,,our ,,atomic ,,world by ,c4 ,jackson ,craven ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,atomic ,,energy ,u4,s4 ,,atomic ,,energy ,,commission ,division of ,technical ,information ,understanding the ,atom ,series ,the ,understanding the ,atom ,series ,nuclear energy is playing a vital role in the life of every man1 woman1 and child in the ,united ,states today4 ,in the years ahead it will affect increasingly all the peoples of the earth4 ,it is essential that all ,americans gain an understanding of this vital force if they are to discharge thoughtfully their responsibilities as citizens and if they are to realize fully the myriad benefits that nuclear energy offers them4 ,the ,united ,states ,atomic ,energy ,commission provides this booklet to help you achieve such understanding4 ,edward ,j4 ,brunenkant ,edward ,j4 ,brunenkant1 ,director ,division of ,technical ,information ,,united ,,states ,,atomic ,,energy ,,commission ,dr4 ,glenn ,t4 ,seaborg1 ,chairman ,james ,t4 ,ramey ,wilfrid ,e4 ,johnson ,dr4 ,theos ,j4 ,thompson ,dr4 ,clarence ,e4 ,larson ,,our ,,atomic ,,world by ,c4 ,jackson ,craven ,,contents ,,the ,,greeks ,,were ,,curious ,,about ,,matter #a ,,the ,,atomic ,,theory ,,is ,,confirmed #b ,,cathode ,,rays ,,show ,,atoms ,,contain ,,smaller ,,parts #c ,,radioactive ,,atoms ,,discovered #e ,,rutherford ,,finds ,,the ,,atomic ,,nucleus #f ,,the ,,proton ,,is ,,recognized #h ,,isotopes ,,are ,,discovered #i ,,the ,,alchemists' ,,dream ,,comes ,,true #aj ,,some ,,particles ,,have ,,no ,,electric ,,charge #ac ,,matter ,,is ,,energy2 ,,energy ,,is ,,matter #ad ,,nuclei ,,contain ,,energy #ae ,,chronology #ah ,,fission ,,is ,,explained #bj ,,the ,,fission ,,bomb ,,is ,,exploded #bc ,,nuclear ,,energy ,,is ,,needed ,,for ,,the ,,future #be ,,fusion ,,has ,,potential #bf ,,isotopes ,,have ,,many ,,uses #bi ,,radioisotopes ,,at ,,work #cj ,,the ,,atomic ,,energy ,,commission #ca ,,toward ,,an ,,international ,,atom #cc ,,suggested ,,references #ce ,united ,states ,atomic ,energy ,commission ,division of ,technical ,information ,library of ,congress ,catalog ,card ,number3 #fc-fdiah #aifc2 #aifd 7,rev47 ,illustration3 ,the cover is a time-exposed photograph of an animated model of a uranium-#bce atom4 ,the center represents the nucleus1 greatly exaggerated in size4 ,the fine lines represent the electrons whirling about the nucleus4 ,courtesy ,union ,carbide ,corporation ,c4 ,,jackson ,,craven is a teacher's teacher as well as a student's teacher1 and has had an active career aiding understanding of atomic energy as a member of the ,university of ,tennessee faculty and on the staff of the ,oak ,ridge ,institute of ,nuclear ,studies4 ,he has conducted short courses to instruct groups of high school science teachers in nuclear energy1 and has served in a key capacity in training ,institute demonstration-lecturers who visit high schools throughout the nation4 ,dr4 ,craven worked during ,world ,war ,,ii for the ,manhattan ,project1 which built the first atomic bomb4 ,he earned bachelor's and graduate degrees at the ,university of ,north ,carolina1 and later taught physics and mathematics at ,delta ,state ,teachers ,college and at ,furman and ,emory ,universities4 ,his research interests include infrared spectroscopy1 gaseous diffusion through porous media1 and the physical properties of fibers4 ,,our ,,atomic ,,world ,by ,c4 ,jackson ,craven ,the story of atomic energy evolves from the curiosity of people concerning the nature and structure of matter1 the stuff of which all material things are made4 ,the ,greeks ,were ,curious ,about ,matter ,certain philosophers of ancient ,greece--,democritus for one--were fascinated by the question3 what is matter8 ,you can imagine one of the philosophers saying to his pupils3 8,gentlemen1 let us consider a piece of cheese4 ,with a knife we can cut it in two1 thus obtaining smaller pieces4 ,we can then cut one of these smaller pieces in two1 obtaining still smaller pieces4 ,we can think about repeating this process over and over to get smaller and smaller pieces of cheese4 ,now can this process be continued without limit1 or will a time come when we arrive at the smallest possible piece of cheese8 ,in other words1 is there a piece so small that we must have at least that much or none1 with no choice in between80 ,it is probable that most people who thought about this question at all during the next two thousand years answered the last question in the negative4 ,the prevailing notion was that matter was continuous1 with no theoretical limit as to how small a piece of cheese1 or anything else1 might be4 ,this concept was humorously expressed by the ,british mathematician ,augustus ,de ,morgan 7#ahjf-ahga7 in these lines3 ,great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em1 ,and little fleas have lesser fleas1 and so1 ad infinitum4 ,the ,atomic ,theory ,is ,confirmed ,de ,morgan evidently did not keep up with the latest developments in science1 however1 because two years before his birth1 ,john ,dalton1 an ,english schoolteacher1 had changed the atomic theory of matter from a philosophical speculation into a firmly established principle4 ,the evidence that convinced ,dalton and many other contemporary scientists of the reality of atoms came from quantitative chemical analysis4 ,dalton knew that many chemical substances could be separated into two or more simpler substances4 ,chemicals that could be separated further were called compounds2 those that could not were called elements4 ,careful experiments by ,dalton and others showed that whenever two or more elements combined chemically to make a compound the relative amounts of the elements had to be carefully adjusted to fit a definite proportion in order to have no elements left over after the reaction was finished4 ,for example1 if hydrogen and oxygen were combined to form water1 the weight of oxygen had to be eight times the weight of hydrogen2 otherwise1 either some hydrogen or some oxygen would be left over4 ,this fundamental truth is now called the ,law of ,definite ,proportions4 ,another important principle1 called the ,law of ,multiple ,proportions1 is illustrated by hydrogen peroxide1 which is made up of the same two elements that are found in water4 ,the weight of oxygen in hydrogen peroxide1 however1 is #af times the weight of hydrogen or exactly twice the relative weight found in water4 ,these principles of chemical combination convinced ,dalton that each chemical element consists of small1 indivisible units1 all just alike1 called atoms1 and that each chemical compound also has basic units1 called molecules1 which cannot be divided without reducing the compound into its elements--that is1 destroying it as a compound4 ,he visualized a molecule of a compound as formed by the uniting of individual atoms of two or more elements4 ,it was obvious to him that in any molecule of a compound1 the weight of each atom of a component element bore a proportionate relationship to the weight of the entire molecule which was equal to the proportion1 by weight1 of all that element in the compound4 ,and although ,dalton had no idea how heavy any individual atom really was1 he could tell how many times heavier or lighter it was than an atom of another element4 ,incidentally1 ,dalton mistakenly thought that one atom of oxygen was eight times as heavy as one atom of hydrogen instead of #af times as heavy4 ,he assumed a water molecule to be ,,ho instead of ,h,o4 ,cathode ,rays ,show ,atoms ,contain ,smaller ,parts ,curiosity about the fundamental nature of matter was matched by equally avid curiosity about the fundamental nature of electricity4 ,before #ahej much had been learned about the behavior of electric charge and electric currents flowing through solids and liquids4 ,real progress in understanding electric charge1 however1 had to wait for the development of highly efficient vacuum pumps4 ,about #ahed ,heinrich ,geissler1 a ,german glassblower1 developed an improved suction pump1 and also succeeded in sealing into a glass tube two wires attached to metal electrodes inside the tube4 ,experimenters were then able to study the flow of electricity through a near-vacuum4 ,a ,geissler tube is diagramed in ,figure #a4 ,by the #ahijs it had become clear that the flow of electricity through a highly evacuated tube consisted of a negative electric charge moving at a very high speed along straight lines between sealed-in electrodes4 ,since it originated at the negative electrode1 or cathode1 the invisible stream of charge was named 8cathode rays40 ,illustration3 ,figure #a ,geissler ,tube4 ,,current ,,source ,,cathode 7-7 ,,stream ,,of ,,electrons ,,vacuum ,,pump ,,anode 77 ,although many investigators contributed to knowledge about cathode rays1 the experiments of ,joseph ,j4 ,thomson1 a ,british physicist1 are generally considered to have been the most enlightening4 ,thomson arranged a cathode-ray tube so that the rays could be deflected by magnets and by electrically charged metal plates4 ,by applying certain well-known principles of physics1 he was able to confirm an impression already held by physical chemists1 namely1 that electric charge1 like matter1 was 8atomized0--the stream of charge consisted of a swarm of very small particles1 all alike4 ,he succeeded also in determining that the speed of the particles was about one-tenth the speed of light4 ,probably ,thomson's most significant result was determining the ratio of the charge of each little particle to its weight4 ,he was able to do this by measuring the magnetic force required to divert a stream of charged particles4 7,you can do this experiment yourself with relatively simple equipment47 ,this charge-to-weight ratio proved to be nearly #bjjj times greater than the already known charge-to-weight ratio for a positively charged hydrogen atom1 or ion1 which until then was thought to be the lightest constituent of matter4 ,it remained to be determined whether charge or weight caused the difference4 ,further experimentation showed that the charges were approximately the same amount in the two cases4 ,it was therefore proven that the weight of the hydrogen atom1 lightest of all the atoms1 was nearly #bjjj times as great as the weight of one of the little negative particles4 ,the name 8electron0 was given to the small negative particles identified by ,thomson4 ,since the electrons had come from the cathode1 it was apparent that the atoms in the cathode must contain electrons4 ,thomson reasoned that electric current in a wire is a stream of electrons passing successively from atom to atom and that the difference between an electrically charged atom and a neutral atom is that the charged one has gained or lost one or more electrons4 ,radioactive ,atoms ,discovered ,illustration3 ,henri ,becquerel ,courtesy ,journal of ,chemical ,education1 ,discovery of the ,elements1 ,mary ,elvira ,weeks4 ,in #ahif the ,french physicist ,henri ,becquerel was investigating the relation between fluorescence and ,x rays1 a puzzling kind of penetrating radiation discovered a few months earlier by the ,german1 ,wilhelm ,roentgen4 ,various chemical compounds fluoresce1 or glow1 when exposed to ultraviolet rays and other types of radiation4 ,while experimenting with a large number of chemicals1 ,becquerel discovered1 quite by accident1 that a compound containing the element uranium can1 without being exposed to any kind of radiation1 darken a photographic plate completely wrapped in heavy black paper4 ,although no one realized it at the time1 ,becquerel had discovered that atoms of some elements will at random times transform themselves into atoms of a different element by emitting certain extremely high-speed charged particles4 ,atoms that can do this are said to be radioactive1 and it was the radiation from transforming uranium atoms that darkened ,becquerel's photographic plate4 ,rutherford ,finds the ,atomic ,nucleus ,illustration3 ,ernest ,rutherford1 #ahga-aicg ,courtesy ,nobelstiftelsen ,we are greatly indebted to the imagination and experimental skill of the ,british physicist ,ernest ,rutherford for the interpretation of radioactivity in terms of the structure of atoms4 ,rutherford1 born and educated in ,new ,zealand1 moved to ,england to work under ,thomson at ,cambridge ,university in #ahie4 ,shortly afterward1 ,wilhelm ,roentgen in ,germany discovered ,x rays1 ,becquerel in ,france discovered radioactivity1 and ,thomson proved the existence of the electron4 ,during the next few years1 curiosity about the fundamental nature of radioactivity led a number of people to do a great deal of work4 ,the element thorium was found to be radioactive1 and ,marie and ,pierre ,curie discovered two new elements1 polonium and radium1 that were also radioactive4 ,the radiation from radioactive materials was found to be of three kinds called alpha rays1 beta rays1 and gamma rays4 ,alpha rays were first detected by ,rutherford1 who later identified them as positively charged helium atoms4 ,becquerel demonstrated that beta rays1 like cathode rays1 consist of negatively charged electrons4 ,the highly penetrating gamma rays were proved by ,rutherford and ,e4 ,n4 da ,c4 ,andrade to be electromagnetic radiation similar to ,x rays4 ,rutherford1 in collaboration with the ,english chemist ,frederick ,soddy1 brought order out of a chaos of puzzling discoveries by establishing the general behavior of radioactive atoms4 ,he determined that certain naturally occurring atoms of high atomic weight can spontaneously emit an alpha or a beta particle and thereby convert themselves into new atoms4 ,these new atoms1 being also radioactive1 sooner or later convert themselves into still different atoms1 and so on4 ,each time an alpha particle is emitted in this sequence1 the new atom is lighter by the weight of the alpha particle1 or helium atom4 ,the disintegration process proceeds from stage to stage until at last a stable atom is produced4 ,the end product in this 8decay0 process in naturally occurring radioactive elements is lead4 ,one experiment by ,rutherford and his co-workers had a most profound effect on the understanding of atomic structure4 ,what they did was to direct a stream of alpha particles at a thin piece of gold foil4 ,the results were astonishing4 ,almost all the particles passed straight through the foil without changing direction4 ,of the few particles that did ricochet in new directions1 however1 some were deflected at very sharp angles4 7,see ,figure #b47 ,illustration3 ,figure #b ,rutherford's most famous experiment1 which led him to the concept of the nucleus4 ,as a result of this experiment1 ,rutherford proposed a concept of the atom entirely different from the one which prevailed at this time4 ,the prevailing notion was one advanced by ,thomson which conceived of an atom as a blob of positive electric charge in which were imbedded1 in much the same way as plums are in a pudding1 enough electrons to neutralize the positive charge4 ,rutherford's concept1 which quickly set aside ,thomson's 8plum pudding0 model1 was that an atom has all of its positive charge and virtually all of its mass concentrated in a tiny space at its center4 7,collisions with this center1 which came to be known thereafter as the nucleus1 had been responsible for the sharp changes in direction of some of the alpha particles47 ,the space surrounding this nucleus is entirely empty except for the presence of a number of electrons 7#gi in the case of the gold atom71 each about the same size as the nucleus4 ,to illustrate ,rutherford's concept1 let us imagine a gold atom magnified so that it is as large as a bale of cotton4 ,the nucleus at the center of this large atom would be the size of a speck of black pepper4 ,if this imaginary bale weighed #ejj pounds1 the little speck at its center would weigh #dii pounds2 the surrounding cotton 7corresponding to empty space in ,rutherford's concept7 containing the #gi electrons would weigh but pound4 ,to express this idea another way1 any object such as a gold ring1 as dense and solid as it may seem to us1 consists almost entirely of nothing6 ,the ,proton ,is ,recognized ,rutherford's discovery aroused intense curiosity about the nature and possible structure of this extremely small1 but all-important1 part of an atom4 ,it was assumed that the positive charge carried by the nucleus must be a whole-number multiple of a small unit equal in size but opposite in sign to the charge of an