science · 19 November 1990 · 34 years ago
death
Died 19 Nov 1990 at age 77 (born 2 Mar 1913).
Soviet physicist who, in 1941, recognized that uranium undergoes spontaneous fission (needing no neutron bombardment). He was one of the early Russian investigators of nuclear fission. In early 1942 , Flerov noticed that articles on nuclear fission were no longer appearing in western journals. Recognizing the implication that such research had become secret, he wrote to Premier Joseph Stalin, insisting that "we must build the uranium bomb without delay," (subsequently led by Igor V. Kurchatov.) In later research, Flerov announced synthesis of isotopes of element 104 (1965) and 106 (1974). Co-discoveries were made in the U.S. Several names were suggested. Eventually the adopted names were rutherfordium and seaborgium.
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