chemistry

Paul F. McMillan

Paul F. McMillan is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Paul F. McMillan rather than just read about it. In short: Paul Francis McMillan (3 June 1956 – 2 February 2022) was a British chemist who held the Sir William Ramsay Chair of Chemistry at University College London. His research considered the study of matter under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, with a focus on phase transitions, amorphisation, and the study of glassy states.

Key takeaways

Paul F. McMillan belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
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Reproduce the core statement of Paul F. McMillan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Paul Francis McMillan (3 June 1956 – 2 February 2022) was a British chemist who held the Sir William Ramsay Chair of Chemistry at University College London. His research considered the study of matter under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, with a focus on phase transitions, amorphisation, and the study of glassy states. He has also investigated the survival of bacteria and larger organisms (tardigrades) under extreme compression, studies of amyloid fibrils, the synthesis and characterisation of carbonitride nanocrystals and the study of water motion in confined environments. He has made extensive use of Raman spectroscopy together with X-ray diffraction and neutron scattering techniques.

Early life and education McMillan was born in Edinburgh, Midlothian, and brought up in Loanhead, a small mining and farming village at the base of the Pentland Hills. He attended Lasswade High School, where he graduated with the Marshall Memorial medal. He then studied for a bachelor's degree in chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. After graduating, McMillan moved to Arizona State University, where he researched geochemistry with John Holloway and Alexandra Navrotsky. His doctoral research was in using vibrational spectroscopy to investigate the structures of silicate glasses.

Research and career McMillan worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Arizona State University, where he installed one of the first micro-beam Raman spectroscopy instruments in the US. He used Raman spectroscopy to study high pressure minerals and materials. He was hired to a teaching position at Arizona State University in 1983, and promoted to Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1993. He was appointed Director of the Center for Solid State Science in 1997 and was named Presidential Professor of the Sciences. In 2000 he was awarded the Brunauer Cement Award of American Ceramic Society. In 2000, McMillan returned to the United Kingdom, where he was made Professor of Solid State Chemistry at University College London, an appointment jointly held with the Royal Institution. McMillan has also held visiting positions at the Universités of Nantes and Rennes, the Ecole Normale Supérieure and Université Claude Bernard. McMillan's research involved the exploration of solid state chemistry under extreme high pressure and high temperature conditions using diamond anvil cells. New compounds and materials are prepared and studied at up to a million atmospheres and thousands of degrees Celsius using spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. He studied the properties and structure of liquids, amorphous solids and biological molecules at high pressure. McMillan has contributed across numerous fields and has published work relating to solid state inorganic/materials chemistry, high pressure-high temperature research, amorphous solids and liquids, vibrational spectroscopy, synchrotron X-ray and neutron scattering, mineral physics, graphitic carbonitrides, battery materials and the response of bacteria to high pressures. In 2015 McMillan was a panellist on Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time on BBC Radio 4.

Personal life McMillan died in London on 2 February 2022, at the age of 65.

Selected publications C. A. Angell; K. L. Ngai; G. B. McKenna; P. F. McMillan; S. W. Martin (15 September 2000). "Relaxation in glassforming liquids and amorphous solids". Journal of Applied Physics. 88 (6): 3113–3157. doi:10.1063/1.1286035. ISSN 0021-8979. Wikidata Q56552594. Paul F McMillan (1 September 2002). "New materials from high-pressure experiments". Nature Materials. 1 (1): 19–25. doi:10.1038/nmat716. ISSN 1476-1122. PMID 12618843. Wikidata Q73082944. P. H. Poole; T. Grande; C. A. Angell; P. F. McMillan (17 January 1997). "Polymorphic Phase Transitions in Liquids and Glasses". Science. 275 (5298): 322–323. doi:10.1126/science.275.5298.322. ISSN 0036-8075. Wikidata Q57567948.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paul F. McMillan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paul F. McMillan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paul F. McMillan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paul F. McMillan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paul F. McMillan

In research: Paul F. McMillan appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Paul F. McMillan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Paul F. McMillan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1956 births, 2022 deaths, 20th-century British chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paul F. McMillan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Paul F. McMillan in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Paul F. McMillan means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Paul F. McMillan out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paul F. McMillan in simple terms?

Why does Paul F. McMillan matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paul F. McMillan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paul F. McMillan.