electron4 ,this conclusion was based on the information that all atoms contain electrons and that an undisturbed atom is electrically neutral4 ,since it was known that a neutral atom of hydrogen contains just one electron1 it appeared that the charge on a hydrogen nucleus must represent the fundamental unit of positive charge1 some multiple of which would represent the charge on any other nucleus4 ,several lines of investigation combined to establish quite firmly that nuclei of atoms occupying adjacent positions on the periodic chart of the elements differed in charge by this fundamental unit4 ,since the hydrogen nucleus seemed to play such an important role in making up the charges of all other nuclei1 it was given the name proton from the ,greek 8protos10 which means 8first40 ,isotopes ,are ,discovered ,at a historic meeting of the ,british ,association for the ,advancement of ,science held in ,birmingham1 ,england1 in #aiac1 two apparently unrelated lines of investigation were reported1 each of which showed that some atomic nuclei have identical electric charges but different weights4 ,one report was presented by ,frederick ,soddy1 who had collaborated with ,rutherford in explaining the pattern of natural radioactivity4 ,soddy knew that the nucleus of a radioactive atom loses both weight and positive charge when it throws out an alpha particle 7helium nucleus74 ,on the other hand1 when a nucleus emits a beta particle 7negative electron71 its positive charge increases1 but its weight is practically unchanged4 ,thus ,soddy could deduce the weights and nuclear charges of many radioactive products4 ,in several cases the products of two different kinds of radioactivity had the same nuclear charge but different weights4 ,since it is the positive charge carried by the nucleus of an atom which fixes the number of negative electrons needed to complete the atom1 the nuclear charge is really responsible for the exterior appearance1 or chemical properties1 of the atom4 ,this conclusion was confirmed by unsuccessful efforts to separate by chemical means different radioactive products having the same nuclear charge but different weights4 ,the products might have had quite different rates of radioactive disintegration1 but they appeared to consist of chemically identical atoms of the same chemical element and hence to belong at the same place on the periodic chart of the elements4 ,soddy suggested that such atoms be called isotopes1 from a ,greek word meaning 8same place40 ,at the same meeting1 ,francis ,w4 ,aston1 an assistant of ,thomson1 described what happened when charged atoms1 or ions1 of neon gas were accelerated in a discharge tube similar to the cathode-ray tube in which ,thomson had discovered the electron4 ,the rapidly moving neon ions were deflected by a magnet4 ,since light objects are more easily deflected than heavy objects1 the amount of deflection indicated the weight4 ,by making a comparison with a familiar gas like oxygen1 ,thomson and ,aston were actually able to measure the atomic weight of neon4 ,to their surprise they found two kinds of neon4 ,about nine-tenths of the neon atoms had an atomic weight of #bj1 and the remainder an atomic weight of #bb4 ,what ,thomson and ,aston had done was to show that the stable element neon is a mixture of two isotopes4 ,a device that can do what their apparatus did is called a mass spectrograph4 7,see ,figure #c47 ,since their time1 instruments of this type have shown that more than three-fourths of the stable chemical elements are mixtures of two or more stable isotopes2 in fact1 there are about #cjj such isotopes in all4 ,the number of known unstable radioactive isotopes 7radioisotopes71 natural or man-made1 is greater than #ajjj and is still growing6 ,illustration3 ,figure #c ,mass spectrograph as used by ,thomson and ,aston to measure the atomic weight of neon4 ,,neon #bj ,,neon #bb ,the ,alchemists' ,dream ,comes ,true ,during the ,middle ,ages the desire to find a way to convert a base metal like lead into gold was the outstanding incentive for research in chemistry4 ,when the important role of the nucleus in determining the chemical properties of an atom became clear and the natural transmutation accompanying radioactivity was understood1 the fascinating idea occurred to many people that perhaps man would soon be able to alter the nucleus of a stable atom and thus deliberately convert one element into another4 ,in a historic lecture delivered in ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 in ,april #aiad1 ,rutherford said1 8,it is possible that the nucleus of an atom may be altered by direct collision of the nucleus with very swift electrons or atoms of helium 7i4e41 beta or alpha particles7 such as are ejected from radioactive matter4444 ,under favorable conditions1 these particles must pass very close to the nucleus and may either lead to a disruption of the nucleus or to a combination with it40 ,illustration3 ,medieval ,alchemist ,courtesy ,fisher ,scientific ,company ,world ,war ,i began shortly after ,rutherford made this statement1 and preoccupation with war work stopped his experiments with nuclei4 ,in #aiai1 however1 he published a paper describing what happens when alpha particles pass through nitrogen gas4 ,very fast protons1 or hydrogen nuclei1 appear to originate along the paths of the alpha particles4 ,the following is from ,rutherford's paper3 8,if this be the case1 we must conclude that the nitrogen atom is disintegrated under the intense forces developed in a close collision with a swift alpha particle1 and that the hydrogen atom which is liberated formed a constituent part of the nitrogen nucleus4444 ,the results as a whole suggest that1 if alpha particles or similar projectiles of still greater energy were available for experiment1 we might expect to break down the nuclear structure of many of the lighter atoms40 ,this prediction has certainly been verified through the use of the atomic artillery provided by extremely powerful particle accelerators1 or 8atom smashers40#a ,illustration3 ,the ,bevatron accelerator at the ,university of ,california's ,lawrence ,radiation ,laboratory1 ,berkeley1 ,california1 shown after recent remodeling in which it was enclosed in concrete shielding4 ,courtesy ,lawrence ,radiation ,laboratory ,patrick ,blackett in ,england and ,w4 ,d4 ,harkins in the ,united ,states soon proved independently that1 during the nuclear event reported by ,rutherford in his #aiai paper1 an alpha particle combines with a nitrogen nucleus and that the resulting unstable combination immediately emits a proton and ends up as one of the isotopes of oxygen4 ,this was the first instance of deliberate transmutation of one stable chemical element into another4 ,since that time practically every known element has been transmuted by bombardment4 ,the dream of the alchemists has been partially fulfilled in that mercury has been changed into gold4 ,we say 8partially fulfilled0 because the process is much too expensive to be economically profitable4 ,some ,particles ,have ,no ,electric ,charge ,during the early #aibjs a number of investigators1 including ,harkins in the ,united ,states1 ,orme ,masson in ,australia1 and ,rutherford and his assistant ,james ,chadwick in ,england1 seriously considered the possibility that a neutral particle might exist in nature1 possibly formed by the very close association of a proton and an electron4 ,however1 strenuous efforts to produce such particles by combining protons and electrons were unsuccessful4 ,during these years the new technique of bombarding all kinds of matter with alpha particles to see what would happen was widely exploited1 and it gradually became clear that in a few instances a peculiar and highly penetrating kind of radiation was produced4 ,in #aicb1 ,chadwick succeeded in showing that the peculiar radiation must consist of a stream of particles1 each weighing about the same as a proton but having no electrical charge4 ,the name 8neutron0 for a possible neutral particle of this type was suggested by ,harkins in the ,united ,states in #aiba4 ,much evidence now exists that the neutron is a fundamental particle in its own right and that it should not be thought of merely as a