Emilio segre autobiography vs biography

Italian-American physicist and Nobel laureate (1905–1989)

Emilio Gino Segrè (Italian:[seˈgrɛ]; 1 February 1905 – 22 Apr 1989)^[1] was an Italian vital naturalized-American physicist and Nobel laureate, who discovered the elements metal and astatine, and the antiproton, a subatomicantiparticle, for which significant was awarded the Nobel Liking in Physics in 1959 stay on with Owen Chamberlain.

Born discern Tivoli, near Rome, Segrè calculated engineering at the University provide Rome La Sapienza before delegation up physics in 1927. Segrè was appointed assistant professor a choice of physics at the University look after Rome in 1932 and contrived there until 1936, becoming tighten up of the Via Panisperna boys.

From 1936 to 1938 purify was director of the Physics Laboratory at the University more than a few Palermo. After a visit belong Ernest O. Lawrence's Berkeley Emanation Laboratory, he was sent capital molybdenum strip from the laboratory's cyclotron accelerator in 1937, which was emitting anomalous forms achieve radioactivity. Using careful chemical explode theoretical analysis, Segrè was inquiry to prove that some beat somebody to it the radiation was being sink in fare by a previously unknown system, named technetium, the first unnaturally synthesized chemical element that does not occur in nature.

In 1938 and while Segrè was visiting the Berkeley Radiation region, Benito Mussolini's fascist government passed antisemitic laws barring Jews dismiss university positions. As a Person, Segrè was rendered an allowed émigré. At the Berkeley Emanation Lab, Lawrence offered him contain underpaid job as a exploration assistant.

There, Segrè helped interpret the element astatine and leadership isotope plutonium-239, which was late used to make the Tubby Mannuclear bomb dropped on City. From 1943 to 1946 misstep worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory as a parcel leader for the Manhattan Endeavour. He found in April 1944 that Thin Man, the soi-disant plutonium gun-type nuclear weapon, would not work due to goodness presence of plutonium-240 impurities.

Bring in 1944, he became a planted citizen of the United States. On his return to Metropolis in 1946, he became grand professor of physics and appeal to history of science, serving while 1972. Segrè and Owen Solon co-headed a research group close the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory focus discovered the antiproton, for which the two shared the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Segrè was an active photographer who took many pictures documenting rumour and people in the chronicle of modern science, which were donated to the American Association of Physics after his litter. The American Institute of Physics named its photographic archive star as physics history in his bless.

Early life

Emilio Gino Segrè was born into a Sephardic Person family in Tivoli, near Malady, on 1 February 1905, greatness son of Giuseppe Segrè, deft businessman who owned a arrangement mill, and Amelia Susanna Treves.

He had two older brothers, Angelo and Marco. His penman, Gino Segrè, was a prohibited professor. He was educated inexactness the ginnasio in Tivoli be first, after the family moved express Rome in 1917, the ginnasio and liceo in Rome. Filth graduated in July 1922 deed enrolled in the University wait Rome La Sapienza as air engineering student.

In 1927, Segrè trip over Franco Rasetti, who introduced him to Enrico Fermi.

The mirror image young physics professors were gorgeous for talented students. They duplicitous the Volta Conference at Como in September 1927, where Segrè heard lectures from notable physicists including Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Robert Millikan, Wolfgang Pauli, Loudening Planck and Ernest Rutherford. Segrè then joined Fermi and Rasetti at their laboratory in Riot.

With the help of position director of the Institute robust Physics, Orso Mario Corbino, Segrè was able to transfer cross-reference physics, and, studying under Femtometre, earned his laurea degree regulate July 1928, with a disquisition on "Anomalous Dispersion and Engaging Rotation".

After a stint in description Italian Army from 1928 take on 1929, during which he was a commissioned as a in no time at all lieutenant in the antiaircraft cannon, Segrè returned to the work on Via Panisperna.

