From Missing Elements to Synthetic Elements

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Scerri
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Atomic Number ◽  
Periodic Table ◽  
Helium Ions ◽  
Small Particles ◽  
Is Element ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Manchester ◽  
First Time ◽  
Α Particles

The periodic table consists of about ninety elements that occur naturally, ending with element 92, uranium. One or two of the first ninety-two elements are variously reported either as not occurring on Earth or as occurring in miniscule amounts. To add to the complications in drawing a sharp line between natural and synthetic elements, the element technetium was first created artificially and only later found to occur naturally on Earth in minute amounts. As we have seen in previous chapters, chemists and physicists have succeeded in synthesizing some of the elements that were missing between hydrogen (1) and uranium (92), such as promethium and astatine. But in addition, a further twenty-five or so new elements beyond uranium have been synthesized, although again one or two of these, such as neptunium and plutonium, were later found to exist naturally in exceedingly small amounts. At the time of writing, the heaviest element for which there is good experimental evidence is element-118. All other elements between 92 and 118 have also been successfully synthesized including element-117, which was announced in April of 2010. The synthesis of this element means that for the first time, and probably the last, every single space in a contemporary periodic table has been filled, although some of these elements are still awaiting official ratification. The synthesis of any element involves starting with a particular nucleus and subjecting it to bombardment with small particles with the aim of increasing the atomic number and hence changing the identity of the nucleus in question. More recently, the method of synthesis has changed so that two nuclei of considerable weights are made to collide with the aim of forming a larger and heavier nucleus. In a sense in which all these syntheses are descended from a key experiment, conducted by Rutherford and Soddy in 1919 at the University of Manchester, Rutherford and Soddy bombarded nuclei of nitrogen with α particles (helium ions) with the result that the nitrogen nucleus was transformed into that of another element.

scholarly journals On the membership of group 3 of the periodic table: A new approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martín Gabriel Labarca ◽  
Juan Camilo Martínez González
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Number ◽  
Ionization Energy ◽  
Periodic Table ◽  
Scientific Journal ◽  
Superheavy Element ◽  
Experimental Result ◽  
New Approach ◽  
International Team ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
First Time

In April 2015, an international team of researchers announced the measurement, for the first time, of the first ionization energy of lawrencium, a superheavy element of atomic number 103. The experimental result, published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, led to the reopening of a long-standing debate that concerns the elements that should be part of group 3 of the periodic table. The aim of this paper is to introduce a new line of argumentation to elucidate this problem.

Adam Zalužanský’s “De sexu plantarum” (1592): an early pioneering chapter on plant sexuality

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Funk
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
English Translation ◽  
History Of Botany ◽  
Main Work ◽  
Botanical History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

In the history of botany, Adam Zalužanský (d. 1613), a Bohemian physician, apothecary, botanist and professor at the University of Prague, is a little-known personality. Linnaeus's first biographers, for example, only knew Zalužanský from hearsay and suspected he was a native of Poland. This ignorance still pervades botanical history. Zalužanský is mentioned only peripherally or not at all. As late as the nineteenth century, a researcher would be unaware that Zalužanský’s main work Methodi herbariae libri tres actually existed in two editions from two different publishers (1592, Prague; 1604, Frankfurt). This paper introduces the life and work of Zalužanský. Special attention is paid to the chapter “De sexu plantarum” of Zalužanský’s Methodus, in which, more than one hundred years before the well-known De sexu plantarum epistola of R. J. Camerarius, the sexuality of plants is suggested. Additionally, for the first time, an English translation of Zalužanský’s chapter on plant sexuality is provided.

More Christian Apocrypha

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-21
Author(s):  
Tony Burke
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
North American ◽  
English Language ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
Medieval Christianity

Scholars interested in the Christian Apocrypha (CA) typically appeal to CA collections when in need of primary sources. But many of these collections limit themselves to material believed to have been written within the first to fourth centuries CE. As a result a large amount of non-canonical Christian texts important for the study of ancient and medieval Christianity have been neglected. The More Christian Apocrypha Project will address this neglect by providing a collection of new editions (some for the first time) of these texts for English readers. The project is inspired by the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project headed by Richard Bauckham and Jim Davila from the University of Edinburgh. Like the MOTP, the MCAP is envisioned as a supplement to an earlier collection of texts—in this case J. K. Elliott’s The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford 1991), the most recent English-language CA collection (but now almost two decades old). The texts to be included are either absent in Elliott or require significant revision. Many of the texts have scarcely been examined in over a century and are in dire need of new examination. One of the goals of the project is to spotlight the abilities and achievements of English (i.e., British and North American) scholars of the CA, so that English readers have access to material that has achieved some exposure in French, German, and Italian collections.

A Well-Ordered Thing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Gordin
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Periodic Table ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Classic Work ◽  
Hot Air ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time

Dmitrii Mendeleev (1834–1907) is a name we recognize, but perhaps only as the creator of the periodic table of elements. Generally, little else has been known about him. This book is an authoritative biography of Mendeleev that draws a multifaceted portrait of his life for the first time. As the book reveals, Mendeleev was not only a luminary in the history of science, he was also an astonishingly wide-ranging political and cultural figure. From his attack on Spiritualism to his failed voyage to the Arctic and his near-mythical hot-air balloon trip, this is the story of an extraordinary maverick. The ideals that shaped his work outside science also led Mendeleev to order the elements and, eventually, to engineer one of the most fascinating scientific developments of the nineteenth century. This book is a classic work that tells the story of one of the world's most important minds.

