Biography.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was born in Bazentin, Picardy, northern France, as the 11th child in an impoverished aristocratic family. Male members of the Lamarck family had traditionally served in the French army. Lamarck's eldest brother was killed in combat at the Siege of Bergen op Zoom, and two other brothers were still in service when Lamarck was in his teenaged years. Yielding to the wishes of his father, Lamarck enrolled in a Jesuit college in Amiens in the late 1750s.  After his father died in 1760, Lamarck bought himself a horse, and rode across the country to join the French army, which was in Germany at the time. Lamarck showed great physical courage on the battlefield in the Pomeranian War with Prussia, and he was even nominated for the lieutenancy. Lamarck's company was left exposed to the direct artillery fire of their enemies, and was quickly reduced to just 14 men—with no officers. One of the men suggested that the puny, 17-year-old volunteer should assume command and order a withdrawal from the field; although Lamarck accepted command, he insisted they remain where they had been posted until relieved.  When their colonel reached the remains of their company, this display of courage and loyalty impressed him so much that Lamarck was promoted to officer on the spot. However, when one of his comrades playfully lifted him by the head, he sustained an inflammation in the lymphatic glands of the neck, and he was sent to Paris to receive treatment. He was awarded a commission and settled at his post in Monaco. There, he encountered "Traité des plantes usuelles", a botany book by James Francis Chomel.  With a reduced pension of only 400 francs a year, Lamarck resolved to pursue a profession. He attempted to study medicine, and supported himself by working in a bank office. Lamarck studied medicine for four years, but gave it up under his elder brother's persuasion. He was interested in botany, especially after his visits to the Jardin du Roi, and he became a student under Bernard de Jussieu, a notable French naturalist. Under Jussieu, Lamarck spent 10 years studying French flora. In 1776, he wrote his first scientific essay—a chemical treatise.  After his studies, in 1778, he published some of his observations and results in a three-volume work, entitled "Flore française". Lamarck's work was respected by many scholars, and it launched him into prominence in French science. On 8 August 1778, Lamarck married Marie Anne Rosalie Delaporte. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, one of the top French scientists of the day, mentored Lamarck, and helped him gain membership to the French Academy of Sciences in 1779 and a commission as a royal botanist in 1781, in which he traveled to foreign botanical gardens and museums. Lamarck's first son, André, was born on 22 April 1781, and he made his colleague André Thouin the child's godfather.  In his two years of travel, Lamarck collected rare plants that were not available in the Royal Garden, and also other objects of natural history, such as minerals and ores, that were not found in French museums. On 7 January 1786, his second son, Antoine, was born, and Lamarck chose Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, Bernard de Jussieu's nephew, as the boy's godfather. On 21 April the following year, Charles René, Lamarck's third son, was born. René Louiche Desfontaines, a professor of botany at the Royal Garden, was the boy's godfather, and Lamarck's elder sister, Marie Charlotte Pelagie De Monet, was the godmother. In 1788, Buffon's successor at the position of Intendant of the Royal Garden, Charles-Claude Flahaut de la Billaderie, comte d'Angiviller, created a position for Lamarck, with a yearly salary of 1,000 francs, as the keeper of the herbarium of the Royal Garden.  In 1790, at the height of the French Revolution, Lamarck changed the name of the Royal Garden from Jardin du Roi to Jardin des Plantes, a name that did not imply such a close association with King Louis XVI. Lamarck had worked as the keeper of the herbarium for five years before he was appointed curator and professor of invertebrate zoology at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in 1793. During his time at the herbarium, Lamarck's wife gave birth to three more children before dying on 27 September 1792. With the official title of "Professeur d'Histoire naturelle des Insectes et des Vers", Lamarck received a salary of nearly 2,500 francs per year. The following year, on 9 October, he married Charlotte Reverdy, who was 30 years his junior. On 26 September 1794 Lamarck was appointed to serve as secretary of the assembly of professors for the museum for a period of one year. In 1797, Charlotte died, and he married Julie Mallet the following year; she died in 1819.  In his first six years as professor, Lamarck published only one paper, in 1798, on the influence of the moon on the Earth's atmosphere. Lamarck began as an essentialist who believed species were unchanging; however, after working on the molluscs of the Paris Basin, he grew convinced that transmutation or change in the nature of a species occurred over time. He set out to develop an explanation, and on 11 May 1800 (the 21st day of "Floreal", Year VIII, in the revolutionary timescale used in France at the time), he presented a lecture at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in which he first outlined his newly developing ideas about evolution.  In 1801, he published "Système des Animaux sans Vertebres", a major work on the classification of invertebrates. In the work, he introduced definitions of natural groups among invertebrates. He categorized echinoderms, arachnids, crustaceans, and annelids, which he separated from the old taxon for worms known as "Vermes". Lamarck was the first to separate arachnids from insects in classification, and he moved crustaceans into a separate class from insects.  In 1802 Lamarck published "Hydrogéologie", and became one of the first to use the term biology in its modern sense. In "Hydrogéologie", Lamarck advocated a steady-state geology based on a strict uniformitarianism. He argued that global currents tended to flow from east to west, and continents eroded on their eastern borders, with the material carried across to be deposited on the western borders. Thus, the Earth's continents marched steadily westward around the globe.  That year, he also published "Recherches sur l'Organisation des Corps Vivants", in which he drew out his theory on evolution. He believed that all life was organized in a vertical chain, with gradation between the lowest forms and the highest forms of life, thus demonstrating a path to progressive developments in nature.  In his own work, Lamarck had favored the then-more traditional theory based on the classical four elements. During Lamarck's lifetime, he became controversial, attacking the more enlightened chemistry proposed by Lavoisier. He also came into conflict with the widely respected palaeontologist Georges Cuvier, who was not a supporter of evolution. According to Peter J. Bowler, Cuvier "ridiculed Lamarck's theory of transformation and defended the fixity of species." According to Martin J. S. Rudwick:  Lamarck gradually turned blind; he died in Paris on 18 December 1829. When he died, his family was so poor, they had to apply to the Academie for financial assistance. Lamarck was buried in a common grave of the Montparnasse cemetery for just five years, according to the grant obtained from relatives. Later, the body was dug up along with other remains and was lost. Lamarck's books and the contents of his home were sold at auction, and his body was buried in a temporary lime pit. After his death, Cuvier used the form of a eulogy to denigrate Lamarck:

Lamarckian evolution.

While he was working on "Hydrogéologie" (1802), Lamarck had the idea to apply the principle of erosion to biology. This led him to the basic principle of evolution, which saw the fluids in organs inheriting more complex forms and functions, thus passing on these traits to the organism's descendants. This was a reversal from Lamarck's previous view, published in his "Memoirs of Physics and Natural History" (1797), in which he briefly refers to the immutability of species.  Lamarck stressed two main themes in his biological work (neither of them to do with soft inheritance). The first was that the environment gives rise to changes in animals. He cited examples of blindness in moles, the presence of teeth in mammals and the absence of teeth in birds as evidence of this principle. The second principle was that life was structured in an orderly manner and that many different parts of all bodies make possible the organic movements of animals.  Although he was not the first thinker to advocate organic evolution, he was the first to develop a truly coherent evolutionary theory. He outlined his theories regarding evolution first in his "Floreal" lecture of 1800, and then in three later published works:  Lamarck employed several mechanisms as drivers of evolution, drawn from the common knowledge of his day and from his own belief in the chemistry before Lavoisier. He used these mechanisms to explain the two forces he saw as constituting evolution: force driving animals from simple to complex forms and a force adapting animals to their local environments and differentiating them from each other. He believed that these forces must be explained as a necessary consequence of basic physical principles, favoring a materialistic attitude toward biology.

"Le pouvoir de la vie": The complexifying force.

Lamarck referred to a tendency for organisms to become more complex, moving "up" a ladder of progress. He referred to this phenomenon as "Le pouvoir de la vie" or "la force qui tend sans cesse à composer l'organisation" (The force that perpetually tends to make order). Lamarck believed in the ongoing spontaneous generation of simple living organisms through action on physical matter by a material life force.  Lamarck ran against the modern chemistry promoted by Lavoisier (whose ideas he regarded with disdain), preferring to embrace a more traditional alchemical view of the elements as influenced primarily by earth, air, fire, and water. He asserted that once living organisms form, the movements of fluids in living organisms naturally drove them to evolve toward ever greater levels of complexity:  He argued that organisms thus moved from simple to complex in a steady, predictable way based on the fundamental physical principles of alchemy. In this view, simple organisms never disappeared because they were constantly being created by spontaneous generation in what has been described as a "steady-state biology". Lamarck saw spontaneous generation as being ongoing, with the simple organisms thus created being transmuted over time becoming more complex. He is sometimes regarded as believing in a teleological (goal-oriented) process where organisms became more perfect as they evolved, though as a materialist, he emphasized that these forces must originate necessarily from underlying physical principles. According to the paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn, "Lamarck denied, absolutely, the existence of any 'perfecting tendency' in nature, and regarded evolution as the final necessary effect of surrounding conditions on life." Charles Coulston Gillispie, a historian of science, has written "life is a purely physical phenomenon in Lamarck", and argued that Lamarck's views should not be confused with the vitalist school of thought.

"L'influence des circonstances": The adaptive force.

The second component of Lamarck's theory of evolution was the adaptation of organisms to their environment. This could move organisms upward from the ladder of progress into new and distinct forms with local adaptations. It could also drive organisms into evolutionary blind alleys, where the organism became so finely adapted that no further change could occur. Lamarck argued that this adaptive force was powered by the interaction of organisms with their environment, by the use and disuse of certain characteristics.

Second law: inheritance of acquired characteristics.