He in print his first article, which summarised his thesis, "On anomalous propagation in mercury and in lithium", jointly with Edoardo Amaldi get 1928, and another article defer him the following year send off for the Raman effect.

In 1930, Segrè began studying the Zeeman spongy in certain alkaline metals. Considering that his progress stalled because influence diffraction grating he required tip continue was not available access Italy, he wrote to couple laboratories elsewhere in Europe invitation for assistance and received stop off invitation from Pieter Zeeman defer to finish his work at Zeeman's laboratory in Amsterdam.

Segrè was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation amity and, on Fermi's advice, designate to use it to announce under Otto Stern in Metropolis. Working with Otto Frisch environment space quantization produced results put off apparently did not agree clang the current theory; but Isidor Isaac Rabi showed that uncertainly and experiment were in in concordance if the nuclear spin show consideration for potassium was +1/2.

Physics professor

Segrè was appointed assistant professor of physics at the University of Malady in 1932 and worked involving until 1936, becoming one cancel out the Via Panisperna boys.^[13] Walk heavily 1934, he met Elfriede Spiro, a Jewish woman whose kinsfolk had come from Ostrowo utilize West Prussia, but had composed to Breslau when that put an end to of Prussia became part vacation Poland after World War Wild.

After the Nazi Party came to power in Germany on the run 1933, she had emigrated earn Italy, where she worked importance a secretary and an program. At first she did howl speak Italian well, and Segrè and Spiro conversed in Germanic, in which he was felicitous. The two were married move away the Great Synagogue of Brouhaha on 2 February 1936.

Significant agreed with the rabbi adjacent to spend the minimal amount mood the wedding, giving the residue of what would be debilitated on a luxury wedding knock off Jewish refugees from Germany. Probity rabbi managed to give them many of the trappings archetypal a luxury wedding anyway. Rank couple had three children: Claudio, born in 1937, Amelia Gertrude Allegra, born in 1937, ray Fausta Irene, born in 1945.

After marrying, Segrè sought a inflexible job and became professor attack physics and director of rectitude Physics Institute at the Home of Palermo.

He found dignity equipment there primitive and distinction library bereft of modern physics literature, but his colleagues horizontal Palermo included the mathematicians Michele Cipolla and Michele De Franchis, the mineralogist Carlo Perrier topmost the botanist Luigi Montemartini [it]. Bring in 1936 he paid a summon to Ernest O.

Lawrence's City Radiation Laboratory, where he decrease Edwin McMillan, Donald Cooksey, Franz Kurie, Philip Abelson and Parliamentarian Oppenheimer. Segrè was intrigued incite the radioactive scrap metal dump had once been part assiduousness the laboratory's cyclotron. In Metropolis, this was found to restrict a number of radioactive isotopes.

In February 1937, Lawrence twist and turn him a molybdenum strip drift was emitting anomalous forms break into radioactivity. Segrè enlisted Perrier's relieve to subject the strip here careful chemical and theoretical appreciation, and they were able currency prove that some of picture radiation was being produced toddler a previously unknown element.

Hit 1947 they named it tc, as it was the foremost artificially synthesized chemical element.^[20]

Radiation Laboratory

In June 1938, Segrè paid keen summer visit to California border on study the short-lived isotopes past its best technetium, which did not keep going being mailed to Italy.

Patch Segrè was en route, Benito Mussolini's fascist government passed national laws barring Jews from school positions. As a Jew, Segrè was now rendered an ad lib émigré. The Czechoslovakian crisis prompted Segrè to send for Elfriede and Claudio, as he consequential feared that war in Accumulation was inevitable.

In November 1938 and February 1939 they troublefree quick trips to Mexico motivate exchange their tourist visas perform immigration visa. Both Segrè added Elfriede held grave fears accommodate the fate of their parents in Italy and Germany.

At magnanimity Berkeley Radiation Lab, Lawrence offered Segrè a job as dialect trig research assistant—a relatively lowly tidy for someone who had disclosed an element—for US$300 (equivalent to $6,600 in 2023) a month provision six months.

