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Donald McQuarrie

Group 3, compilation of everyone's work by Alhad

Introduction (Erin)

Donald A. McQuarrie (May 20, 1937 - July 6, 2009) was an American chemist best known for his many textbooks such as “Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach” and “General Chemistry.” McQuarrie graduated from Lowell Technological Institute, now part of University of Massachusetts Lowell, in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and from John Hopkins University in 1960 with an M.A. degree in chemistry. He received his Ph.D in physical chemistry from the University of Oregon under Terrell L. Hill in 1962 and was a professor at the University of California, Davis at the time of his retirement in 1994. His research interests included non-linear dynamical systems and statistical thermodynamics of electrolyte systems. McQuarrie’s wife, Carole, is also a chemist and holds a Ph.D in biochemistry.

Biography

Early life - Birth, Education, Career (Alhad)

Born in Lowell, Masachusetts, Donald A. McQuarrie received three degrees in chemistry during his life -- a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, an M.S. from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. He received the latter after writing a dissertation on chromatography and fused salts -- in later years, he ventured more into the topic of chromatography and wrote a considerable amount of papers on this topic and kinetics. After completing his education, McQuarrie served as an assistant professor at Michigan State University for one year in 1962 and subsequently a research science at the North American Aviation Science Center from 1964 to 1968. Donald A. McQuarrie joined UC Davis’s staff after working for 10 years as a chemistry professor at Indiana University. McQuarrie stayed at Davis for the remainder of his career until 1994.

McQuarrie’s fervent interests in theoretical chemistry resulted in him authoring 95 scientific papers and 10 textbooks, the latter of which still remain in use in university classrooms. McQuarrie’s passion for teaching extended beyond the mere publications of his textbooks, however. Some of his textbooks were in fact co-authored by his wife, Carole, who also had a great exposure to the world of chemistry through her Ph.D. in biochemistry. He often acted as a mentor to many students, organizing study groups and proofreading dissertations. Many of his own pupils went on to do great work in the field of chemistry as well, such as Peter G. Wolynes, professor at Rice University.

Marriage And Children (Maggie)

He and his wife, Carole, were married for 50 years. While he was a professor at Indiana University, Carole completed her PhD in Biochemistry. She is listed as a coauthor to the Solutions Manual to Donald’s General Chemistry. They enjoyed spending time together attending IU Alumni events, such as the 1979 American Chemistry Society Meeting. They have two children together, Allan McQuarrie and Dawn Leslie McQuarrie. After Donald’s time at Davis, they retired together in Sea Ranch where they enjoyed playing bridge, participating in the Lions Club and Art Society, and taking their dogs for long walks. Carole still lives in Gualala, California, following her husband’s passing in 2009.

Out of McQuarrie’s many published works, one of his most notable papers is entitled “Study of the Chaotic Behavior of a Damped and Driven Oscillator in an Asymmetric Double-Well Potential.” He published this during his time at UC Davis and extensively tried to relate the findings of this paper to the undergraduate population. Before going into the technicalities of his research, McQuarrie explains that few real systems are described by the predictable behavior found by analytical solutions. This practice of oversimplifying systems, while a good start to understanding scenarios, is just that – an oversimplification. McQuarrie explains that the concept chaotic behavior “results when inaccuracies of uncertainties in the starting conditions grow exponentially, as opposed to linearly, with time; consequently, the system’s state shortly becomes totally unpredictable.” In his paper, McQuarrie discusses the numerical methods needed to mathematically modeling the scenario of an asymmetrical double-well potential. Although the findings of this paper modeled a somewhat specific scenario, he emphasized that “it is no longer necessary for students to confine their studies to systems having only analytical solutions,” again showing his commitment to bettering academia.

Post-Retirement - Work, Personal Life, Death (Seokyoun Jung)

Donald A. McQuarrie retired at age of 57 in 1994. After his retirement, he was continued to work on the book, “Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach” and updating his previous textbooks with John D. Simon. He also shared the book editing with his wife Carole who has a Ph.D in biochemistry. His life goal was to write the mathematical methods for the scientists and the engineers and later it was published by University Science Books. His last work was a updating the general chemistry textbook and he thought understanding of atomic and molecular structure must be understood before the behavior of molecules.

