Solvay

Solvay
Author: Kenneth Bertrams
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 649
Release: 2013-01-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1107024803

The authors analyze Solvay's 150-year history, showing the enormous impact geopolitical events had on the company and the recent consequences of global competition.

The Solvay Councils and the Birth of Modern Physics

The Solvay Councils and the Birth of Modern Physics
Author: Pierre Marage
Publisher: Birkhäuser
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2013-11-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 303487703X

FOREWORD This book came about as a result of two events: an exhibition on the Solvay Physics Councils, held in Brussels in May 1995, and a conference on the same theme which took place at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) on May 1Oth 1995. A book was published in French in conjunction with the exhibition, and much of the present publication is taken from that book. In addition, we have included some of the papers presented at the conference, as we believe they add a further dimension to the history of the Councils. The French term, Conseil Solvay, is usually translated into English as Solvay Conference or Congress. We have elected to retain the particular connotations of the French word Conseil by translating it instead as Council. The Councils were, after all, no ordinary conferences. Only a limited number of participants was invited, hand picked by a scientific committee, who for five to six days took an active part in the sessions and the long discussions that followed. Each day, one or two physicists would present a paper on a subject that had been chosen by the committee to fit in with the overall theme of the Council. The word Conseil expressly implies the gathering of an elite to engage in debate.

The Solvay Conferences on Physics

The Solvay Conferences on Physics
Author: Jagdish Mehra
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 439
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9401018677

Jagdish Mehra's historical account of the Solvay Conferences from 1911 to 1973 demonstrates not only the great influence which these conferences have had on the development of modern physics, but it also shows clearly how far-sighted and well planned were the intentions of Ernest Solvay when he took the initiative for organizing a new type of international conferences. In contrast to the conventional meetings in which reports are given on the successful solution of scientific problems, the Solvay Conferences were conceived to help directly in solving specific problems of unusual difficulty. The importance of the quantum structure of Nature had become well under stood already by 1911, but at that time there was no hope for an answer to the ex tremely difficult new questions posed by the atomic phenomena. The new conferences should therefore be devoted primarily to thorough discussions of such problems be tween a small number of the most competent physicists, and Ernest Solvay was guided by the hope that the discussions would eventually lead to a real and substantial progress. The earliest Solvay Conferences which I attended were those of 1927, 1930 and 1933, and they served this purpose extremely well. In 1926 the mathematical formalism of quantum-and wave-mechanics approached its final shape, but the interpretation was still controversial. Schrodinger hoped that his matter waves could be considered as waves in three-dimensional space and time, and that the discontinuous feature of quantum 'jumps' could be avoided thereby.

Solvay

Solvay
Author: Kenneth Bertrams
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 649
Release: 2013-01-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1107311071

Ernest Solvay, philanthropist and organizer of the world-famous Solvay conferences on physics, discovered a profitable way of making soda ash in 1861. Together with a handful of associates, he laid the foundations of the Solvay company, which successfully branched out into other chemicals, plastics and pharmaceuticals. Since its emergence in 1863, Solvay has maintained world leadership in the production of soda ash. This is the first scholarly book on the history of the Solvay company, which was one of the earliest chemical multinationals and today is among the world's twenty largest chemical companies. It is also one of the largest companies in the field to preserve its family character. The authors analyze the company's 150-year history (1863–2013) from economic, political and social perspectives, showing the enormous impact geopolitical events had on the company and the recent consequences of global competition.

Brick

Brick
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 374
Release: 1908
Genre: Bricks
ISBN:

Putting Purpose Into Practice

Putting Purpose Into Practice
Author: Colin Mayer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2021-03-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0192643703

In the face of constant change, the nature of business must evolve rapidly if it is to remain relevant to society at large. How then should business change to meet the requirements of the 21st century, in which unbridled globalization and technological advancements are having profound affects on the wellbeing and prosperity of both the people and the planet? The achievement of purpose is the key to successful transformation - not just having a purpose, but making that purpose real at every level of the organization. This is the first book to provide a precise description of how companies can put purpose into practice. Based on a groundbreaking research project undertaken jointly between the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and Mars Catalyst, the think tank of Mars Inc., it provides a highly accessible account of how companies should determine and implement their corporate purposes. It outlines why corporate purpose is so important and how it can both address the major challenges the world faces today and deliver enhanced performance for business. Fourteen detailed case studies illustrate how companies of different sizes, sectors, and geographies have put purpose into practice and their experiences of doing so. These cases give deep insights into the way in which companies can build purposeful businesses, map and shape their ecosystems, identify failures and problems, align management, and create partnerships to deliver their purposes against which they can measure their performance. The achievement of purpose is a very real issue that every responsible leader in business, finance, and business academia must now face. This book will equip executives, managers, investors, and policymakers with the tools that they require to understand how the notion of corporate purpose should become a corporate reality.