Philip S. Skell (1918-2010) by Laszlo Bencze
Philip S. Skell, sometimes called "the father of carbene chemistry," is widely known for the "Skell Rule," which was first applied to carbenes, the "fleeting species" of carbon. The rule, which predicts the most probable pathway through which certain chemical compounds will be formed, found use throughout the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.
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The journal Pure and Applied Chemistry described some of Skell's significant scientific contributions as follows:
Another class of intermediates, containing divalent carbon atoms, were suggested by John Nef early in this century but his ideas were generally rejected. However, the concept was revived with vigor when Philip Skell showed that: CCl,, dichlorocarbone, was formed as a reaction intermediate. Carbene chemistry almost immediately became the subject of extensive physical organic research.
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Phil, cientista membro da National Academy of Sciences (Estados Unidos) e do movimento do Design Inteligente que, pasme, enviava suas ideias e perguntava deste blogger se tinha alguma crítica ou comentário. Ele foi um dos críticos científicos do darwinismo atual. Vide The Dangers Of Overselling Evolution publicado na Forbes. Além disso, ele era muito humilde, uma qualidade muito em falta em muitos cientistas de hoje.
Phil, R. I. P.
