Preface

This book is intended for use as a textbook for an upper-level undergraduate or a first-year graduate course and as a handy reference for professionals who need to refresh their memories about a particular rate model. It focuses on rate models that are well understood, widely used, and pertinent to geochemical processes. Its scope is limited to an amount of material that can be covered in a one-semester course and the depth of presentation is restricted to the principal aspects of each model. The reference list directs the reader to sources that contain the additional details needed to produce more sophisticated models.

As the scientific and technological enterprise grows larger, scientists cope with the onslaught of new knowledge by retreating to more narrowly defined sub-disciplines. Increasing specialization tends to make each sub-discipline less relevant to the overall scientific and technological enterprise. This tempts scientists to pursue questions of trivial importance relative to the larger picture. Furthermore, the terminology that grows up in these enclaves becomes abstruse and incomprehensible. Geochemistry is challenged to avoid this trap by aggressively integrating knowledge from cognate disciplines in order to remain vibrant and meaningful. This is my justification for choosing many of the topics in this book from scientific and technological areas that might not be considered as traditional geochemistry. Hopefully this intellectual cross-fertilization will improve geochemistry’s vigor. My choice of topics was predicated on the question: What should everyone know about rates of geochemical processes? I hope that this book answers that question. If I have done my job properly, this book will provide an intellectual foundation for anyone, including scientists and technologists from cognate disciplines, who deal with geochemical processes. I have tried to meld these topics by using a standard notation and terminology that is consistent with that already used in geochemistry.