PATTERNS IN TIME AND SPACE

Anyone who has ever stared at waves coming into a beach or at a child soaring on a swing is familiar with the fascination of watching periodic phenomena. In contrast to their counterparts in physics, with their pendula, and in biology, with their circadian rhythms, chemists until recently have been largely deprived of such pleasures. Now, however, a growing company of researchers in chemical dynamics is becoming acquainted with the enchantments and frustrations of studying periodic and not-quite-periodic behavior. The study of chemical oscillations in time and space has evolved from a somewhat suspect, peripheral area of inquiry to a major field of chemical research with applications to fields from biology to meteorology. Although there were indications as early as 1828 (in studies of the dissolution of metals in strong acids) that the rates of certain reactions might increase and decrease repeatedly, it was not until 1921 that William C. Bray at the University of ...