Polanyi, Michael (1891-1976)

Hungarian chemist, social scientist, and philosopher. As a scientist, he worked on thermodynamics, X-ray crystallography, and physical adsorption. As a philosopher and social scientist, he was concerned about the conflicts between personal freedom and central planning, and the impact of the conflict upon scientists.

Polanyi, born in Budapest, studied medicine there and later turned to chemistry. In 1933 he resigned from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin over the dismissal of Jewish scientists, and moved to Manchester University, England, as professor of physical chemistry. He was professor of social studies at Manchester 1948-58, and then moved to Oxford.

Polanyi introduced the idea of the existence of an attractive force between a solid surface and the atoms or molecules of a gas; he also suggested that the adsorbed surface is a multilayer and not subject to simple valency interactions.

He advocated that scientific research need not necessarily have a pre-stated function and expressed the belief that a commitment to the discovery of truth is the prime reason for being a scientist. He also analysed the nature of knowledge, skills, and discovery.

Polanyi's works include Personal Knowledge 1958, Knowing and Being 1969, and Scientific Thought and Social Reality 1974.