Nuclear scientists
At ANSTO, streets are named after nuclear scientists. The district of Lucas Heights, showing some ANSTO streets can be seen on Google maps
Aston Avenue
Francis William Aston was born in September 1877 in Birmingham, UK. In 1903, he obtained a scholarship to Birmingham University to work on the properties of the Crookes Dark Space in discharge tubes. Within a short time he had discovered the phenomenon which became known as the Aston Dark Space. At the end of 1909, he accepted the invitation of Sir J.J.Thomson to work as his assistant at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, on studies of positive rays. It was during this period that Aston obtained definite evidence for the existence of two isotopes of the inert gas neon. His research was interrupted by WWI, but Aston returned to the Cavendish Laboratory in 1919, and continued to work on the separation of isotopes of neon. His invention of the mass spectrograph allowed him to successfully separate neon isotopes by using slight differences in mass to separate them. Extending this principle to other chemical elements, Aston discovered 212 of the naturally occurring isotopes. From these results, Aston formulated the Whole Number Rule: defining the mass of oxygen, all other isotopes have approximately whole number masses. Aston was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1922 for his discovery, using his mass spectrograph, of isotopes in a large number of non-radioactive elements, and for his whole-number rule. Aston died in 1945.
Becquerel Place
In 1896, Antoine Henri Becquerel set out to investigate the work of a fellow scientist but, quite by accident, discovered nuclear radiation instead. Becquerel was born into a distinguished family of scholars and scientists in Paris on 15 December, 1852. In 1892 he became the third in his family to occupy the physics chair at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. It was his work in 1896, however, that would be his most significant contribution to science. While investigating the work of Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, Becquerel wrapped a fluorescent mineral, potassium uranyl sulfate, in photographic plates and black material in preparation for an experiment requiring bright sunlight. However, prior to actually performing the experiment, Becquerel found that the photographic plates were fully exposed. This accidental discovery led Becquerel to investigate the spontaneous emission of nuclear radiation. In 1903 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Pierre and Marie Curie in recognition of the extraordinary services he rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity. The International System unit for radioactivity, the becquerel (Bq), is named after him and there are Becquerel craters on the moon and Mars. He died at Le Croisic on 25 August, 1908.
Bohr Crescent
Niels Bohr was born on 7 October 1885 in Copenhagen, Denmark. His doctoral thesis examined the properties of metals in terms of the electron theory and is a classic text on the subject. In this work Bohr was first confronted with the implications of Planck's quantum theory of radiation. Just as Bohr Crescent comes off Rutherford Avenue at ANSTO, the young Bohr worked in Rutherford's laboratory in 1912, where Bohr studied the structure of atoms based on Rutherford's discovery of the atomic nucleus. Bohr worked out a model of atomic structure by introducing concepts from Plank's quantum theory which, with later improvements, is still used to illustrate the properties of elements. His work on the structure of atoms won Bohr the Nobel Prize in 1922. From 1930, Bohr's work focused on nuclear disintegrations. His liquid droplet theory of the nucleus permitted an understanding of nuclear fission. He died in Copenhagen 18 November 1962.
Bragg Avenue
William Lawrence Bragg was born in North Adelaide in 1890, son of scientist William Henry Bragg, who was Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Adelaide. William Lawrence showed an early interest in science and maths. He fell from his tricycle at age five, shortly after starting school. Having read about Roentgen's experiments in Europe, his father used X-rays to examine the broken arm. This was the first recorded surgical use of X-rays in Australia. William Lawrence is most famous for his law on the diffraction of X-rays by crystals. Bragg's law makes it possible to calculate the positions of the atoms within a crystal from the way in which an X-ray beam is diffracted by the crystal lattice. William Henry invented the X-ray spectrometer and, with his son, founded the new science of X-ray analysis of crystal structure. In 1915 the father and son team were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their studies, using the X-ray spectrometer, of X-ray spectra, X-ray diffraction, and of crystal structure. Both father and son were knighted. William Henry died in 1942 and William Lawrence died on 1 July 1971.