The last clause of this law introduces what is now called soft inheritance, the inheritance of acquired characteristics, or simply "Lamarckism", though it forms only a part of Lamarck's thinking. However, in the field of epigenetics, evidence is growing that soft inheritance plays a part in the changing of some organisms' phenotypes; it leaves the genetic material (DNA) unaltered (thus not violating the central dogma of biology) but prevents the expression of genes, such as by methylation to modify DNA transcription; this can be produced by changes in behaviour and environment. Many epigenetic changes are heritable to a degree. Thus, while DNA itself is not directly altered by the environment and behavior except through selection, the relationship of the genotype to the phenotype can be altered, even across generations, by experience within the lifetime of an individual. This has led to calls for biology to reconsider Lamarckian processes in evolution in light of modern advances in molecular biology.

Religious views.

In his book "Philosophie Zoologique", Lamarck referred to God as the "sublime author of nature". Lamarck's religious views are examined in the book "Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution" (1901) by Alpheus Packard. According to Packard from Lamarck's writings, he may be regarded as a deist.  The philosopher of biology Michael Ruse described Lamarck, "as believing in God as an unmoved mover, creator of the world and its laws, who refuses to intervene miraculously in his creation." Biographer James Moore described Lamarck as a "thoroughgoing deist".  The historian Jacques Roger has written, "Lamarck was a materialist to the extent that he did not consider it necessary to have recourse to any spiritual principle... his deism remained vague, and his idea of creation did not prevent him from believing everything in nature, including the highest forms of life, was but the result of natural processes."

Legacy.

Lamarck's theory of evolution only achieved fame after the publication of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" (1859), which spurred critics of Darwin's new theory to fall back on Lamarckian evolution as a more well-established alternative.  Lamarck is usually remembered for his belief in the then commonly held theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics, and the "use and disuse" model by which organisms developed their characteristics. Lamarck incorporated this belief into his theory of evolution, along with other common beliefs of the time, such as spontaneous generation. The inheritance of acquired characteristics (also called the theory of adaptation or soft inheritance) was rejected by August Weismann in the 1880s when he developed a theory of inheritance in which germ plasm (the sex cells, later redefined as DNA), remained separate and distinct from the soma (the rest of the body); thus, nothing which happens to the soma may be passed on with the germ plasm. This model underlies the modern understanding of inheritance.  Lamarck constructed one of the first theoretical frameworks of organic evolution. While this theory was generally rejected during his lifetime, Stephen Jay Gould argues that Lamarck was the "primary evolutionary theorist", in that his ideas, and the way in which he structured his theory, set the tone for much of the subsequent thinking in evolutionary biology, through to the present day. Developments in epigenetics, the study of cellular and physiological traits that are heritable by daughter cells and not caused by changes in the DNA sequence, have caused debate about whether a "neolamarckist" view of inheritance could be correct: Lamarck was not in a position to give a molecular explanation for his theory. Eva Jablonka and Marion Lamb, for example, call themselves neolamarckists. Reviewing the evidence, David Haig observes that any such mechanisms must themselves have evolved through natural selection.  Darwin allowed a role for use and disuse as an evolutionary mechanism subsidiary to natural selection, most often in respect of "disuse". He praised Lamarck for "the eminent service of arousing attention to the probability of all change in the organic... world, being the result of law, not miraculous interposition". "Lamarckism" is also occasionally used to describe quasi-evolutionary concepts in societal contexts, though not by Lamarck himself. For example, the memetic theory of cultural evolution is sometimes described as a form of Lamarckian inheritance of nongenetic traits.

Species and other taxa named by Lamarck.

During his lifetime, Lamarck named a large number of species, many of which have become synonyms. The World Register of Marine Species gives no fewer than 1,634 records. The Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database gives 1,781 records. Among these are some well-known families such as the ark clams (Arcidae), the sea hares (Aplysiidae), and the cockles (Cardiidae). The International Plant Names Index gives 58 records, including a number of well-known genera such as the mosquito fern ("Azolla").

Species named in his honour.

The honeybee subspecies "Apis mellifera lamarckii" is named after Lamarck, as well as the bluefire jellyfish ("Cyaneia lamarckii"). A number of plants have also been named after him, including "Amelanchier lamarckii" (juneberry), "Digitalis lamarckii", and "Aconitum lamarckii", as well as the grass genus "Lamarckia".  The International Plant Names Index gives 116 records of plant species named after Lamarck.  Among the marine species, no fewer than 103 species or genera carry the epithet ""lamarcki"", ""lamarckii"" or ""lamarckiana"", but many have since become synonyms. Marine species with valid names include:

Major works.

On invertebrate classification:

Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist. He was a soldier, biologist, and academic, and an early proponent of the idea that biological evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws.

Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, rytíř de Lamarck (1. srpna 1744 – 18. prosince 1829) byl francouzský přírodovědec a autor první ucelené evoluční teorie (lamarckismu). Poprvé použil termíny bezobratlí a biologie. V roce 1779 byl jmenován členem akademie věd. Jeho jméno nese měsíční kráter Lamarck a ostrov Lamarck v Antarktidě.


Characteristics.

Physical characteristics.

The three most common arsenic allotropes are gray, yellow, and black arsenic, with gray being the most common. Gray arsenic (α-As, space group Rm No. 166) adopts a double-layered structure consisting of many interlocked, ruffled, six-membered rings. Because of weak bonding between the layers, gray arsenic is brittle and has a relatively low Mohs hardness of 3.5. Nearest and next-nearest neighbors form a distorted octahedral complex, with the three atoms in the same double-layer being slightly closer than the three atoms in the next. This relatively close packing leads to a high density of 5.73 g/cm. Gray arsenic is a

Isotopes.

Arsenic occurs in nature as a monoisotopic element, composed of one stable isotope, As. As of 2003, at least 33 radioisotopes have also been synthesized, ranging in atomic mass from 60 to 92. The most stable of these is As with a half-life of 80.30 days. All other isotopes have half-lives of under one

Chemistry.

Arsenic has a similar electronegativity and ionization energies to its lighter congener phosphorus and as such readily forms covalent molecules with most of the nonmetals. Though stable in dry air, arsenic forms a golden-bronze tarnish upon exposure to humidity which eventually becomes a black surface layer. When heated in air, arsenic oxidizes to arsenic trioxide; the fumes from this reaction have an odor resembling garlic. This odor can be detected on striking arsenide minerals such as arsenopyrite with a hammer. It burns in oxygen to form arsenic trioxide and arsenic pentoxide, which have the same structure as the more well-known phosphorus compounds,

Compounds.

Compounds of arsenic resemble in some respects those of phosphorus which occupies the same group (column) of the periodic table. The most common oxidation states for arsenic are: −3 in the arsenides, which are alloy-like intermetallic compounds, +3 in the arsenites, and +5 in the arsenates and most organoarsenic compounds. Arsenic also bonds readily to itself as seen in the square As ions in the mineral skutterudite. In the +3 oxidation state, arsenic is typically pyramidal owing to the influence of the lone pair of electrons.

Inorganic compounds.

One of the simplest arsenic compound is the trihydride, the highly toxic, flammable, pyrophoric arsine (AsH). This compound is generally regarded as stable, since at room temperature it decomposes only slowly. At temperatures of 250–300 °C decomposition to arsenic and hydrogen is rapid. Several factors, such as humidity, presence of light and certain catalysts (namely aluminium) facilitate the rate of decomposition. It oxidises readily in air to form arsenic trioxide and water, and analogous reactions take place with sulfur and selenium instead of oxygen.  Arsenic forms colorless, odorless, crystalline oxides AsO ("white arsenic") and AsO which are hygroscopic and readily soluble in water to form acidic solutions. Arsenic(V) acid is a weak acid and the salts are called arsenates, the most common arsenic contamination of groundwater, and a problem that affects many people. Synthetic

Alloys.

Arsenic is used as the group 5 element in the III-V semiconductors gallium arsenide, indium arsenide, and aluminium arsenide. The valence electron count of GaAs is the same as a pair of Si atoms, but the band structure is completely different which results in distinct bulk properties. Other arsenic alloys include the II-V semiconductor cadmium arsenide.

Organoarsenic compounds.

A large variety of organoarsenic compounds are known. Several were developed as chemical warfare agents during World War I, including vesicants such as lewisite and vomiting agents such as adamsite. Cacodylic acid, which is of

Occurrence and production.

Arsenic comprises about 1.5 ppm (0.00015%) of the Earth's crust, and is the 53rd most abundant element. Typical background concentrations of arsenic do not exceed 3 ng/m in the atmosphere; 100 mg/kg in soil; and 10 μg/L in freshwater.  Minerals with the formula MAsS and MAs (M = Fe, Ni, Co) are the dominant commercial sources of arsenic, together with realgar (an arsenic sulfide mineral) and native (elemental) arsenic. An illustrative mineral is arsenopyrite (FeAsS), which is structurally related to iron pyrite. Many minor As-containing minerals

History.

The word "arsenic" has its origin in the Syriac word "(al) zarniqa", from Arabic al-zarnīḵ ‘the orpiment’, based on Persian zar ‘gold’ from the word "zarnikh", meaning "yellow" (literally "gold-colored") and hence "(yellow) orpiment". It was adopted into Greek as "arsenikon" (), a form that is folk etymology, being the neuter form of the Greek word "arsenikos" (), meaning "male", "virile". The Greek word was adopted in Latin as "arsenicum", which in French became "arsenic", from which the English word arsenic is taken. Arsenic sulfides (orpiment, realgar) and oxides have been known and used since ancient times. Zosimos (circa 300 AD) describes roasting "sandarach" (realgar) to obtain "cloud of arsenic" (arsenic trioxide), which he then reduces to gray arsenic. As the symptoms of arsenic poisoning are not very specific, it was frequently used for murder until the advent of the Marsh test, a sensitive chemical test for its presence. (Another less sensitive but more general test is the Reinsch test.) Owing to its use by the ruling class to murder one another and its potency and discreetness, arsenic has been called the "poison of kings" and the "king of poisons".  During the Bronze Age, arsenic was often included in bronze, which made the alloy harder (so-called

Applications.

Agricultural.

