David Reynolds Lide, Jr.

David Reynolds Lide, Jr. (b. 1928) is an American data specialist.

Life

David Reynolds Lide, Jr was born May 25, 1928, in Gainesville, GA. He received a BS degree from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1949, then an MA (1951) and a PhD in Physics (1952) from Harvard University. His research involved: free radicals, high temperature, microwave and infrared spectroscopy, molecular structure, critical data evaluation, and molecular lasers.

Lide worked at the National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC, as a physicist, 1954-63; chief of the Molecular Spectroscopy Section, 1963-69; and director of Office of Standard Reference Data, 1969-88. He became a freelance editor in 1988 and served as Editor-in-Chief of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry & Physics, 1988-2008, then as editor of electronic editions, in 2009.

Contributions

The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics is a compilation of definitions and data of very great value to a scientists and engineers. It is know as "the rubber bible" because its publisher, CRC, which originally manufactured rubber aprons and other rubber products, was founded as the Chemical Rubber Company. CRC became part of the UK publisher Informa in 2004. Such handbooks and, therefore, the work of editors such as David Lide are of great importance.

Lide was also:

• Member of editorial board, Applied Spectroscopy Reviews, 1968-76, and the Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Science, 1986-89.
• Founding editor, Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, 1972-1992.

Publications

• "Structure of the methylamine molecule. I. Microwave spectrum of CD3ND2." Journal of Chemical Physics 27, no. 2 (1957): 343-352.
• "Microwave spectrum, structure, and dipole moment of propane." Journal of Chemical Physics 33, no. 5 (1960): 1514-1518.
• Editor in chief, CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, CRC Press (Boca Raton, FL), 71st edition, 1990, 89th edition, 2008.
• Basic Laboratory and Industrial Chemicals. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1993.
• Handbook of Data on Organic Compounds, 3rd ed. With G.W.A. Milne. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1993.
• CRC Handbook of Thermophysical and Thermochemical Data. With Henry V. Kehiaian. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1994.
• Handbook of Organic Solvents. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1994.
• Editor, with G.W.A. Milne. Names, Synonyms, and Structures or Organic Compounds. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1995.
• Physicist's Desk Reference. With George L. Trigg and E. Richard Cohen. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2001. 3rd edition published as AIP Physicist's Desk Reference. New York: AIP Press, 2003.
• Editor. A Century of Excellence in Measurements, Standards, and Technology: A Chronicle of Selected NBS/NIST Publications, 1901-2000. Washington, DC: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2001. Published as A Century of Excellence in Measurements, Standards, and Technology. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2002.

Offices

• International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Physical and Chemistry Division. President, 1983-87; Communication Symbols, Terminology, and Units Commission, Chairman.

Awards

• Fulbright scholar and Ramsay Memorial fellow, 1952-53.
• National Science Foundation. Senior postdoctoral fellow, 1959-60 & 1967-68.
• US Department of Commerce, Silver Medal, 1965, and Gold Medal, 1968.
• National Bureau of Standards. Samuel Wesley Stratton Award, 1968.
• American Chemical Society, Herman Skolnik Award in Information for the creation of the national standard reference database series of computer searchable numerical databases and for founding and editing the Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, 1988; Patterson-Crane Award for contributions to chemical documentation, 1991.
• Presidential Rank Award Meritorious Federal Executive, 1986.

Further reading

• "Lide, David R. 1928– ." encyclopedia.com [1]