r Glenn Theodore Seaborg, distinguished scientist , educator and 1951 Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry, passed away on 25 February 1999 at his home in California. His death came as he was recuperating from a stroke which struck him in August last year. He was 86 years old.
Dr Seaborg was born in 1912 in Michigan. He received his AB in Chemistry from UCLA in 1934 and his PhD in Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1937. He had a lifetime commitment to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he held the position of Associate Director-at-Large upon his retirement. He was also the Chancellor of Berkeley from 1958 to 1961, and the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission from 1961 to 1971.
Dr Seaborg dedicated his life to research in the realm of chemistry, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his role in the discovery of plutonium. He also formulated the “actinide concept” of heavy element electronic structure, one of the most significant changes in the periodic table since Mendeleev’s 19th Century design. He then went on to discover nine other transuranium elements, one of which was named “seaborgium.” He held more than 40 patents, and was the only person ever to hold a patent on chemical elements. Until his last affliction, Dr Seaborg was still actively researching on new elements and isotopes at the upper end of the periodic table, work that is being continued by his team.
A prolific writer, Dr Seaborg had over 500 scientific articles and numerous books to his name. World Scientific is proud to be the publisher of three of his books:
A Scientist Speaks Out
A Personal Perspective on Science, Society and Change
Dr Seaborg shares some of his thoughts and reflections on his broad interests, from the formulation of national science policy to the promise of youth. This collection of nearly 40 of his more popular speeches and articles is directed at a mostly nonscientific and nontechnical audience. Since this volume is a compilation of reprints, readers will be able to share some of the scientist’s thoughts as he originally penned them.
Modern Alchemy
Selected Papers of Glenn T Seaborg
This volume puts together about 100 of Dr Seaborg’s works. It details his discovery of the actinide concept, various transuranium elements and isotopes, and also discusses nuclear medicine and other aspects of nuclear science.
The Transuranium People
The Inside Story
(to be released in Summer 1999)
Through this book, Dr Seaborg, together with coauthors Darleane C Hoffman and Albert Ghiorso, provides a comprehensive account of the discovery and investigation of the nuclear and chemical properties of the 20 known transuranium elements. It is good reading material for undergraduates and graduates in nuclear physics and radiochemistry, as well as general readers.
In view of his outstanding achievements in chemistry and leadership in scientific and educational affairs, Dr Seaborg has been described as “one of America’s great scientific geniuses,” “a great man in science,” and, simply, “a great individual.” He will, in death as in life, always be held in great esteem, and be fondly remembered.