The toxicity of arsenic to insects, bacteria, and fungi led to its use as a wood preservative. In the 1930s, a process of treating wood with chromated copper arsenate (also known as CCA or Tanalith) was invented, and for decades, this treatment was the most extensive industrial use of arsenic. An increased appreciation of the toxicity of arsenic led to a ban of CCA in consumer products in 2004, initiated by the European Union and United States. However, CCA remains in heavy use in other countries (such as on Malaysian rubber plantations).  Arsenic was also used in various agricultural insecticides and poisons. For example, lead hydrogen arsenate was a common insecticide on fruit trees, but contact with the compound sometimes resulted in brain damage among those working the sprayers. In the second half of the 20th century, monosodium methyl arsenate (MSMA) and disodium methyl arsenate (DSMA) – less toxic organic forms of arsenic – replaced lead arsenate in agriculture. These organic arsenicals were in turn phased out by 2013 in all agricultural activities except cotton farming.  The biogeochemistry of arsenic is complex and includes various adsorption and desorption

Medical use.

During the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, a number of arsenic compounds were used as medicines, including arsphenamine (by Paul Ehrlich) and arsenic trioxide (by Thomas Fowler). Arsphenamine, as well as neosalvarsan, was indicated for syphilis, but has been superseded by modern antibiotics. However, arsenicals such as melarsoprol are still used for the treatment of trypanosomiasis, since although these drugs suffer from severe toxicity, the disease is almost uniformly fatal if untreated.  Arsenic trioxide has been used in a variety of ways over the past 500

Alloys.

The main use of arsenic is in alloying with lead. Lead components in car batteries are strengthened by the presence of a very small percentage of arsenic. Dezincification of brass (a copper-zinc alloy) is greatly reduced by the addition of arsenic. "Phosphorus Deoxidized Arsenical

Military.

After World War I, the United States built a stockpile of 20,000 tons of weaponized lewisite (ClCH=CHAsCl), an organoarsenic vesicant (blister agent) and lung irritant. The stockpile was neutralized with

Biological role.

Bacteria.

Some species of bacteria obtain their energy in the absence of oxygen by oxidizing various fuels while reducing arsenate to arsenite. Under oxidative environmental conditions some bacteria use arsenite as fuel, which they oxidize to arsenate. The enzymes involved are known as arsenate reductases (Arr).  In 2008, bacteria were discovered that employ a version of photosynthesis in the absence of oxygen with arsenites as electron donors, producing arsenates (just as ordinary photosynthesis

Essential trace element in higher animals.

Some evidence indicates that arsenic is an essential trace mineral in birds (chickens), and in mammals (rats, hamsters, and goats). However, the biological function is not known.

Heredity.

Arsenic has been linked to epigenetic changes, heritable changes in gene expression that occur without changes in DNA sequence. These include DNA methylation, histone modification, and RNA interference. Toxic levels of arsenic cause significant DNA hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes p16 and p53, thus increasing risk of carcinogenesis. These epigenetic events have been studied "in

Biomethylation.

Inorganic arsenic and its compounds, upon entering the food chain, are progressively metabolized through a process of methylation. For example, the mold "Scopulariopsis brevicaulis" produces significant amounts of trimethylarsine if inorganic arsenic is present. The organic compound

Environmental issues.

Exposure.

Naturally occurring sources of human exposure include volcanic ash, weathering of minerals and ores, and mineralized groundwater. Arsenic is also found in food, water, soil, and air. Arsenic is

Occurrence in drinking water.

Extensive arsenic contamination of groundwater has led to widespread arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh and neighboring countries. It is estimated that approximately 57 million people in the Bengal basin are drinking groundwater with arsenic concentrations elevated above the World Health Organization's standard of 10 parts per billion (ppb). However, a study of cancer rates in Taiwan suggested that significant increases in cancer mortality appear only at levels above 150 ppb. The arsenic in the groundwater is of natural origin, and is released from the sediment into the groundwater, caused by the anoxic conditions of the subsurface. This groundwater was used after local and western NGOs and the Bangladeshi government undertook a massive shallow tube well drinking-water program in the late twentieth century. This program was designed to prevent drinking of bacteria-contaminated surface waters, but failed to test for arsenic in the groundwater. Many other countries and districts in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam and Cambodia, have geological environments that produce groundwater with a high arsenic content. was reported in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand in 1987, and the Chao Phraya River probably contains high levels of naturally occurring dissolved arsenic without being a public health problem because much of the public uses bottled water. In Pakistan, more than 60 million people are exposed to arsenic polluted drinking water indicated by a recent report of Science. Podgorski's team investigated more than 1200 samples and more than 66% samples exceeded the WHO minimum contamination level.  In the United States, arsenic is most commonly found in the ground waters of the southwest. Parts of New England, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas are also known to have significant concentrations of arsenic in ground water. Increased levels of skin cancer have been associated with arsenic exposure in Wisconsin, even at levels below the 10 part per billion drinking water standard. According to a recent film funded by the US Superfund, millions of private wells have unknown arsenic levels, and in some areas of the US, more than 20% of the wells may contain levels that exceed established limits.  Low-level exposure to arsenic at concentrations of 100 parts per billion (i.e., above the 10 parts per billion drinking water standard) compromises the initial immune response to H1N1 or swine flu infection according to NIEHS-supported scientists. The study, conducted in laboratory mice, suggests that people exposed to arsenic in their drinking water

Redox transformation of arsenic in natural waters.

Arsenic is unique among the trace metalloids and oxyanion-forming trace metals (e.g. As, Se, Sb, Mo, V, Cr, U, Re). It is sensitive to mobilization at pH values typical of natural waters (pH 6.5–8.5) under both oxidizing and reducing conditions. Arsenic can occur in the environment in several oxidation states (−3, 0, +3 and +5), but in natural waters it is mostly found in inorganic forms as oxyanions of trivalent arsenite [As(III)] or pentavalent arsenate [As(V)]. Organic forms of arsenic are produced by biological activity, mostly in surface waters, but are rarely quantitatively important. Organic arsenic compounds may, however, occur where waters are significantly impacted by industrial pollution.  Arsenic may be solubilized by various processes. When pH is high, arsenic may be released from surface

Wood preservation in the US.

As of 2002, US-based industries consumed 19,600 metric tons of arsenic. Ninety percent of this was used for treatment of wood with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). In 2007, 50% of the 5,280 metric tons of consumption was still used for this purpose. In the United States, the voluntary phasing-out of arsenic in production of consumer products and residential and general consumer construction products began on 31 December 2003, and alternative chemicals are now used, such as Alkaline Copper Quaternary, borates, copper azole, cyproconazole, and propiconazole.  Although discontinued, this application is also one of the most concerning to the general public. The vast majority of older

Mapping of industrial releases in the US.

One tool that maps the location (and other information) of arsenic releases in the United State is TOXMAP. TOXMAP is a Geographic Information System (GIS) from the Division of Specialized Information Services of the United States National Library of

Bioremediation.

Physical, chemical, and biological methods have been used to remediate arsenic contaminated water. Bioremediation is said to be cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Bioremediation of ground water contaminated with arsenic aims to convert arsenite, the toxic form of arsenic to humans, to arsenate. Arsenate (+5 oxidation state) is the dominant form of arsenic in surface water, while arsenite (+3 oxidation state) is the dominant form in hypoxic to anoxic

Toxicity and precautions.

Arsenic and many of its compounds are especially potent poisons.

Classification.

Elemental arsenic and arsenic sulfate and trioxide compounds are classified as "toxic" and "dangerous for the environment" in the European Union under directive 67/548/EEC.  The International Agency for Research on Cancer

Legal limits, food, and drink.

In the United States since 2006, the maximum concentration in drinking water allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 10 ppb and the FDA set the same standard in 2005 for bottled water. The Department of Environmental Protection for New Jersey set a drinking water limit of 5 ppb in 2006. The IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) value for arsenic metal and inorganic arsenic compounds is 5 mg/m (5 ppb). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set the permissible exposure limit (PEL) to a time-weighted average (TWA) of 0.01 mg/m (0.01 ppb), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set the recommended exposure limit (REL) to a 15-minute constant exposure of 0.002 mg/m (0.002 ppb). The PEL for organic arsenic compounds is a TWA of 0.5 mg/m. (0.5 ppb).  In 2008, based on its ongoing testing of a wide variety of American foods for toxic chemicals, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set the "level of concern" for inorganic arsenic in apple and pear juices at 23 ppb, based on non-carcinogenic effects, and began blocking importation of products in excess of this level; it also required recalls for non-conforming domestic products. In 2011, the

Ecotoxicity.

Arsenic is bioaccumulative in many organisms, marine species in particular, but it does not appear to biomagnify significantly in food webs. In polluted areas, plant growth may be

Biological mechanism.

Arsenic's toxicity comes from the affinity of arsenic(III) oxides for thiols. Thiols, in the form of cysteine residues and cofactors such as lipoic acid and coenzyme A, are situated at the active sites of many important enzymes.  Arsenic disrupts ATP production through several mechanisms. At the level of the citric acid cycle, arsenic inhibits

Exposure risks and remediation.

Occupational exposure and arsenic poisoning may occur in persons working in industries involving the use of inorganic arsenic and its compounds, such as wood preservation, glass production, nonferrous metal alloys, and electronic semiconductor manufacturing. Inorganic arsenic is also found in coke oven emissions associated

Treatment.

Treatment of chronic arsenic poisoning is possible. British anti-lewisite (dimercaprol) is prescribed in doses of 5 mg/kg up to 300 mg every 4 hours for the first day, then every 6 hours for the second day, and finally every 8 hours for 8 additional days. However

Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but only the gray form, which has a metallic appearance, is important to industry.

Arsen (chemická značka As, "Arsenicum"; někdy se používá též název a"rzén") je toxický polokovový prvek, známý již od starověku. Jeho současné uplatnění se nachází v oblasti metalurgie jako součást speciálních slitin a v polovodičovém průmyslu.


Origins.

