About

Dr. Robert T. Hanlon

A seemingly simple question that I couldn’t answer motivated me to write my first book, Block by Block – The Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Thermodynamics. I didn’t understand what happens at the molecular scale to cause a gas to cool as it expands while doing work.  My search for the answer took me on a twenty-year journey during which I answered this question and many others as well. 

While I shared in Block by Block all that I learned about thermodynamics science and history, I was left standing with even more unanswered questions that came to me during my research, not only as regards thermodynamics but other sciences as well, such as chemistry, electricity, and even meteorology. So now I’ve taken up a new journey to answer these questions, share the results using multi-media, and ultimately transform the way science is taught. My guiding belief is that science is ideally explained using the atomic theory of matter.

I earned my Sc.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and subsequently conducted post-doctoral research at Karlsruhe University in Germany. My professional career took me to Mobil Oil Research & Development Corporation, the Rohm and Haas Company, and then back to MIT where I am currently involved with their School of Chemical Engineering Practice.