“Libb Thims’ Human Chemistry, in two volumes, brings a rich background in the physical sciences and neuroscience to bear on interpretations of human relationships. Thims recognizes Johann von Goethe’s elective affinity as a representation of reactive forces immediately present in thermodynamics and the interaction of constituent particles of energy. Thermodynamics, of course, is concerned with the relationship between heat and other energy forms. Physical chemistry is interested in the quantitative transformation of energy and the chemical interaction of the physical properties of substances. Thims interprets human chemistry in terms of bond-forming and bond-fracturing phenomenon. If we accept Thims’ argument, human thermodynamics provides a reliable framework for an understanding of human bonding, bond-rupturing, repulsion, or rejection, which is essence is the gist of romance and love.”

“If we accept Thims’ logic of human thermodynamics as a viable explanatory framework, which it very well is, romantic bonding then becomes the subject matter of quantum electrodynamics (QED), an aspect of particle physics that traces human attachment and bonding to the interactions of photons and electrons. Thus, applying Thims’ theory to interpersonal and love relationships, it is unlikely that any one person has the ability to coerce or unilaterally secure another person’s affection. In a different sense, the force of attraction between a man and a woman is beyond their physical control, except, of course, by way of the energies they emit and exchange between them. Thims’ Human Thermodynamics thus makes substantial contribution to our understanding of the oft perplexing nature of romantic love, greatly supplementing prior research in this field.”

“Thims, in his excellent work, Human Thermodynamics, equates bad relationships with poor bonding. In this sense, good bonding will signify good relationships. He suggests that human bonding forms or breaks as a result of rearranged atoms and molecules. By this analysis, bad bonding necessarily occurs when the repulsion factor in the reaction outweighs the attraction factor. Good bonding conversely occurs when the factor of attraction outweighs that of repulsion. What Professor Thims had done is to place a natural reality in a scientific context. Indeed, John Gottman’s psychological treatise, Why Marriages Succeed or Fail, forcefully supports Thims’ theory. Gottman closely followed newly-wed couples through the years up to the point of divorce for some of them. Gottman’s tracking discovered factorable exchanges and interplays between couples, such that sustained or hindered effective bonding between them.”