that changed between yellow and clear all by
itself,
seemingly in violation of the zeroth law of thermodynamic
equilibrium.
Zhabotinsky investigated the reaction in detail
and showed that non-linear chemical oscillations
in a petri dish
can be self-organizing, forming expanding rings or spirals.
Connections
Zhabotinsky was a graduate student
of Simon El’evich Shnoll, a friend of
Belousov
who encouraged Belousov to publish his discovery.
Belousov gave up on his work
and gave his notes to Shnoll. Subsequently,
Shnoll interested Zhabotinsky in continuing the work.
Oscillations
Belousov was looking for a non-organic
equivalent of a metabolic process.
Today scientists study Belousov-Zhabotinsky
reactions
for making organic computers.
A good scientist doesn’t ignore results that seem to
contradict accepted theories or are difficult to explain; however,
uncritical acceptance encourages quacks and kooks.
A good scientist doesn’t ignore results that seem to contradict accepted theories or are difficult to explain; however, uncritical acceptance encourages quacks and kooks.
See also in The book of science:
Readings on wikipedia: