Samuel Glasstone (3 May 1897 – 16 November 1986) was a British-born American academic and writer of scientific books. He authored over 40 popular textbooks on

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

and

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outco ...

, reaction rates,

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

effects Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, a ...

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...

engineering,

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually cons ...

sciences, the environmental effects of nuclear energy and nuclear testing.

Early life

Glasstone was born on 3 May 1897 in London. He received two doctorates, in 1922 and 1926 (PhD and DSc), in chemistry at London University. Glasstone discovered the

C–H···O interaction In chemistry, a C–H···O interaction is occasionally described as a special type of weak hydrogen bond. These interactions frequently occur in the structures of important biomolecules like amino acids, proteins, sugars, DNA and RNA. Histor ...

in 1937. After several academic appointments in England, he moved to the US in 1939 and became a naturalized citizen in 1944.

Publications

His book ''The Effects of Nuclear Weapons'', co-authored with Philip J. Dolan, has appeared in three editions: 1957, 1962, and 1977 (originally titled ''The Effects of Atomic Weapons''), and documented the effects of nuclear explosions. He published several important texts on physical chemistry and theoretical chemistry, including the very popular 'A textbook of Physical Chemistry' (1943), and 'Elements of Physical Chemistry' (1960).

References

* on AtomicArchive.com website Technical writers 1897 births Manhattan Project people American science writers 1986 deaths American physical chemists British emigrants to the United States {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub