in science and technology have enabled us to prevail in the battlefield and marketplace. The United States currently has a military equipped with materials, communication devices, and supplies that result from fundamental research in materials synthesis and processing, electronics development, and biomedical advances.

Nuclear weapons, frightening and dangerous as they may be, are nevertheless a significant component of our overall national defense. A major national effort at this point is to make sure that they are not used in a war, or allowed to spread into less responsible hands. Chemistry played a large role in the development of nuclear weapons, enabling the chemical and isotopic separations procedures by which weapons-grade fissile materials could be isolated from highly complex mixtures. It was a remarkable achievement, solving a very difficult problem. Now analytical chemistry is heavily involved in detecting evidence for nuclear test explosions, to try to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The production of weapons-grade uranium or plutonium is both technically challenging and expensive. Consequently, the source of this threat has been limited primarily to industrialized countries. In contrast, both industrialized and less developed countries might turn to the production of chemical weapons or biological weapons using dangerous viruses or bacteria. These are forbidden by international agreement,² but agreements do not necessarily provide a strong defense. Consequently, the U.S. military has put considerable effort into developing protective clothing and procedures to protect troops against chemical and biological weapons. The protective materials, and detoxifying procedures and substances, are the products of modern chemistry and chemical engineering.

A major contribution from chemistry and chemical engineering has been the development of materials with important military applications. Chemists and chemical engineers, working with experts from areas such as electronics, materials science, and physics, have contributed to such developments as new explosives and propellants, reactive armor (a complex material with an explosive layer that can reduce the penetration of an incoming projectile), and stealth materials that reduce the detectability of aircraft by radar.

Our personal civilian security is greatly enhanced by many contributions from chemistry and chemical engineering, often through integrated R&D efforts with teams of scientists from many disciplines. Law enforcement employs forensic tools that rely heavily on chemical analysis, and emergency response teams use a variety of protective clothing and equipment that rely on modern materials chemistry and engineering. As mentioned above, individual security extends to chemical detection methods in the home.

Front Matter (R1-R14)

Executive Summary (1-10)

1 Introduction (11-15)

2 The Structures and Cultures of the Disciplines: The Common Chemical Bond (16-21)

3 Synthesis and Manufacturing: Creating and Exploiting New Substances and New Transformations (22-40)

4 Chemical and Physical Transformations (41-54)

5 Isolating, Identifying, Imaging, and Measuring Substances and Structures (55-70)

6 Chemical Theory and Computer Modeling: From Computational Chemistry to Process Systems Engineering (71-94)

7 The Interface with Biology and Medicine (95-122)

8 Materials by Design (123-147)

9 Atmospheric and Environmental Chemistry (148-159)

10 Energy: Providing for the Future (160-170)

11 National and Personal Security (171-179)

12 How To Achieve These Goals (180-194)

Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Steering Committee Members (195-201)

Appendix B: Statement of Task (202-202)

Appendix C: Contributors (203-208)

Index (209-224)