Biography:Oswald Helmuth Göhring

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Short description: German chemist (1889–1915)
Oswald Helmuth Göhring
Born1889
Diedc. 1915[1]
NationalityGerman
Alma materUniversity of Karlsruhe
Known forDiscovery of protactinium
Scientific career
Doctoral advisorKazimierz Fajans

Oswald Helmuth Göhring, also known as Otto Göhring,[2] (1889 - c. 1915) was a German chemist who, with his teacher Kasimir Fajans, co-discovered the chemical element protactinium in 1913.

Discovery of protactinium

Protactinium was first identified in 1913 by Kasimir Fajans and Oswald Helmuth Göhring at the University of Karlsruhe. The new element was named brevium due to the brief half-life of the isotope specific studied, Protactinium-234 (234 Pa).

Fajans and Göhring also worked to identify as many isotopes of the new element as possible, and also to publicize their discovery—- a process that was hampered by the beginning of World War I.[1]

In 1914, Göhring was conscripted into the army. Presumably he perished during the war; he is listed as the author of no further scientific articles or publications after 1915.[1]

A stable isotope of this element was discovered in 1918, and thus the name was changed to protoactinium, which was abbreviated in 1949 to its present name, protactinium.

Publications

  • Oswald Helmuth Göhring: Über das neue Element Brevium und Versuche zur Auffindung seiner Isotopen. (About the new element brevium and attempts to locate its isotopes). PhD Thesis, Karlsruhe Technische Hochschule zu Fridericiana, 1914. 58 p.
  • K. Fajans and OH Göhring, "Über das Uran X2-das neue Element der Uranreihe." ("Uranium X2, the new element in the uranium series") Phys. Zeitschrift, 1913, 14, 877-884.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fontani, Marco; Costa, Mariagrazia; Orna, Mary Virginia (2014-10-01) (in en). The Lost Elements: The Periodic Table's Shadow Side. Oxford University Press. p. 261. ISBN 9780199383351. https://books.google.com/books?id=Te1jBAAAQBAJ. 
  2. Emsley, John; Emsley, Science Writer in Residence in the Chemistry Department John (2001) (in en). Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press. p. 347. ISBN 9780198503415. https://books.google.com/books?id=Yhi5X7OwuGkC. 
  • Elisabeth Rona: How it came about: radioactivity, nuclear physics, atomic energy ORAU Series 137. Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 1978. ISBN:0930780035
  • https://books.google.com/books?id=YpEiPPFlNAAC&pg=PA228 Radioactivity: introduction and history. Michael F. L'Annunziata. Elsevier, 2007. ISBN:044452715X. P. 228
  • Protactinium. Elementymology & Elements Multidict. Peter van der Krogt.
  • Visual Chemistry. Protactinium. The Open Door Web Site.
  • Protactinium. Dictionary 3.0
  • Brevium Element Über das neue und zur Versuche Auffindung Isotopen seiner. Worldcat.
  • Jeremy Bernstein. Plutonium: A History of the World's Most Dangerous Element. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2007. p. 40.
  • Hans-Jürgen Quadbeck-Seeger. World of the Elements: Elements of the World. Trad. José Oliveira. Bad Durkheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2007. p. 77.
  • Mary and Henry M. Elvira Weeks Leicester. Discovery of the Elements, 7th edition. Easton, PA: Journal of Chemical Education, 1968. p. 783.