Abstract
Some discoveries in the history of physics were made too early — in any case, that could be the conclusion a historian of science might draw in hindsight. Whether or not that is the case with Otto Hahn’s discovery of nuclear isomerism is a matter we shall return to later. In the meantime, let us think back to the period before 1921. Together with Lise Meitner, Hahn had identified a large number of radioactive substances and had determined their places in the radioactive series. With the discovery of protactinium in March 1918, the last gap was filled.
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Notes
Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner, “Die Muttersubstanz des Actiniums, ein neues radio-aktives Element von langer Lebensdauer,” Phys. Z., 19(1918), 208–218.
Otto Hahn, “Uber ein neues radioaktives Zerfallsprodukt im Uran,” Naturwissenschaften, 9 (1921), 84.
Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner, “Uber das Uran Y,” Phys. Z., 15(1914), 236–240.
Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner, “Nachweis der Existenz von Uran Y,” Phys. Z., 15(1914), 236–237.
Otto Hahn and Lise Meinter, “Uber das Protaktinium und die Frage nach der Mogliehkeit seiner Herstellung als chemisches Element,” Naturwissenschaften, 7(1919), 611–612.
Otto Hahn, Mem Leben (Munich: Bruckmann, 1968), p. 135.
Otto Hahn, “Uber das Uran Z und seine Muttersubstanz,” Z. Phys. Chem., 103(1922), 461–480.
Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker, “Metastabile Zustande der Atomkerne,” Naturwissenschaften, 24(1936), 813–814.
Otto Hahn, “Die ‘falschen’ Transurane. Zur Geschichte eines wissenschaftlichen Irrtums,” Naturw. Rund., 15(1962), 44.
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© 1983 D. Riedel Publishing Company
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Berninger, E.H. (1983). The Discovery of Uranium Z by Otto Hahn: The First Example of Nuclear Isomerism. In: Shea, W.R. (eds) Otto Hahn and the Rise of Nuclear Physics. The University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, vol 22. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7133-2_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7133-2_9
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