Chadwick Street
James Chadwick was born in 1891 and is best remembered as the scientist who discovered the neutron, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935. Chadwick worked in Berlin with Hans Geiger, and investigated gamma rays with Ernest Rutherford in Cambridge - just as Chadwick Street branches out from Rutherford Avenue at ANSTO. Working with Rutherford, the pair bombarded elements with alpha particles to study transmutation, and also looked into the nature of the atomic nucleus. Chadwick's most important discovery came in 1932 when he discovered the neutron, capable of penetrating and splitting the nuclei of even heavy elements due to its neutral charge. Chadwick?s discovery paved the way for uranium fission and the atomic bomb. Chadwick later discovered that German scientist Hans Falkenhagen had discovered the neutron at the same time but was afraid of publishing his results. Chadwick generously offered to share the Nobel Prize but Falkenhagen refused the honour. Interestingly, Chadwick was interned in Germany as an enemy alien during WWI and, infamously, he joined the Manhattan Project which developed the atomic bomb used in Japan during WWII. Chadwick died on 24 July 1974.
Cockcroft Place
Sir John Douglas Cockcroft received the 1951 Nobel Prize for Physics alongside Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton for their pioneering work on the transmutation (changing from one element to another) of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles. Born in 1897 at Todmorden, England, Cockcroft left his family of cotton manufacturers to study mathematics at Manchester University in 1914. After serving in the First World War in the Royal Field Artillery he returned to Manchester to study electrical engineering at the College of Technology. In 1928, Cockcroft began work on the acceleration of protons by high voltages and was soon joined by Walton. By 1932 they succeeded in transmuting lithium and boron by high energy protons. One year later they produced artificial radioactivity and continued studying a wide variety of transmutations produced by protons and deuterons. Cockcroft was highly awarded, receiving his knighthood in 1948 and created Knight Commander of the Bath in 1953. He has also received honorary doctorates from some 19 universities and is a fellow or honorary member of many of the principal scientific societies. Cockcroft married Eunice Elizabeth Crabtree in 1925 and had four daughters and two sons. He died on September 18, 1967.
Curie Avenue
Marie Curie was born Marya Sklodowska in Warsaw on 7 November, 1867. Marie went to Paris in 1891 to study physics and mathematics. Pierre Curie headed the Paris laboratory she worked in and became her husband. Just as Curie Avenue comes off Roentgen Street at ANSTO, Marie Curie's work followed from Roentgens radiation studies. Curie coined the term radioactivity to describe rays emitted by uranium and thorium. Marie and Pierre discovered radium and polonium (named after Marie's homeland, Poland). They showed radium could be used to treat malign tumours. The Curies were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, making Marie the first woman to win a Nobel. Marie obtained her PhD in the same year - the first woman in France to gain a doctorate. Tragically, in 1906, Pierre was hit by a carriage and died. Marie continued researching. In 1911, prejudice prevented Marie from entering the French Academy of Sciences, but she was honoured with a Nobel Prize for Chemistry, becoming the first person to win two Nobels. Marie started the field of nuclear medicine, establishing the Radium Institute in 1914. Marie died in July, 1934 of leukaemia - a result of the large levels of radiation to which she was exposed.
Dalton Avenue
John Dalton is known as the father of modern physical science for developing the atomic theory of matter. Born on 6 September 1766 in Eaglesfield, England, Dalton dabbled in a wide range of sciences especially meteorology and chemistry. Dalton found that elements are composed of tiny particles - atoms - that are all alike and have the same atomic weight. In 1803 he devised a system of chemical symbols and ascertained the relative weights of atoms to arrange them into a table - the first periodic table. As a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society he contributed many theories particularly focussing on gases and meteorology. His studies on gases led to development of the law of partial pressures, now known as Dalton's law, which states that the total pressure of a mixture of gases equals the sum of the pressures of the gases in the mixture. Dalton was colour blind which made him interested in investigating colour perception. Though his colour theory lost credence, his research was so widely recognised that "Daltonism" became a common term for colour blindness. He co-founded the British Association of the Advancement of Science. Dalton died on 26 July 1844 after suffering three strokes and although he lived almost as a recluse, 40 000 people came to Manchester to pay their respects.
