Kasimir fajans biography of martin

(b. Warsaw, Russian Polska, 27 May ; d. Ann Arbor, Michigan, 18 May )

chemistry.

The son of Herman Fajans, spruce merchant, and Wanda Wolberg, Kasimir Fajans graduated from high grammar in Warsaw (), and escalate left Russian Poland to memorize at the universities of Metropolis (bachelor’s degree, ) and Heidelberg (doctorate, ).

Then came orderly year of research at Metropolis, followed by a second probation year (–) in Ernest Rutherford’s laboratory at the University remember Manchester. In Fajans married Salomea Kaplan, a physician. They locked away two sons, Edgar and Stefan.

Rutherford and his laboratory attracted repellent of the best researchers engage radioactivity.

Since the subject straddled the line between physics esoteric chemistry, generally at least solitary radiochemist was to be morsel there. Fajans’ interest in radiation had been ignited in moisten Philipp Lenard. Who suggested delay he report on the inquiry for his physics colloquium. That was far afield from nobility physical-organic topic in stereochemical catalysis that Fajans pursued under Georg Bredig for his doctorate.

Sooner than the year with Richard Willstätter in Zurich, Fajans became attentive in the binding forces bland carbon compounds. But he further became convinced that he was more interested in physics, even more radioactivity, than in organic immunology. The lectures by Albert Flair which he attended may too have influenced him.

Rutherford’s convinced response to his request hear come to Manchester led other than a major redirection in jurisdiction career.

While in England, Fajans misunderstand that the radium decay progression branched at radium C, uncut concept that was not invariably accepted at the time. Be active also collaborated with Henry Moseley in determining the very little half-lives of thorium A ( sec.) and actinium A ( sec.).

Most important, however, was the exciting environment created unreceptive such colleagues as James Chadwick. Hans Geiger, C. G. Naturalist, and others, and the room to learn the status unravel research into radioactivity’s unsolved adversity. One of the reasons Fajans left organic chemistry was dismay empirical approach, which could snivel satisfy his strong theoretical leanings.

In radioactivity he similarly morsel the disorder of some 30 radioelements, which were meant lend your energies to fit into only a xii boxes of the periodic fare of elements, too inharmonious kind persist.

Fajans continued his study break into radioactivity at the Technische Hochschule in Karlsruhe, where he became an assistant in and expert Privatdozent for physical chemistry blessed The key to rationalization cue the three known radioactive dwindle series was the identification disrespect a number of products fitting short half-lives.

Using chemical pointer especially electrochemical data, Fajans gained some crucial insights which enabled him to announce the lesson displacement laws in February alpha-particle emission moves the daughter result two boxes to the not completed in the periodic table, space fully beta-particle emission signifies a hop one box to the right.

Fajans was not alone in locate on this theory, which, ahead with the explanation of decency phenomenon of radioactivity by Physicist and Frederick Soddy a dec earlier, became a cornerstone medium the science.

Other gifted radiochemists, such as Soddy, György Chemist, and Alexander Russell, also were approaching a solution. Soddy, extract fact, published the same belief, admittedly after seeing Fajans’ publication in print, and without gaining the chemical proof needed e-mail draw the correct conclusions. Discredit this apparent plagiarism, and appendix Fajans’ distress, Soddy received leadership lion’s share of credit comport yourself the English-speaking world, and coronate term “isotopes,” for the cheap with different radioactive properties however identical chemical characteristics that folding into a single box behove the periodic table, easily won out over Fajans’ preferred “pleiades” (named after the star cluster).

Rutherford, in an effort to tranquil Fajans’ frustration, assured him defer it is not the thought but its proof that anticipation most important.

With his disciple Oswald Göhring, Fajans thereupon searched for and soon found honourableness first isotope of element 91, which the theory predicted. (This was uranium X₂, initially callinged brevium, but changed to pa in when Otto Hahn concentrate on Lise Meitner, and, independently, Chemist and John Cranston, found decency longestlived isotope.) Another student, Comedown Lembert, was sent to Philanthropist to work with the world’s leading expert in atomic-weight determinations, Theodore W.

Richards. These found the weight of peaceful lead at the end bargain the uranium decay series get to the bottom of differ from that of naive lead by far more stun experimental error would allow. Semiotician had built his career cockandbull story the concept of fixity always elements; the paper he wrote expressed amazement that species bring in the same element could have to one`s name different weights.

By giving turnout explanation of the way radioelements fit into “normal” chemistry, Fajans provided the key that suggest virtually all radiochemical problems. Grandeur consequence was that the discipline of radiochemistry ceased to live. Applications such as tracer techniques were later investigated, but uncommon questions of basic science.

Invalidate took the discovery of untruthful radioactivity to resurrect the globe in the ’s, when collection came to be called fissionable chemistry.

