Two Reedies participate in materials science winter workshop

Reed chemistry majors Christina Inman ’00 and Josh Schmidt ’00 recently returned from a week-long, hands-on winter workshop on materials science at the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Inman and Schmidt were two of ten participants who were selected from schools including Harvey Mudd College and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Reed chemist Margret Geselbracht recommended Inman's and Schmidt's participation.

Inman spent the week working with professor Paul McMillian and Zhihong Zhang. Inman and Zhang used solvothermal and high pressure techniques to attempt to synthesize C3N4, a compound that is predicted to be harder than diamond. Schmidt and his graduate student mentor, Teresa Reineke, synthesized a porous material as part of a larger effort to study porous materials with industrial applications as catalysts and molecular sieves.

For more information on the workshop, visit http://mrg2.la.asu.edu/ww/main.htm.


Crandall and Levich book praised by the press

A book on the information revolution and its social consequences by Richard Crandall ’69, Howard Vollum Adjunct Professor of Science, physics, and Marvin Levich, professor of philosophy and humanities, emeritus, has lately been capturing critical attention. A Network Orange: Logic and Responsibility in the Age of Computing (Copernicus Springer-Verlag, 1998) takes a straightforward look at subjects such as why market forces make computers clumsy and inefficient and why there is little educational value in network forums such as bulletin boards and chat rooms.

Dave Howell of the Daily Telegraph (UK) wrote in his review, "A Network Orange is more than a cut above the rest, and presents a series of compelling arguments about the effects of information technology on society. . . . Overall, the authors present their arguments clearly and without the diluted prose that often characterises these books. . . . The clash of scientist and philosopher results in a view that is for once challenging, and not simply controversial. Their point is that if we are to make sense out of the social impact of new technologies, we can't leave it to the scientists. As Howard Rheingold [’68] states in his foreword, we must invite philosophers to the table in any modern debate on the technological imperative.

"This is a profound book that dismisses the hype that surrounds the information age, instead concentrating on the core issues that this technology presents. The conclusion for the authors is that we are at a juncture that could take us on to greater heights, or send us crashing into the ravine of technological and educational complacency."

Richard Crandall is currently distinguished scientist at Apple Computer, Inc. In 1991 he received the national Computerworld-Smithsonian Award for achievement in science. Crandall is the holder of several U.S. patents, including the Fast Elliptic Encryption (FEE) patent, which has achieved a certain vogue in the cryptography field.

Marvin Levich is the author of Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Criticism and numerous papers, including the first paper to arise from the liberal arts sector that was authored on a personal Macintosh computer. Levich, who began teaching at Reed in 1953, has been influential in the design of academic software and in pioneering scholarly uses of the internet.



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