{"product_id":"ben-franklin-stilled-the-waves-an-informal-history-of-pouring-oil-on-water-with-reflections-on-the-ups-and-downs-of-scientific-life-in-general-9780192804945","title":"Ben Franklin Stilled the Waves: An Informal History of Pouring Oil on Water with Reflections on the Ups and Downs of Scientific Life in General","description":"Benjamin Franklin was the first to report the phenomenon of oil's power to still troubled waters and to speculate on why it happened. A century later Lord Rayleigh performed an identical experiment. Irving Langmuir did it with minor variations in 1917, and won a Nobel Prize for it. Then Langmuir's work was followed by a Dutch pediatrician's in 1925.  p Each experimenter saw a little more in the result than his predecessor had seen, and the sciences of physics, chemistry and biology have all been illuminated by the work.  p Charles Tanford reflects on the evolving nature of science and of individual scientists. Recounting innovations in each trial, he follows the classic experiment from Franklin's drawing room to our present-day institutionalized scientific establishments and speculates on the ensuing changes in our approach to scientific inquiry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCharles Tanford\u003c\/strong\u003e is Emeritus Professor at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA and a former Guggenheim Fellow. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) and lives in Easingwold, UK.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50565463933202,"sku":"9780192804945","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_86d97318-bb80-49cb-81bc-f9354604f76f.jpg?v=1731886014","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/ben-franklin-stilled-the-waves-an-informal-history-of-pouring-oil-on-water-with-reflections-on-the-ups-and-downs-of-scientific-life-in-general-9780192804945","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}