Kazimierz Fajans 352146 220952468 2008-06-22T11:03:04Z Joseph Solis in Australia 957447 Change date format {{Infobox_Scientist |name = Kazimierz Fajans |image = Replace_this_image_male.svg |image_width = |caption = Kazimierz Fajans |birth_date = {{birth date|1887|5|27}} |birth_place = [[Warsaw, Poland|Warsaw]], [[Poland]] |residence = |nationality = |death_date = {{death date and age|1975|5|18|1887|5|27}} |death_place = [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]], [[United States]] |field = |work_institution = |alma_mater = |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = Discovery of [[protactinium]] |prizes = |religion = |footnotes = }}'''Kazimierz Fajans''' (b. [[May 27]], [[1887]] in [[Warsaw, Poland]]; d. [[May 18]], [[1975]] in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]], USA) was an American physical chemist of Polish origin and a pioneer in the science of [[radioactivity]]. ==Education and career== After he had completed a secondary school in [[Warsaw]] (1904), he started studying chemistry in Germany: at first at the University in [[Leipzig]], and then in [[Heidelberg]] and [[Zurich]]. In 1909 he was awarded a PhD degree for his research into the stereoselective synthesis of [[Chirality (chemistry)|chiral]] compounds. In 1910 he undertook a job at the laboratory of [[Ernest Rutherford]] in [[Manchester]], where the nucleus was discovered. Next Fajans returned to Germany where he took the position of an assistant and later became the assistant professor at the Technical University of [[Karlsruhe]]. He researched into radioactivity. In 1917 he took over the Faculty of Physical Chemistry at [[Munich University]], and in 1932 became the Head of the Institute of Physical Chemistry established by the [[Rockefeller Foundation]]. In 1935 he left Germany due to the escalation of [[Nazi]] persecution. He stayed for a while in Cambridge and next returned to [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]] in the [[United States of America|United States]], where he joined the Faculty of the [[University of Michigan]] where he continued to work until the end of his life. He retired at age of seventy but never stopped working. ==Scientific work== When Fajans worked at the laboratory of [[Ernest Rutherford]] (with [[Henry G. Moseley]]) he was researching properties of the radioactive rows. He identified the periods of half-disappearance of the [[uranium]]-[[actinium]] row and [[thorium]] nuclides. He discovered the phenomenon of the electrochemical branching of the radioactive rows. Afterwards Fajans was working on the electrochemical properties of elements as a result of the radioactive changes, and he formulated the law of the radioactive moves which was later named the Soddy-Fajans Method ([[Frederick Soddy]] received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1921 for his isotopic research). In 1913, together with [[Otto Göhring]], he discovered the radionuclide of a new element, which was later called [[protactinium]]. Fajans and [[Otto Hahn]] were the discoverers of the formula that defined the conditions of the precipitation and absorption of radioactive substances. It is very significant in the context of radiochemical methods of separating and cleaning radioactive substances found in the smallest number. In 1919, Fajans started researching the structure of particle and crystal by the thermochemical and refractometrical methods. The co-relation of Born, Fajans and Haber is one of the basic thermochemical rule. On the basis of his research data Fajans formulated the essential conclusions concerning chemical bonding strength and deformation of ions and particles, such as heat of ion hydration, refraction measurements and the heat of sublimation. In the States he researched nuclear reactions using a [[cyclotron]] and discovered the radioactive lead isotope with Voigt, and a new [[rhenium]] isotope with Sullivan. He developed the quanticule theory which explained the rule of chemical bondings through electrostatic impacts between quanticules and nuclear cores. This physical chemist was very close to getting a Nobel Prize. In 1924 his candidature for chemistry and physics was submitted. He was expected to win in both subjects. The Swedish magazine "Svenska Dagbladet" asked Fajans to send them a photo of him to announce his “victory”. On the day before the date when the Committee was to make the decision, the Swedish magazine had already written that Fajans had won the prize. The next day the Committee announced that no prize in chemistry was to be awarded that year; the physics prize was awarded to [[Manne Siegbahn]]. The Academy wanted to punish the Swedish magazine for the lack of discretion.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Fajans’ candidature was later offered twice, but without a result. He was a member of the Polish Institute Of Arts and Sciences in America and of many societies and academies. ==Bibliography== *1913 - ''Radioactive Transformations and the Periodic System of the Elements'' *? - ''Application of the resonance theory to the structure of the water molecule'' *1941 - ''Artificial radioactive isotopes of Thallium, Lead and Bismuth'' *1948 - ''Electronic structure of molecules'' ==References== *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:5328478 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5328478 |publication-date=1966 May |year=[[1966]] |title=Kasimir Fajans. |volume=7 |issue=5 |periodical=J. Nucl. Med. |pages=402-4 }} ==See also== * [[Radioactivity]] * [[Fajans rules]] [[Category:1887 births|Fajans, Kasimir]] [[Category:1975 deaths|Fajans, Kasimir]] [[Category:Polish Jews|Fajans, Kazimir]] [[Category:Polish physicists|Fajans, Kazimir]] [[Category:Discoverers of chemical elements|Fajans, Kasimir]] [[Category:University of Michigan faculty|Fajans, Kasimir]] [[de:Kasimir Fajans]] [[es:Kasimir Fajans]] [[eu:Kasimir Fajans]] [[pl:Kazimierz Fajans]] [[pt:Kasimir Fajans]] [[ru:Фаянс, Казимир]] [[tr:Kasimir Fajans]]