Einstein Avenue
Born in 1879, German - Jewish theoretical physicist Albert Einstein is widely regarded as the most important scientist of the 20th century and one of the greatest physicists of all time. Einstein formulated the special and general theories of relativity, and made important contributions to quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and cosmology. His 'year of wonders' was 1905, when he published several important papers including one that deduced the famous equation E = mc2. In 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for his 1905 explanation of the photoelectric effect and for "his services to Theoretical Physics". Einstein became world famous after 1919 British solar eclipse expeditions confirmed light rays from distant stars were deflected by the gravity of the Sun in the amount he predicted in his theory of relativity. In his later years, Einstein's fame probably exceeded that of any scientist in history, and his name has become synonymous with great intelligence and genius. Einstein died on 10 April 1955, and persistent rumours about him include that he failed maths at school and had an affair with Marilyn Monroe. In 1999 he was named Time magazine's Person of the Century.
Hahn Street
Otto Hahn was born on 8th March, 1879, in Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany. After studying chemistry at Marburg and Munich, he worked at University College, London, as a research assistant and discovered a new radioactive substance, radiothorium. Just as Hahn Street branches off Rutherford Avenue at ANSTO, Hahn worked under Professor Rutherford at McGill University, Montreal, Canada in 1905-1906. Here he discovered radioactinium and investigated alpha-rays of radiothorium and radioactinium. In 1907, he discovered mesothorium while working at Berlin University. His most spectacular discovery was the fission of uranium and thorium in medium heavy atomic nuclei in 1938, while working jointly with Dr Strassmann. They were the first to recognise that the uranium atom, when bombarded by neutrons, actually split. Between 1938 and 1944 Hahn continued to investigate the separation of many elements and kinds of atoms which arise through fission. Hahn won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944 for his discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei. He died 28 July 1968.
Lawrence Crescent
Ernest Orlando Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron, was born at Canton, South Dakota, in 1901. Lawrence studied chemistry at the University of South Dakota before turning his sights towards physics and completing his PhD at Yale. In 1930 Lawrence became the youngest professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Lawrence was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1939 for inventing the cyclotron - a device used to accelerate nuclear particles to very high velocities without the use of high voltages. The accelerated particles were used to bombard suitable target materials to form previously undiscovered radioactive isotopes. Lawrence continued to improve the cyclotron and by 1941 it was powerful enough to artificially generate cosmic particles called mesons. Lawrence's scientific interest stretched across all branches of science and his name appeared on 56 papers during 1924-1940. He was also the inventor of a method for obtaining time intervals as small as three billionths of a second, to study the discharge phenomena of an electric spark. Lawrence married Mary Kimberly Blumer, daughter of the Emeritus Dean at Yale Medical School, in May 1932. They had six children. He died on 27 August, 1958, at Palo Alto, California.
Meitner Place
Born in Austria in 1878, Lise Meitner was the first person to realise that the nucleus of an atom could be split into smaller parts. Meitner studied physics at the University of Vienna, where she was the first woman to complete her PhD in 1905. Pursuing a career in Berlin, she met Otto Hahn with whom she collaborated for over 30 years. Hahn and Meitner combined their backgrounds in chemistry and physics to overcome obstacles in the study of radioactivity. In 1938, Meitner was forced to flee to Switzerland during Hitler's rise, but she continued to collaborate with Hahn through letters. Just a few months later, Meitner and her nephew, Otto Robert Frisch, provided Hahn with a theoretical model of nuclear fission. When Hahn later published the chemical evidence for fission he omitted Meitner's name due to the stigma associated with it in Nazi Germany. Hahn went on to receive the 1944 Nobel Prize for chemistry, leaving Meitner without formal credit. This remains controversial amongst scientists, despite both Hahn and Meitner being awarded the Enrico Fermi award in 1966 for their pioneering research. Meitner's achievements were further honoured 29 years after her death, when element 109 was named 'Meitnerium' in 1997.