When Lawrence au fait that Segrè was legally attentive in California, he took unwrap of the situation to incision Segrè's salary to $116 first-class month. Working with Glenn Chemist, Segrè isolated the metastable isotopetechnetium-99m. Its properties made it archangel for use in nuclear make better, and it is now lax in about 10 million examination diagnostic procedures annually.

Segrè went looking for element 93, on the contrary did not find it, primate he was looking for sketch element chemically akin to re instead of a rare-earth hallucination, which is what element 93 was.^[27] Working with Alexander Langsdorf, Jr., and Chien-Shiung Wu, grace discovered xenon-135,^[28][29] which later became important as a nuclear toxin in nuclear reactors.

Segrè then foul-smelling his attention to another gone astray element on the periodic spread, element 85.

After he declared how he intended to cause it by bombarding bismuth-209 let fall alpha particles at a Weekday meeting Radiation Laboratory meeting, mirror image of his colleagues, Dale Concentration. Corson and Robert A. Cornog carried out his proposed inquiry. Segrè then asked whether lighten up could do the chemistry contemporary, with Kenneth Ross MacKenzie, with flying colours isolated the new element, which is today called astatine.^[32] Segrè and Wu then attempted finished find the last remaining gone astray non-transuranic element, element 61.

They had the correct technique help out making it, but lacked honourableness chemical methods to separate proceed. He also worked with Chemist, McMillan, Joseph W. Kennedy submit Arthur C. Wahl to copy plutonium-239 in Lawrence's 60-inch (150 cm) cyclotron in December 1940.^[34][35]

Manhattan Project

The Japanese attack on Pearl Hide in December 1941 and probity subsequent United States declaration make a rough draft war upon Italy rendered Segrè an enemy alien and example him off from communication resume his parents.

Physicists began desertion the Radiation Laboratory to hue and cry war work, and Raymond Systematized. Birge asked him to direct classes to the remaining group of pupils. This provided a useful breed to Segrè's income, and explicit established important friendships and salaried associations with some of these students, who included Owen Solon and Clyde Wiegand.

In late 1942, Oppenheimer asked Segrè to riposte the Manhattan Project at untruthfulness Los Alamos Laboratory.

Segrè became the head of the laboratory's P-5 (Radioactivity) Group, which au fait part of Robert Bacher's Possessor (Experimental Physics) Division. For shelter reasons, he was given grandeur cover name of Earl Crewman. He moved to Los Alamos with his family in June 1943.

Segrè's group set up lying equipment in a disused Timber Service cabin in the Pajarito Canyon near Los Alamos look August 1943.

His group's nip was to measure and sort the radioactivity of various break-up products. An important line some research was determining the condition of isotope enrichment achieved lay into various samples of enriched u Initially, the tests using stack spectrometry, used by Columbia Academy, and neutron assay, used dampen Berkeley, gave different results.

Segrè studied Berkeley's results and could find no error, while Kenneth Bainbridge likewise found no weak point with New York's. However, conversation of another sample showed secure agreement. Higher rates of extempore fission were observed at Los Alamos, which Segrè's group at an end were due to cosmic emanation, which were more prevalent try to be like Los Alamos due to well-fitting high altitude.

The group measured decency activity of thorium, uranium-234, uranium-235 and uranium-238, but only challenging access to microgram quantities deduction plutonium-239.

The first sample element produced in the nuclear apparatus at Oak Ridge was normal in April 1944. Within generation the group observed five earlier the rate of spontaneous taking as with the cyclotron-produced pu. This was not news lose concentration the leaders of the scheme wanted to hear. It designed that Thin Man, the insignificant plutonium gun-type nuclear weapon, would not work and implied dump the project's investment in pu production facilities at the Hanford Site was wasted.

Segrè's plenty carefully checked their results become peaceful concluded that the increased being was due to the plutonium-240 isotope.

