Marriage Broking: Catalysis

Reactions ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Atkins

A ‘catalyst’ is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself being consumed. The Chinese characters for catalyst, which translate as ‘marriage broker’, convey the sense exactly. For instance, a huge advance in industrial chemistry was achieved early in the twentieth century when the German chemist Fritz Haber (1868–1934) found that nitrogen and hydrogen could be induced to combine to form ammonia, NH3, if the two gases were heated under pressure in the presence of iron. They hardly react at all if iron is not present. Haber’s achievement has helped to save the world, as well as contributing not a little to its destruction. Ammonia is of prime importance for the production of fertilizers, and through that application catalysis has helped to feed the world. Ammonia is also of prime importance for the manufacture of explosives, and through that application catalysis has taken away with that hand some of what the other hand has provided. The chemical industry could not function without catalysts as they enable reactions to occur at economically viable rates. They also enable some reactions to occur which in their absence would not occur at all. Catalysts are used to refine fuels, thus enabling transport. They are used in the manufacture of polymers, thus enabling the fabrication of so many of the artefacts of everyday life as well as the fabrics of fashion and furnishings. Without catalysts there would be very little of what we recognize as the familiar modern world. Our bodies also function under the control of catalysts. Biological catalysts are called enzymes, and I describe their function in Reaction 27. There are two broad classes of catalyst. A ‘heterogeneous catalyst’ is typically a solid and the reagents are liquids or gases that flow over the solid and react as they come into contact with it; this is the case with Haber’s catalyst. A ‘homogeneous catalyst’ is a gas or a substance that dissolves in a liquid reaction mixture. Anthropogenic (human-made) chorine atoms, perhaps from aerosol gases that have travelled up into the stratosphere, are homogeneous catalysts for the destruction of ozone.

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Squires

Modernism is usually defined historically as the composite movement at the beginning of the twentieth century which led to a radical break with what had gone before in literature and the other arts. Given the problems of the continuing use of the concept to cover subsequent writing, this essay proposes an alternative, philosophical perspective which explores the impact of rationalism (what we bring to the world) on the prevailing empiricism (what we take from the world) of modern poetry, which leads to a concern with consciousness rather than experience. This in turn involves a re-conceptualisation of the lyric or narrative I, of language itself as a phenomenon, and of other poetic themes such as nature, culture, history, and art. Against the background of the dominant empiricism of modern Irish poetry as presented in Crotty's anthology, the essay explores these ideas in terms of a small number of poets who may be considered modernist in various ways. This does not rule out modernist elements in some other poets and the initial distinction between a poetics of experience and one of consciousness is better seen as a multi-dimensional spectrum that requires further, more detailed analysis than is possible here.


1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-273
Author(s):  
Constance Lever-Tracy ◽  
David Ip

This article explores two new and related phenomena of the late twentieth century that will surely play a major role in shaping the world of the twenty-first: the economic development and opening up of China, and the emergence onto the world economic stage of diaspora Chinese businesses, producing a significant, identifiably Chinese current within global capitalism. Each of these has, we believe, been crucial and perhaps indispensable to the other.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 47-61
Author(s):  
Yasser K. R. Aman

The monstrous image created by William Blake in ‘The Tyger’ left the world wrapped in an apocalyptic vision that creates an epiphany of unknown Romantic potentials symbolised in ‘The Tyger’. The apocalyptic vision, deeply rooted in Christian religion, develops into an ominous harbinger of the destruction of the modern world portrayed in W.B. Yeats’ ‘The Second Coming’. The image of the beast marks the difference between two ages, one with strong potentials and the other with fear and resident evil unexplained. I argue that the apocalyptic theory in Christianity has an impact on the development of the image of the beast in both poems, an impact that highlights man’s retreat from Nature into the modern world which may fall apart because of beastly practices.


Tempo ◽  
1966 ◽  
pp. 2-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelio de la Vega

For a long time now—long when we consider the quick, changing time-scale of our days—electronic music has been with us. The public at large usually remains cold, confused or merely dazed when faced with any new aesthetic experience. Critics, musicologists and the like still seem, as usual, to be unable to predict what will happen to this peculiar, mysterious and often anathematized way of handling musical composition, while many traditionally-minded composers consider it a degrading destruction of the art of music. On the other hand, the electronic medium seems to attract a long, motley caravan of young, inexperienced and often unprepared ‘beatnik type’ self-titled composers, who believe that the world began yesterday and that you only have to push buttons and prepare IBM cards to obtain magical results. Probably not since Schoenberg proclaimed the equal value of the twelve semitones of our sacred but by now obsolete tempered scale has twentieth-century music been faced with such a bewilderment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (36) ◽  
pp. 081-106
Author(s):  
張琬琳 張琬琳

