Comments on the question of the discovery of element 112 as early as 1971
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R. Brandt
Abstract
There are two independent claims for the discovery of element 112: The claim by Hofmann et al. from 1996 and the older claim from 1971 by Marinov et al. This Comment will not challenge the experimental results of Hofmann et al., but it will discuss one aspect of the claimed discovery of element 112 by Marinov et al., as their experiment has never been reproduced in exactly the form in which the original experiment has been carried out. The reasons for this deficiency may not be found in the field of science, but possibly in radioprotection restrictions for researchers who want to carry out such an experiment. However, such is not a sufficient reason to exclude the original claim from all considerations of the responsible international authorities, who have to settle such priority questions. It may be in agreement with scientific traditions, that when the responsible international committees do not feel to be able to come to a positive decision on the “1971” claim, they could keep the priority problem unsettled for the time being.
Kurzfassung
Es wird hier ein Aspekt innerhalb der internationalen Diskussion über die Priorität der Entdeckung des Elementes 112 im Jahre 1971 diskutiert: Das Orginalexperiment von Marinov et al. wurde nirgends in unabhängiger Weise genau in der ursprünglichen Weise reproduziert. Die Gründe für diesen Mangel liegen möglicherweise nicht auf der Ebene der reinen Wissenschaft, sondern vielleicht auf dem Gebiete einer Begrenzung der Erlaubnis des Umganges mit sehr stark radioaktiven Quellen an den dabei beteiligten radiochemischen Laboratorien. Bei den damaligen Kontrollexperimenten musste häufig länger mit dem Beginn der radiochemischen Aufarbeitung gewartet werden, als möglicherweise die Lebensdauer des neuen Elementes 112 war. Dieses ist jedoch kein ausreichender Grund dafür, die Ergebnisse der Orginalarbeiten von Marinov et al. von (fast) allen Betrachtungen in den für die Prioritäten-Anerkennung zuständigen internationalen Gremien auszuschließen. Es wäre zu überlegen, ob nicht der folgende Vorschlag fair und in Übereinstimmung mit wohlbegründeten wissenschaftlichen Traditionen wäre: Wenn die für einen Prioritäten-Zuerkennung zuständigen internationalen Kommissionen sich schon nicht in der Lage sehen, eine positive Entscheidung zugunsten der “1971” Entdeckung zu fällen, so könnte man doch zur Zeit und damit vorläufig von einer endgültigen Entscheidung in der Prioritätenfrage absehen.
References
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© 2005, Carl Hanser Verlag, München
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Contents/Inhalt
- Contents
- Summaries/Kurzfassungen
- Summaries/Kurzfassungen
- Editorial
- 70 Volumes Kerntechnik
- Technical Contributions/Fachbeiträge
- Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of void and power reactivity coefficients in an RBMK-1500 reactor core
- Theoretical studies on thermal stratification in a side heated cavity
- Measurement of the neutron fluence on the spallation source at Dubna
- Neutron reflection and leakage models for one-dimensional reactor computations
- Reactivity worth of the control rods at the ET-RR-2 reactor core
- Neutronic conceptual design of the ETRR-2 cold neutron source
- Criticality analyses of regions containing uranium in the earth history
- Semi-statistical mechanical fuel rod design
- Brennstabauslegung und Brennstabmodellierung – Teil 2
- The chemical separation of Eka-Hg from CERN W targets in view of recent relativistic calculations
- Letter to the Editor
- Comments on the question of the discovery of element 112 as early as 1971
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Contents/Inhalt
- Contents
- Summaries/Kurzfassungen
- Summaries/Kurzfassungen
- Editorial
- 70 Volumes Kerntechnik
- Technical Contributions/Fachbeiträge
- Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of void and power reactivity coefficients in an RBMK-1500 reactor core
- Theoretical studies on thermal stratification in a side heated cavity
- Measurement of the neutron fluence on the spallation source at Dubna
- Neutron reflection and leakage models for one-dimensional reactor computations
- Reactivity worth of the control rods at the ET-RR-2 reactor core
- Neutronic conceptual design of the ETRR-2 cold neutron source
- Criticality analyses of regions containing uranium in the earth history
- Semi-statistical mechanical fuel rod design
- Brennstabauslegung und Brennstabmodellierung – Teil 2
- The chemical separation of Eka-Hg from CERN W targets in view of recent relativistic calculations
- Letter to the Editor
- Comments on the question of the discovery of element 112 as early as 1971