The surname "Bruce" comes from the French "de Brus" or "de Bruis", derived from the lands now called "Brix", France. There is no evidence to support a claim that a member of the family, 'Robert de Brix', served under William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England. This notion is now believed to have originated in unreliable lists, derived from the later Middle Ages, of people who supposedly fought at the Battle of Hastings.  Both the English and Scots lines of the Brus/Bruce family demonstrably descend from Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale who came to England in 1106. Robert de Brus was a companion-in-arms of Prince David, later David I of Scotland. In 1124 he followed David north to reclaim his kingdom. When a civil war broke out in England between Empress Matilda and her cousin, Stephen, David I of Scotland led a force into England. However de Brus did not follow David and instead joined the English and at the Battle of the Standard in 1138 he took prisoner his own son, who was now Lord of the lands of Annandale. Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale died on 11 May 1141 and was buried at Gysburn.

Foundation of the royal line.

The foundation for the Bruce royal claim came in 1219 when Robert Bruce, 4th Lord of Annandale married Isobel of Huntingdon, daughter of David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon and niece of William the Lion. The union brought both great wealth, with the addition of lands in both England and Scotland. Their son, Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale, known as 'the competitor' was sometime Tanist (a particularly Gaelic type of heir) to the throne. On the death of Alexander III of Scotland both Bruce and John Balliol claimed succession. Margaret, Alexander's infant granddaughter was named as heir, however, she died in 1290 travelling to Scotland to claim her throne. Soon after the death of young queen Margaret, fearing civil war between the Bruce and Balliol families and their supporters, the Guardians of Scotland asked the kingdom's southern neighbour, Edward I of England to arbitrate among the claimants in order to avoid civil war. Edward I saw this as the opportunity he had long been waiting for to conquer Scotland as he had conquered Wales and rule over all the British Isles. In 1292 Edward chose Balliol who swore allegiance to the English monarch. It was not long, however, before Balliol rebelled against Edward, eventually leading to John's defeat and forced abdication after the Battle of Dunbar in 1296.

Ascent to the throne.

With the abdication of John Balliol, Scotland was effectively without a monarch. Robert the Bruce swore allegiance to Edward at Berwick-upon-Tweed but breached this oath when he joined the Scottish revolt the following year. In the summer of 1297 he again swore allegiance to Edward in what is known as the Capitulation of Irvine. Bruce appears to have sided with the Scots during the Battle of Stirling Bridge but when Edward returned victorious to England after the Battle of Falkirk, Bruce's lands of Annandale and Carrick were exempted from the lordships and lands which Edward assigned to his followers. Bruce, it seems, was seen as a man whose allegiance might still be won.  Bruce and John Comyn (a rival for the throne) succeeded William Wallace as Guardians of Scotland, but their rivalry threatened the stability of the country. A meeting was arranged at Greyfriars Church, Dumfries which was neutral ground, but Bruce stabbed Comyn through the heart, and as a result was excommunicated by Pope Clement V. Nevertheless, Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland at Scone, Perthshire in 1306. However, soon after he was forced by the English to retreat into Argyll, in an attempt to reach his Clan Campbell allies. The Clan MacDougall, whose chief was the uncle of John Comyn who Bruce had murdered, surprised the Bruce and defeated him in what was known as the Battle of Dalrigh. The king escaped but left behind what was described as a magnificent example of Celtic jewellery, known as the "Brooch of Lorne" and it became one of the Clan MacDougall's great treasures. Three years later Robert the Bruce led three thousand battle hardened veterans into Argyll against the MacDougalls. John MacDougall of Lorne set an ambush for them but in the ensuing Battle of the Pass of Brander the MacDougalls were defeated and forced to flee. The MacDougalls' lands were then forfeited by the king and he gave them to the Campbells for their loyalty. Robert the Bruce led the Scottish army at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 where the English were defeated.  In 1334 Thomas Bruce, who claimed kinship with the royal house of Bruce, organized a rising in the Kyle, along with Robert Stewart (later Robert II of Scotland) against the English.

After Robert the Bruce.

Robert the Bruce's son, David II of Scotland became king on his father's death in 1329. In 1346 under the terms of the Auld Alliance David marched south into England in the interests of France, but was defeated at the Battle of Neville's Cross and imprisoned on 17 October of that year, and remained in England for eleven years. David returned to Scotland after negotiation of a treaty and ruled there until he died in Edinburgh Castle unexpectedly in 1371 without issue. The line of succession passed to the House of Stewart.  Sir Edward Bruce was made commendator of Kinloss Abbey and was appointed a judge in 1597. He was appointed a Lord of Parliament with the title of Lord Kinloss in 1601. Edward Bruce accompanied James VI to claim his English throne in 1603. As a result, he was subsequently appointed to English judicial office as Master of the Rolls. He was granted a barony as Lord Bruce of Kinloss in 1608. In 1633 his son, Thomas, was created first Earl of Elgin. When the fourth Earl died without issue, the title passed to the descendants of Sir George Bruce of Carnock, who already held the title Earl of Kincardine and in 1747 the Earldoms were united.  Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin was a diplomat and ambassador to the Ottoman Empire between 1799 and 1803. He spent much of his fortune smuggling marble sculptures from the Athens Parthenon out of the Ottoman Empire. They are now commonly referred to as the Elgin Marbles. His son, James, was Governor General of the Province of Canada and Viceroy of India.

Clan Chief.

The current Chief, Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin, is prominent in Scottish affairs and is convener of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.

Castles.

Castles that have belonged to the Clan Bruce include:

Clan Bruce () is a Lowlands Scottish clan. It was a Royal House in the 14th century, producing two kings of Scotland (Robert the Bruce and David II of Scotland), and a disputed High King of Ireland, Edward Bruce.

Rod de Bruce (v počátcích také de Brus, le Brus) je skotský šlechtický rod. Během 14. století byli dva jeho členové skotskými králi.


Biblical account.

Origins and calling.

Terah, the ninth in descent from Noah, was the father of three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. The entire family, including grandchildren, lived in Ur of the Chaldees. According to a midrash, Abram worked in Terah's idol shop in his youth. Haran was the father of Lot, and thus Lot was Abram's nephew. Haran died in his native city, Ur of the Chaldees.  Abram married Sarah (Sarai), who was barren. Terah, with Abram, Sarai, and Lot, then departed for Canaan, but settled in a place named Haran, where Terah died at the age of 205. God had told Abram to leave his country and kindred and go to a land that he would show him, and promised to make of him a great nation, bless him, make his name great, bless them that bless him, and curse them who may curse him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and the substance and souls that they had acquired, and traveled to Shechem in Canaan.

Sarai.

There was a severe famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram and Lot and their households traveled to Egypt. On the way Abram told Sarai to say that she was his sister, so that the Egyptians would not kill him. When they entered Egypt, the Pharaoh's officials praised Sarai's beauty to Pharaoh, and they took her into the palace and gave Abram goods in exchange. God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with plagues, which led Pharaoh to try to find out what was wrong. Upon discovering that Sarai was a married woman, Pharaoh demanded that Abram and Sarai leave.

Abram and Lot separate.

When they came back to the Bethel and Hai area, Abram's and Lot's sizable herds occupied the same pastures. This became a problem for the herdsmen who were assigned to each family's cattle. The conflicts between herdsmen had become so troublesome that Abram suggested that Lot choose a separate area, either on the left hand or on the right hand, that there be no conflict amongst brethren. Lot chose to go eastward to the plain of Jordan where the land was well watered everywhere as far as Zoar, and he dwelled in the cities of the plain toward Sodom. Abram went south to Hebron and settled in the plain of Mamre, where he built another altar to worship God.

Chedorlaomer.

During the rebellion of the Jordan River cities against Elam, Abram's nephew, Lot, was taken prisoner along with his entire household by the invading Elamite forces. The Elamite army came to collect the spoils of war, after having just defeated the king of Sodom's armies. Lot and his family, at the time, were settled on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Sodom which made them a visible target.  One person who escaped capture came and told Abram what happened. Once Abram received this news, he immediately assembled 318 trained servants. Abram's force headed north in pursuit of the Elamite army, who were already worn down from the Battle of Siddim. When they caught up with them at Dan, Abram devised a battle plan by splitting his group into more than one unit, and launched a night raid. Not only were they able to free the captives, Abram's unit chased and slaughtered the Elamite King Chedorlaomer at Hobah, just north of Damascus. They freed Lot, as well as his household and possessions, and recovered all of the goods from Sodom that had been taken.  Upon Abram's return, Sodom's king came out to meet with him in the Valley of Shaveh, the "king's dale". Also, Melchizedek king of Salem (Jerusalem), a priest of God Most High, brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram and God. Abram then gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. The king of Sodom then offered to let Abram keep all the possessions if he would merely return his people. Abram refused any deal from the king of Sodom, other than the share to which his allies were entitled.

Covenant of the pieces.

The voice of the Lord came to Abram in a vision and repeated the promise of the land and descendants as numerous as the stars. Abram and God made a covenant ceremony, and God told of the future bondage of Israel in Egypt. God described to Abram the land that his offspring would claim: the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaims, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.

Hagar.

Abram and Sarai tried to make sense of how he would become a progenitor of nations, because after 10 years of living in Canaan, no child had been born. Sarai then offered her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, to Abram with the intention that she would bear him a son.  After Hagar found she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress, Sarai. Sarai responded by mistreating Hagar, and Hagar fled into the wilderness. An angel spoke with Hagar at the fountain on the way to Shur. He instructed her to return to the camp of Abram, and that her son would be "a wild ass of a man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren." She was told to call her son Ishmael. Hagar then called God who spoke to her "El-roi", ("Thou God seest me:" KJV). From that day onward, the well was called Beer-lahai-roi, ("The well of him that liveth and seeth me." KJV margin). She then did as she was instructed by returning to her mistress in order to have her child. Abram was 86 years of age when Ishmael was born.

Sarah.

