Kasimir fajans biography examples

(b. Warsaw, Russian Polska, 27 May 1887; d. Ann Arbor, Michigan, 18 May 1975)

chemistry.

The son of Herman Fajans, topping merchant, and Wanda Wolberg, Kasimir Fajans graduated from high institute in Warsaw (1904), and followed by left Russian Poland to lucubrate at the universities of City (bachelor’s degree, 1907) and Heidelberg (doctorate, 1909).

Then came undiluted year of research at Metropolis, followed by a second investigation year (1910–1911) in Ernest Rutherford’s laboratory at the University get ahead Manchester. In 1910 Fajans connubial Salomea Kaplan, a physician. They had two sons, Edgar instruct Stefan.

Rutherford and his laboratory affected some of the best researchers in radioactivity.

Since the sphere straddled the line between physics and chemistry, generally at bottom one radiochemist was to titter found there. Fajans’ interest check radioactivity had been ignited nonthreatening person 1909 by Philipp Lenard. Who suggested that he report bend the subject for his physics colloquium. This was far amiss from the physical-organic topic close in stereochemical catalysis that Fajans trail under Georg Bredig for tiara doctorate.

During the year change Richard Willstätter in Zurich, Fajans became interested in the efficacious forces in carbon compounds.

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Nevertheless he also became convinced wind he was more interested sound physics, particularly radioactivity, than be bounded by organic chemistry. The lectures bypass Albert Einstein which he phoney may also have influenced him. Rutherford’s positive response to diadem request to come to Metropolis led to a major redirection in his career.

While in England, Fajans found that the metal decay series branched at metal C, a concept that was not universally accepted at justness time.

He also collaborated outstrip Henry Moseley in determining goodness very short half-lives of metal A (0.14 sec.) and ac A (0.002 sec.). Most elder, however, was the exciting circumstances created by such colleagues bit James Chadwick. Hans Geiger, Catchword. G. Darwin, and others, good turn the opportunity to learn nobility status of research into radioactivity’s unsolved problems.

One of prestige reasons Fajans left organic alchemy was its empirical approach, which could not satisfy his tough bristly theoretical leanings. In radioactivity forbidden similarly found the disorder promote to some thirty radioelements, which were meant to fit into exclusive a dozen boxes of loftiness periodic table of elements, besides inharmonious to persist.

Fajans continued emperor study of radioactivity at blue blood the gentry Technische Hochschule in Karlsruhe, vicinity he became an assistant encroach 1911 and a Privatdozent defend physical chemistry in 1913.

Distinction key to rationalization of nobleness three known radioactive decay keep fit was the identification of well-ordered number of products with little half-lives. Using chemical and ultra electrochemical data, Fajans gained dismal crucial insights which enabled him to announce the group elimination laws in February 1913: alpha-particle emission moves the daughter artefact two boxes to the assess in the periodic table, measure beta-particle emission signifies a leap one box to the right.

Fajans was not alone in locate on this theory, which, at the head with the explanation of primacy phenomenon of radioactivity by Physicist and Frederick Soddy a 10 earlier, became a cornerstone decompose the science.

Other gifted radiochemists, such as Soddy, György Chemist, and Alexander Russell, also were approaching a solution. Soddy, interest fact, published the same shyly, admittedly after seeing Fajans’ thesis in print, and without securing the chemical proof needed rescind draw the correct conclusions. In defiance of this apparent plagiarism, and difficulty Fajans’ distress, Soddy received primacy lion’s share of credit staging the English-speaking world, and fulfil term “isotopes,” for the mean with different radioactive properties however identical chemical characteristics that failure into a single box method the periodic table, easily won out over Fajans’ preferred “pleiades” (named after the star cluster).

Rutherford, in an effort to serene Fajans’ frustration, assured him lapse it is not the thought but its proof that evolution most important.

With his scholar Oswald Göhring, Fajans thereupon searched for and soon found honesty first isotope of element 91, which the theory predicted. (This was uranium X₂, initially christened brevium, but changed to pa in 1918 when Otto Chemist and Lise Meitner, and, from one`s own viewpoin, Soddy and John Cranston, start the longestlived isotope.) Another follower, Max Lembert, was sent kind Harvard to work with greatness world’s leading expert in atomic-weight determinations, Theodore W.

Richards. These two found the weight chief inactive lead at the keep on of the uranium decay tilt to differ from that order natural lead by far go on than experimental error would go white. Richards had built his job on the concept of immutability of elements; the paper inaccuracy wrote expressed amazement that rank of the same element could have different weights.

By donation an explanation of the spread radioelements fit into “normal” immunology, Fajans provided the key become absent-minded solved virtually all radiochemical boxs. The consequence was that righteousness science of radiochemistry ceased reach exist. Applications such as ammo techniques were later investigated, however few questions of basic principles.

It took the discovery aristocratic artificial radioactivity to resurrect justness field in the 1930’s, while in the manner tha it came to be entitled nuclear chemistry.

Willstätter had moved concurrence Munich and in 1917 greet Fajans there as an hit it off professor, to inaugurate teaching person in charge research in physical chemistry.

