Editorial

EDITORIAL

This issue of the Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society is dedicated to the 80^th birthday of Professor Ricardo Ferreira, born on January 16^th, 1928 in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. On the occasion of his 60^th birthday, a special issue of Química Nova was dedicated to him.¹ Its editorial presented a masterly narrative of his academic carrier, which started with his first publication at the age of nineteen years old,² and continues until the present time with more than 130 publications. He pioneered the fields of theoretical chemistry and biophysics in Brazil, having published together with Myriam and Mario Giambiagi the first theoretical paper fully thought and developed in Latin America.³ Yet, his contributions were not restricted to chemistry, but included the fields of physics, molecular biology, history and philosophy of sciences. His more recent publications are related to molecular evolution, with emphasis on the origins of life and the genetic code. He was one of the founders of the Brazilian Chemical Society and the Brazilian Society of History of Science and is member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences since 1962. He has been bestowed on a number of honors, in special the Grã-Cruz da Ordem Nacional do Mérito Científico, from the Brazilian Presidency (1995), Almirante Alvaro Alberto Price, from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, CNPq (1996), Medalha Simão Mathias from the Brazilian Chemical Society (1997), of which he was President and remains Honorary President, Emeritus Researcher of the Brazilian Center of Physical Research, CBPF (1999) and Emeritus Professor of the Federal Universities of Pernambuco, UFPE (2001) and Alagoas, UFAL (1979). He has been associated with several research and teaching institutions in Brazil and abroad: the California Institute of Technology, Indiana University, Columbia University and Earlham College in the United States, l'Université de Genève and the Oxford University in Europe and the Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal de São Carlos and Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Brazil. His encyclopedical knowledge and great approachability has inspired his many students – all coming from as diverse scientific backgrounds as chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology. Once again he has been a pioneer, this time by his interdisciplinary approach to science. Those of us who have benefited from his intellectual sagacity, wisdom, mentoring and humanism wish to thank him. We now take the opportunity with enormous pleasure.

In the preface to this special issue in honor of the 80^th birthday of Professor Ricardo Ferreira, his friend and collaborator of many years, Professor Constantino Tsallis, offers a glimpse into the outstanding personality of Ricardo Ferreira. We hope it will provide a complementary view to the biography published in Química Nova on the occasion of his 60^th birthday by another long-term friend, Professor Gilberto F. de Sá.

Thereza A. Soares

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Arnóbio de S. da Gama

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

References

• 1. Special Issue; Quim. Nova 1988, 11 (1), 6-163.
• 2. Ferreira, R.; J. Chem. Educ. 1948, 25, 54.
• 3. de Giambiagi, M. S.; Giambiagi, M.; Ferreira, R.; J. Chim. Phys. Phys.-Chim. Biol. 1964, 61, 697.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  09 Apr 2008
• Date of issue
  2008