Happy Birthday Copernicus
Happy Birthday Copernicus
On February 19, Nicolaus Copernicus’ birthday, IUPAC released the official approval of the name copernicium, with symbol Cn, for the element of atomic number 112. Priority for the discovery of this element was assigned, in accordance with the agreed criteria, to the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) (Center for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt, Germany. The team at GSI proposed the name copernicium, and IUPAC has now approved this after a period of review of public comments. Sigurd Hofmann, leader of the GSI team, stated that the intent was to “salute an influential scientist who didn’t receive any accolades in his own lifetime, and highlight the link between astronomy and the field of nuclear chemistry.”
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| Nicolaus Copernicus(1473–1543). |
The name proposed by the GSI lies within the long tradition of naming elements to honor famous scientists. Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473, in Torún, Poland and died on 24 May 1543, in Frombork/Frauenburg, also in Poland. His work has been of exceptional influence on the philosophical and political thinking of mankind and on the rise of modern science based on experimental results. During his time as a canon of the Cathedral in Frauenburg, Copernicus spent many years developing a conclusive model for complex astronomical observations of the movements of the sun, moon, planets, and stars. His work published as De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, Liber Sixtus in 1543 had very far reaching consequences. Indeed, the Copernican model demanded major changes in the view of the world related to astronomy and physical forces, and it had theological and political consequences. The planetary system introduced by Copernicus has been applied to other analogous systems in which objects move under the influence of a force directed towards a common center. Notably, on a microscopic scale this is the Bohr model of the atom with its nucleus and orbiting electrons.
The Recommendations are published in the March 2010 issue of the IUPAC journal Pure and Applied Chemistry (doi:10.1351/PAC-REC-09-08-20). Priority of claims to the discovery of the element of atomic number 112 was determined by a joint working party of independent experts drawn from IUPAC and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. The group’s report was published in July 2009 (PAC, Vol. 81, No. 7, pp. 1331-1343; doi:10.1351/PAC-REP-08-03-05). The Joint Working Party will issue a second report, dealing with claims for the discovery of elements with atomic numbers in the range 113 to 118, in the near future.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- From the Editor
- Contents
- IYC 2011 Update – Here We Go!
- A Century of pH Measurements
- IUPAC as a Science NGO
- Division Roundups, Part III
- Committee on Chemistry and Industry (COCI)
- Committee on Printed and Electronic Publication (CPEP)
- Division III: Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry
- Happy Birthday Copernicus
- Terrence Renner Appointed IUPAC Executive Director
- David Moore Named 2009 LANL Fellow
- Molly Stevens Receives Polymer International–IUPAC Award 2009
- Materials Chemistry: a Stronger Role within IUPAC
- International Year of Biodiversity
- In Memoriam – Itaru Mita
- Categorizing Halogen Bonding and Other Noncovalent Interactions Involving Halogen Atoms
- Risk Assessment of Effects of Cadmium on Human Health
- Regional Drinking Water Quality Assessment in the Middle East: An Overview and Perspective
- New Drugs for Neglected Diseases in Latin America
- Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment
- High Temperature Materials Chemistry
- Soil Science
- Novel Materials
- Inorganic Materials
- Coordination Chemistry
- Biotechnology for the Sustainability of Human Society
- Mark Your Calendar