particle formed by a very close association between a proton and an electron4 ,the new particle discovered by ,chadwick was destined to play a totally unexpected role1 not only in the history of atomic science but also in the fate of nations4 ,it immediately outmoded a previous concept of the nucleus that pictured it as a cluster of protons approximately half of which were neutralized by electrons crowded into the nucleus4 ,a nucleus is now thought of as containing just protons and neutrons4 ,the neutron was also greeted by nuclear workers as a practically perfect kind of bullet4 ,unlike charged alpha particles1 uncharged neutrons can approach a charged nucleus completely unopposed4 ,it is physically impossible for any kind of container to hold a swarm of free neutrons2 they seep right through its walls4 ,matter ,is ,energy2 ,energy ,is ,matter ,so far1 in the story about man's curiosity concerning the fundamental nature and structure of matter1 the development of ideas about structure has been emphasized4 ,we will now take a brief look at a development which strongly influenced our ideas about the fundamental nature of matter4 ,in #ahhg reports appeared on a famous study1 often referred to as the ,michelson-,morley experiment1 which was aimed at determining the earth's speed through absolute space4 ,the entirely unexpected results of the experiment had a great impact on the concepts of space and time4 ,we will here concern ourselves with just one outcome of the experiment4 ,in #aije1 a young ,german-born physics student named ,albert ,einstein1 who was working as a patent examiner in ,switzerland1 published three papers1 each of which had a profound effect on a different field of physics4 ,one of the papers dealt with some peculiar speculations about space and time which began to interest him when he was studying the ,michelson-,morley experiment4 ,the contents of the paper are now referred to as the ,special ,theory of ,relativity4 ,this paper contains several predictions that seemed incredible to the average physicist of that day4 ,these predictions have1 however1 long since been proved valid4 ,illustration3 ,albert ,einstein in #aije4 ,courtesy ,lotte ,jacobi1 ,hillsboro1 ,new ,hampshire ,one of ,einstein's predictions had to do with the equivalence of matter and energy4 ,until #aije matter had been considered as something that has mass or inertia2 energy1 on the other hand1 had been regarded as the ability to do work4 ,it was believed that the two were as different from each other as1 say1 a square yard is different from an hour4 ,einstein's theory1 however1 implies that matter and energy are merely two different manifestations of the same fundamental physical reality1 and that each may be converted into the other according to the famous equation3 ,e ,,mc where ,e quantity of energy1 ,m quantity of matter1 and ,c speed of light in a vacuum4 ,nuclei ,contain ,energy ,one more piece of information must be fitted into the story of the atom before it becomes clear why some people began to realize during the #aibjs that atomic nuclei contain vast stores of energy that might some day revolutionize civilization4 ,this last item has to do with a nuclear phenomenon known as the packing fraction4 ,since any nucleus consists of a certain number of protons and neutrons1 it seems logical that the total weight of the nucleus could be determined by adding together the individual weights of the particles in it4 ,when mass spectrographs of sufficiently high accuracy became available1 however1 it was found that in the case of nuclear weights1 the whole was not equal to the sum of its parts6 ,all nuclei 7except hydrogen7 weigh less than the sum of the weights of the particles in them4 ,for example1 the atomic weight of a proton is #a4jjhab and that of a neutron is #a4jjhic4 7,these are relative weights based on an internationally accepted scale47 ,it would seem then that a nucleus of helium containing two protons and two neutrons should have an atomic weight of #b #a4jjhab plus #b #a4jjhic or #d4jcda4 ,actually the atomic weight of helium as measured by the mass spectrograph is only #d4jjci4 7,see ,figure #d47 ,illustration3 ,figure #d ,a case where the whole is not equal to the sum of its parts4 ,two protons and two neutrons are distinctly heavier than a helium nucleus1 which also consists of two protons and two neutrons4 ,energy makes up the difference4 ,,helium ,,nucleus ,,two ,,protons ,,and ,,two ,,neutrons ,what happens to the missing atomic weight of #j4jcjb8 ,physicists now realize that1 as postulated in ,einstein's formula1 it must be converted into energy6 ,the conversion occurs when the protons and neutrons are drawn together into a helium nucleus by the powerful nuclear forces between them4 ,when the missing atomic weight #j4jcjb is multiplied by the square of the velocity of light according to ,einstein's theory1 it is found to represent a tremendous amount of energy4 ,indeed1 the energy released in forming a helium nucleus from two protons and two neutrons turns out to be seven million times that released when a carbon atom combines with an oxygen molecule to produce a molecule of carbon dioxide in the familiar process of combustion4 ,the general behavior of such losses in atomic weight for atoms throughout the periodic table had been determined as early as #aibg1 largely through the work of ,aston1 the ,english scientist who developed the first mass spectrograph4 ,his results show that1 in general1 if two light nuclei combine to form a heavier one1 the new nucleus does not weigh as much as the sum of the original ones4 ,this behavior continues up to the level of the so-called 8transition metals0--iron1 nickel1 and cobalt--in the periodic table4 ,but if two nuclei heavier than iron are coalesced into a single very heavy nucleus found near the end of the periodic table 7such as uranium71 the new nucleus weighs more than the sum of the two nuclei that formed it4 ,thus1 if a very heavy nucleus could be divided into parts1 energy would be released1 and the sum of the weights of the fragments would be less than that of the original nucleus4 ,in these two types of nuclear reactions1 a small amount of matter would actually vanish6 ,einstein's ,special ,theory of ,relativity states that the vanished matter would reappear as an enormous quantity of energy4 ,during the late #aibjs scientists began saying that a small amount of matter could supply enough energy to drive a large ship across the ocean4 ,as we know1 this prediction has since been borne out by the performance of nuclear submarines and surface vessels4 ,illustration3 ,the ,,ns ,savannah was the first cargo-passenger ship to be driven by nuclear power4 ,courtesy ,states ,marine ,lines ,illustration3 ,the ,nautilus was the ,navy's first atomic-powered submarine4 ,courtesy ,u4 ,s4 ,navy ,,chronology #ahjj ,dalton firmly establishes atomic theory of matter4 #ahij-aijj ,thomson's experiments with cathode rays prove the existence of electrons4 ,atoms are found to contain negative electrons and positive electric charge4 ,becquerel discovers unstable 7radioactive7 atoms4 #aije ,einstein postulates the equivalence of mass and energy4 #aiaa ,rutherford recognizes nucleus4 #aiai ,rutherford achieves transmutation of one stable chemical element 7nitrogen7 into another 7oxygen74 #aibj-aibe ,improved mass spectrographs show that changes in mass per nuclear particle accompanying transmutation account for energy released by nucleus4 #aicb ,chadwick identifies neutrons4 #aici ,discovery of uranium fission by ,german scientists4 #aidj ,discovery of neptunium by ,edwin ,m4 ,mc,millan and ,philip ,h4 ,abelson and of plutonium by ,glenn ,t4 ,seaborg and associates at the ,university of ,california4 #aidb ,achievement of first self-sustaining nuclear reaction1 ,university of ,chicago4 #aide ,first successful test of an atomic device1 near ,alamagordo1 ,new ,mexico1 followed by the dropping of atomic bombs on ,hiroshima and ,nagasaki1 ,japan4 #aidf ,u4 ,s4 ,atomic ,energy ,commission established by ,act of ,congress4 ,first shipment of radioisotopes from ,oak ,ridge goes to hospital in ,st4 ,louis1 ,missouri4 #aiea ,first significant amount of electricity 7#ajj kilowatts7 produced