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"It was the end of 1938, when we found a process that was totally unexpected for ourselves and later led to the development of nuclear energy." Berlin, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Chemistry. On December 17, 1938, one of the most important discoveries of the twentieth century succeeds here: in experiments on uranium, Otto Hahn discovered that atomic nuclei could be split – the basis of nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors
. the energy released in this process of division, which was extraordinarily much greater than all the energy processes that have been known up to here. "
Hahn was quickly made a name in the professional world
Hahn, born in Frankfurt in 1879, interested in a whole new field – radioactivity." At that time, all atomic research was in a pioneering and pioneering period in which many important discoveries have been made, "says Robert Lorenz, political scientist at the Institute for Democracy in Göttingen
After studying chemistry, Otto Hahn settles in London In Montreal, at the laboratory of Nobel laureate Ernest Rutherford, Hahn quickly made a name for himself in the professional world: he managed to discover many new radioactive substances
"Otto Hahn was a very good experimenter, who always put a lot of care into his work. Foolish, he let repeat the experiments several times and always took care to make sure everything is properly recorded, "says Lorenz
Productive Working Group
at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Berlin , Otto Hahn Working Group, including chemist Fritz Straßmann and physicist Lise Meitner. The three irradiated different chemical elements with neutrons, with tiny particles of nucleus. Atomic nuclei have been transformed into new heavier elements. But when Hahn and Strassmann made uranium in December 1938, they had a surprise. Instead of turning into a heavier element, the uranium nucleus seemed to explode into smaller fragments. What happened exactly could only clarify Lise Meitner. During the summer of 1938, the Jewess had fled Berlin until England
Hahn: "Lise Meitner and her nephew Otto Robert Frisch in England were the first to calculate that the burst of uranium released unusual amounts of energy. " And von Meitner and Frisch also derives the expression "Fission", in the German schism. "
The discovery aroused the interest of the army. In order to explore whether a bomb could be built on the basis of nuclear fission, the Nazi regime called in 1939 the so-called uranium project. Otto Hahn held on
Lorenz again: "Otto Hahn always made it clear that he would never really develop a nuclear weapon and give it to dictator Hitler."
The German uranium project failed. The Americans, however, built the atomic bomb and blew it up in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Enlightened Appeal Against the Arming of the German Armed Forces
"Otto Hahn Learned Dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. Moment of his life Otto Hahn burst into tears because he realized that he finally made a discovery that may have a so destructive consequence, "says Lorenz.
He created the base of the atomic bomb completely involuntarily Hahn faced the rest of his life.After the war he became one of the most prominent opponents of the Nuclear armament: "I remind you that me and the 18 nuclear physicists known in the Göttingen Declaration have always emphasized the dangers of using atomic and hydrogen bombs." 19659002] In 1957, Hahn initiated with other physicists the "Göttinger Manifesto", an ap fired against the atomic weapons of the Bundeswehr. And indeed: the Federal Republic has renounced nuclear weapons, the Göttingen Manifesto has become one of the germ cells of the German peace movement. This did not prevent Otto Hahn from advocating the peaceful use of nuclear energy, that is to say the construction of nuclear power plants. His vision: "Rather than reducing the reserves of coal and oil, nuclear energy is entering the scene for peaceful purposes."
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