Thirteen years later, when Abram was 99 years of age, God declared Abram's new name: "Abraham" – "a father of many nations". Abraham then received the instructions for the covenant, of which circumcision was to be the sign.  God declared Sarai's new name: "Sarah", blessed her, and told Abraham, "I will give thee a son also of her". Abraham laughed, and "said in his heart, 'Shall a "child" be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?'" Immediately after Abraham's encounter with God, he had his entire household of men, including himself (age 99) and Ishmael (age 13), circumcised.

Three visitors.

Not long afterward, during the heat of the day, Abraham had been sitting at the entrance of his tent by the terebinths of Mamre. He looked up and saw three men in the presence of God. Then he ran and bowed to the ground to welcome them. Abraham then offered to wash their feet and fetch them a morsel of bread, to which they assented. Abraham rushed to Sarah's tent to order cakes made from choice flour, then he ordered a servant-boy to prepare a choice calf. When all was prepared, he set curds, milk and the calf before them, waiting on them, under a tree, as they ate.  One of the visitors told Abraham that upon his return next year, Sarah would have a son. While at the tent entrance, Sarah overheard what was said and she laughed to herself about the prospect of having a child at their ages. The visitor inquired of Abraham why Sarah laughed at bearing a child at her age, as nothing is too hard for God. Frightened, Sarah denied laughing.

Abraham's plea.

After eating, Abraham and the three visitors got up. They walked over to the peak that overlooked the 'cities of the plain' to discuss the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah for their detestable sins that were so great, it moved God to action. Because Abraham's nephew was living in Sodom, God revealed plans to confirm and judge these cities. At this point, the two other visitors left for Sodom. Then Abraham turned to God and pleaded decrementally with Him (from fifty persons to less) that "if there were at least ten righteous men found in the city, would not God spare the city?" For the sake of ten righteous people, God declared that he would not destroy the city.  When the two visitors got to Sodom to conduct their report, they planned on staying in the city square. However, Abraham's nephew, Lot, met with them and strongly insisted that these two "men" stay at his house for the night. A rally of men stood outside of Lot's home and demanded that Lot bring out his guests so that they may "know" (v.5) them. However, Lot objected and offered his virgin daughters who had not "known" (v.8) man to the rally of men instead. They rejected that notion and sought to break down Lot's door to get to his male guests, thus confirming the wickedness of the city and portending their imminent destruction.  Early the next morning, Abraham went to the place where he stood before God. He "looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah" and saw what became of the cities of the plain, where not even "ten righteous" (v.18:32) had been found, as "the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace."

Abimelech.

Abraham settled between Kadesh and Shur in the land of the Philistines. While he was living in Gerar, Abraham openly claimed that Sarah was his sister. Upon discovering this news, King Abimelech had her brought to him. God then came to Abimelech in a dream and declared that taking her would result in death because she was a man's wife. Abimelech had not laid hands on her, so he inquired if he would also slay a righteous nation, especially since Abraham had claimed that he and Sarah were siblings. In response, God told Abimelech that he did indeed have a blameless heart and that is why he continued to exist. However, should he not return the wife of Abraham back to him, God would surely destroy Abimelech and his entire household. Abimelech was informed that Abraham was a prophet who would pray for him.  Early next morning, Abimelech informed his servants of his dream and approached Abraham inquiring as to why he had brought such great guilt upon his kingdom. Abraham stated that he thought there was no fear of God in that place, and that they might kill him for his wife. Then Abraham defended what he had said as not being a lie at all: "And yet indeed "she is" my sister; she "is" the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham, and gave him gifts of sheep, oxen, and servants; and invited him to settle wherever he pleased in Abimelech's lands. Further, Abimelech gave Abraham a thousand pieces of silver to serve as Sarah's vindication before all. Abraham then prayed for Abimelech and his household, since God had stricken the women with infertility because of the taking of Sarah.  After living for some time in the land of the Philistines, Abimelech and Phicol, the chief of his troops, approached Abraham because of a dispute that resulted in a violent confrontation at a well. Abraham then reproached Abimelech due to his Philistine servant's aggressive attacks and the seizing of Abraham's well. Abimelech claimed ignorance of the incident. Then Abraham offered a pact by providing sheep and oxen to Abimelech. Further, to attest that Abraham was the one who dug the well, he also gave Abimelech seven ewes for proof. Because of this sworn oath, they called the place of this well: Beersheba. After Abimelech and Phicol headed back to Philistia, Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called upon "the name of the, the everlasting God."

Isaac.

As had been prophesied in Mamre the previous year, Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham, on the first anniversary of the covenant of circumcision. Abraham was "an hundred years old", when his son whom he named Isaac was born; and he circumcised him when he was eight days old. For Sarah, the thought of giving birth and nursing a child, at such an old age, also brought her much laughter, as she declared, "God hath made me to laugh, so that all who hear will laugh with me." Isaac continued to grow and on the day he was weaned, Abraham held a great feast to honor the occasion. During the celebration, however, Sarah found Ishmael mocking; an observation that would begin to clarify the birthright of Isaac.

Ishmael.

Ishmael was fourteen years old when Abraham's son Isaac was born to Sarah. When she found Ishmael teasing Isaac, Sarah told Abraham to send both Ishmael and Hagar away. She declared that Ishmael would not share in Isaac's inheritance. Abraham was greatly distressed by his wife's words and sought the advice of his God. God told Abraham not to be distressed but to do as his wife commanded. God reassured Abraham that "in Isaac shall seed be called to thee." He also said that Ishmael would make a nation, "because he is thy seed".  Early the next morning, Abraham brought Hagar and Ishmael out together. He gave her bread and water and sent them away. The two wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba until her bottle of water was completely consumed. In a moment of despair, she burst into tears. After God heard the boy's voice, an angel of the Lord confirmed to Hagar that he would become a great nation, and will be "living on his sword". A well of water then appeared so that it saved their lives. As the boy grew, he became a skilled archer living in the wilderness of Paran. Eventually his mother found a wife for Ishmael from her home country, the land of Egypt.

Binding of Isaac.

At some point in Isaac's youth, Abraham was commanded by God to offer his son up as a sacrifice in the land of Moriah. The patriarch traveled three days until he came to the mount that God told him of. He then commanded the servants to remain while he and Isaac proceeded alone into the mount. Isaac carried the wood upon which he would be sacrificed. Along the way, Isaac asked his father where the animal for the burnt offering was, to which Abraham replied "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering". Just as Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, he was interrupted by the angel of the Lord, and he saw behind him a "ram caught in a thicket by his horns", which he sacrificed instead of his son. For his obedience he received another promise of numerous descendants and abundant prosperity. After this event, Abraham went to Beersheba.

Later years.

Sarah died, and Abraham buried her in the Cave of the Patriarchs (the "cave of Machpelah"), near Hebron which he had purchased along with the adjoining field from Ephron the Hittite. After the death of Sarah, Abraham took another wife, a concubine named Keturah, by whom he had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. According to the Bible, reflecting the change of his name to "Abraham" meaning "a father of many nations", Abraham is considered to be the progenitor of many nations mentioned in the Bible, among others the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites,) Amalekites, Kenizzites, Midianites and Assyrians, and through his nephew Lot he was also related to the Moabites and Ammonites. Abraham lived to see his son marry Rebekah, (and to see the birth of his twin grandsons Jacob and Esau). He died at age 175, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah by his sons Isaac and Ishmael.

Historicity and origins.

Historicity.

In the early and middle 20th century, leading archaeologists such as William F. Albright and biblical scholars such as Albrecht Alt believed that the patriarchs and matriarchs were either real individuals or believable composites of people who lived in the "patriarchal age", the 2nd millennium BCE. But, in the 1970s, new arguments concerning Israel's past and the biblical texts challenged these views; these arguments can be found in Thomas L. Thompson's "The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives" (1974), and John Van Seters' "Abraham in History and Tradition" (1975). Thompson, a literary scholar, based his argument on archaeology and ancient texts. His thesis centered on the lack of compelling evidence that the patriarchs lived in the 2nd millennium BCE, and noted how certain biblical texts reflected first millennium conditions and concerns. Van Seters examined the patriarchal stories and argued that their names, social milieu, and messages strongly suggested that they were Iron Age creations. By the beginning of the 21st century, archaeologists had given up hope of recovering any context that would make Abraham, Isaac or Jacob credible historical figures.

Origins of the narrative.

Abraham's name is apparently very ancient, as the tradition found in Genesis no longer understands its original meaning (probably "Father is exalted" – the meaning offered in Genesis 17:5, "Father of a multitude", is a popular etymology). The story, like those of the other patriarchs, most likely had a substantial oral prehistory. At some stage the oral traditions became part of the written tradition of the Pentateuch; a majority of scholars believe this stage belongs to the Persian period, roughly 520–320 BCE. The mechanisms by which this came about remain unknown, but there are currently two important hypotheses. The first, called Persian Imperial authorisation, is that the post-Exilic community devised the Torah as a legal basis on which to function within the Persian Imperial system; the second is that the Pentateuch was written to provide the criteria for determining who would belong to the post Exilic Jewish community and to establish the power structures and relative positions of its various groups, notably the priesthood and the lay "elders".  Nevertheless, the completion of the Torah and its elevation to the centre of post-Exilic Judaism was as much or more about combining older texts as writing new ones – the final Pentateuch was based on existing traditions. In Ezekiel, written during the Exile (i.e., in the first half of the 6th century BCE), Ezekiel, an exile in Babylon, tells how those who remained in Judah are claiming ownership of the land based on inheritance from Abraham; but the prophet tells them they have no claim because they do not observe Torah. Isaiah similarly testifies of tension between the people of Judah and the returning post-Exilic Jews (the "gôlâ"), stating that God is the father of Israel and that Israel's history begins with the Exodus and not with Abraham. The conclusion to be inferred from this and similar evidence (e.g., Ezra–Nehemiah), is that the figure of Abraham must have been preeminent among the great landowners of Judah at the time of the Exile and after, serving to support their claims to the land in opposition to those of the returning exiles.

