Culture and Art of Scientific Discoveries ― A Selection of Istv嫕 Hargittai's Writings

This book offers a selection from among István Hargittai’s non-technical articles that focus on the culture of discoveries and scientists, rather than on actual research. István Hargittai is an internationally renowned physical chemist with interests extending to the arts, human traits, the nature of discoveries, and the relationship between science and society. Over the course of his research career, he has interacted with hundreds of the best minds of our time and published a wealth of articles that are rich in science yet easy to understand, regardless of the reader’s background.

This book presents a collection of these contributions, which explore the relationship between the arts and science, analyze the motivations of scientific discoveries and the personalities of discoverers, comment on the relationship between science and society, and examine the application of the symmetry concept and its ubiquitous presence. This unique book is intended not only for professional researchers, but for all individuals interested in the cultural aspects of science.

Balazs Hargittai, PhD (University of Minnesota), is Professor of Chemistry and Chair at Saint Francis University, Loretto, Pennsylvania. He is also the Director of the Office of Student Research of Saint Francis University. He was co-author of Candid Science V (Imperial College Press, London), Great Minds: Reflections of 111 Top Scientists (OUP, New York), and Wisdom of the Martians of Science (World Scientific, Singapore) and co-editor of Culture of Chemistry (Springer) and Science of Crystal Structures (Springer). He has been active in publishing and editorial activities in addition to his research and teaching.

Istvan Hargittai is Professor of Chemistry Emeritus (active) at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. He holds PhD and DSc degrees (Budapest), and honorary doctorates of Moscow Lomonosov University, the University of North Carolina, and the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europaea (London), and foreign member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Beyond his research activities in structural chemistry, Istvan Hargittai has been active in the popularization and dissemination of science in the printed media, radio, and television. His books have appeared in English, Hungarian, Russian, German, Italian, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, and the Farsi language.