Chemist — Otto Hahn (1879–1968) was a German chemist, born in Frankfurt, considered one of the fathers of radiochemistry. Together with Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann he studied for years the products of the bombardment of uranium with neutrons. In 1938 he demonstrated chemically that much lighter elements, such as barium, appeared among the products: the physical interpretation of this result, nuclear fission, was given by Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch. The discovery of fission had enormous consequences, from nuclear power generation to atomic weapons. Hahn received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944. After the war he was an authoritative voice against the military use of nuclear energy.
Fun fact
The Nobel Prize awarded to Hahn alone, excluding Lise Meitner, is considered one of the most controversial cases of a scientist being denied recognition in the history of the prize.
Theories and contributions
- Discovery of nuclear fission — Demonstrated that the uranium nucleus, bombarded with neutrons, splits into lighter nuclei releasing energy; interpreted by Meitner and Frisch.
- Radiochemistry — Development of chemical methods for identifying and separating radioactive elements and the products of nuclear reactions.
Present in chapters
Linked atoms
1 linked atom.