Abstract: After establishing his credentials as a scientist, Polanyi was transferred to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry and was allowed to focus on reaction rates and transition state theory; the group employed gas-flame experiments to measure reaction rates and calculate the activation energies in them. Polanyi's interest in economics was stimulated by inflation, unemployment and social upheavals in Germany, debates with his brother, Karl Polanyi, who advocated a form of Christian socialism, economic conditions in the Soviet Union, and the rise of nihilism. Polanyi's second son, John Charles Polanyi, was born on January 23, 1929. Developments in quantum theory and dipole-dipole interactions confirmed Polanyi's theory of adsorption potential.

Keywords: transition state theory, reaction rates, activation energies, inflation, Karl Polanyi, socialism, nihilism, John Charles Polanyi, dipole-dipole interactions, adsorption potential,