Discovery of chemical elements:
history and people
The book is dedicated to the history of the discovery of superheavy chemical elements of Mendeleev’s Periodic Table in the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. Readers will learn how physicists managed to push the boundaries of the known transuranic elements, successfully synthesising elements from 102 to 118 and coming very close to the shores of the hypothetical “island of stability”.
The author details the period of intense scientific competition between the leading USSR and USA research centres. This time went down in history as the Transfermium Wars, when the right of the discoverers had to be defended at the international level. A special attention in the book is paid to the outstanding contribution of the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at JINR. The edition shows how the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research became a recognised world leader in the synthesis of superheavy elements, thanks to the talent of Dubna scientists who pioneered cold fusion and perfected the method of hot fusion of nuclei.
The publication is written in an accessible language and is addressed to anyone who is interested in the history of modern science and the achievements of nuclear physics.
The book is available on the JINR Publishing Department’s website via the link.
Source JINR Press Office