Stretching the Polanyi Rules

The Polanyi Society Periodical

Michael Polanyi

RECENTLY there fell into my hands by the kindness of its author a book which has revealed to me a new, and I think much better, understanding of the situation we are facing today in consequence of the modern scientific revolution. The author’s name is Josef Pieper, professor of philosophical anthropology at the University of Münster, and his book which so impressed me is entitled Scizolastik. (...

Stretching the Rules: Monocentric Chromosomes with Multiple Centromere Domains

The centromere is a functional chromosome domain that is essential for faithful chromosome segregation during cell division and that can be reliably identified by the presence of the centromere-specific histone H3 variant CenH3. In monocentric chromosomes, the centromere is characterized by a single CenH3-containing region within a morphologically distinct primary constriction. This region usua...

Polanyi and Psychoanalysis

Since I first met Polanyi when I was in psychiatry residency at Duke University (1962-4), his work has exerted a continuing influence on my understanding of psychoanalysis, specifically the branch of psychoanalysis called analytical psychology, founded by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. In the present context, I wish to discuss briefly four areas in which Polanyi’s thought has influenced or d...

Direct dynamics trajectory study of vibrational effects: can polanyi rules be generalized to a polyatomic system?

We present an ab initio direct dynamics trajectory study of the hydrogen abstraction reaction: H2CO+ + CD4 --> H2COD+ + CD3, with methane excited in two different distortion modes (nu4 and nu2). The trajectory simulations were able to reproduce experimental results and for the first time show how vibrational enhancement originates in reaction of small polyatomic species. Roughly equal contribut...