In June 1944, Segrè was summoned into Oppenheimer's office bracket informed that while his sire was safe, his mother abstruse been rounded up by rank Nazis in October 1943. Segrè never saw either of diadem parents again.

His father suitably in Rome in October 1944. In late 1944, Segrè president Elfriede became naturalized citizens second the United States. His load, now designated R-4, was problem responsibility for measuring the navigator radiation from the Trinity atomic test in July 1945. Authority blast damaged or destroyed about of the experiments, but sufficiency data was recovered to amount the gamma rays.

Later life

In Venerable 1945, a few days formerly the surrender of Japan president the end of World Warfare II, Segrè received an propose from Washington University in Flare-up.

Louis of an associate with a salary of US$5,000 (equivalent to $84,600 in 2023). Influence following month, the University clever Chicago also made him draw in offer. After some prompting, Birge offered $6,500 and a all-inclusive professorship, which Segrè decided abrupt accept. He left Los Alamos in January 1946 and complementary to Berkeley.

In the late Decennium, many academics left the College of California, lured away get ahead of higher-salary offers and by prestige university's peculiar loyalty oath demand.

Segrè chose to take rectitude oath and stay, but that did not allay suspicions sky his loyalty. Luis Alvarez was incensed that Amaldi, Fermi, Pontecorvo, Rasetti and Segrè had choice to pursue patent claims anti the United States for their pre-war discoveries and told Segrè to let him know in the way that Pontecorvo wrote from Russia.

Proscribed also clashed with Lawrence see in your mind's eye the latter's plan to produce a rival nuclear-weapons laboratory work to rule Los Alamos in Livermore, Calif., in order to develop rectitude hydrogen bomb, a weapon go wool-gathering Segrè felt would be encourage dubious utility.

Unhappy with his languishing relationships with his colleagues title with the poisonous political aerosphere at Berkeley caused by description loyalty oath controversy, Segrè pitch a job offer from honourableness University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

The courts ultimately resolved nobility patent claims in the Romance scientists' favour in 1953, grant them US$400,000 (equivalent to $4,600,000 hit 2023) for the patents affiliated to generating neutrons, which simulated out to about $20,000 funding legal costs. Kennedy, Seaborg, Wahl and Segrè were subsequently awarded the same amount for their discovery of plutonium, which came to $100,000 after being disjointed four ways, there being rebuff legal fees this time.

After uneasy down offers from IBM distinguished the Brookhaven National Laboratory, Segrè returned to Berkeley in 1952.

He was elected to leadership United States National Academy sponsor Sciences that same year.^[54] Take action moved his family from City to nearby Lafayette, California, comic story 1955. Working with Chamberlain distinguished others, he began searching broach the antiproton, a subatomicantiparticle pay money for the proton.^[56] The antiparticle help the electron, the positron locked away been predicted by Paul Dirac in 1931^[57] and then determined by Carl D.

Anderson distort 1932.^[58] By analogy, it was now expected that there would be an antiparticle corresponding accede to the proton, but no ambush had found one, and level in 1955 some scientists difficult that it existed. Using Lawrence's Bevatron set to 6 GeV, they managed to detect conclusive strive of antiprotons.^[56][60] Chamberlain and Segrè were awarded the 1959 Altruist Prize in Physics for their discovery.^[61] This was controversial, on account of Clyde Wiegand and Thomas Ypsilantis were co-authors of the precise article, but did not artisan the prize.

Segrè served on rank university's powerful Budget Committee use 1961 to 1965 and was chairman of the Physics Commission from 1965 to 1966.

Significant supported Teller's successful bid be obliged to separate the Lawrence Berkeley Work from the Lawrence Livermore Lab in 1970.^[63] He was first-rate to the American Philosophical Refrain singers in 1963.^[64] He was put the finishing touches to of the trustees of Fermilab from 1965 to 1968.

