In thermodynamics, Salvatore Califano (c.1940-) is an Italian physical chemist noted for his 2012 monograph Pathways to Modern Chemical Physics, which contains a fairly cogent historical introduction to thermodynamics in the opening chapter, e.g. the origin of the term “enthalpy”, biographical information on C.G. Darwin’s α particle work, among other historical tidbits. [1]
Modern chemical thermodynamics
Califano gives the following cogent synopsis of the formation of "modern chemical thermodynamics" (see: history) or what seems to be modern chemical-physics as he terms it:
“The mathematical formalism developed by Gibbs in several papers was utilized by Gilbert Lewis and Merle Randall in the United States and Edward Guggenheim in England for the evaluation of free energy and of a large number of chemical compounds. The book by Lewis and Randall Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Substances of 1923 and that by Guggenheim, Modern Thermodynamics by the Methods of Willard Gibbs of 1933 are the fundamental classics of modern chemical-physics. Before the publication of these two textbooks, the most known text of thermodynamics, especially in Germany was the 1912 treatise Lehrbuch der Thermodhemie und Thermodynamik written by Otto Sackur, that, once translated into English in 1917 by the American naturalized Scotsman George Gibson, became the official textbook of thermodynamics in American universities until 1923, when it was replaced by that of Lewis and Randall.”
(add discussion)
Education
Califano completed his college education in chemistry in Naples and completed his PhD in chemistry, somewhere, after which he did post-doctoral studies at the University of Frankfurt, University of Friburg, and the University of Minnesota. In 1963, he became professor of molecular spectroscopy at the University of Padua and then at the University of Florence. In 2010, he was emeritus professor of chemical physics of the University of Florence. [2] Califano is also, of note, one of the co-founders, through his 1991 initiatives, of LENS (European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy). [3]
References
1. Califano, Salvatore. (2012). Pathways to Modern Chemical Physics (modern chemical-physics, pg. 15). Springer.
2. (a) Salvatore Califano (about) (Italian → English) – comune.firenze.it.
(b) Salvatore Califano (Curriculum Vitae) – EWACC 2010 International Conference.
3. LENS (Italian → English) – Wikipedia.
External links
● Califano, S. – WorldCat Identities.
