This Memorial Issue honors the life and career of Dr. Kenneth (Ken) Neil Marsh, highlighting his renowned contributions to the fields of chemical thermodynamics and thermophysical property measurement and prediction.
Dr. Kenneth (Ken) Neil Marsh is renowned for his contributions to the fields of chemical thermodynamics and thermophysical property measurement and prediction, and noted for his service to the community as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data from 1991 to 2010. After Marsh died last year following a stroke, the journal marked his passing and his accomplished career in an October 13, 2016, obituary by Eric F. May and Thomas J. Hughes. May and Hughes then set to work to compile a Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data Memorial Issue in honor of Kenneth N. Marsh.
Kenneth N. Marsh is largely responsible for the reputation that the Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data enjoys today as the premier source of reliable phase equilibria and thermophysical property data. Through his work with the Thermodynamics Research Center (now at NIST), data from JCED publications are now checked before publication and then entered in the NIST databases. This process established by Marsh, and now adopted by four other Journals, has significantly reduced the publication of incorrect phase equilibrium and thermophysical property data. The special issue is just a small tribute in recognition of exceptional contributions Marsh made in raising the quality of thermodynamics research worldwide.
Kenneth N. Marsh (1939-2016)
Born in Melbourne, Australia, on December 27, 1939, Marsh received his education in Australia and the U.K., and then went on to do research and teach at universities in Australia, the U.S., and New Zealand. He published 12 books, 20 book chapters, and more than 220 journal articles and became a leader in the field of chemical thermodynamics and thermophysical property measurement and prediction.
During his 1991 to 2010 term as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data, Marsh worked to advance and raise standards across the community and became more widely known and respected. By the end of his career, he had won many awards, including, just before his death, the 2016 Rossini Lecture.
Marsh had prepared a lecture, which was scheduled to be given at the 24th IUPAC Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics in Guilin, China, but died before the August 2016 conference. Instead, his notes and slides were presented on his behalf by Professor J. P. Martin Trusler and the community used the occasion to make tribute to Marsh’s life and legacy.
Read more about Marsh’s life and accomplishments in this Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data obituary and in this Preface to the Memorial Issue in his honor.
Memorial Issue in Honor of Kenneth N. Marsh
This Special Issue, published September 14, 2017, is made up largely of papers that reflect Marsh’s varied research interests and includes the work of many researchers who worked with Marsh over the years, explain May and Hughes in their Preface.
First and foremost, Ken Marsh was a champion for the importance of high-quality experimental data. He applied this to measurements spanning from phase equilibrium to thermophysical properties.
Contributions in the special issue that coincide with Ken’s passion for phase equilibria include vapor-liquid equilibrium , vapor-liquid-liquid equilibrium, and solid-liquid equilibrium.
Ken’s interest in calorimetric properties is reflected in measurements of enthalpies of formation , as well as heat capacities , phase transitions , and excess enthalpies.
Finally, the special issue contains a variety of articles on two other thermophysical properties of particular interest to Ken Marsh – volumetric properties and viscosities.
