Impacts of Bard and Faulkner's Electrochemical Methods

HIST 12

Johna Leddy, johna-leddy@uiowa.edu, Department of Chemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
When the first edition of Electrochemical Methods (ISBN 0-471-05542-5) by A. J. Bard and L. R. Faulkner was published in 1980, the book created a new perspective and organization of the collective knowledge that was electrochemistry and electroanalysis. It bridged the gap of electrochemistry as analytical and physical chemistry. Most electrochemists have substantial familiarity with the book as both text and reference, and much of contemporary electroanalysis is appreciated within the context of the perspective provided in Electrochemical Methods. The impact of the book on electrochemical education and the development of electroanalysis will be discussed. Examples will be drawn from experiences of various electrochemists over the 26 years since the publication of the book.