A University Education

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Willetts
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
University Education ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship

Universities have a crucial role in the modern world. In England, entrance to universities is by nation-wide competition which means English universities have an exceptional influence on schools--a striking theme of the book. This important book first investigates the university as an institution and then tracks the individual on their journey to and through university. In A University Education, David Willetts presents a compelling case for the ongoing importance of the university, both as one of the great institutions of modern society and as a transformational experience for the individual. The book also makes illuminating comparisons with higher education in other countries, especially the US and Germany. Drawing on his experience as UK Minister for Universities and Science from 2010 to 2014, the author offers a powerful account of the value of higher education and the case for more expansion. He covers controversial issues in which he was involved from access for disadvantaged students to the introduction of L9,000 fees. The final section addresses some of the big questions for the future, such as the the relationship between universities and business, especially in promoting innovation.. He argues that the two great contemporary trends of globalisation and technological innovation will both change the university significantly. This is an authoritative account of English universities setting them for the first time in their new legal and regulatory framework.

scholarly journals Introduction: Transdiasporic Rencontres in Việt Kiều Literature

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Alexandra Kurmann ◽  
Tess Do
Keyword(s):  
New Caledonia ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Contemporary Writing ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
Vietnamese Diaspora

This special issue follows a conference entitled ‘Rencontres: A Gathering of Voices of the Vietnamese Diaspora’ that was held at the University of Melbourne, December 1-2 in 2016 and which sought to enable, for the first time, the titular transdiasporic rencontres or encounters between international authors of the Vietnamese diaspora. The present amalgam of previously unpublished texts written by celebrated Francophone and Anglophone authors of Vietnamese descent writing in France, New Caledonia and Australia today is the result of the intercultural exchanges that took place during that event. Literary texts by Linda Lê, Anna Moï and Thanh-Van Tran-Nhut are followed by writerly reflections on the theme of transdiasporic encounters from Hoai Huong Nguyen, Jean Vanmai and Hoa Pham. Framing and enriching these texts, scholarly contributions by established experts in the field consider the literary, cultural and linguistic transfers that characterize contemporary writing by authors of Vietnamese origin across the Francophone world. Ce volume spécial réunit les Actes du colloque ‘Rencontres : A Gathering of Voices of the Vietnamese Diaspora’ qui s’est tenue à l’Université de Melbourne les 1er et 2 décembre 2016 et qui visait à faciliter, pour la première fois, les rencontres entre les auteurs, chercheurs et universitaires internationaux de la diaspora vietnamienne. Les fruits de leurs échanges interculturels y sont réunis dans ce présent recueil sous deux formes complémentaires : d’un côté, les articles d’experts en littérature francophone comparée ; de l’autre, les contributions créatives de célèbres auteurs francophones et anglophones d’origine vietnamienne basés aujourd’hui en France, en Nouvelle Calédonie et en Australie. Les textes littéraires de Linda Lê, Anna Moï et Thanh-Van Tran-Nhut, suivis de réflexions d’auteurs par Hoai Huong Nguyen, Hoa Pham et Jean Vanmai sur le thème des rencontres transdiasporiques, se retrouvent enrichis par les études savantes menées sur les transferts littéraires, culturelles et linguistiques qui caractérisent l’écriture contemporaine des écrivains d’origine vietnamienne dans le monde francophone.

scholarly journals Professor George Archibald Grant Mitchell (1906–1993): his work with penicillin during World War II

2021 ◽  
pp. 096777202110121
Author(s):  
Peter D Mohr ◽  
Stephanie Seville
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Autonomic Nervous System ◽  
Middle East ◽  
World War ◽  
Army Medical ◽  
Autonomic Nervous ◽  
Penicillin Therapy ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Manchester

George Archibald Grant Mitchell, OBE, TD, MB, ChB, ChM, MSc, DSc, FRCS (1906–1993) was a professor of anatomy at the University of Manchester from 1946 to 1973. He is mainly remembered for his research in neuroanatomy, especially of the autonomic nervous system. He studied medicine at the Aberdeen University, and after qualifying in 1929 he held posts in surgery and anatomy and worked as a surgeon in the Highlands. In 1939, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was based in Egypt and the Middle East, where he carried out trials of sulphonamides and penicillin on wounded soldiers; in 1943, he returned to England as Adviser in Penicillin Therapy for 21 Army Group, preparing for the invasion of Europe.

In Conversation on the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-383
Author(s):  
Rachel Clements ◽  
Sarah Frankcom
Keyword(s):  
Caryl Churchill ◽  
Cultural Organization ◽  
The University ◽  
Artistic Director ◽  
University Of Manchester ◽  
The Way ◽  
Death Of A Salesman

Sarah Frankcom worked at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester between 2000 and 2019, and was the venue’s first sole Artistic Director from 2014. In this interview conducted in summer 2019, she discusses her time at the theatre and what she has learned from leading a major cultural organization and working with it. She reflects on a number of her own productions at this institution, including Hamlet, The Skriker, Our Town, and Death of a Salesman, and discusses the way the theatre world has changed since the beginning of her career as she looks forward to being the director of LAMDA. Rachel Clements lectures on theatre at the University of Manchester. She has published on playwrights Caryl Churchill and Martin Crimp, among others, and has edited Methuen student editions of Lucy Prebble’s Enron and Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange. She is Book Reviews editor of NTQ.

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