the scientific discoveries
and technological advancements that led to the current
state of the art. A book like the autobiography of
the Hungarian-born scientist Gabor Somorjai reminds
us that current technology has been shaped by a wide
range of prior work.
On one level, Somorjai's autobiography is the story
of a remarkable life spent in science - Somorjai is
a decorated researcher who survived Nazi-occupied
Hungary as the child of a Jewish family and eventually
made a harrowing journey out of Soviet-era Hungary
to the University of California at Berkeley, where
he began studying chemical phenomena at surfaces.
Providing historical context along the way, Somorjai
illustrates in his book the many ways in which basic
science research in the decades after World War II
shaped the modern world.
On another level, the book is the story of science
itself, exploring the process by which scientific information
is acquired and eventually applied to industrial
problems. Using the post-war progress of surface
science as an example, Somorjai illustrates how basic
research in the behavior of molecules at surfaces ultimately
led to significant improvements in fields such
as catalysis, tribology, microelectronics, energy storage,
bioengineering and others.
Somorjai's book does an admirable job of succinctly
describing the technical details of numerous scientific
experiments and the implications of their results without
letting the explanations obscure the thems of the
narrative. Among the themes are the importance of
human relationships and collaboration in advancing
science. Somorjai makes it a point to give credit to an
impressive network of colleagues and collaborators for
research success. Another theme apparent in Somorjai's
book is the preciousness of the scientific method as the
mechanism by which incremental advances are made,
questions are answered and thinking is changed.
Those with interest in the history of science will
enjoy the book for its ability to chart a path outlining
the progress of a key multidisciplinary field of science
over time. Looking backward at the ways earlier work
has shaped our present understanding of current technologies
can be illuminating for the road ahead.
Circle 41 on p. 68 or go to adlinks.che.com/50974-41
8 ChemiCal engineering www.Che.Com marCh 2014
Editor's note: If you are interested in writing a book review for this column, contact
Chemical Engineering senior editor Scott Jenkins by email at bookshelf@che.com.
http://www.archwaypublishing.com http://www.mueller-gmbh.com http://adlinks.che.com/50974-26 http://adlinks.che.com/50974-41 http://www.Che.Com
Chemical Engineering March 2014

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