Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
reshape the concept of his future research activities. To use his own words [
1
]:
''Two areas have dominated the interests of my coworkers and myself in 1961.
The one concerns the spatial configuration of chain molecules and the treatment of
the configuration dependent properties by rigorous mathematical methods, the
other constitutes a new approach to an old subject, namely the thermodynamics of
solutions. Our investigation in the former area have proceeded from foundations
laid by Prof. M. V. Volkenstein and his collaborators in the Soviet Union and were
supplemented by major contribution of the late Prof. K. Nagai in Japan'' The
success of this work was summarized in another important topic entitled ''Sta-
tistical Mechanics of Chain Molecules'', which was published in 1969 [
5
].
P. J. Flory was married since 1936 with the former Emily Catherine Tabor.
They had three children. The daughter Susan was married with Prof. Springer
(Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Michigan), and Melinda
was married with Prof. D. E. Groom (Department of Physics, University of Utah).
They also had a son, Dr. Paul Flory, Jr., who pursued an academic career in
medicine. From both daughters P. J. Flory had four grandchildren. Flory died on
September 8. 1985, and his son died in the same year by a heart attack.
In addition to the working fields mentioned above by Flory himself, the fol-
lowing areas of interest and achievement should be mentioned.
(1) Fundamentals of step-growth polymerization (mainly before 1952) [
6
] and the
formulation of the classical theory of polycondensation.
(2) The role of excluded volume effects, above all, their influence on the con-
figuration of polymer chains.
(3) The formulation of the hydrodynamic constant ''theta'' and the definition of
the ''Theta Point,'' where excluded volume effects are neutralized. These
results were particularly important, because they allow a rational interpretation
of physical measurements of dilute polymer solutions.
Flory's published work comprises more than 400 papers in addition to the
aforementioned topics. In 1985 Stanford University Press published the topic
''Selected Works of Paul J. Flory.'' Among the numerous awards and honors he
received (e.g., Priestley Medal 1974, Perkin Medal 1977, Elliot H. Cresson Medal
1971), the Nobel Prize awarded in 1974 was the most prestigious one. Flory used
his prestige and this award to campaign for international human rights, mainly
with regard to the treatment of scientists in the former Soviet block.
4.2 The Classical Theory of Two-dimensional
Polycondensations
Flory's fundamental concept of step-growth polymerizations is based on two
premisses. First. The reactivities of functional involved in the polymerization
process
are
independent
on
the
size
of
the
molecules.
Second,
end-to-end
