Thermal Analysis Nomenclature

Abstract

In the early years of thermal analysis, when no commercial equipment was readily available, scientists built their own equipment to support their research. These ‘lab-built’ instruments allowed the pioneers of the technique to make measurements and publish, but often led to problems when others attempted to repeat their work, as each instrument was different in construction and operation. A andard nomenclature was needed. Development of the nomenclature has been an extraordinarily long and convoluted process, which has led to the recent publication of an International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry standard. This chapter reviews the history leading up to the IUPAC publication and includes the publication itself.