<p>二十世紀初,在國際間崛起的各國勢力,加速了各民族內部自我整頓與反省的動力,東方音樂家學習西方音樂,也試圖以西方音樂的樂制,來整建自我民族內部的音樂紋理。</p> <p>東方音樂家欲望著西方,希冀能登上國際音樂舞臺;西方樂壇也期待從東方音樂家那裡,聽見西方人能夠「聽得懂」的「東方聲音」。在東 / 西方彼此期待、渴望之間,音樂本身被賦予極大的感官寓意,對西方人而言,帶有異國情調的音樂,尤其能夠吸引他們的目光;對於東方音樂家而言,這些「東方」的元素,卻是取自於不同民族風土的獨特聲音。</p> <p>本文聚焦臺灣近代音樂家江文也,以近年來新出版的傳記、日記和音樂作品全集,以及本論文作者近年於歐洲搜集的史料為分析佐證,探討江文也「屬於自己 / 東方的聲音」創作,如何引發西方樂壇對於「東方聲音」的想像。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>The early twentieth century was a century that had the two global-scale World Wars between world powers across continents and oceans. Rising nationalism and increasing national awareness became a major political issue in general society. Eastern musicians reflected on the issue and diligently learned Western music system to get a remarkable grasp of it. Because they knew well the so-called Oriental music sounds must be rooted in the Western music theory to be able to compete among nations by international standards. On one hand, Eastern musicians desired to be seen and rival upon the world stage; on the other hand, Western musicians looked forward to hearing pure Oriental music sounds from the East. However, for Taiwanese composer Jiang, Wen-Ye, the Oriental music sounds are not the ones of a traditional and exotic concept. Traditionally, the Oriental music sounds derive its flavor from the pentatonic scale and use traditional Chinese musical instruments to play. It is under such circumstances Jiang, Wen-Ye compose beautiful musical forms that embody his love and respectful duty to the Taiwanese motherland throughout frequent international music events and competitions.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>


Organizacija ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 189-197
Author(s):  
Peter Veber

An Overview of Models for Assessment of Organization VirtualityA virtual organization is a network of legally independent organizations and/or individuals that produce products and/or services based on a common business understanding. This new organization structure is posited as radical departure from the traditional, hierarchic, bureaucratic and co-located mode of organizing that dominated the twentieth century. In contrast, the characteristics of the new, virtual organization forms are seen to be dynamic, networked, distributed, digital, flexible, collaborative and innovative. The challenge, however, is to determine which organization as a subject employs virtual form and which not. The answer to this question is decidedly complex as most organizations have forms that are somewhere in between; therefore, it is usually only possible to determine how virtual one organization is on certain aspects. In the other words: what is the level of its virtuality? Several models for the assessment of organization virtuality have been developed by many different authors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and present all the published models of virtual organization that are publicly available in the world literature. The strengths and weaknesses of all models found are presented, together with their mutual relations.


2019 ◽  
pp. 272-301
Author(s):  
Lydia L. Moland

Hegel’s analysis of poetry’s genres begins with epic poetry, which is the action-based articulation of a nation’s dawning self-awareness. Lyric poetry, by contrast, allows poets to express their deepest subjectivity and interpret the world through their own experience. Drama brings action back into art, allowing actors themselves to emerge as artists and correcting for the vanishing subjectivity in painting and music. Drama also incorporates the two other poetic genres, as well as the other arts. Because it achieves these syntheses, it is, according to Hegel, the highest art. Hegel gives special consideration to tragedy and comedy, assessing both in their ancient and modern forms. His conclusion is that although both subgenres are more difficult to achieve in the modern world, successful examples are possible, ensuring that poetry will continue. With these poetic subgenres, the individual arts reach their conceptual end.


Arts ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Sigrún Alba Sigurðardóttir

The past 20 years have seen a shift in Icelandic photography from postmodern aesthetics towards a more phenomenological perspective that explores the relationship between subjective and affective truth on the one hand, and the outside world on the other hand. Rather than telling a story about the world as it is or as the photographer wants it to appear, the focus is on communicating with the world, and with the viewer. The photograph is seen as a creative medium that can be used to reflect how we experience and make sense of the world, or how we are and dwell in the world. In this paper, I introduce the theme of poetic storytelling in the context of contemporary photography in Iceland and other Nordic Countries. Poetic storytelling is a term I have been developing to describe a certain lyrical way to use a photograph as a narrative medium in reaction to the climate crisis and to a general lack of relation to oneself and to the world in times of increased acceleration in the society. In my article I analyze works by a few leading Icelandic photographers (Katrín Elvarsdóttir, Heiða Helgadóttir and Hallgerður Hallgrímsdóttir) and put them in context with works by artists from Denmark (Joakim Eskildsen, Christina Capetillo and Astrid Kruse Jensen), Sweden (Helene Schmitz) and Finland (Hertta Kiiski) artists within the frame of poetic storytelling. Poetic storytelling is about a way to use a photograph as a narrative medium in an attempt to grasp a reality which is neither fully objective nor subjective, but rather a bit of both.


2007 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-56
Author(s):  
Jock Given

For a third of the twentieth century, the only way Antipodeans could talk with people on the other side of the world was by wireless. The submarine cables that traversed the oceans from the 1860s carried messages in Morse code, ‘telegraphy’, but not voice. From 30 April 1930, the wireless telephone service made it possible to conduct a conversation in real time between England and Australia. This article explores the old era of international wireless telephony at a time when wireless is again transforming social and economic possibilities. It examines the economics and politics of the era, the man most closely identified with the Australian services, the technology employed and the way the service was used, identifying similarities and differences between this period and the present.


Author(s):  
Elisabeth Hein

The Ternus effect refers to an ambiguous apparent motion display in which two or three elements presented in succession and shifted horizontally by one position can be perceived as either a group of elements moving together or as one element jumping across the other(s). This chapter introduces the phenomenon and describes observations made by Pikler and Ternus in the beginning of the twentieth century. Next, reasons for continued interest in the Ternus effect are discussed and an overview of factors that influence it offered, including low-level image-based factors, for example luminance, as well as higher-level scene-based factors, for example perceptual grouping. The chapter ends with a discussion of theories regarding the mechanisms underlying the Ternus effect, providing insight into how the visual system is able to perceive coherent objects in the world despite discontinuities in the input (e.g., as a consequence of eye movements or object occlusion).


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