Paneth Street
Friedrich Adolf Paneth was born on 31 August 1887, in Vienna, Austria. Paneth studied chemistry at the universities of Munich and Vienna, and received his doctorate in 1910. His research interests were widespread. Paneth prepared hydrides of bismuth, lead, and polonium with radioactive isotopes, and became the greatest volatile hydrides authority in his time. He found evidence for the brief existence of methyl and ethyl free radicals. His microanalytical work in rare gases led him to study the atmosphere and to conclude that the composition of air is constant at least to an altitude of 61km. His measurement of helium from radioactive decay in meteorites and terrestrial rocks led to methods for dating rocks. He held positions at the Radium Institute, Vienna, and at research facilities in Prague, Hamburg, Berlin, and Konigsberg. Although he was Protestant, his parents were Jewish, so with the rise of Nazism he moved to England in 1933. Paneth lectured at Imperial College, London, from 1933 - 1938, becoming Reader of Atomic Chemistry. He was Professor of Chemistry at the University of Durham from 1939 -1953, establishing a radiochemistry laboratory. In 1953 he returned to West Germany as director of the Max Planck Institute at Mainz. Paneth died in 1958.
Roentgen Street
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen was born on 27 March 1845 in Lennep, Germany, but grew up in The Netherlands. After studying physics at the University of Utrecht, Roentgen returned to Germany to study mechanical engineering and became a physics academic. Roentgen is most famous for his 1895 discovery of X-rays: an accidental discovery in his Wurzburg laboratory while conducting experiments on light phenomena and other emissions generated by discharging electrical current in highly-evacuated glass tubes. Roentgen was testing the range of cathode rays but found unknown rays which displayed the bones of his hand when placed between the glass tube and a screen. In December 1895 Roentgen produced his preliminary report on X-rays accompanied by the first radiographs and a now famous image of his wife's hand. By January 1896 the world was gripped by "X-ray mania" and, in 1901, Roentgen won the first Nobel prize in physics. In 1900 he accepted the position of Chair of Physics in the University of Munich and remained there for the rest of his life. He died in Munich on 10 February 1923.
Rutherford Avenue
Sir Ernest Rutherford, born in 1871 in New Zealand, was an illustrious scientist and the first New Zealander to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908. He was knighted in 1914 and made a Lord in 1931. Rutherford discovered radon, a radioactive gas, and was the first to state that radioactivity is a manifestation of sub-atomic change in 1902. Rutherford invented the Rutherford-Geiger detector of single ionising alpha particles. In 1917, he was the first scientist to discover transmutation by changing nitrogen into oxygen and in 1920 he predicted the existence of the neutron (later discovered by Chadwick). Recognising the power of nuclear energy, he stated publicly that he hoped mankind would not discover how to extract the energy from the nucleus until man was living at peace with his neighbours. He died in Cambridge on 19 October 1937.
Seaborg Street
Glenn Theodore Seaborg was born in Ishpeming, Michigan, on 19 April 1912. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and in 1937 received his PhD in Chemistry. In 1945, Seaborg married Helen L. Griggs; they went on to have six children. Seaborg was appointed professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley. In 1946 he also took responsibility for direction of nuclear chemical research for the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Seaborg was appointed a member of the AEC's first General Advisory Committee by President Truman. In 1958 he was appointed chancellor of the UC Berkeley; he remained there until his appointment as Chairman of the AEC. Seaborg headed the plutonium work of the Manhattan Project where he co-discovered plutonium and all further transuranic elements through to 102. Seaborg and his colleagues were also responsible for the identification of more than a hundred isotopes of elements throughout the Periodic Table. The wealth of information provided by Seaborg has made it possible to predict the radioactive characteristics of many isotopes of elements still to be found. Seaborg developed new bodies of methodology creating a cornerstone of modern nuclear chemistry, and was recognised with many accolades and awards during his life. Seaborg died 25 February 1991.
