Glenn Theodore Seaborg (1912 - 1999) was an American chemist whose work on the transuranium elements reshaped the modern periodic table. [1] He co-discovered plutonium in 1940-41 and led teams that identified nine further elements heavier than uranium, for which he shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Edwin McMillan. [2] Seaborg also served as chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission from 1961 to 1971 and advised ten American presidents on nuclear and scientific policy. [3]
Early life and education
Seaborg was born on 19 April 1912 in Ishpeming, Michigan, to a family of Swedish descent. [1] The family moved to California during his childhood, and he attended Jordan High School in the Watts district of Los Angeles. He studied chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, earning his bachelor's degree in 1934, and completed a doctorate in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1937. [1]
Discovery of transuranium elements
Working at Berkeley, Seaborg turned to the artificial synthesis of elements heavier than uranium. In 1940 and 1941 he and his collaborators isolated and identified plutonium, an element that would prove central to nuclear technology. [2] Over the following years his groups discovered a succession of further elements, among them americium, curium, berkelium and californium. To make sense of their chemical behaviour, Seaborg proposed the actinide concept, which repositioned the heaviest known elements as a distinct series in the periodic table. [2] For these achievements he and Edwin McMillan were awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. [2]
The Manhattan Project
During the Second World War, Seaborg joined the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago, where he directed work on the chemical extraction and purification of plutonium for use in nuclear weapons. [1] The processes developed under his direction were scaled up at wartime production sites, and the plutonium they yielded was used in the first test detonation and in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. [3]
Public service and later career
After the war Seaborg returned to Berkeley, where he served as chancellor of the university from 1958 to 1961. [1] President John F. Kennedy then appointed him chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, a post he held from 1961 to 1971 while advising successive administrations on arms control and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. [3] He continued research and teaching for the rest of his life and remained an advocate for science education.
Legacy
Seaborg's contributions to the periodic table were recognised during his lifetime when element 106 was named seaborgium in his honour, one of the few times an element has been named after a living person. [1] He was a co-discoverer or contributor to the identification of ten elements and held numerous patents. He died on 25 February 1999 in Lafayette, California. [1]
