Richard Dickinson Chambers. 16 March 1935 — 18 April 2019

Richard (Dick) Chambers was one of the most creative and distinguished organofluorine chemists of his generation. He synthesized a range of perfluorinated heteroaromatic systems, including pentafluoropyridine and tetrafluoropyrimidine, by halogen exchange processes, and established their chemistry and associated reaction mechanisms. Notably, ‘mirror image’ negative Friedel–Crafts reactions led to perfluoroalkyl heteroaromatic derivatives that could be transformed into unusual valence bond isomers by irradiation. New ranges of stable, observable perfluorinated carbanions, alkenes and dienes were synthesized and their fundamental chemistry established. Dick was an excellent experimental scientist whose career was marked by his unique skill-set in being able to perform reactions at high pressure under vacuum, using γ-ray irradiation, photochemistry, continuous flow processes and a variety of fluorinating reagents. His research into the use of elemental fluorine gas, which established the key role of solvent in reaction control, established fluorine as a viable reagent for organic synthesis. Several of his new synthetic processes, including syntheses of perfluorocarbon iodides, highly fluorinated heteroaromatic derivatives and α-fluoro-β-ketoester systems, were adopted for scale-up by industry. But Dick was more than a talented and innovative scientist. He was also an outgoing and fun-loving man, who always made time to offer support, guidance and advice to all his colleagues, research group members and scores of scientific friends within the fluorine science community around the world. As a result, he forged strong personal bonds throughout his life and a legacy that has lasted through generations of chemists.

A Way towards Reliable Predictive Methods for the Prediction of Physicochemical Properties of Chemicals Using the Group Contribution and other Methods

Physicochemical properties of chemicals as referred to in this review include, for example, thermodynamic properties such as heat of formation, boiling point, toxicity of molecules and the fate of molecules whenever undergoing or accelerating (catalytic) a chemical reaction and therewith about chemical equilibrium, that is, the equilibrium in chemical reactions. All such properties have been predicted in literature by a variety of methods. However, for the experimental scientist for whom such predictions are of relevance, the accuracies are often far from sufficient for reliable application We discuss current practices and suggest how one could arrive at better, that is sufficiently accurate and reliable, predictive methods. Some recently published examples have shown this to be possible in practical cases. In summary, this review focuses on methodologies to obtain the required accuracies for the chemical practitioner and process technologist designing chemical processes. Finally, something almost never explicitly mentioned is the fact that whereas for some practical cases very accurate predictions are required, for other cases a qualitatively correct picture with relatively low correlation coefficients can be sufficient as a valuable predictive tool. Requirements for acceptable predictive methods can therefore be significantly different depending on the actual application, which are illustrated using real-life examples, primarily with industrial relevance. Furthermore, for specific properties such as the octanol-water partition coefficient more close collaboration between research groups using different methods would greatly facilitate progress in the field of predictive modelling.

Bounded action: Hannah Arendt on the history of science and the limits of freedom

The article asks why and how Hannah Arendt framed The Human Condition as a history of modern science. It answers that, in telling the history of instrumental rationality and the work of the experimental scientist, Arendt accomplished three main things. First, by identifying science as a form of ‘work’ she could demonstrate the significance of her threefold division of human activity into labour, work and action, highlighting the dangers of their indistinction. Second, Arendt used the form of organization typical of scientists – a professional community founded on standards of objectivity – to warn against the substitution of the appearance of publicity for true openness. Finally, she identified the transgression of the boundaries of action as the site where a political community might become visible to itself, taking the unsuccessful attempts of post-war ‘public scientists’ to reckon with their past as a cautionary tale. Her account of modern science thus allows her to define freedom through its dependence on human-made boundaries, politicizing the very act of history-writing.

Repurposing emergence theories: An interview with Andrew Pelling

Andrew Pelling is a Canadian experimental scientist who uses low-cost, open source materials to create the medical technology of the future. He runs an interdisciplinary, curiosity-driven lab at the University of Ottawa ( pellinglab.net ), where he researches non-genetic ways to create artificial tissues and organs. Much of his experimental work has led to new insights in cancer pathology, muscle degeneration and stem-cell development. He has a cross-appointment in the departments of Physics and Biology and the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University, has held a Canada Research Chair since 2008 and was elected a member of the Global Young Academy in 2013. He is an honorary research fellow at SymbioticA, Center of excellence for biological arts. Dr Pelling has also recently started a company to sell and distribute low-cost kits for key scientific equipment that lets anyone create biomaterials for regenerative medicine. His latest achievements and hard work have earned him a place in the TED2016 Fellows Class. We were interested to interview Andrew Pelling, whose experience within and beyond the life sciences could help us better navigate the complex and emerging realms of laboratory life.

Retrospectives: Guinnessometrics: The Economic Foundation of “Student's” t

In economics and other sciences, “statistical significance” is by custom, habit, and education a necessary and sufficient condition for proving an empirical result. The canonical routine is to calculate what's called a t-statistic and then to compare its estimated value against a theoretically expected value of it, which is found in “Student's” t table. A result yielding a t-value greater than or equal to about 2.0 is said to be “statistically significant at the 95 percent level.” Alternatively, a regression coefficient is said to be “statistically significantly different from the null, p < .05.” Canonically speaking, if a coefficient clears the 95 percent hurdle, it warrants additional scientific attention. If not, not. The first presentation of “Student's” test of significance came a century ago in 1908, in “The Probable Error of a Mean,” published by an anonymous “Student.” The author's commercial employer required that his identity be shielded from competitors, but we have known for some decades that the article was written by William Sealy Gosset (1876–1937), whose entire career was spent at Guinness's brewery in Dublin, where Gosset was a master brewer and experimental scientist. Perhaps surprisingly, the ingenious “Student” did not give a hoot for a single finding of “statistical” significance, even at the 95 percent level of significance as established by his own tables. Beginning in 1904, “Student,” who was a businessman besides a scientist, took an economic approach to the logic of uncertainty, arguing finally that statistical significance is “nearly valueless” in itself.