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Cells without bars
BOOKS & MEDIA UPDATE
Cells without bars Tom Koppel’s readable book about fuel cells mixes anecdote and technical information, holding the interest to the very last word, says John Kilner. At first glance a popular science book about the development of an electrochemical device might seem a rather uninspiring subject. Powering the Future, however, is an utterly absorbing account of the struggles that took place in the race to develop the first commercially-viable fuel cell. This is a book for specialist and non-specialist alike because it not only tells the story of the technical development of the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell, but also tells the human story of the problems involved in bringing a complex technology to market in the face of the combined might of the global automotive and oil industries. The book charts the development of Ballard Power Systems, and the fortunes of the company founder – geophysicist Geoffrey Ballard, from its beginnings in 1974 as a small battery development company occupying an abandoned motel in Arizona to a multi-million dollar corporation partnering two of the big three global automotive makers. When the company was first formed, Ballard and his family had to contend with running a family restaurant in Arizona as well as caring for a fledgling battery company struggling with the acute problems of developing a high-energy battery for military and civilian applications. In these early days, however, the foundations of a fuel cell success story were laid as the company formed a high-quality, tightly-knit team, with extensive experience in electrochemistry and a will to push technology to the limits. From the start, it must be emphasized that Ballard did not invent the PEM fuel cell. In fact, the PEM cell had been developed by GE, primarily for NASA to fly on the Gemini manned missions. The Ballard team took this design, with all its inherent problems, and through a combination of inspiration, dedication, and sheer hard work made enormous leaps in the all important power density to reach levels sufficient for the requirements of an automobile. The combination of factors that contributed to this success are intriguing, but ultimate credit must go to the company founders,
38
November 2002
the Canadian funding agencies who had the foresight to provide the developing company with the finance that it needed to keep ahead of the game, and the technical agility of the company in its approach to this multidisciplinary engineering problem. One of the most fascinating anecdotes in the book is the story of the birth of the Ballard bus program. This was a turning point for the company in a number of ways. Firstly, the company underwent a change in senior management as it raised finance to turn itself from a small battery company into a fully-fledged fuel cell developer. Ballard and his cofounders stood down in favor of a dedicated management team under the guidance of the new CEO, Firoz Rasoul. Shortly after this change came the opportunity to develop a fuel cell stack for a small bus. Rasoul and his team were opposed, but Ballard had the contrary view and decided to develop the bus, almost as a private venture within the company. This disagreement led in part to a breakdown of relations between the notoriously abrasive Ballard and the quiet, businessoriented Rasoul. History shows the bus project was an enormous success and paved the way for the ultimate development of the fuel cell powered car, in partnership with Daimler Benz.
Semiconductor Quantum Dots Yasuaki Masumoto and Toshihide Takagahara (eds.) Springer-Verlag, 460pp, ISBN: 3-540-42805-4 $109 / 99.95
This book surveys recent progress in the physics, optical spectroscopy, and application-oriented research in semiconductor quantum dots. A large portion of the book concerns excitons, multi-excitons, their dynamical relaxation behavior, and their interactions with the surroundings of the quantum dot. Fabrication technologies and potential applications are also discussed.
Neutron, X-rays and Light. Scattering Methods Applied to Soft Condensed Matter P. Lindner and Th. Zemb (eds.) North Holland, 548pp, ISBN: 0-444-51122-9 $185 / 185
Scattering experiments have long been key techniques for studying structure and dynamics in polymers, colloids, and biological macromolecule systems. This book presents a practical approach to current methodology of static and dynamic techniques. Data interpretation, the complementarity of different types of radiation, recent developments, and applications are all covered. The dangers of over-exploitation of data are emphasized.
Handbook of Magnetic Materials, Volume 14 K. H. J. Buschow (ed.)
Tom Koppel Powering The Future: The Ballard Fuel Cell and the Race to Change the World (2001), John Wiley & Sons, 288pp, ISBN: 0-471-64629-6 $19.95 / £13.99 / 23.10
In this most readable book, Koppel includes a fascinating mix of anecdotes and technical information that holds the interest to the very last word. After reading the whole account you can't help but have the utmost admiration for all the major players in the story. Their tenacity and dedication has paid off and the revolution they started is now in full swing. If there is any criticism to be leveled at the book, it is that there is scant attention given to others who were also in the race, but who, for one reason or another, didn't quite make it. This does not detract from the main thrust of the story, which is essentially about one man and his vision to change the world. John Kilner is professor and head of materials science at Imperial College, London, UK.
North Holland, 420pp, ISBN: 0-444-51144-X $200 / 200
The latest volume of this series contains topical review articles in the novel and rapidly developing field of spintronics. It is intended to serve two functions: an introductory textbook to a given topic; and a work of reference for researchers in the field. The four chapters cover III-V ferromagnetic superconductors, magnetoelasticity in nanoscale heterogeneous materials, magnetic and superconducting properties of rare earth borocarbides, and spontaneous magnetoelastic effects in gadolinium compounds.
