Alvin Van Valkenburg and the diamond anvil cell
1993; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 11; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/08957959308203156
ISSN1477-2299
Autores Tópico(s)Geophysics and Sensor Technology
ResumoAbstract As many of you may know already, Alvin Van Valkenburg died on December 5, 1991 in Tucson, Arizona at the age of seventy-eight. He was the last surviving scientist of four who share the honor of co-inventing the diamond anvil high pressure cell (DAC), now recognized as a world-class instrument for scientific research. In August of 1992 Professor A. Ruoff asked me to write a short article for AIRAPT describing Van Valkenburg's role in inventing the DAC because of its importance as a tool in high pressure research. He suggested that as a former colleague and as a scientist who has spent most of his professional career in high pressure research, I was perhaps the one person who could describe best the role Van Valkenburg played in the invention and development of the DAC. After some deliberation, I agreed to do it, mainly for three reasons: (1) the subject matter, indeed, is important to the history of science, and, in particular, to the high pressure community and should be documented; (2) all four co-inventors deserve the honor; and (3) it is true perhaps that there is no one more appropriate to undertake this task because I was at the National Bureau of Standards, NBS, (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST) at the time and personally witnessed the process of the invention of the DAC.
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