Science of 1940’s

     The science in America during 1940 was mostly based on Military use for weapons.  One of the top scientists of this time was Glenn Seaborg.  He discovered plutonium-239.  He was one of the main scientists that helped in the Manhattan Project.  He helped build the two atom bombs, called 'Little Boy' and Fat Man' that was used on Nagasaki, Japan, and Hiroshima Japan..

     Glenn Seaborg was born on April 19, 1912 and died on February 25, 1999.  He was the son of Herman Theodore and Selma Olivia Erickson Seaborg.  He became interested in science in his junior year of high school, because of the teacher Dwight Logan Reid.  Seaborg graduated from high school in 1929 at the top of his class.  After high school he went to the University of California, Los Angeles and received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1937. 

     Glenn Seaborg later took a job at University of California, Berkeley. He followed Frederick Soddy’s work, investigating isotopes and contributed to the discovery of more than 100 isotopes and elements.  Seaborg and John Livingood, Fred Fairbrother, used one of Lawrence’s advanced cyclotrons to create a new isotope of iron, called iron-59 in 1937.  Because of these kinds of contributions from Seaborg, he is regarded as a pioneer in nuclear medicine and is one of the most prolific discoverers of isotopes.

     On April 19, 1942, Seaborg went to Chicago and joined the chemistry group at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the Manhattan Project.  Here is where Seaborg and his group later converted uranium-238 into plutonium, in the world’s first controlled nuclear chain reaction. Seaborg’s role in his group was to figure out how a tiny bit of plutonium from the mass of uranium.  Plutonium-239 was isolated using a transmutation reaction on August 20, 1942.  Seaborg was responsible for the multi-stage chemical process that separated, concentrated and isolated the plutonium.

     Glenn Seaborg was one the top scientists of the 1940’s.  He isolated plutonium-239, which was used in the atom bomb, code named ‘Fat Man’.  His theoretical development of the actinide concept resulted in a redrawing of the Periodic Table of Elements.  He discovered americium, plutonium-239, and californium. Seaborg advised ten presidents, from Truman to Clinton on nuclear policy.  Glenn Seaborg was a great scientist that worked on one of the most dangerous weapons known to man.

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http://ihouse.berkeley.edu/a/notable/photos/GlennSeaborg.jpg

http://ocw.nd.edu/physics/nuclear-warfare/fatman.jpg

Bibliography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Seaborg ; Article Name: Glenn Seaborg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Seaborg#Biography ; Article Name: Biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Seaborg#Pioneering_work_in_nuclear_chemistry ; Article Name: Pioneering working in nuclear chemistry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Seaborg#Scientific_contributions_during_the_Manhattan_Project ; Article Name: Scientific contributions during the Manhattan Project