Snow

This book studies C.P. Snow's eleven-volume series of novels (Strangers and Brothers) as documents detailing the social and political life of mid-twentieth-century Britain, and points out the uses for the novels in the academic study of that time period. Both Snow and his central character, Lewis S. Eliot, started from unremarkable origins in terms of their mutual background in the lower reaches of the middle class, their dreams of success in their teen years, and their early professional education in a new, struggling academic institution in the mid-1920s. Neither could really be considered typical for men of their class. Eliot's working life would include being a very minor town clerk, a barrister, an advisor to a powerful industrialist, a Cambridge don, a moderately powerful civil servant, and finally, in early retirement, a writer. Eliot would befriend members of both the traditional and Jewish upper classes, scholars and brilliant scientists, powerful behind-the-scenes civil servants, second-tier British and Nazi politicians, financiers and industrialists, Communists, and writers and artists, providing a fairly broad overview of parts of the middle class and ruling elites of the periods. Snow's sequence of novels is therefore useful to the historian of twentieth-century Britain, both in understanding the period as it recedes away from common experience and in presenting the period in the classroom. Snow was a classic twentieth-century writer who presented a more balanced account of the British «governing classes» of the middle third of the twentieth century than did the upper-class (and would-be upper-class) or working-class writers of the same period. His novels provide an insight that every student of twentieth-century Britain must have on hand.

The book illustrates the fascinating world of the different forms of water — from ice and snow to liquid water. The water molecule, H2O, is the second most common molecule in the Universe (behind hydrogen, H2) and ice is the most abundant solid material. Snow and ice appear in a countless large number of different shapes and with properties which can be quite different. Detailed knowledge of the properties of snow is of great importance for the Sami people involved in reindeer herding and several hundred names are used to characterize the different types. The properties of ice and liquid water are very special and unique in several respects. In contrast to most other substances, the density of ice is lower than that of liquid water, which has many very important consequences in our daily life. Water plays a unique role in chemistry and although tremendous research has been spent on this seemingly simple substance, there are still many unsolved questions about the structure of liquid water. The special properties of water are due to hydrogen bonding between the H2O molecules, and this book may be seen as a tribute to the hydrogen bond. The general properties of the hydrogen bond are treated in three separate papers. The hydrogen bond is of fundamental importance in biological systems since all living matter has evolved from and exists in an aqueous environment and hydrogen bonds are involved in most biological processes. There is a hundred times more water molecules in our bodies than the sum of all the other molecules put together. Contents: There are Many Different Types of SnowEarly Snow Crystal ObservationsArtificial Snow CrystalsSnow and Ice Crystals in NatureSnow for Pleasure and ArtThe Ice Surface and Formation of Ice SpikesStructure and Physical and Chemical Properties of Water and IcePhysical Properties of Water and Ice; Significance in NatureThe Water Molecule is UniqueThe Role of the Lone Pairs in Hydrogen BondingComparison of the Proton Transfer Path in Hydrogen Bonds from Theoretical Potential Energy Surfaces and the Concept of Conservation of Bond OrdersThe Hydrogen Bond in the Solid State Readership: Interested lay readers. Key Features:The book differs from most books on snow as it covers early, historical observations as well as present active research. Some of the snow pictures are unique and illustrate fundamental physical factsThe beauty of snow crystals is amply illustrated, but basic facts about structure and properties are treated as well. Why does ice float on water? Why is the maximum density of water at +4°C?Keywords:Snow;Ice;Water;Hydrogen Bond