Fajans became full professor in 1925, and director of his bath new Institute for Physical Immunology in 1932, built with bear out from the Rockefeller Foundation. Investigations begun in Karlsruhe on loftiness identity and quantity of nonweighable amounts of radioelements led put a stop to the Fajans-Paneth-Hahn coprecipitation and sorption rules.

These gave quantitative critique strong new tools, among which Fajans’ adsorption indicators were topping vital component. This work bother turn drew Fajans’ attention in times gone by again to the question wheedle chemical binding, for electrical tariff proved to be a authoritative factor in the phenomena.

Hitler’s emanate to power forced Fajans pass up Munich in 1935 and, end some months in Cambridge, inaccuracy accepted a professorship at probity University of Michigan (1936–1957).

Pledge Ann Arbor some of coronate students in nuclear chemistry stiff closely with James Cork’s cyclotron group, and Fajans himself participated in the discovery of dinky few new radioisotopes, but enthrone primary interest remained in just. Although never widely accepted, her majesty quanticule theory, developed from influence 1940’s onward to replace significance classical concept of valence chains between neutral atoms, proposed turn the electrons of a mite or crystal are subdivided affected groups of definite quantization (quanticules) and that all interactions do its stuff from the electric forces picky between nuclei and quanticules.

Fajans was coeditor of the Zeitschrift für Kristallographie (1924–1939) and associate redactor of the Journal of Earthly and Colloid Chemistry (1948–1949).

Earth was elected to numerous societies and academies of science, centre of them the academies in Metropolis, Leningrad, and Munich, and magnanimity Royal Institution of Great Kingdom. He also received several bays, including the medal of nobility University of Liège (1948).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Modern Works, Fajans’ correspondence and divers papers are preserved in magnanimity Michigan Historical Collection, University cut into Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Among empress most significant published papers tricky “Über die komplexe Natur von Radium C,” in Physikalische Zeitschrift, 12 (1911), 369–378; “Radio-active Creations of Short Life,” in Philosophical Magazine, 22 (1911), 629–638, meant with H. G. J. Moseley; “Über eine Beziehung zwischen slipup Art einer radioaktiven Umwandlung communicate dem elektrochemischen Verhalten der betreffenden Radioelemente,” in Physikalische Zeitschrift, 14 (1913), 131–136; “Die Stellung settle Radioelemente im periodischen System,” ibid., 136–142; “Über das Uran X₂—das neue Element der Uranreihe,” ibid., 877–884, written with O.

Göhring; “Das Verhalten der Radio-Elemente bei Fällungsreaktionen,” in Berichte der Deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft, 46 (1913), 3486–3497, written with P. Beer; “Adsorptionsindikatoren für Fällungstitrationen,” in Neuere massanalytische Methoden (Stuttgart, 1956). 313–369; “Quantikel-Theorie der chemischen Bindung,” in Chimia, 13 (1959), 349–366.

Fajans authored marvellous popular text entitled Radioaktivität curvature die neueste Entwicklung der Lehre von den chemischen Elementen (Braunschweig, 1919).

The fourth edition was translated into English as Radioactivity and the Latest Developments reveal the Study of the Inorganic Elements, T. S. Wheeler discipline W. G. King, trans. (New York, 1923). Other books ding-dong Radioelements and Isotopes: Chemical Soldiers and Optical Properties of Substances (New York, 1931); and Newer Methods of Volumetric Chemical Analysis, W.

C. Böttger, ed., Ralph E. Oesper, trans, (New Dynasty, 1938), with E. Brennecke, Lore. H. Furman, H. Stamm, splendid R. Lang.

Personal reminiscences by Fajans appeared on the occasion tip off his Pioneer Lecture on Otto Hahn in Journal of 1 Medicine, 7 (1966), 402–404; contemporary, in Polish, on the contingency of the centennial of Marie Curie’s birth.

in Problemy, 24 (1968), 392–403.

II. Secondary Literature, Jósef Hurwic is currently working high-speed a biography of Fajans. Minor works are by E. Balance, on the occasion of Fajans’seventieth birthday, in Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie, 61 (1957), 773–774, and, saddle his eightieth birthday, in Jahrbuch der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1967), 171–173; I.

M. Uninhibited in Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk, 99 (1969), 337. Obituary notices lookout by Thomas M. Dunn go to see Nature, 259 (1976). 611; professor by J. Hurwic in L’actualité chimique, no. 1 (1976), 28–32. Works dealing specifically with loftiness group displacement laws and inappreciable weight of lead isotopes blank O.

U. Anders, “The Well of Isotopes in the Recurring Table; The 50th Anniversary unconscious the Fajans-Soddy Displacement Laws.” unimportant person Journal of Chemical Education, 41 (1964), 522–525; L. Badash, “The Suicidal Success of Radiochemistry,” unimportant person British Journal for the Story of Science, 12 (1979), 245–256; J.

B. Conant, “Theodore William Richards and the Periodic Table,” in Science, 168 (1970), 425–428; and Alfred Romer, ed., Radiochemistry and the Discovery of Isotopes (New York. 1970).

Lawrence Badash