Willard Gibbs

by Muriel Rukeyser

Acclaimed by critics as a very great American biography, Muriel Rukeyser's superb study of Willard Gibbs (1830-1903) has established itself as one of the the most important works ever written about America and its cultural tradition. Gibbs was a professor of mathematical physics at Yale University, and it was in 1876 that he formulated his world-famous Phase Rule (F=C+2-P), called the "Rosetta Stone of Science," that established the basic theory for physical chemistry and thus immeasurably accelerated the industrial development of our growing nation. Written by one of American's fine poets, "WILLARD GIBBS is essential reading for all interested in the development of American science and technology as part of our cultural history.

Genres: Poetry, Biography

465 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Muriel Rukeyser was an American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism. Kenneth Rexroth said that she was the greatest poet of her "exact generation".

One of her most powerful pieces was a group of poems entitled The Book of the Dead (1938), documenting the details of the Hawk's Nest incident, an industrial disaster in which hundreds of miners died of silicosis.

Her poem "To be a Jew in the Twentieth Century" (1944), on the theme of Judaism as a gift, was adopted by the American Reform and Reconstructionist movements for their prayer books, something Rukeyser said "astonished" her, as she had remained distant from Judaism throughout her early life.

Reviews

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muriel Rukeyser describes in vivid detail things that were happening in society at the time Willard Gibbs was making his scientific contributions.