ABSTRACT
I was introduced to scientic research in the late 1950s in a classical thermochemistry laboratory. At that time, it was common that thermochemists were much engaged in method work, involving the design of new calorimeters, making adjustments to existing instruments, and rening working procedures. at picture is well illustrated by a passage in a chapter written by the three leading thermochemists in the early 1960s (Skinner et al. 1962):
e design and construction of a suitable calorimeter is one of the rst problems facing the experimental thermochemist planning to measure directly the heat of a chemical reaction. During the past 30 years over 300 papers on reaction calorimetry have been published, and more than 200 dierent reaction calorimeters have been described. is evident need for variety in calorimeter design reects the very variegated nature of the chemical reactions that have been thermochemically studied.