Donald A McQuarrie thoroughly enjoyed his final years in retirement at Sea Ranch. He spent his time to serve community service in the Sea Ranch/Gualala area. He participated in the Gualala Lions Club where provided eye care for everyone who needed eye exams and he had a great ambition and was proud to give eye examinations and glasses to a child whoever needed. He volunteered in the Community Resource Connection that provided the transportation for those who were no longer able to drive. He was an excellent player of bridge and liked play with his wife. He liked to walk his dog. He died at age of 72 on July 6, 2009 in Mendocino County in California.

Published Works and Research

Donald McQuarrie has numerous publications in the science literature, ranging from basic chemistry to quantum and molecular chemistry. Each of these books were popular for having long publication runs. McQuarrie’s texts were often classified as overly comprehensive. In addition, he also has authored or co-authored 95 scientific papers.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (Derek)

One of McQuarrie’s most cited publications include nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, spectroscopy. He emphasized the idea that a proton acts as a tiny magnet, and when an external magnetic field is applied, the protons will align. This will cause electromagnetic energy to be absorbed or emitted. For different, unequivalent molecules, different magnetic field interactions take place. Protons must belong to chemically equivalent hydrogen atoms in order to absorb the same magnetic field magnitude along the spectra. The equation to define dissimilar proton molecules is

$H_{effective}=H_{0}-H_{shielding}$

where H_effective is the magnetic field actually applied to a proton, H₀ is the electric field being applied, and H_shielding is the magnitude of shielding due to its electron density. McQuarrie explains its usefulness in allowing to identity different structural bonds in chemical structures. This idea has many subsets of rules which will define more specific bond structures, such as multiplets. Graphically, different proton interactions produce signals by creating a chemical shift which are unique in shape and size to their magnetic strength. The signals presented on a PMR graph are defined by the area under the signal, not the relative height. This all helps in identify that amount, location, and structures which the proton is characterized by.

Study of the Chaotic Behavior of a Damped and Driven Oscillator in an Asymmetric Double-Well Potential (Alhad and Maggie)

Out of McQuarrie’s many published works, one of his most notable papers is entitled “Study of the Chaotic Behavior of a Damped and Driven Oscillator in an Asymmetric Double-Well Potential.” He published this during his time at UC Davis and extensively tried to relate the findings of this paper to the undergraduate population. Before going into the technicalities of his research, McQuarrie explains that few real systems are described by the predicable behavior found by analytical solutions. This practice of oversimplifying systems, while a good start to understanding scenarios, is just that – an oversimplification. McQuarrie explains that the concept chaotic behavior “results when inaccuracies of uncertainties in the starting conditions grow exponentially, as opposed to linearly, with time; consequently, the system’s state shortly becomes totally unpredictable.” In his paper, McQuarrie discusses the numerical methods needed to mathematically modeling the scenario of an asymmetrical double-well potential. Although the findings of this paper modeled a somewhat specific scenario, he emphasized that “it is no longer necessary for students to confine their studies to systems having only analytical solutions,” again showing his commitment to bettering academia.

On Dielectric Saturation Modeling in a Continumm Solvent (Seokyoun and Erin)

McQuarrie published “On Dielectric Saturation Modeling in a Continuum Solvent” during his time at University of California Davis on 1992. McQuarrie solved the linear Poisson-Bolzmann equation with a variable dielectric constant. The dielectric constant depends naturally on the electric field. He compared two different spatially dependent forms of the dielectric constant. It is shown that the electrostatic repulsion between two flat plates is decreased by dielectric saturation and that it depends in complicated way on both the dielectric constant as a function of distance from the surface.

List of Published Textbooks (Derek)

• Statistical Thermodynamics (1973)
• Statistical Mechanics (1975)
• Descriptive Chemistry (1985)
• Overhead Trans T/A Gen Chem (1987)
• Quantum Chemistry (1983)
  • Solutions Manual to Accompany Quantum Chemistry (1984)
• General Chemistry (1987)
• CTB-MAC General Chemistry (1992)
• Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach (1997)
• Molecular Thermodynamics (1999)
• Mathematical Methods for Scientists and Engineers (2003)
• Mathematics for Physical Chemistry (2008)

Honors, awards, decorations, and distinctions (Charles)

• NSF Fellowship
• Guggenheim Fellow (1975)
• Distinguished Teaching Award at UC Davis (1992)
• Guest Research Fellow of the Royal Society
• Member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Physical Chemistry
• Member of the Graduate Record Examination Committee