Some Thoughts on Logic and Intuition in Science and Chemical Engineering

Christo Boyadjiev

Institute of Chemical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.

DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1100908                

Abstract

The role of the logic and intuition in the chemical engineering is presented. Basic rules of logic in chemical engineering are used: “Construction of mathematical models of chemical engineering structures use the general rules (approximations) of the continuous media mechanics” and “A full correspondence between physical effects and mathematical operators (in the form of functions and their derivatives) in the mathematical models”. The basic mathematical operators as gradient, divergence and Laplace operator are associated with the physical effects in the models. The intuition-judgments in the chemical engineering are the axioms as “Stokes postulate for the linear relationship between stress and strain rate”, “linear relationship between the diffusion flux and the concentration gradient (Fick’s first law)”, “linear relationship between heat flux and temperature gradient (Fourier’s first law)”. The intuition-judgments (axioms) of the linear and non- linear mass transfer theories are presented too.

Keywords

Chemical Engineering, Logic, Intuition-Judgment, Intuition-Hunch, Axiom, Theorem

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Feinberg, E.L. (2004) Two Cultures. Intuition and Logic in the Art and Science. AGE 2, Fryazino, 286 p.
[2]	Boyadjiev, C. (2010) Theoretical Chemical Engineering. Modeling and Simulation. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 594 p.
[3]	Boyadjiev, C.B. and Babak, V.N. (2000) Non-Linear Mass Transfer and Hydrodynamic Stability. Elsevier, Amsterdam, New York, 500 p.