Art and Science Combustion via Art
Journal Title: Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) - Year 2017, Vol 1, Issue 4
Abstract
Combustion, burning or fire is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of the chemical species to new ones. Combustion supplies most of the energy required by human civilization where the visible result is fire and flames usually consisting of hot gases and light. The phenomenon of fire is mentioned already in the Bible in Genesis 15:17 as follows:”When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passes between the pieces.” Probably the earliest reasonably scientific attempt to explain combustion was that of Johannes Baptista van Helmont (1580-1644), a Flemish Physician and Alchemist. He observed the relationship among a burning material, smoke and flame and said that combustion involved the escape of a “wild spirit” from the burning material. In 1667, Johann Joachim Becher (1635-1682), a German alchemist and physician, proposed the phlogiston theory. According to it there exist fire-like elements called “Phlogiston” that is contained within combustible bodies and are released during combustion. The theory was an attempt to explain processes such as combustion and the rusting of metals, which are now understood as oxidation. It was the great French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) who rejected traditional thinking and framed a new definition of combustion that was widely accepted.
Authors and Affiliations
Abraham Tamir
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP571651
- DOI 10.26717/BJSTR.2017.01.000395
- Views 202
- Downloads 0
Restoring a Fractured Central Incisor: A Challenge to Overcome
Restoring a single central incisor should aim at preserving the affected tooth as well as re-establishing function and esthetic. This clinical report describes a patient with compromised smile due to the fracture of the...
When Liquid Biopsy Cell-Free DNA Meets with Tissue Biopsy RNA
The human genome contains ~30,000 genes that need to be expressed in specific cells at precise times. The DNA in the nucleus exists in two forms that reflect the level of activity of the cell. Through electronic microsco...
Immediate Reduction in Hospital Pharmacy Costs with Intraoperative Restriction of Albumin Administration
Albumin has been used for fluid resuscitation in the OR and ICU, since 1940 [1]. Its usage gained prominence based on the classic descriptions of transvascular exchange by Earnest Starling who purported that colloids suc...
The Master Code of Biology: from Prions and Prions-like Invariants to the Self-assembly Thesis
For more than 25 years, we have been looking for biomathematical laws controlling and structuring DNA, genes, proteins, chromosomes and genomes [1,2]. In 1997 we discovered a simple numerical law based solely on atomic m...
A Literature Survey of Common Parasitic Zoonoses Encountered at Post-Mortem Examination in Slaughter Stocks in Tanzania: Economic and Public Health Implications
Zoonoses caused by parasites constitute a large group of infectious diseases with varying host ranges and patterns of transmission. Their distribution, prevalence and transmission patterns are affected by the influence o...