The Early History of Radiochemistry

摘要

The development of radiochemistry is traced from the discovery of radioactivity in 1896 through its climax in 1913, when the concept of isotopes made it possible to squeeze more than 30 new radioactive "elements" into the half-dozen remaining vacancies at the end of the Periodic Table. The procedures first employed to isolate many of the radioelements are described in detail, frequently through the use of direct quotations from the original research publications. Each stage in the development is documented so that those wishing to examine a particular discovery in more detail can do so with the aid of more than 200 references to primary sources.