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Otto Hahn and the Rise of Nuclear Physics

  • Book
  • © 1983

Overview

Editors:
  1. William R. Shea

    1. McGill University, Montreal, Canada

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Part of the book series: The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science (WONS, volume 22)

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. Introduction: From Rutherford to Hahn

    • William R. Shea
    Pages 1-18

  3. The Nuclear Electron Hypothesis

    • Roger H. Stuewer
    Pages 19-67

  4. The Evolution of Matter: Nuclear Physics, Cosmic Rays, and Robert Millikan’s Research Program

    • Robert Kargon
    Pages 69-89

  5. The Discovery of Fission and a Nuclear Physics Paradigm

    • Spencer R. Weart
    Pages 91-133

  6. Internal and External Conditions for the Discovery of Nuclear Fission by the Berlin Team

    • Fritz Krafft
    Pages 135-165

  7. Otto Hahn, Science, and Social Responsibility

    • Lawrence Badash
    Pages 167-180

  8. The Politics of British Science in the Munich Era

    • Neil Cameron
    Pages 181-199

  9. Why Hahn’s Radiothorium Surprised Rutherford in Montreal

    • Thaddeus J. Trenn
    Pages 201-212

  10. The Discovery of Uranium Z by Otto Hahn: The First Example of Nuclear Isomerism

    • Ernst H. Berninger
    Pages 213-220

  11. Nuclear Physics in Canada in the 1930s

    • B. W. Sargent
    Pages 221-240

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 241-252
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Keywords

About this book

and less as the emanation unden\'ent radioactive decay, and it became motion­ less after about 30 seconds. Since this process was occurring very rapidly, Hahn and Sackur marked the position of the pointer on a scale with pencil marks. As a timing device they used a metronome that beat out intervals of approximately 1. 3 seconds. This simple method enabled them to determine that the half-life of the emanations of actinium and emanium were the same. Although Giesel's measurements had been more precise than Debierne's, the name of actinium was retained since Debierne had made the discovery first. Hahn now returned to his sample of barium chloride. He soon conjectured that the radium-enriched preparations must harbor another radioactive sub­ stance. The liquids resulting from fractional crystallization, which were sup­ posed to contain radium only, produced two kinds of emanation. One was the long-lived emanation of radium, the other had a short life similar to the emanation produced by thorium. Hahn tried to separate this substance by adding some iron to the solutions that should have been free of radium, but to no avail. Later the reason for his failure became apparent. The element that emitted the thorium emanation was constantly replenished by the ele­ ment believed to be radium. Hahn succeeded in enriching a preparation until it was more than 100,000 times as intensive in its radiation as the same quantity of thorium.

Reviews

`...articles which provide much interesting material on a period of the development of physics which has been relatively neglected by historians of science.'
Centaurus, 28:1

Editors and Affiliations

  • McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    William R. Shea

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Otto Hahn and the Rise of Nuclear Physics

  • Editors: William R. Shea

  • Series Title: The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7133-2

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: D. Riedel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland 1983

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-90-277-1584-5Published: 31 August 1983

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-009-7135-6Published: 19 January 2012

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-009-7133-2Published: 06 December 2012

  • Series ISSN: 1566-659X

  • Series E-ISSN: 2215-1974

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: IX, 254

  • Topics: History, general, Philosophy of Science

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