Expert Graduate Undergraduate
Cells without bars Tom Koppel’s readable book about fuel cells mixes anecdote and technical information, holding the interest to the very last word, says John Kilner. At first glance a popular science book about the development of an electrochemical device might seem a rather uninspiring subject. Powering the Future, however, is an utterly absorbing account of the struggles that took place in the race to develop the first commercially-viable fuel cell. This is a book for specialist and non-specialist alike because it not only tells the story of the technical development of the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell, but also tells the human story of the problems involved in bringing a complex technology to market in the face of the combined might of the global automotive and oil industries. The book charts the development of Ballard Power Systems, and the fortunes of the company founder – geophysicist Geoffrey Ballard, from its beginnings in 1974 as a small battery development company occupying an abandoned motel in Arizona to a multi-million dollar corporation partnering two of the big three global automotive makers. When the company was first formed, Ballard and his family had to contend with running a family restaurant in Arizona as well as caring for a fledgling battery company struggling with the acute problems of developing a high-energy battery for military and civilian applications. In these early days, however, the foundations of a fuel cell success story were laid as the company formed a high-quality, tightly-knit team, with extensive experience in electrochemistry and a will to push technology to the limits. From the start, it must be emphasized that Ballard did not invent the PEM fuel cell. In fact, the PEM cell had been developed by GE, primarily for NASA to fly on the Gemini manned missions. The Ballard team took this design, with all its inherent problems, and through a combination of inspiration, dedication, and sheer hard work made enormous leaps in the all important power density to reach levels sufficient for the requirements of an automobile. The combination of factors that contributed to this success are intriguing, but ultimate credit must go to the company founders,
38
November 2002
the Canadian funding agencies who had the foresight to provide the developing company with the finance that it needed to keep ahead of the game, and the technical agility of the company in its approach to this multidisciplinary engineering problem. One of the most fascinating anecdotes in the book is the story of the birth of the Ballard bus program. This was a turning point for the company in a number of ways. Firstly, the company underwent a change in senior management as it raised finance to turn itself from a small battery company into a fully-fledged fuel cell developer. Ballard and his cofounders stood down in favor of a dedicated management team under the guidance of the new CEO, Firoz Rasoul. Shortly after this change came the opportunity to develop a fuel cell stack for a small bus. Rasoul and his team were opposed, but Ballard had the contrary view and decided to develop the bus, almost as a private venture within the company. This disagreement led in part to a breakdown of relations between the notoriously abrasive Ballard and the quiet, businessoriented Rasoul. History shows the bus project was an enormous success and paved the way for the ultimate development of the fuel cell powered car, in partnership with Daimler Benz.
Semiconductor Quantum Dots Yasuaki Masumoto and Toshihide Takagahara (eds.) Springer-Verlag, 460pp, ISBN: 3-540-42805-4 $109 / 99.95
This book surveys recent progress in the physics, optical spectroscopy, and application-oriented research in semiconductor quantum dots. A large portion of the book concerns excitons, multi-excitons, their dynamical relaxation behavior, and their interactions with the surroundings of the quantum dot. Fabrication technologies and potential applications are also discussed.
Neutron, X-rays and Light. Scattering Methods Applied to Soft Condensed Matter P. Lindner and Th. Zemb (eds.) North Holland, 548pp, ISBN: 0-444-51122-9 $185 / 185
Scattering experiments have long been key techniques for studying structure and dynamics in polymers, colloids, and biological macromolecule systems. This book presents a practical approach to current methodology of static and dynamic techniques. Data interpretation, the complementarity of different types of radiation, recent developments, and applications are all covered. The dangers of over-exploitation of data are emphasized.
Handbook of Magnetic Materials, Volume 14 K. H. J. Buschow (ed.)
Tom Koppel Powering The Future: The Ballard Fuel Cell and the Race to Change the World (2001), John Wiley & Sons, 288pp, ISBN: 0-471-64629-6 $19.95 / £13.99 / 23.10
In this most readable book, Koppel includes a fascinating mix of anecdotes and technical information that holds the interest to the very last word. After reading the whole account you can't help but have the utmost admiration for all the major players in the story. Their tenacity and dedication has paid off and the revolution they started is now in full swing. If there is any criticism to be leveled at the book, it is that there is scant attention given to others who were also in the race, but who, for one reason or another, didn't quite make it. This does not detract from the main thrust of the story, which is essentially about one man and his vision to change the world. John Kilner is professor and head of materials science at Imperial College, London, UK.
North Holland, 420pp, ISBN: 0-444-51144-X $200 / 200
The latest volume of this series contains topical review articles in the novel and rapidly developing field of spintronics. It is intended to serve two functions: an introductory textbook to a given topic; and a work of reference for researchers in the field. The four chapters cover III-V ferromagnetic superconductors, magnetoelasticity in nanoscale heterogeneous materials, magnetic and superconducting properties of rare earth borocarbides, and spontaneous magnetoelastic effects in gadolinium compounds.
Expert Graduate Undergraduate