from atomic energy at testing station in ,idaho4 #aieb ,first detonation of a thermonuclear bomb1 ,eniwetok ,atoll1 ,pacific ,ocean4 #aiec ,president ,eisenhower announces ,u4 ,s4 ,atoms-for-,peace program and proposes establishment of an international atomic energy agency4 #aied ,first nuclear-powered submarine1 ,nautilus1 commissioned4 #aiee ,first ,united ,nations ,international ,conference on ,peaceful ,uses of ,atomic ,energy held in ,geneva1 ,switzerland4 #aieg ,first commercial use of power from a civilian reactor takes place in ,california4 ,shippingport ,atomic ,power ,plant in ,pennsylvania reaches full power of #fj1jjj kilowatts4 ,international ,atomic ,energy ,agency formally established4 #aiei ,first nuclear-powered merchant ship1 the ,savannah1 launched at ,camden1 ,new ,jersey4 ,commissioning of first nuclear-powered ,polaris missile-launching submarine ,george ,washington4 #aifa ,a radioisotope-powered electric power generator placed in orbit1 the first use of nuclear power in space4 #aifb ,nuclear power plant in the ,antarctic becomes operational4 #aifc ,president ,kennedy ratified the ,limited ,test ,ban ,treaty for the ,united ,states on ,october #g4 #aifd ,president ,johnson signed law permitting private ownership of certain nuclear materials4 ,fission is ,explained ,illustration3 ,enrico ,fermi #aija-aied ,courtesy ,chemical and ,engineering ,news ,physicists welcomed the neutron as a bullet that could strike any nucleus1 unopposed by electric repulsion4 ,during the middle #aicjs1 a number of investigators1 chief among them the ,italian physicist ,enrico ,fermi1 exposed many different isotopes of the chemical elements to beams of neutrons to see what would happen4 ,what usually happened was that the bombarded nuclei would absorb neutrons1 emit alpha1 beta1 or gamma rays1 and change into different isotopes4 ,the identification of the extremely small quantities of isotopes produced required the development of a fantastic new branch of chemistry known as radiochemistry1 or1 as one chemist put it1 8phantom chemistry40 ,in some cases the absorption of a neutron by a nucleus was followed by the emission of a negative electron 7beta particle74 ,this produced an atom whose nuclear positive charge had been increased by one unit and which therefore belonged at the next higher place on the periodic table4 ,fermi and others then considered the fascinating possibility of doing the same thing to uranium1 the last-known element on the periodic table1 to create previously unknown chemical elements4 ,the results of bombarding uranium with neutrons turned out to be extremely complex1 but it eventually became clear that 8transuranic0 elements 7those heavier than uranium7 could actually be made in this way4#b ,some of the complex results of bombarding uranium with neutrons formed an intriguing puzzle that kept various investigators busy for several years4 ,in #aici the ,german chemists ,otto ,hahn and ,fritz ,strassmann and the physicists ,lise ,meitner and ,otto ,frisch were able to announce a solution4 ,the absorption of a neutron by a certain uranium nucleus 7later shown to be that of the relatively rare isotope uranium-#bce7 can result in a splitting1 or fission1 of the nucleus into two parts with separate weights that place them somewhere near the middle of the periodic table4 ,illustration3 ,lise ,meitner and ,otto ,hahn in their laboratory in the #aicjs4 ,courtesy ,addison-,wesley ,publishing ,co4 ,the announcement of this discovery created quite a stir among physicists because a nuclear process of this nature must release a very large amount of energy4 ,illustration3 ,scale model of the ,,cp-#a 7,chicago ,pile ,no4 #a7 used by ,enrico ,fermi and his associates on ,december #b1 #aidb1 to achieve the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction4 ,alternate layers of graphite1 containing uranium metal and_/or uranium oxide1 were separated by layers of solid graphite blocks4 ,graphite was used to slow down neutrons to increase the likelihood of fissions4 ,the excitement among physicists became even greater when it was realized that this newly discovered process of fission was accompanied by the release of several free neutrons from the splitting nucleus4 ,each new neutron could1 if properly slowed down by a moderating material1 cause another nucleus to split and release more energy and still more neutrons1 and so on1 as illustrated in ,figure #e4 7,a moderator is necessary because fast1 newly released neutrons are too readily absorbed by uranium-#bch nuclei1 which rarely split47 ,apparently all that was needed to achieve this spectacular kind of a chain reaction was to assemble enough uranium in one place so that the released neutrons would have a good chance of finding another ,u nucleus before escaping from the pile4 ,the amount of fissionable material required to sustain a chain reaction is termed the 8critical mass40 ,a team of scientists led by ,fermi achieved the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction on ,december #b1 #aidb1 under the grandstand at the ,university of ,chicago's athletic field4 ,this date is often referred to as the beginning of the ,nuclear ,age4 ,illustration3 ,figure #e ,this diagram shows what happens in a chain reaction resulting from fission of uranium-#bce atoms4 ,,stray ,,neutron ,u ,,original ,,fission ,,fission ,,fragments ,one to three neutrons from fission process ,a ,,neutron ,,sometimes ,,lost ,u ,,changes ,,to ,,plutonium ,u ,,one ,,new ,,fission ,,fission ,,fragment ,one to three neutrons again ,u ,u ,,two ,,new ,,fissions ,,fission ,,fragments ,the ,fission ,bomb ,is ,exploded ,the ,american scientists present on that historic ,december day were part of the tremendous super-secret scientific and industrial complex that bore the unrevealing title ,manhattan ,district4 ,the ,united ,states had been at war almost a year4 ,an uncontrolled fission reaction gave promise of producing an explosion of untold proportions4 ,this promise1 coupled with the possibility that enemy scientists might be nearing such a goal1 had launched a vast ,allied effort4 ,the ,manhattan ,project1 as it was commonly known1 included a variety of 8hush-hush0 facilities4 ,each of these installations1 in ,new ,york1 ,illinois1 ,tennessee1 ,new ,mexico1 ,california1 and ,washington1 had its own experts working night and day to solve the baffling problems surrounding development of a fission weapon4 ,ordinary uranium as found in nature was not suitable for an atomic bomb because less than one percent of the atoms in it are fissionable isotope ,u4#c ,it therefore became necessary to find some means for separating the rare ,u from the large quantity of ,u4 ,chemistry could not do it since the two isotopes are identical chemically4 ,several methods of achieving large-scale separation were tried4 ,the most successful and economical1 known as 8gaseous diffusion10 involves compressing normal uranium1 in the form of uranium hexafluoride gas1 against a porous barrier containing millions of holes1 each smaller than two-millionths of an inch4 ,since the ,u molecules are slightly lighter than the ,u1 they bounce against the barrier more frequently and have a greater chance of penetrating4 ,thus1 although the gas at first contains only #j4g ,u1 the process of compression is repeated several thousand times1 and the proportion gradually increases until the necessary concentration is reached4 ,for this operation an enormous plant containing a very large barrier area1 miles of piping1 and countless pumps was built at ,oak ,ridge1 ,tennessee4 ,at the same time that vast efforts were being made to produce a ,u bomb1 another project of equal importance was being pursued to develop a different kind of fission bomb4 ,uncertainty as to whether it would be possible to separate usable amounts of ,u led to a decision to exploit a highly significant discovery about one of the transuranic elements4 ,by #aida ,glenn ,t4 ,seaborg1 ,edwin ,m4 ,mc,millan1 ,philip ,h4 ,abelson1 and others at the ,radiation ,laboratory1 ,berkeley1 ,california1 had identified isotopes of two new transuranic elements developed when they bombarded ,u nuclei with neutrons4 ,the new elements were named neptunium and