F.A. Williams’s research while affiliated with University of California System and other places

Prometheus has been identified as the mythological deliverer of combustion science to mankind. Sciences traditionally have been divided into two parts—experiment and theory. A question therefore arises naturally: Was Prometheus more nearly an experimenter or a theoretician? My purpose is to attempt to review for you the history of the contribution of theory to the science of combustion. To do so I need to describe “theory” and “science” and to try to trace combustion from antiquity on into the future. A conclusion will be that today most sciences; and notably that of combustion, must be divided into three rather than the traditional two parts. But first, let's address that burning question raised above.