between making and knowing:
tools in the history of materials research
Joseph D. Martin and Cyrus C. M. Mody, editors
World Scientific, 2019 (buy: World Scientific | Amazon)
Excerpt from the introduction…
The science of materials has contributed to changes in our civilization as pervasive as they are profound. The ways we travel, communicate, wage war, build buildings, dress, heal, play sports, read, listen to music, use energy, and care for the young, the old, and the vulnerable have all been shaped and reshaped by our knowledge and mastery of metals, semiconductors, organic and biocompatible materials, gels, plastics, polymers, plasmas, and other substances. But our large-scale historical understanding of materials research is still surprisingly flimsy. We might say of materials research, as common as it is, what Clifford Geertz said of common sense: “it lies so artlessly before our eyes it is almost impossible to see.”
The WSPC Encyclopedia of the Development and History of Materials Science aims to make materials—which we might otherwise overlook for their familiarity—more visible by charting their history. This volume focuses on the tools and practices that have guided materials research. Where did they come from and how were they enrolled in the cause of understanding, manipulating, and fabricating the stuff of the modern world? Laboratories dedicated to studying materials proliferated in the mid- to late twentieth century. They were sponsored by government and military organizations, assembled within universities, and established by industrial firms. And they succeeded in reforming our understanding of matter and changing the material profile of our technological world because a diverse assortment of tools was successfully coordinated within them.
Imagine walking into one of these labs—at Cornell University, or the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, or General Electric—in the 1970s or 1980s and looking around. You are surrounded by a wide assortment of tools. Some—glass flasks and beakers, thermometers, microscopes—have been shaped by centuries of development and modification. Others, particularly those taking advantage of various scattering and diffraction phenomena, are recent developments. Still others are so unassuming that you might not register them as tools at all, from the trade catalogues that researchers use to browse new prefabricated materials and equipment, all the way up to the building itself, which was designed to instrumentalize the interactions of the researchers within it. This volume tells their stories.
Table of Contents
Introduction, Joseph D. Martin and Cyrus C. M. Mody
Part I: Always Already Tools
Always Already Tools: Introduction, Hermione Giffard
1.1 Glassware, Catherine M. Jackson
1.2 Thermometers, John C. Powers
1.3 Simple Heating, Cyrus C. M. Mody
1.4 Scales and Balances, Joseph D. Martin
1.5 Light Microscopy, Hubertus Nederbragt
1.6 Manuals, Handbooks, and Recipes, Joanna Behrman
1.7 Distillation, Phillip C. Wankat
1.8 Mixing Equipment, Philippe Martin
Part II: Invisible and Infrastructural Tools
Invisible and Infrastructural Tools: Introduction, Cyrus C. M. Mody
2.1 Buildings, Brit Shields
2.2 Safety Equipment, Amy E. Slaton
2.3 Vacuum Chambers, Pumps, Gauges, and Systems, Cyrus C. M. Mody
2.4 Contamination Control, Dan Holbrook
2.5 Trade Catalogs, Max Moeller
2.6 Bibliographic Tools, Debra Kolah
2.7 International Standards, Sharon Ku
2.8 Computer Simulations, Julia R. Bursten
2.9 Information Display and Recording, Cyrille Foasso
2.10 Mechanical Testing, Justin Carone
2.11 Climate Test Chambers and Exposure Testing, Andreas T. Haka
Part III: Tools for Making Materials
Tools for Making Materials: Introduction, Cyrus C. M. Mody
3.1 Modern Heating Technologies, Pierre Teissier
3.2 Refrigerators and Vacuum Flasks, Simon Reif-Acherman
3.3 High-Pressure Apparatus, Tony Travis
3.4 Bioorganic Synthesis, Victoria Lee
3.5 Chromatography, Apostolos Gerontas
3.6 Lithography, Joseph D. Martin and Cyrus C. M. Mody
3.7 Ion Implantation, Christophe Lecuyer
3.8 Power Sources, Matthew N. Eisler
3.9 Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Brian Tyrell
3.10 Vapor Deposition, Jorijn van Duijn
3.11 Nuclear Research and Test Reactors, Mark D. Bowles
3.12 Centrifuges, Andrew Ede
Part IV: Tools for Characterizing Materials
Tools for Characterizing Materials: Introduction, Joseph D. Martin
4.1 X-Ray Crystallography of Biomaterials, Robin Wolfe Scheffler
4.2 Raman Spectroscopy, Indianara Silva
4.3 Infrared Spectroscopy, Loïc Petitgirard
4.4 Ultraviolet Spectroscopy, Gerald Gallwas
4.5 Mössbauer Spectroscopy, Catherine Westfall
4.6 Lasers, Benjamin Wilson
4.7 Probe and Other Microscopies, Cyrus C. M. Mody
4.8 Scanning Electron Microscopy, Pedro Ruiz-Castell
4.9 Aberration-Corrected Electron Microscopy, Thomas Vogt
4.10 Mass Spectrometry, Keith A. Nier
4.11 Thermography, Andreas T. Haka
4.12 Neutron Sources, Olof Hallonsten and Thomas Kaiserfeld
4.13 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Joseph D. Martin
4.14 Synchrotron Light Sources, Robert P. Crease