plutonium after the planets ,neptune and ,pluto1 which lie beyond ,uranus in the solar system4#d ,one isotope of plutonium1 plutonium-#bci1 which resulted from the absorption of a neutron by a ,u nucleus and the emission of two beta particles1 was discovered to be as fissionable as ,u and hence theoretically just as feasible for a bomb4 ,since plutonium is chemically different from uranium1 it offered the tremendous advantage that it could readily be concentrated by conventional chemical techniques4 ,the way to manufacture usable amounts of plutonium1 an element that had never before been detected on earth1 is to expose uranium to a very intense neutron bombardment4 ,the best-known place to find a rich supply of neutrons was the heart of a self-sustaining chain-reacting pile of uranium4 ,accordingly1 very large piles1 or reactors1 were rushed to completion near the ,columbia ,river at ,hanford1 ,washington1 to make plutonium4 ,illustration3 ,first atomic bomb explosion at ,alamagordo1 ,new ,mexico1 at #e3cj a4m4 on ,july #af1 #aide4 ,courtesy ,u4 ,s4 ,army ,on ,july #af1 #aide1 a plutonium bomb1 carefully assembled by another group of scientists at 8,project ,y10 ,los ,alamos1 ,new ,mexico1 was successfully tested in the ,new ,mexico desert4 ,the heat from that first man-made nuclear explosion completely vaporized a tall steel tower and melted several acres of surrounding surface sand4 ,the flash of light was the brightest the earth had ever witnessed4 ,a ,u bomb was dropped on ,hiroshima1 ,japan1 on ,august #f1 #aide4 ,three days later a plutonium bomb was dropped on ,nagasaki1 ,japan4 ,hostilities ended on ,august #ad1 #aide4 ,nuclear ,energy ,is ,needed for the ,future ,the chief source of the enormous quantities of energy used daily by modern civilization is fossil fuels in the form of coal1 petroleum1 and natural gas4 ,concentrated sources of these fuels1 though large1 are far from inexhaustible1 and it has been said that future historians may refer to the brief time when they were used as 8the fossil-fuel incident40 ,illustration3 ,these lights of downtown ,pittsburgh are symbolic of the generation of electricity by atomic power from ,shippingport1 ,pennsylvania1 the site of the world's first full-scale atomic-electric generation station exclusively for civilian needs4 ,homes and factories of the greater ,pittsburgh area are receiving the electricity produced at the plant and transmitted through the ,duquesne ,light ,company system4 ,the ,shippingport plant is a joint project of ,westinghouse ,electric ,corporation1 ,u4 ,s4 ,atomic ,energy ,commission1 and the ,duquesne ,light ,company4 ,courtesy ,westinghouse ,electric ,corporation ,the next great source of energy will probably be nuclear reactors1 in which controlled chain reactions release energy from the large store of fissionable materials in the world4#e ,the accomplishments of nuclear power in the propulsion of ships have already been noted4 ,in addition1 there is now going on in industrialized countries in different parts of the world a large-scale development of nuclear power plants for production of electricity4 ,nuclear electric power is approaching the point where it will be economically competitive with power from hydroelectric plants or those burning coal1 oil1 or gas as fuels4 ,improvements in nuclear power technology are rapidly being made1 and it is now widely predicted that before the end of this century most new electric power plants will be nuclear4 ,fusion ,has ,potential ,one of the greatest puzzles to be solved by physicists arose from the work of geologists4 ,when it became clear that coal and other fossil remains of living things date from many hundreds of millions of years ago1 it was obvious that the earth's sun had been shining at a quite steady rate for an extremely long time4 ,how does it manage to do it8 ,what is its source of energy8 ,chemical energy supplied by combustion and gravitational potential energy supplied by contraction are thousands of times too small to have kept the sun going for such a long time4 ,the principle illustrated by ,figure #d suggests the most probable source of energy for the sun and all the other stars as well4 ,it is known that the sun consists chiefly of hydrogen and that it has a temperature of about #dj1jjj1jjj degrees ,fahrenheit near its center4 ,several kinds of nuclear reactions produced in atom smashers have demonstrated that hydrogen nuclei1 if energized by being heated to a very high temperature1 can actually combine1 or fuse1 to form helium nuclei4 ,the accompanying loss of weight per particle indicated by ,figure #d must result in the appearance of sufficient energy to balance ,einstein's famous equation4 ,in fact1 calculations by the ,german-born ,american physicist ,hans ,a4 ,bethe and others show that1 based on reasonable estimates of the conditions within the sun1 familiar nuclear reactions account for its energy4 ,the calculations predict1 furthermore1 that the sun can continue to operate at its present level for many billions of years4 ,illustration3 ,large loop prominences on the sun1 caused by a locally intense magnetic field4 ,project ,sherwood1 the ,u4 ,s4 program in controlled fusion1 is devoted to research on fusion reactions similar to those from which the sun derives its energy4 ,courtesy ,sacramento ,peak ,observatory1 ,,afcrl ,since fusion of light nuclei is produced by extremely high temperatures1 fusion events are called thermonuclear reactions4 ,the possibility of bringing about thermonuclear reactions on earth to serve as a source of energy has naturally attracted much attention4 ,in spite of the fact that fusion of ordinary hydrogen atoms 7each of which has one proton as its nucleus7 supports the activity of the sun1 this particular reaction seems to occur much too slowly to be usable on earth4 ,other isotopes of hydrogen1 called deuterium and tritium1 however1 which contain one and two neutrons in their nuclei1 respectively1 fuse much more rapidly and seem to be potential earthly sources of controlled thermonuclear energy4 ,illustration3 ,an early phase of a nuclear detonation at ,eniwetok ,atoll during the #aiea tests4 ,courtesy ,joint ,task ,force ,three ,the first large-scale application of thermonuclear energy was the so-called hydrogen bomb1 or 8,h-bomb40 ,for a brief time an exploding fission bomb develops a temperature of hundreds of millions of degrees ,fahrenheit1 hot enough to cause some light nuclei to fuse4 ,in the hydrogen bomb1 light nuclei of deuterium and_/or tritium are exposed to this temperature during such a fission explosion4 ,the resulting fusion of these nuclei causes the explosion to be hundreds of times more powerful than that of the fission device alone4 ,in #aieb the ,atomic ,energy ,commission test-fired such a thermonuclear device at ,eniwetok ,atoll in the ,pacific ,ocean4 ,the energy released by the highly efficient device produced an explosion that completely destroyed the coral islet where it was detonated4 ,at such extreme temperatures all atoms are stripped of electrons2 the resulting mixture of nuclei and free electrons is called a plasma4 ,several laboratories are now working on the problems connected with creating and containing plasma4 ,ordinary solid containers cannot be used4 ,on contact with plasma they would instantly vaporize and would cool the plasma below the temperature necessary for fusion to occur4 ,fortunately1 however1 the particles that make up a plasma1 being charged electrically1 respond to forces in a magnetic field4 ,a strong magnetic field of proper shape exerts a large confining pressure on a body of plasma in a high-vacuum chamber4 ,thus plasma can be contained in a small volume well removed from the walls of the chamber by surrounding the chamber with suitably designed large magnets or solenoids to create a 8magnetic bottle40 ,in addition1 a sudden increase in the intensity of the field can compress the plasma2 this compression raises the temperature of the plasma to near that required for fusion4 ,illustration3 ,this plasma is being pushed outward by an internal magnetic field as instabilities grow on its internal surface4 ,the photo was taken by means of fast-shutter photography permitting photo