Shull Drive
Dr Clifford G. Shull was born on 23 September, 1915, in Pennsylvania, USA. Completing his PhD at New York University in 1942, Shull successfully ran the electron double- scattering experiment for his thesis research using a Van de Graaff generator, to show that electrons have a spin or polarisation. He worked during WWII for The Texas Company, New York, researching the microstructure of petroleum catalysts using X-ray scattering. Shull developed his knowledge in diffraction processes, crystallography and the new field of solid state physics in this period. He then worked for a decade at the Clinton Laboratory (now Oak Ridge National Laboratory) exploring how neutron patterns can be used to supplement those obtained with X-rays or electrons, starting with a two-axis spectrometer providing neutron diffraction patterns of crystals. Shull was a forerunner in the development of the neutron diffraction technique. Moving onto the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1955, Shull used neutron radiation from the MITR-I research reactor on campus, for investigations in many fields. He retired from MIT in 1986. Shull jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1994 with Bertram N. Brockhouse, for their pioneering contributions to the development of neutron scattering techniques for studies of condensed matter. Shull passed away 31 March 2001.
Oliphant Drive
Sir Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant was one of the most influential Australian scientists in history. Born in South Australia in 1901, he studied physics at the University of Adelaide in 1919 before winning a scholarship to study at Cambridge with fellow physicist Ernest Rutherford. It was here that he discovered that heavy hydrogen nuclei could be made to react with each other - the fusion reaction that is the basis for a hydrogen bomb. During World War II, Oliphant strongly promoted the use of the atomic bomb to the United States government. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Manhattan Project, and worked within that project from 1943, returning to England in 1945 before the atomic bomb was used at Hiroshima. Though proud of his science, he was appalled by its applications and later in life, became a harsh critic of nuclear weapons. Oliphant was knighted in 1959, became the Governor of South Australia in 1971 where he was involved in the dismissal of the Whitlam government, and was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia in 1977. He also established the Australian Academy of Science in 1954. Following the death of his wife, Oliphant also became a key advocate for pro-euthanasia campaigns. He died in Canberra in 14 July, 2000 aged 98.
Strassmann Crescent
Fritz Strassmann helped discover nuclear fission, was denied a Nobel prize, and was once considered to be one of the United States' biggest military threats. Born in Boppard, Germany, in 1902, Strassmann began studying chemistry in 1920 at the Technical University of Hanover and completed his PhD in 1929. In 1934 he teamed with Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn in their investigation of the bombardment of uranium with neutrons. They soon discovered their experiments had produced barium, an element much lighter than uranium, indicating nuclear fission had occurred. During World War II, news of the splitting atom and its possibilities made its way to scientists in the United States and ultimately brought about the Manhattan project - a collection of elite scientists working to create a nuclear bomb before Germany did. Though the United States saw Strassmann as an enemy scientist, he was never involved in nuclear weapons research. When the war ended, only Hahn was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize for chemistry for the splitting of the atom. Strassmann's work also included developing the method of rubidium-strontium dating widely used today in geochronology to determine the geological age of an object using radioactive decay. He died 22 April in Mainz in 1980.
Thomson Avenue
Joseph John Thomson was born on 18 December, 1856, in Manchester, UK. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, beginning in 1876 and remained a member of the College for the rest of his life. His most famous achievement was the discovery of the electron in 1897 through an original series of experiments designed to study the nature of electric discharge in a high vacuum cathode-ray tube. Thomson explained the deflection of the rays by electrically charged plates and magnets by proposing subatomic particles with a very large charge to mass ratio. Some scientists had already used the term electron to describe a hypothetical unit of electricity, however, Thomson's breakthrough was proving the existence of negative particles smaller than an atom. The discovery of the electron showed that the atom has an internal structure. Thomson's work won him the Nobel Prize for physics in 1906. Many of his students went on to be eminent physicists such as Ernest Rutherford and his own son George Paget Thomson who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1937, on 30 August.