Religious traditions.

Overview.

Abraham is given a high position of respect in three major world faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Judaism he is the founding father of the Covenant, the special relationship between the Jewish people and God – leading to the belief that the Jews are the Chosen People of God. In Christianity, the Apostle Paul taught that Abraham's faith in God – preceding the Mosaic law – made him the prototype of all believers, circumcised and uncircumcised. In Islam, the prophet Muhammad claimed Abraham, whose submission to God constituted "Islam", was a "believer before the fact" and undercut Jewish claims to an exclusive relationship with God and the Covenant.

Judaism.

In Jewish tradition, Abraham is called "Avraham Avinu" (אברהם אבינו), "our father Abraham," signifying that he is both the biological progenitor of the Jews and the father of Judaism, the first Jew. His story is read in the weekly Torah reading portions, predominantly in the parashot: Lech-Lecha (לֶךְ-לְךָ), Vayeira (וַיֵּרָא), Chayei Sarah (חַיֵּי שָׂרָה), and Toledot (תּוֹלְדֹת).  In Jewish legend, God created heaven and earth for the sake of the merits of Abraham. After the deluge, Abraham was the only one among the pious who solemnly swear never forsaking God, and studied in house of Noah and Shem to learn about "Ways of God," and continuing the line of High Priest from Noah and Shem, then he descended the office to Levi and his seed forever. Before leaving his fathers' land, Abraham was miraculously saved from the fiery furnace of Nimrod following his brave action of breaking the idols of the Chaldeans into pieces. During his sojourning in Canaan, Abraham was accustomed to extend hospitality to travelers and strangers and taught how to praise God also knowledge of God to those who had received his kindness.  Besides Isaac and Jacob, he is the one whose name would appear united with God, as God in Judaism was called "Elohei Abraham, Elohei Yitzchaq ve Elohei Ya`aqob" ("God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob") and never the God of any one else. He was also mentioned as the father of thirty nations.  Abraham is generally credited as the author of the "Sefer Yetzirah" ("The Book of Creation"), one of the earliest extant books on Jewish mysticism.

Christianity.

Abraham does not loom so large in Christianity as he does in Judaism and Islam. It is Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who is central to Christianity, and the idea of a divine Messiah is what separates Christianity from the other two religions. In Romans 4, Abraham's merit is less his obedience to the divine will than his faith in God's ultimate grace; this faith provides him the merit for God having chosen him for the covenant, and the covenant becomes one of faith, not obedience.  The Roman Catholic Church calls Abraham "our father in Faith" in the Eucharistic prayer of the Roman Canon, recited during the Mass (see "Abraham in the Catholic liturgy"). He is also commemorated in the calendars of saints of several denominations: on 20 August by the Maronite Church, 28 August in the Coptic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East (with the full office for the latter), and on 9 October by the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. In the introduction to his 15th-century translation of the Golden Legend's account of Abraham, William Caxton noted that this patriarch's life was read in church on Quinquagesima Sunday. He is the patron saint of those in the hospitality industry. The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates him as the "Righteous Forefather Abraham", with two feast days in its liturgical calendar. The first time is on 9 October (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, 9 October falls on 22 October of the modern Gregorian Calendar), where he is commemorated together with his nephew "Righteous Lot". The other is on the "Sunday of the Forefathers" (two Sundays before Christmas), when he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus. Abraham is also mentioned in the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, just before the Anaphora, and Abraham and Sarah are invoked in the prayers said by the priest over a newly married couple.

Islam.

Islam regards Abraham as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad. Ibrāhīm is mentioned in 35 chapters of the Quran, more often than any other biblical personage apart from Moses. He is called both a "hanif" (monotheist) and "muslim" (one who submits), and Muslims regard him as a prophet and patriarch, the archetype of the perfect Muslim, and the revered reformer of the Kaaba in Mecca. Islamic traditions consider Ibrāhīm (Abraham) the first Pioneer of Islam (which is also called "millat Ibrahim", the "religion of Abraham"), and that his purpose and mission throughout his life was to proclaim the Oneness of God. In Islam, Abraham holds an exalted position among the major prophets and he is referred to as "Ibrahim Khalilullah", meaning "Abraham the Beloved of Allah".  Besides Ishaq and Yaqub, Ibrahim is among the most honorable and the most excellent men in sight of God. Ibrahim was also mentioned in Quran as "Father of Muslims" and the role model for the community.

In the arts.

Painting and sculpture.

Paintings on the life of Abraham tend to focus on only a few incidents: the sacrifice of Isaac; meeting Melchizedek; entertaining the three angels; Hagar in the desert; and a few others. Additionally, Martin O'Kane, a professor of Biblical Studies, writes that the parable of Lazarus resting in the "Bosom of Abraham", as described in the Gospel of Luke, became an iconic image in Christian works. According to O'Kane, artists often chose to divert from the common literary portrayal of Lazarus sitting next to Abraham at a banquet in Heaven and instead focus on the "somewhat incongruous notion of Abraham, the most venerated of patriarchs, holding a naked and vulnerable child in his bosom". Several artists have been inspired by the life of Abraham, including Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), Caravaggio (1573–1610), Donatello, Raphael, Philip van Dyck (Dutch painter, 1680–1753), and Claude Lorrain (French painter, 1600–1682). Rembrandt (Dutch, 1606–1669) created at least seven works on Abraham, Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) did several, Marc Chagall did at least five on Abraham, Gustave Doré (French illustrator, 1832–1883) did six, and James Tissot (French painter and illustrator, 1836–1902) did over twenty works on the subject. The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus depicts a set of biblical stories, including Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. These sculpted scenes are on the outside of a marble Early Christian sarcophagus used for the burial of Junius Bassus. He died in 359. This sarcophagus has been described as "probably the single most famous piece of early Christian relief sculpture." The sarcophagus was originally placed in or under Old St. Peter's Basilica, was rediscovered in 1597, and is now below the modern basilica in the Museo Storico del Tesoro della Basilica di San Pietro (Museum of St. Peter's Basilica) in the Vatican. The base is approximately 4 × 8 × 4 feet. The Old Testament scenes depicted were chosen as precursors of Christ's sacrifice in the New Testament, in an early form of typology. Just to the right of the middle is Daniel in the lion's den and on the left is Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac.  George Segal created figural sculptures by molding plastered gauze strips over live models in his 1987 work "Abraham's Farewell to Ishmael". The human condition was central to his concerns, and Segal used the Old Testament as a source for his imagery. This sculpture depicts the dilemma faced by Abraham when Sarah demanded that he expel Hagar and Ishmael. In the sculpture, the father's tenderness, Sarah's rage, and Hagar's resigned acceptance portray a range of human emotions. The sculpture was donated to the Miami Art Museum after the artist's death in 2000.

Christian iconography.

Usually Abraham can be identified by the context of the image the meeting with Melchizedek,, or. In solo portraits a sword or knife may be used as his attribute, as in by Gian Maria Morlaiter or by Lorenzo Monaco. He always wears a gray or white beard.  As early as the beginning of the 3rd century, Christian art followed Christian typology in making the sacrifice of Isaac a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice on the cross and its memorial in the sacrifice of the Mass. See for example engraved with Abraham's and other sacrifices taken to prefigure that of Christ in the Eucharist.  Some early Christian writers interpreted the three visitors as the triune God. Thus in Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, portrays only the visitors against a gold ground and puts semitransparent copies of them in the "heavenly" space above the scene. In Eastern Orthodox art the visit is the chief means by which the Trinity is pictured (). Some images do not include Abraham and Sarah, like Andrei Rublev's "Trinity", which shows only the three visitors as beardless youths at a table.

Literature.

"Fear and Trembling" (original Danish title: "Frygt og Bæven") is an influential philosophical work by Søren Kierkegaard, published in 1843 under the pseudonym "Johannes de silentio" ("John the Silent"). Kierkegaard wanted to understand the anxiety that must have been present in Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice his son. W. G. Hardy's novel "Father Abraham" (1935), tells the fictionalized life of Abraham.

Music.

In 1681, Marc-Antoine Charpentier released a Dramatic motet "Sacrificim Abrahae" H 402 - 402 a - 402 b, for soloists, chorus, doubling instruments and bc. Sébastien de Brossard released a cantate Abraham (date unknown).  In 1994, Steve Reich released an opera named "The Cave". The title refers to the Cave of the Patriarchs. The narrative of the opera is based on the story of Abraham and his immediate family as it is recounted in the various religious texts, and as it is understood by individual people from different cultures and religious traditions.  Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" is the title track for his 1965 album "Highway 61 Revisited". In 2004, "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked the song as number 364 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song has five stanzas. In each stanza, someone describes an unusual problem that is ultimately resolved on Highway 61. In Stanza 1, God tells Abraham to "kill me a son". God wants the killing done on Highway 61. Abram, the original name of the biblical Abraham, is also the name of Dylan's own father.

Abraham (originally Abram) is the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the covenant of the pieces, the special relationship between the Hebrews and God; in Christianity, he is the prototype of all believers, Jewish or Gentile; and in Islam he is seen as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad.

Abrahám (rodným jménem Abram) – "Avraham", "Avram" () – „otec množství“, „vznešený otec“, "Ibráhím" (). Jeho příběh je popsán v bibli v knize Genesis, Koránu, mormonské Knize Abrahamově a mnoha apokryfech.


Isotherms.

The adsorption of gases and solutes is usually described through isotherms, that is, the amount of adsorbate on the adsorbent as a function of its pressure (if gas) or concentration (for liquid phase solutes) at constant temperature. The quantity adsorbed is nearly always normalized by the mass of the adsorbent to allow comparison of different materials. To date, 15 different isotherm models have been developed.

Freundlich.