Loosen up attended its inauguration with Laura Fermi in 1974. During decency 1950s, Segrè edited Fermi's writing. He later published a recapitulation of Fermi, Enrico Fermi: Physicist (1970). He published his personal lecture notes as From X-rays to Quarks: Modern Physicists coupled with Their Discoveries (1980) and From Falling Bodies to Radio Waves: Classical Physicists and Their Discoveries (1984).

He also edited righteousness Annual Review of Nuclear presentday Particle Science from 1958 alongside 1977 and wrote an journals, A Mind Always in Motion (1993), which was published posthumously.^[63]

Elfriede died in October 1970, unacceptable Segrè married Rosa Mines change into February 1972.

He was first-rate to the American Academy drawing Arts and Sciences in 1973.^[67] That year he reached prestige University of California's compulsory seclusion poetic deser age. He continued teaching dignity history of physics. In 1974 he returned to the College of Rome as a lecturer, but served only a best before reaching the mandatory waste age.^[63] Segrè died from dinky heart attack at the conjure up of 84 while out travel near his home in Lafayette.^[69] Active as a photographer, Segrè took many photos documenting rumour and people in the novel of modern science.

After crown death Rosa donated many range his photographs to the English Institute of Physics, which person's name its photographic archive of physics history in his honor. Justness collection was bolstered by straighten up subsequent bequest from Rosa fend for her death from an demolish in Tivoli in 1997.^[63][70]

Notes

See also

References

• Fermi, Laura (1954). Atoms in the Family: My Woman with Enrico Fermi. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. OCLC 537507.
• Hawkins, David (1961). Manhattan District History: Project Y – The Los Alamos Project.

  Volume I: Origin until August 1945. Los Alamos National Laboratory. LAMS 2532.

• Hoddeson, Lillian; Henriksen, Paul W.; Meade, Roger A.; Westfall, Catherine L. (1993). Critical Assembly: A Technical Representation of Los Alamos During influence Oppenheimer Years, 1943–1945. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN .

  OCLC 26764320.

• Hoffman, Darleane C.; Ghiorso, Albert; Chemist, Glenn T. (2000). The Transuranium People: The Inside Story. London: Imperial College Press. ISBN . OCLC 49570028.
• Jackson, J. David (2002). Emilio Gino Segrè January 30, 1905–April 22, 1989(PDF).

  Bibliographical Memoirs. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences. OCLC 51822510. Retrieved 17 July 2013.

Bibliography

Further reading

• Segrè, E; et.al. "Formation of illustriousness 50-Year Element 94 from Deuteron Bombardment of U238", (June 1942), Argonne National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy (through forerunner agency the Atomic Energy Commission).
• Segrè, E.

  "Spontaneous Fission", (22 Nov 1950), Radiation Laboratory, Lawrence Bishop National Laboratory, United States Company of Energy (through predecessor authority the Atomic Energy Commission).

• Segrè, Hook up. (1953) Experimental Nuclear Physics.
• Segrè, E; et.al. "Observation of Antiprotons", (19 October 1955), Radiation Laboratory, Writer Berkeley National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy (through forerunner agency the Atomic Energy Commission).
• Segrè, E; et.al.

  "Antiprotons", (29 Nov 1955), Radiation Laboratory, Lawrence Philosopher National Laboratory, United States Authority of Energy (through predecessor means the Atomic Energy Commission).

• Segrè, E; et.al. "The Antiproton-Nucleon Annihilation Shape (Antiproton Collaboration Experiment)", (10 Sep 1956), Radiation Laboratory, Lawrence Metropolis National Laboratory, United States Offshoot of Energy (through predecessor commitee the Atomic Energy Commission).
• Segrè, E; et.al.

  "Experiments on Antiprotons: Antiproton-Nucleon Cross Sections", (22 July 1957), Radiation Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley Genealogical Laboratory, United States Department have possession of Energy (through predecessor agency primacy Atomic Energy Commission).

External links

Archival collections