sequences at intervals of #c to #e millionths of a second4 ,courtesy ,general ,atomic ,division1 ,general ,dynamics ,corporation ,fusion of light nuclei would be a much 8cleaner0 source of energy for peaceful purposes than fission of heavy ones1 because the 8ashes0 of fission reactions are radioactive while those of fusion 7helium atoms7 are not4 ,great technical difficulties must be overcome1 however1 before a controlled thermonuclear reaction is possible4 ,fusionable material must be heated to a temperature of over #ajj million degrees ,fahrenheit and must be contained long enough for an appreciable amount of fusion to occur4 ,the greatest problem encountered to date is the extreme instability of the plasma and the corresponding difficulty of maintaining it at the proper temperature longer than a few millionths of a second4 ,many physicists now think that the successful exploitation of thermonuclear energy will not occur for many years4 ,when and if it is achieved1 however1 the deuterium present in the oceans of the earth will represent an almost inexhaustible source of energy4 ,isotopes ,have ,many ,uses ,the ability to produce and control nuclear reactions is affecting1 and will doubtless continue to affect1 human life in two outstanding ways4 ,one way is by making tremendous amounts of energy available1 either as explosions or as energy released from controlled reactions for peacetime use4 ,the other way is by producing a vast variety of radioactive isotopes1 first in the particle accelerators 78atom smashers07 mentioned earlier1 and now in large quantities in nuclear reactors4 ,the presence of a radioactive isotope can be detected by instruments like the familiar ,geiger counter2 for this reason isotopes make wonderful tracers4 ,these telltale atoms1 which1 in effect1 continually cry 8,here ,i am10 can trace the course of a chemical element through any kind of chemical reaction4 ,chemists are taking advantage of this new way of tagging atoms to study reaction patterns that1 heretofore1 have been obscure4 ,as a consequence1 a scientist's ability to synthesize scarce chemicals is being increased4 ,the exact role of numerous essential trace elements in the growth and metabolism of living things1 including people1 is being studied by the use of tagged atoms4 ,radioisotopes at ,work ,illustration3 ,,in ,,medicine3 ,iodine-#aca reveals spread of thyroid cancer in patient's body4 ,illustration3 ,,in ,,space3 ,plutonium-#bch is the fuel for the atomic generator powering this ,,transit satellite4 ,courtesy ,the ,martin ,company ,illustration3 ,,in ,,food ,,preservation3 ,potatoes stored for #ah months at #dg;,f4 ,potato at right had been irradiated1 that on left had not4 ,illustration3 ,,in ,,industry3 ,radioactive iridium was used to inspect the hull of the carrier ,independence4 ,courtesy ,technical ,operations1 ,inc4 ,as sources of radiation1 radioactive isotopes are frequently replacing more expensive and less convenient sources such as radium and ,x-ray machines4 ,the medical treatment of diseased tissue has been greatly expedited by the new sources4 ,in industry many applications of radiation sources have been made4 ,they are used1 for example1 in thickness gauging and in making radiographs to check the quality of large castings4 ,the sterilization and preservation of food is another promising use for inexpensive radioactive sources4 ,as a controllable means for inducing genetic mutations1 radioactive isotopes are speeding up the process of selecting and developing superior agricultural products4 ,practically every agricultural research center in the world has one or more projects under way which involve the use of isotopes4 ,small devices have also been constructed which produce electricity from heat generated by decay of radioisotopes4 ,such devices have been used to power instruments in a remotely located unmanned weather station1 a navigational buoy1 a lighthouse1 an underwater navigational beacon1 and space satellites4 ,many additional uses are foreseen for these isotopic power generators4 ,the ,atomic ,energy ,commission ,following the end of ,world ,war ,,ii a vigorous controversy developed as to whether atomic energy development in the ,united ,states should continue under military control or be transferred to civilian control4 ,the proponents of civilian control won out1 and a civilian ,atomic ,energy ,commission was established by the ,atomic ,energy ,act of #aidf4 ,under this ,act1 which was amended in #aied1 the ,,aec manufactures nuclear weapons for the armed services2 produces fissionable materials for both military and civilian purposes2 fosters research and development in the basic sciences underlying atomic energy and in applications such as power production and uses of radioisotopes2 regulates the activities of private organizations using atomic energy2 and distributes information about atomic energy4 7,this booklet is a small example2 most of the information distributed is much more detailed and technical47 ,illustration3 ,president ,truman signs the bill creating the ,u4 ,s4 ,atomic ,energy ,commission on ,august #a1 #aidf4 ,behind the ,president1 left to right3 ,senators ,tom ,connally1 ,eugene ,d4 ,millikin1 ,edwin ,c4 ,johnson1 ,thomas ,c4 ,hart1 ,brien ,mc,mahon1 ,warren ,r4 ,austin1 and ,richard ,b4 ,russell4 ,courtesy ,united ,press ,international ,almost all of the ,,aec's materials production and research and development activities are carried out under contract by other organizations4 ,american industry1 universities1 and research organizations also are engaged in widespread atomic energy activities of their own1 subject only to such government regulations as are needed to protect national security and public health and safety4 ,for example1 the largest atomic electric power plants now in operation in this country are privately owned1 as are numerous small atomic reactors used for research4 ,at the end of #aifb some #gjjj firms1 institutions or individuals in the ,united ,states held federal or state licenses giving them permission to use radioisotopes4 ,the number of persons employed in atomic energy work in the ,united ,states is estimated to be about #adj1jjj1 of which only #hjjj work for the ,federal ,government4 ,toward an ,international ,atom ,in ,december #aiec1 ,president ,eisenhower1 in a memorable address to the ,general ,assembly of the ,united ,nations1 proposed the establishment under the aegis of the ,united ,nations of an ,international ,atomic ,energy ,agency 8to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind40 ,this proposal captured the imagination of people everywhere1 and negotiations soon began as to the purpose1 structure1 scope1 and program of such an organization4 ,in ,october #aief an #ha-nation ,united ,nations conference unanimously adopted a statute for the agency1 which came into existence a year later with headquarters in ,vienna1 ,austria4 ,by the end of #aifb the ,,iaea had #gh member countries4 ,its most important work has been assisting some of the less developed nations of the world to begin programs for peaceful use of atomic energy4 ,illustration3 ,on ,december #h1 #aiec1 ,president ,dwight ,d4 ,eisenhower proposed before the ,united ,nations ,general ,assembly that an ,international ,atomic ,energy ,agency be established through which all nations could share knowledge and materials to develop the peaceful uses of atomic energy for the benefit of all mankind4 ,seated on the presidential platform are1 left to right1 ,mr4 ,dag ,hammarskjld1 ,secretary-,general of the ,u4 ,n41 ,madame ,vijaya ,lakshmi ,pandit of ,india1 ,president of the ,general ,assembly1 and ,mr4 ,andrew ,cordier1 ,executive ,assistant to the ,secretary-,general4 ,courtesy ,united ,nations ,illustration3 ,this #aej1jjj-kilowatt1 dual-cycle1 boiling-water reactor1 located #ce miles north of ,naples1 ,italy1 on the ,garigliano ,river1 was built by ,general ,electric under the ,united ,states-,euratom ,joint ,program4 ,it achieved criticality on ,june #e1 #aifc4 ,even before the international agency became an accomplished fact1 the ,united ,states sought on its own to implement the spirit of ,president ,eisenhower's proposal4 ,it initiated in #aiee an ,atoms-for-,peace ,program under which the ,united ,states has made bilateral agreements with some #dj nations for the sharing of information on peaceful uses of atomic energy and under which the ,united ,states has helped other nations to acquire nuclear reactors and materials for peaceful use4 ,mention should also be made of the ,international ,conferences on ,peaceful ,uses of ,atomic ,energy which the ,united ,nations held in ,geneva1 ,switzerland1 in #aiee1 #aieh1 and #aifd4 ,the #aiee conference was particularly noteworthy in that it marked the first time that scientists had met on a worldwide basis to discuss atomic energy4 ,at and following this meeting much information previously kept secret was made public4 ,suggested ,references ,books ,atomic ,energy1 ,irene ,d4 ,jaworski and ,alexander ,joseph1 ,harcourt1 ,brace and ,world1 ,inc41 ,new ,york #ajjag1 #aifa1 #bah pp41 #d4ie4 ,atompower1 ,joseph ,m4 ,dukert1 ,coward-,mc,cann1 ,inc41 ,new ,york #ajjaf1 #aifb1 #abg pp41 #c4ej4 ,atoms ,today and ,tomorrow 7revised edition71 ,margaret ,o4 ,hyde1 ,mc,graw-,hill ,book ,company1 ,new ,york #ajjcf1 #aiff1 #afj pp41 #c4be4 ,basic ,laws of ,matter 7revised edition71 ,harrie ,s4 ,w4 ,massey and ,arthur ,r4 ,quinton1 ,herald ,books1 ,bronxville1 ,new ,york #ajgaj1 #aife1 #agh pp41 #c4ge4 ,building ,blocks of the ,universe 7revised edition71 ,isaac ,asimov1 ,abelard-,schuman1 ,ltd41 ,new ,york #ajjai1 #aifa1 #chj pp41 #c4ej 7hardback72 #b4gj 7paperback7 from ,e4 ,m4 ,hale and ,company1 ,eau ,claire1 ,wisconsin #edgja4 ,elements of the ,universe1 ,glenn ,t4 ,seaborg and ,evans ,g4 ,valens1 ,e4 ,p4 ,dutton and ,company1 ,inc41 ,new ,york #ajjjc1 #aieh1 #bec pp41 #d4ie 7hardback72 #b4ae 7paperback74 ,inside the ,atom 7revised edition71 ,isaac ,asimov1 ,abelard-,schuman1 ,ltd41 ,new ,york #ajjai1 #aiff1 #aig pp41 #d4jj4 ,introducing the ,atom1 ,roslyn ,leeds1 ,harper and ,row1 ,publishers1 ,new ,york #ajjaf1 #aifg1 #bbd pp41 #c4ie4 ,peacetime ,uses of ,atomic ,energy 7revised edition71 ,martin ,mann1 ,the ,viking ,press1 ,new ,york #ajjbb1 #aifa1 #aia pp41 #e4jj 7hardback72 #a4fe 7paperback74 ,the ,useful ,atom1 ,william ,r4 ,anderson and ,vernon ,pizer1 ,the ,world ,publishing ,company1 ,cleveland1 ,ohio #ddajb1 #aiff1 #ahe pp41 #e4ge4 ,secret of the ,mysterious ,rays3 ,the ,discovery of ,nuclear ,energy1 ,vivian ,grey1 ,basic ,books1 ,inc41 ,publishers1 ,new ,york #ajjaf1 #aiff1 #abj pp41 #c4ie4 ,the ,heart of the ,atom3 ,the ,structure of the ,atomic ,nucleus1 ,bernard ,l4 ,cohen1 ,doubleday and ,company1 ,inc41 ,new ,york #ajjag1 #aifg1 #abj pp41 #c4ie 7hardback72 #a4be 7paperback74 ,the ,questioners3 ,physicists and the ,quantum ,theory1 ,barbara ,l4 ,cline1 ,thomas ,y4 ,crowell ,company1 ,new ,york #ajjjc1 #aife1 #bgd pp41 #e4jj4 ,the ,atom and ,its ,nucleus1 ,george ,gamow1 ,prentice-,hall1 ,inc41 ,englewood ,cliffs1 ,new ,jersey #jgfcb1 #aifa1 #aec pp41 #a4ie4 ,the ,atomic ,energy ,deskbook1 ,john ,f4 ,hogerton1 ,reinhold ,publishing ,corporation1 ,new ,york #ajjbb1 #aifc1 #fgc pp41 #aa4jj4 ,atomic ,energy ,encyclopedia in the ,life ,sciences1 ,charles ,w4 ,shilling 7,ed471 ,w4 ,b4 ,saunders ,company1 ,philadelphia1 ,pennsylvania #aiaje1 #aifd1 #dgd pp41 #aj4ej4 ,atoms for ,peace 7revised edition71 ,david ,o4 ,woodbury1 ,dodd1 ,mead and ,company1 ,new ,york #ajjaf1 #aife1 #bge pp41 #d4ej4 ,manhattan ,project1 ,stephane ,groueff1 ,little1 ,brown and ,company1 ,boston1 ,massachusetts #jbajf1 #aifg1 #cgb pp41 #f4ie4 ,the ,new ,world1 #aici_/aidf1 ,volume #a--;,history of the ,united ,states ,atomic ,energy ,commission1 ,richard ,g4 ,hewlett and ,oscar ,e4 ,anderson1 ,jr41 ,the ,pennsylvania ,state ,university ,press1 ,university ,park1 ,pennsylvania #afhjb1 #aifb1 #gff pp41 #e4ej4 ,sourcebook on ,atomic ,energy 7third edition71 ,samuel ,glasstone1 ,d4 ,van ,nostrand ,company1 ,inc41 ,princeton1 ,new ,jersey #jhedj1 #aifg1 #hhc pp41 #i4be4 ,the ,world of the ,atom1 #b volumes1 ,henry ,a4 ,boorse and ,lloyd ,matz 7,eds471 ,basic ,books1 ,inc41 ,publishers1 ,new ,york #ajjaf1 #aiff1 #ahgc pp41 #ce4jj4 ,motion ,pictures ,available for loan without charge from the ,,aec ,headquarters ,film ,library1 ,division of ,public ,information1 ,u4 ,s4 ,atomic ,energy ,commission1 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 and from other ,,aec film libraries4 ,each of the following motion pictures explains atomic structure1 fission1 and the chain reaction4 ,additional contents are listed below with the film4 ,a ,is for ,atom1 #ae minutes1 sound1 color1 #aifd4 ,produced by the ,general ,electric ,company4 ,this film discusses natural and artificially produced elements1 stable and unstable atoms1 principles and applications of nuclear reactors1 and the benefits of atomic radiation to biology1 medicine1 industry1 and agriculture4 7,level3 elementary through high school47 ,atomic ,energy1 #aj minutes1 sound1 black and white1 #aiej4 ,produced by ,encyclopedia ,britannica ,films1 ,inc4 ,the film explains nuclear synthesis and shows how1 through photosynthesis1 the sun's energy is stored on earth and released through combustion4 7,level3 intermediate through high school47 ,controlling ,atomic ,energy1 #ac minutes1 sound1 color1 #aifa4 ,produced by ,united ,world ,films1 ,inc4 ,this film gives a summary explanation of the following3 radioactive atoms1 radioactivity measurement1 nuclear reactors1 and the production and application of radioisotopes in biology1 medicine1 industry1 agriculture1 and research4 7,level3 #eth through #hth grades47 ,introducing ,atoms and ,nuclear ,energy1 #aa minutes1 sound1 color1 #aifc4 ,produced by ,coronet ,instructional ,films4 ,this film discusses nuclear fusion in the sun and1 very briefly1 the uses of nuclear energy4 7,level3 #dth through #ith grades47 ,atomic ,physics1 #ij minutes1 sound1 black and white1 #aidh4 ,produced by the ,j4 ,arthur ,rank ,organisation1 ,inc4 ,this film discusses in detail the history and development of atomic energy with emphasis on nuclear physics4 ,dalton's basic atomic theory1 ,faraday's early electrolysis experiments1 and ,mendeleev's periodic table1 the investigation of cathode rays1 discovery of the electron1 how the nature of positive rays was established1 and the discovery of ,x rays are among the historical highlights4 ,explanation is presented of the work of the ,joliot-,curie's and ,chadwick in the discovery of the neutron1 and the splitting of the lithium atom by ,cockcroft and ,walton4 ,einstein tells how their work illustrates his theory of equivalence of mass and energy4 7,level3 high school47 ,unlocking the ,atom1 #bj minutes1 sound1 black and white1 #aiej4 ,produced by ,united ,world ,films1 ,inc4 ,this film explains the properties of alpha1 beta1 and gamma rays1 cyclotrons1 and the contributions of various scientists4 7,level3 junior and senior high school47 ,this 8,understanding the ,atom0 series of semi-technical lecture films is designed for inclusion in a high school senior-level chemistry or physics course1 or it could be used as an introductional unit in nuclear science at the college level4 ,the films all have sound and are in black and white4 ,alpha1 ,beta1 and ,gamma1 #dd minutes1 #aifb4 ,radiation and ,matter1 #dd minutes1 #aifb4 ,radiation ,detection by ,ionization1 #cj minutes1 #aifb4 ,radiation ,detection by ,scintillation1 #cj minutes1 #aifc4 ,properties of ,radiation1 #cj minutes1 #aifb4 ,nuclear ,reactions1 #bi minutes1 #aifc4 ,radiological ,safety1 #cj minutes1 #aifc4 ,,footnotes #a;,for more information about these devices1 see ,accelerators1 a companion booklet in this ,understanding the ,atom series4 #b;,for more information1 see ,synthetic ,transuranium ,elements1 another booklet in this series4 #c,the designation ,u is a new format1 now in international usage1 for the more familiar style1 ,u1 to designate isotopes4 #d;,for more about plutonium1 see ,plutonium1 a companion booklet in this series4 #e;,for more information on reactors1 see ,nuclear ,reactors1 another booklet in this series4 ,transcriber's ,notes --,silently corrected a few typos4 --,retained publication information from the printed edition3 this e,book is public-domain in the country of publication4 --,in the text versions only1 text in italics is delimited by underscores4