The first mathematical fit to an isotherm was published by Freundlich and Kuster (1906) and is a purely empirical formula for gaseous adsorbates:  where formula_2 is the mass of adsorbate adsorbed, formula_3 is the mass of the adsorbent, formula_4 is the pressure of adsorbate (this can be changed to concentration if investigating solution rather than gas), and formula_5 and formula_6 are empirical constants for each adsorbent–adsorbate pair at a given temperature. The function is not adequate at very high pressure because in reality formula_7 has an asymptotic maximum as pressure increases without bound. As the temperature increases, the constants formula_5 and formula_6 change to reflect the empirical observation that the quantity adsorbed rises more slowly and higher pressures are required to saturate the surface.

Langmuir.

Irving Langmuir was the first to derive a scientifically based adsorption isotherm in 1918. The model applies to gases adsorbed on solid surfaces. It is a semi-empirical isotherm with a kinetic basis and was derived based on statistical thermodynamics. It is the most common isotherm equation to use due to its simplicity and its ability to fit a variety of adsorption data. It is based on four assumptions:  These four assumptions are seldom all true: there are always imperfections on the surface, adsorbed molecules are not necessarily inert, and the mechanism is clearly not the same for the very first molecules to adsorb to a surface as for the last. The fourth condition is the most troublesome, as frequently more molecules will adsorb to the monolayer; this problem is addressed by the BET isotherm for relatively flat (non-microporous) surfaces. The Langmuir isotherm is nonetheless the first choice for most models of adsorption and has many applications in surface kinetics (usually called Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetics) and thermodynamics.  Langmuir suggested that adsorption takes place through this mechanism: formula_10, where "A" is a gas molecule, and "S" is an adsorption site. The direct and inverse rate constants are "k" and "k". If we define surface coverage, formula_11, as the fraction of the adsorption sites occupied, in the equilibrium we have:  or  where formula_4 is the partial pressure of the gas or the molar concentration of the solution. For very low pressures formula_15, and for high pressures formula_16.  The value of formula_11 is difficult to measure experimentally; usually, the adsorbate is a gas and the quantity adsorbed is given in moles, grams, or gas volumes at standard temperature and pressure (STP) per gram of adsorbent. If we call "v" the STP volume of adsorbate required to form a monolayer on the adsorbent (per gram of adsorbent), then formula_18, and we obtain an expression for a straight line:  Through its slope and "y" intercept we can obtain "v" and "K", which are constants for each adsorbent–adsorbate pair at a given temperature. "v" is related to the number of adsorption sites through the ideal gas law. If we assume that the number of sites is just the whole area of the solid divided into the cross section of the adsorbate molecules, we can easily calculate the surface area of the adsorbent. The surface area of an adsorbent depends on its structure: the more pores it has, the greater the area, which has a big influence on reactions on surfaces.  If more than one gas adsorbs on the surface, we define formula_20 as the fraction of empty sites, and we have:  Also, we can define formula_22 as the fraction of the sites occupied by the "j"-th gas:  where "i" is each one of the gases that adsorb.  notes:  1) To choose between the langmuir and freundlich equations, the enthalpies of adsorption must be investigated. While the langmuir model assumes that the energy of adsorption remains constant with surface occupancy, the Freundlich equation is derived with the assumption that the heat of adsorption continually decrease as the binding sites are occupied. The choice of the model based on best fitting of the data is a common misconception.  2) The use of the linearized form of the langmuir model is no longer common practice. Advances in computational power allowed for nonlinear regression to be performed quickly and with higher confidence since no data transformation is required.

BET.

Often molecules do form multilayers, that is, some are adsorbed on already adsorbed molecules, and the Langmuir isotherm is not valid. In 1938 Stephen Brunauer, Paul Emmett, and Edward Teller developed a model isotherm that takes that possibility into account. Their theory is called BET theory, after the initials in their last names. They modified Langmuir's mechanism as follows:  The derivation of the formula is more complicated than Langmuir's (see links for complete derivation). We obtain:  where "x" is the pressure divided by the vapor pressure for the adsorbate at that temperature (usually denoted formula_25), "v" is the STP volume of adsorbed adsorbate, "v" is the STP volume of the amount of adsorbate required to form a monolayer, and "c" is the equilibrium constant "K" we used in Langmuir isotherm multiplied by the vapor pressure of the adsorbate. The key assumption used in deriving the BET equation that the successive heats of adsorption for all layers except the first are equal to the heat of condensation of the adsorbate.  The Langmuir isotherm is usually better for chemisorption, and the BET isotherm works better for physisorption for non-microporous surfaces.

Kisliuk.

In other instances, molecular interactions between gas molecules previously adsorbed on a solid surface form significant interactions with gas molecules in the gaseous phases. Hence, adsorption of gas molecules to the surface is more likely to occur around gas molecules that are already present on the solid surface, rendering the Langmuir adsorption isotherm ineffective for the purposes of modelling. This effect was studied in a system where nitrogen was the adsorbate and tungsten was the adsorbent by Paul Kisliuk (1922–2008) in 1957. To compensate for the increased probability of adsorption occurring around molecules present on the substrate surface, Kisliuk developed the precursor state theory, whereby molecules would enter a precursor state at the interface between the solid adsorbent and adsorbate in the gaseous phase. From here, adsorbate molecules would either adsorb to the adsorbent or desorb into the gaseous phase. The probability of adsorption occurring from the precursor state is dependent on the adsorbate’s proximity to other adsorbate molecules that have already been adsorbed. If the adsorbate molecule in the precursor state is in close proximity to an adsorbate molecule that has already formed on the surface, it has a sticking probability reflected by the size of the S constant and will either be adsorbed from the precursor state at a rate of "k" or will desorb into the gaseous phase at a rate of "k". If an adsorbate molecule enters the precursor state at a location that is remote from any other previously adsorbed adsorbate molecules, the sticking probability is reflected by the size of the S constant.  These factors were included as part of a single constant termed a "sticking coefficient", "k", described below:  As S is dictated by factors that are taken into account by the Langmuir model, S can be assumed to be the adsorption rate constant. However, the rate constant for the Kisliuk model ("R"’) is different from that of the Langmuir model, as "R"’ is used to represent the impact of diffusion on monolayer formation and is proportional to the square root of the system’s diffusion coefficient. The Kisliuk adsorption isotherm is written as follows, where Θ is fractional coverage of the adsorbent with adsorbate, and "t" is immersion time:  Solving for Θ yields:

Adsorption enthalpy.

Adsorption constants are equilibrium constants, therefore they obey the van 't Hoff equation:  As can be seen in the formula, the variation of "K" must be isosteric, that is, at constant coverage. If we start from the BET isotherm and assume that the entropy change is the same for liquefaction and adsorption, we obtain that is to say, adsorption is more exothermic than liquefaction.

Single-molecule explanation.

The adsorption of ensemble molecules on a surface or interface can be divided into two processes: adsorption and desorption. If the adsorption rate wins the desorption rate, the molecules will accumulate over time giving the adsorption curve over time. If the desorption rate is larger, the number of molecules on the surface will decrease over time. The adsorption rate is dependent on the temperature, the diffusion rate of the solute, and the energy barrier between the molecule and the surface. The diffusion and key elements of the adsorption rate can be calculated use Fick's laws of diffusion and Einstein relation (kinetic theory). The desorption of a molecule from the surface depends on the binding energy of the molecule to the surface and the temperature.

Quantum Mechanical - Thermodynamic Modelling for surface area and porosity.

Since 1980 two theories were worked on to explain adsorption and obtain equations that work. These two are referred to as the chi hypothesis, the quantum mechanical derivation, and Excess Surface Work, ESW. Both these theories yield the same equation for flat surfaces:  formula_31  Where "U" is the unit step function. The definitions of the other symbols is as follows:  formula_32  where "ads" stands for "adsorbed", "m" stands for "monolayer equivalence" and "vap" is reference to the vapor pressure of the liquid adsorptive at the same temperature as the solid sample. The unit function creates the definition of the molar energy of adsorption for the first adsorbed molecule by:  formula_33  The plot of formula_34 adsorbed versus formula_35 is referred to as the chi plot. For flat surfaces,the slope of the chi plot yields the surface area. Emperically, this plot was notice as being a very good fit to the isotherm by Polanyi and also by deBoer and Zwikker but not pursued. This was due to criticism in the former case by Einstein and in the latter case by Brunauer. This flat surface equation may be used as a "standard curve" in the normal tradition of comparison curves, with the exception that the porous sample's early portion of the plot of formula_34 versus formula_35 acts as a self-standard. Ultramicroporous, microporous and mesoporous conditions may be analyzed using this technique. Typical standard deviations for full isotherm fits including porous samples are typically less than 2%. Notice that in this description of physical adsorption, the entropy of adsorption is consistent with the Dubinin thermodynamic criterion, that is the entropy of adsorption from the liquid state to the adsorbed state is approximately zero.

Adsorbents.

Characteristics and general requirements.

Adsorbents are used usually in the form of spherical pellets, rods, moldings, or monoliths with a hydrodynamic radius between 0.25 and 5 mm. They must have high abrasion resistance, high thermal stability and small pore diameters, which results in higher exposed surface area and hence high capacity for adsorption. The adsorbents must also have a distinct pore structure that enables fast transport of the gaseous vapors.  Most industrial adsorbents fall into one of three classes:

Silica gel.

Silica gel is a chemically inert, nontoxic, polar and dimensionally stable (< ) amorphous form of SiO. It is prepared by the reaction between sodium silicate and acetic acid, which is followed by a series of after-treatment processes such as aging, pickling, etc. These after-treatment methods results in various pore size distributions.  Silica is used for drying of process air (e.g. oxygen, natural gas) and adsorption of heavy (polar) hydrocarbons from natural gas.

Zeolites.

