Dynamic Equilibria - Not Just in Soils.

At the heart of Willard Lindsay’s approach to the application of standard free energies of formation to the complex chemistry of soils is the concept of dynamic equilibria. This concept can also be used to characterize Professor Lindsay’s approach to working with students and other scientists, whether in a formal classroom or one-on-one as the research challenges of other projects were being addressed. As one drilled down to a certain level of understanding of the specific problem being addressed, a temporary equilibrium between teacher and student could be attained. But, soon another level would start appearing in the distance and the journey would begin anew, not unlike the cascading transitions of multiple mineral phases in soil systems from more soluble to less soluble forms and the temporary buffered levels along the way. This approach enabled individuals with relatively shallow backgrounds in chemistry, but with sufficient curiosity and motivation, to quickly grow in their understanding to a point where they were progressing with real world chemical problems.