science · 02 August 1974 · 50 years ago
death
Died 2 Aug 1974 at age 92 (born 4 Jul 1882).
American physicist who promoted a magneto-optical technique to detect isotopes (ultimately shown to be non-existent by D. Morey under Merritt at Cornell). This method, he said, was able to distinguish 16 isotopes of lead. In 1931, he thought he had detected the new element 87 in lepidolite, a lithium ore, which he called virginium, now called francium. (This is regarded as erroneous because the element has no long-lived isotopes. The confirmed discovery came in Jan 1939 by Marguerite Perey who discovered it in decay products of actinium). He also thought he had found 2 micrograms of element 85 in monazite, which he named alabamine. (Also now believed erroneous. It was discovered later, and named astatine.)
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