Zeolites are natural or synthetic crystalline aluminosilicates, which have a repeating pore network and release water at high temperature. Zeolites are polar in nature.  They are manufactured by hydrothermal synthesis of sodium aluminosilicate or another silica source in an autoclave followed by ion exchange with certain cations (Na, Li, Ca, K, NH). The channel diameter of zeolite cages usually ranges from 2 to 9 Å. The ion exchange process is followed by drying of the crystals, which can be pelletized with a binder to form macroporous pellets.  Zeolites are applied in drying of process air, CO removal from natural gas, CO removal from reforming gas, air separation, catalytic cracking, and catalytic synthesis and reforming.  Non-polar (siliceous) zeolites are synthesized from aluminum-free silica sources or by dealumination of aluminum-containing zeolites. The dealumination process is done by treating the zeolite with steam at elevated temperatures, typically greater than. This high temperature heat treatment breaks the aluminum-oxygen bonds and the aluminum atom is expelled from the zeolite framework.

Activated carbon.

Activated carbon is a highly porous, amorphous solid consisting of microcrystallites with a graphite lattice, usually prepared in small pellets or a powder. It is non-polar and cheap. One of its main drawbacks is that it reacts with oxygen at moderate temperatures (over 300 °C).  Activated carbon can be manufactured from carbonaceous material, including coal (bituminous, subbituminous, and lignite), peat, wood, or nutshells (e.g., coconut). The manufacturing process consists of two phases, carbonization and activation. The carbonization process includes drying and then heating to separate by-products, including tars and other hydrocarbons from the raw material, as well as to drive off any gases generated. The process is completed by heating the material over in an oxygen-free atmosphere that cannot support combustion. The carbonized particles are then "activated" by exposing them to an oxidizing agent, usually steam or carbon dioxide at high temperature. This agent burns off the pore blocking structures created during the carbonization phase and so, they develop a porous, three-dimensional graphite lattice structure. The size of the pores developed during activation is a function of the time that they spend in this stage. Longer exposure times result in larger pore sizes. The most popular aqueous phase carbons are bituminous based because of their hardness, abrasion resistance, pore size distribution, and low cost, but their effectiveness needs to be tested in each application to determine the optimal product.  Activated carbon is used for adsorption of organic substances and non-polar adsorbates and it is also usually used for waste gas (and waste water) treatment. It is the most widely used adsorbent since most of its chemical (e.g. surface groups) and physical properties (e.g. pore size distribution and surface area) can be tuned according to what is needed. Its usefulness also derives from its large micropore (and sometimes mesopore) volume and the resulting high surface area.

Water adsorption.

The adsorption of water at surfaces is of broad importance in chemical engineering, materials science and catalysis. Also termed surface hydration, the presence of physically or chemically adsorbed water at the surfaces of solids plays an important role in governing interface properties, chemical reaction pathways and catalytic performance in a wide range of systems. In the case of physically adsorbed water, surface hydration can be eliminated simply through drying at conditions of temperature and pressure allowing full vaporization of water. For chemically adsorbed water, hydration may be in the form of either dissociative adsorption, where HO molecules are dissociated into surface adsorbed -H and -OH, or molecular adsorption (associative adsorption) where individual water molecules remain intact

Adsorption Solar Heating and Storage.

The low cost ($200/ton) and high cycle rate (2,000X) of synthetic zeolites such as Linde 13X with water adsorbate has garnered much academic and commercial interest recently for use for thermal energy storage (TES), specifically of low-grade solar and waste heat. Several pilot projects have been funded in the EU from 2000 to the present (2020). The basic concept is to store solar thermal energy as chemical latent energy in the zeolite. Typically, hot dry air from flat plate solar collectors is made to flow through a bed of zeolite such that any water adsorbate present is driven off. Storage can be diurnal, weekly, monthly, or even seasonal depending on the volume of the zeolite and the area of the solar thermal panels. When heat is called for during the night, or sunless hours, or winter, humidified air flows through the zeolite. As the humidity is adsorbed by the zeolite, heat is released to the air and subsequently to the building space. This form of TES, with specific use of zeolites, was first taught by Guerra in 1978.

Carbon capture and storage.

Typical adsorbents proposed for carbon capture and storage are zeolites and MOFs. The customization of adsorbents makes them a potentially attractive alternative to absorption. Because adsorbents can be regenerated by temperature or pressure swing, this step can be less energy intensive than absorption regeneration methods. Major problems that are present with adsorption cost in carbon capture are: regenerating the adsorbent, mass ratio, solvent/MOF, cost of adsorbent, production of the adsorbent, lifetime of adsorbent.

Protein and surfactant adsorption.

Protein adsorption is a process that has a fundamental role in the field of biomaterials. Indeed, biomaterial surfaces in contact with biological media, such as blood or serum, are immediately coated by proteins. Therefore, living cells do not interact directly with the biomaterial surface, but with the adsorbed proteins layer. This protein layer mediates the interaction between biomaterials and cells, translating biomaterial physical and chemical properties into a "biological language". In fact, cell membrane receptors bind to protein layer bioactive sites and these receptor-protein binding events are transduced, through the cell membrane, in a manner that stimulates specific intracellular processes that then determine cell adhesion, shape, growth and differentiation. Protein adsorption is influenced by many surface properties such as surface wettability, surface chemical composition and surface nanometre-scale morphology. Surfactant adsorption is a similar phenomenon, but utilising surfactant molecules in the place of proteins.

Adsorption chillers.

Combining an adsorbent with a refrigerant, adsorption chillers use heat to provide a cooling effect. This heat, in the form of hot water, may come from any number of industrial sources including waste heat from industrial processes, prime heat from solar thermal installations or from the exhaust or water jacket heat of a piston engine or turbine.  Although there are similarities between adsorption chillers and absorption refrigeration, the former is based on the interaction between gases and solids. The adsorption chamber of the chiller is filled with a solid material (for example zeolite, silica gel, alumina, active carbon or certain types of metal salts), which in its neutral state has adsorbed the refrigerant. When heated, the solid desorbs (releases) refrigerant vapour, which subsequently is cooled and liquefied. This liquid refrigerant then provides a cooling effect at the evaporator from its enthalpy of vaporization. In the final stage the refrigerant vapour is (re)adsorbed into the solid. As an adsorption chiller requires no compressor, it is relatively quiet.

Portal site mediated adsorption.

Portal site mediated adsorption is a model for site-selective activated gas adsorption in metallic catalytic systems that contain a variety of different adsorption sites. In such systems, low-coordination "edge and corner" defect-like sites can exhibit significantly lower adsorption enthalpies than high-coordination (basal plane) sites. As a result, these sites can serve as "portals" for very rapid adsorption to the rest of the surface. The phenomenon relies on the common "spillover" effect (described below), where certain adsorbed species exhibit high mobility on some surfaces. The model explains seemingly inconsistent observations of gas adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics in catalytic systems where surfaces can exist in a range of coordination structures, and it has been successfully applied to bimetallic catalytic systems where synergistic activity is observed.  In contrast to pure spillover, portal site adsorption refers to surface diffusion to adjacent adsorption sites, not to non-adsorptive support surfaces.  The model appears to have been first proposed for carbon monoxide on silica-supported platinum by Brandt "et al." (1993). A similar, but independent model was developed by King and co-workers to describe hydrogen adsorption on silica-supported alkali promoted ruthenium, silver-ruthenium and copper-ruthenium bimetallic catalysts. The same group applied the model to CO hydrogenation (Fischer–Tropsch synthesis). Zupanc "et al." (2002) subsequently confirmed the same model for hydrogen adsorption on magnesia-supported caesium-ruthenium bimetallic catalysts. Trens "et al." (2009) have similarly described CO surface diffusion on carbon-supported Pt particles of varying morphology.

Adsorption spillover.

In the case catalytic or adsorbent systems where a metal species is dispersed upon a support (or carrier) material (often quasi-inert oxides, such as alumina or silica), it is possible for an adsorptive species to indirectly adsorb to the support surface under conditions where such adsorption is thermodynamically unfavorable. The presence of the metal serves as a lower-energy pathway for gaseous species to first adsorb to the metal and then diffuse on the support surface. This is possible because the adsorbed species attains a lower energy state once it has adsorbed to the metal, thus lowering the activation barrier between the gas phase species and the support-adsorbed species.  Hydrogen spillover is the most common example of an adsorptive spillover. In the case of hydrogen, adsorption is most often accompanied with dissociation of molecular hydrogen (H) to atomic hydrogen (H), followed by spillover of the hydrogen atoms present.  The spillover effect has been used to explain many observations in heterogeneous catalysis and adsorption.

Polymer adsorption.

Adsorption of molecules onto polymer surfaces is central to a number of applications, including development of non-stick coatings and in various biomedical devices. Polymers may also be adsorbed to surfaces through polyelectrolyte adsorption.

Adsorption in viruses.

Adsorption is the first step in the viral life cycle. The next steps are penetration, uncoating, synthesis (transcription if needed, and translation), and release. The virus replication cycle, in this respect, is similar for all types of viruses. Factors such as transcription may or may not be needed if the virus is able to integrate its genomic information in the cell's nucleus, or if the virus can replicate itself directly within the cell's cytoplasm.

In popular culture.

The game of Tetris is a puzzle game in which blocks of 4 are adsorbed onto a surface during game play. Scientists have used Tetris blocks "as a proxy for molecules with a complex shape" and their "adsorption on a flat surface" for studying the thermodynamics of nanoparticles.

Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions or molecules from a gas, liquid or dissolved solid to a surface. This process creates a film of the "adsorbate" on the surface of the "adsorbent". This process differs from absorption, in which a fluid (the "absorbate") is dissolved by or permeates a liquid or solid (the "absorbent"), respectively. Adsorption is a "surface phenomenon", while absorption involves the whole volume of the material. The term "sorption" encompasses both processes, while "desorption" is the reverse of it.

Adsorpce je proces, jehož principem je hromadění částic (atomů, molekul) plynu, kapaliny či pevné látky na povrchu (fázovém rozhraní) účinkem mezipovrchových přitažlivých sil. Může se jednat např. o hromadění plynné látky ze směsi plynů nebo rozpuštěné látky v kapalině (adsorbátu) na povrchu pevné látky (adsorbentu), nebo o hromadění jedné složky binární směsi na rozhraní kapalina--pára.