The Transuranium Elements; Present Status.

Abstract

Jag 8,r i n t e van id kemiska ord p8 Svenska, och d e t & far a t t mina f 8 r 8 l d r a r a l d r i g t a l a d e keni i hemrnet. Jag s k u l i e g-&na &-id8 ;sefat h % l l a hela dlnna fdrelllsning p8 Svenska. Men-om jag t a l a d e Svenska s8 s k u l l e nina Tanner McMillan och Lawrence i n t e f8rstR mer gn h a l f t e n ~T T vad jag s&er.Jag ska d r f 8 r t a l a engelska, och jag v e t a t t ni a l l a f8rstEk dec sprgket mycket b r a , A s I continue, speaking i n English, I want t o assure my B r i t i s h and American colleagues here, Sir John C x k c r o f t and Prcfessors I h l t o n , Lawrence, and WcMillan, t h a t they h a~~e n ? t missed anything y e t , I want t o begin by sa;i-ng that I am f o r t u n a t e i n being a member o f a Chemistry Department which has a long standing t r a d i t i o n of great breadth of research i n t e r e s t s , leading t o an e a r l y program 2n ~u c l e a r chemistry 7mder t h e a c t i v e leadership of men like G, N, Lewis and W, H, L a t h e r , The work on t h e t r a n~~a n i u m elements which I am about t o d e s c r i b e was made possfble by t h i s eircumstasce and because of t h e unusual and e x c e l l e n t s p i r i t of cooperation which e x i s t s at t h e Radiation Laboratory, under t h e d i r e c t i o n of Professor E, 0, h~m e n c e , -where the cyclotron bombawlments so c r u c i a l t o t h e f i n a l r e s u l t s were made, I s h a l l t r y i n the course of my l e c t u r e t o p o i n t o u t t l e cont~.ibutioiis t o t h i s ~m r k c l f my many colleagues but unfortnnately it dl1 not be p o s s i b l e t o do % h i s adequately i n the time available.Beginning a t e s s e n t i a l l y the poinL, where Professor McM2Uan l e f t off i n h i s l e c t u r e , I s h a l l first d e s c r i b e om work on p l u t o n i m , The beginning of t h i s can be considered t o have taken place i n t h e f a l l of 1940 when I asked a graduate student, Arthur C , %hi, f o consider t h e -2-passibilit-,. of studying t h e t r a c e r chemical properties o f element 93 a s a t h e s i s problem, a suggestion which he was happy t o accept, This, and r e l a t e d work on element 94, was carried on i n collaboration with D r , Joseph W, Kennedy who, l i k e myself, was a t t h a t tine an i n s t r u c t o r i n