The phrase ‘tacit knowledge’ is used in a wide range of disciplines. Examination of definitions and usage in knowledge management, AI, sociology of science, and psychology reveals common aspects, but significant variations. It is a concept without consistency, or clear foundation. Polanyi in fact wrote of ‘tacit knowing’, a process, and so may have been misinterpreted. His emphasis on process m...

The activation energy to reaction is a key quantity that controls catalytic activity. Having used ab inito calculations to determine an extensive and broad ranging set of activation energies and enthalpy changes for surface-catalyzed reactions, we show that linear relationships exist between dissociation activation energies and enthalpy changes. Known in the literature as empirical Brønsted-Eva...

The structural evolution of small copper clusters of up to 15 atoms and the dissociative chemisorption of H2 on the minimum energy clusters are studied systematically using density functional theory. The preferred copper sites for chemisorption are identified and the transition state structures and activation barriers for clusters four to nine atoms are determined and found to be inconsistent w...

In this paper I address myself to two issues concerning Polanyi’s epistemology. The first is that notwithstanding his critique of objectivism and his post-critical perspective, Polanyi remains firmly rooted in the tradition of the Enlightenment. To put this somewhat differently, I think that although he may be regarded as an early postmodernist, he may be seen also as someone who tried to do a ...

This paper develops a theoretical perspective on knowledge management systems, drawing from the work of Polanyi and Giddens, and the literature on communities of practice. This perspective views such systems as a form of re-presentation of the results of action and reflection, whose use should be conceptualised as inextricably interlinked to communication processes within a specific context. Th...