Disintegration of uranium by neutrons: a new type of nuclear reaction WITH Physical evidence for the division of heavy nuclei under neutron bombardment WITH Liberation of neutrons in the nuclear explosion of uranium WITH Products of the fission of the uranium nucleus in Nature Volume 143, 1939, pp. 239-240; p. 276; pp. 470-471; p. 471-472

Meitner, Lise; Otto Frisch; Hans Von Halban, Frédéric [Frederic] Joliot, Lew Kowarski

Edité par Macmillan, London, 1939

BOUND 1st editions OF FOUR LANDMARK PAPERS DOCUMENTING THE DISCOVERY OF NUCLEAR FISSION & COINING THE TERM ?FISSION? FOR THE SPLITTING OF HEAVY NUCLEI LIKE URANIUM. Meitner and Frisch's "Disintegration of Uranium by Neutron," is the first announcement of and fundamental explanation for nuclear fission -- the process by which a heavy atomic nucleus splits into two or more lighter nuclei, releasing significant energy. Significantly, they also recognized that the fission process also releases neutrons, opening the possibility of a chain reaction that could be used for energy generation or explosions. ?Experiments conducted in 1938 at Berlin by Hahn and Strassman were reported to Lise Meitner, an Austrian scientist who had fled to Copenhagen to escape religious persecution. She and her nephew, O. R. Frisch, working in Niels Bohr?s laboratory, found the true explanation of these phenomena. The interpolation of a neutron into the nucleus of a uranium atom caused it to divide into two parts and to release energy amounting to about 200,000,000 electron volts. This process bore such a close similarity to the division of a living cell that Frisch suggested the use of the term ?fission? [in these papers] to describe it? Halban, Joliot, and Kowarski established the theoretical possibility of a self-perpetuating reaction chain? (PMM 422). ?They published their conclusions on February 11, 1939. However, when Hahn published his results in Nature in January 1939, he failed to list Meitner as a co-author ? a controversial decision, especially since he never corrected the omission after the war ended. Hahn won the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work; Meitner?s contribution went unrecognized. In 1997, Physics Today concluded that this omission constitutes ?a rare instance in which personal negative opinions apparently led to the exclusion of a deserving scientist? in the awarding of the Nobel. ?The discovery of nuclear fission (a term coined by Frisch), Meitner later recalled, ?opened up a new era in human history? ? one that would ultimately lead to a nuclear bomb. Meitner herself flatly refused to work on the Manhattan Project: ?I will have nothing to do with a bomb? (?February 11, 1939: Meitner/Frisch on Nuclear Fission,? American Physical Society). CONDITION & DETAILS: London: Macmillan. Complete volume. 4to (Quarto). 10.5 x 7.5 inches (262 x 187mm). [liv], 1080, [4]. Bound in black buckram, gilt lettered at the spine. Not ex-libris; bears no exterior or interior markings whatsoever. Tight & solid binding. Bright & clean throughout. N° de réf. du vendeur 1683

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : Disintegration of uranium by neutrons: a new...
Éditeur : Macmillan, London
Date d'édition : 1939
Edition : 1st Edition.