Proposal: On the history and future of Atomic Science

Proposal: On the history and future of Atomic Science

It is a given that almost every member of our species has an intimate opinion on atomic weaponry and/or atomic power. This is far from surprising when simply taking a sociological perspective and examining the influence atomic science has had on the shape of history and modern society. Not to mention the recent trauma brought upon Japan, and the world, by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Which has been a tragedy from both the perspective of human life and nature preservation, but a tragedy for the future commercial use of atomic energy. Any examination of nuclear energy cannot be done at face value and no true comprehension can be reached without understanding both the science and scientific history of the atom, as well as understanding it's crucial role in modern history.

The first fission event that can be thought of in the modern sense of atomic conversion of heavy elements through nuclear decay,was split in 1938 by Otto-Hahn, Fritz Strassman and Lise Meitner. However, to fully understand the path followed by atomic science we need to move back in time at least until 1911 when Ernest Rutherford deduced and proposed the Rutherford model by altering the experiment of two of his graduate students Ernest Marsden and Hans Geiger. The experiment was to measure the scattering of alpha particles fired at a sheet of gold foil. By measuring the angles of deflection, the previous “Plum-pudding” model of an atom could be experimentally confirmed or denied. While a majority of the recorded trajectories after the interaction of the the alpha particles with the atoms of the gold foil, fit nicely into data that would confirm the old models, strange “strays” would register with much higher degrees of deflection than allowed by the previous model. Rutherford, having come to observe his students work, suggesting placing a detector behind the alpha particle source. If the plum-pudding model was correct, there would not have been a significant concentration of neither matter nor charge to cause a reversal of the trajectory of any impacting alpha particle. However, the detector immediately began detecting alpha particles coming back at the source. A new model was needed. Rutherford spent much time in consideration before he proposed a model that had a minute, very dense and positively charged nucleus, surrounded by orbiting protons. Despite the theoretical collapse of any proton orbit existing in this manner under Newtonian mechanics, the “plum-pudding” model of the atom had been experimentally disproved and a new understanding of the inner-working of the atom would have to be undertaken.

Using this new theoretical model, Rutherford would cement his place in history by arranging the first nuclear reaction. While many newspapers at the time popularly named this phenomenon “splitting the atom”, it is not the same as the modern nuclear fission reaction discovered by Meitner's time in 1938. What Rutherford had done, was fire the same alpha particles used in the earlier experiment at an isotope of Nitrogen, which absorbed the particle forming an oxygen isotope and a proton. For centuries before, alchemists had sought in vain a way to transmute metals. Rutherford had accomplished their dream. This was the first true hint that the nuclear energy in the atom could be harnessed.

However, it did not become a viable option for energy generation or weaponry until an Italian scientist named Enrico Fermi constructed a lattice of enriched Uranium allowing for a spontaneous chain reaction to occur, releasing unheard of amounts of thermal energy. The lattice was deconstructed before the reaction was allowed to proceed past the point of no return but the tides of history could not be turned. Not only had it been proved that atomic energy could be released, it could be done so in a chain reaction allowing tremendous energy to be freed from the atom and the course of history and humanity was set.

With these discoveries mankind had effectively learned to harness the primal energies of the universe itself. Because of this, the future of mankind was forever altered, and to not only survive but prosper from nature's gift will require extreme caution, careful planning and strict regulation. Nuclear energy could prove to be the viable efficient alternative to fossil fuels provided we can find a way to manage the inherent dangers of unlocking the secrets of the atom.

Sources Cited:

Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986. Print.

Kliman, Jan, M. G. Itkis, and S̆ Gmuca. Dynamical Aspects of Nuclear Fission: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference, Smolenice Castle, Slovak Republic : 2-6 October 2006. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific, 2008. Print.

Schneider, Erich, and William Sailor. "Nuclear Fission." Science and Global Security 14.2-3 (2006): 183-211. Print.

"Fission." A-to-Z Guide to Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer, and Fluids Engineering F (2006). Print.