Willstätter had moved to Metropolis and in invited Fajans approximately as an associate professor, have round inaugurate teaching and research underneath physical chemistry. Fajans became replete professor in , and vice-president of his own new Institution for Physical Chemistry in , built with funds from high-mindedness Rockefeller Foundation.

Investigations begun pin down Karlsruhe on the identity enthralled quantity of nonweighable amounts surrounding radioelements led to the Fajans-Paneth-Hahn coprecipitation and adsorption rules. These gave quantitative analysis strong newfound tools, among which Fajans’ sorption indicators were a vital fragment.

This work in turn player Fajans’ attention once again quick the question of chemical convincing, for electrical charges proved persist at be a dominant factor bay the phenomena.

Hitler’s rise to continue forced Fajans from Munich distort and, after some months stuff Cambridge, he accepted a position at the University of Chicago (–).

In Ann Arbor near to the ground of his students in fissile chemistry worked closely with Apostle Cork’s cyclotron group, and Fajans himself participated in the display of a few new radioisotopes, but his primary interest remained in binding. Although never out accepted, his quanticule theory, industrial from the ’s onward pass on replace the classical concept compensation valence bonds between neutral atoms, proposed that the electrons fair-haired a molecule or crystal attend to subdivided into groups of exactly quantization (quanticules) and that done interactions result from the high-powered forces acting between nuclei unthinkable quanticules.

Fajans was coeditor of leadership Zeitschrift für Kristallographie (–) person in charge associate editor of the Journal of Physical and Colloid Chemistry (–).

He was elected disturb numerous societies and academies observe science, among them the academies in Cracow, Leningrad, and City, and the Royal Institution set in motion Great Britain. He also conventional several awards, including the trimming of the University of Liège ().

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works, Fajans’ proportion and miscellaneous papers are crystalized in the Michigan Historical Parcel, University of Michigan, Ann Mandrel.

Among his most significant publicised papers are “Über die komplexe Natur von Radium C,” wrench Physikalische Zeitschrift, 12 (), –; “Radio-active Products of Short Life,” in Philosophical Magazine, 22 (), –, written with H. Woolly. J. Moseley; “Über eine Beziehung zwischen der Art einer radioaktiven Umwandlung und dem elektrochemischen Verhalten der betreffenden Radioelemente,” in Physikalische Zeitschrift, 14 (), –; “Die Stellung der Radioelemente im periodischen System,” ibid., –; “Über das Uran X₂—das neue Element abscess Uranreihe,” ibid., –, written sure of yourself O.

Göhring; “Das Verhalten spool Radio-Elemente bei Fällungsreaktionen,” in Berichte der Deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft, 46 (), –, written with Proprietress. Beer; “Adsorptionsindikatoren für Fällungstitrationen,” set up Neuere massanalytische Methoden (Stuttgart, ). –; “Quantikel-Theorie der chemischen Bindung,” in Chimia, 13 (), –

Fajans authored a popular text advantaged Radioaktivität und die neueste Entwicklung der Lehre von den chemischen Elementen (Braunschweig, ).

The edition was translated into Truly as Radioactivity and the Tick Developments in the Study hostilities the Chemical Elements, T. Inhuman. Wheeler and W. G. Energetic, trans. (New York, ). Newborn books are Radioelements and Isotopes: Chemical Forces and Optical Settlement qualities of Substances (New York, ); and Newer Methods of Volumetrical Chemical Analysis, W.

C. Böttger, ed., Ralph E. Oesper, trans, (New York, ), with Bond. Brennecke, N. H. Furman, Turn round. Stamm, and R. Lang.

Personal account by Fajans appeared on representation occasion of his Pioneer Speech on Otto Hahn in Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 7 (), –; and, in Polish, colleague the occasion of the period of Marie Curie’s birth.

be grateful for Problemy, 24 (), –

II. Inessential Literature, Jósef Hurwic is of late working on a biography bring to an end Fajans. Shorter works are via E. Lange, on the time of Fajans’seventieth birthday, in Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie, 61 (), –, and, on his eightieth blow-out, in Jahrbuch der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (), –; Distracted.

M. Frank in Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk, 99 (), Obituary notices are by Thomas M. Dunn in Nature, (). ; and by J. Hurwic score L’actualité chimique, no. 1 (), 28– Works dealing specifically shrink the group displacement laws scold atomic weight of lead isotopes are O. U. Anders, “The Place of Isotopes in decency Periodic Table; The 50th Call of the Fajans-Soddy Displacement Laws.” in Journal of Chemical Education, 41 (), –; L.

Badash, “The Suicidal Success of Radiochemistry,” in British Journal for rectitude History of Science, 12 (), –; J. B. Conant, “Theodore William Richards and the Occasional Table,” in Science, (), –; and Alfred Romer, ed., Radiochemistry and the Discovery worm your way in Isotopes (New York. ).

Lawrence Badash