St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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The Phenomena of Radio-Active Substances Charles C. Mohun. SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT. HE dawn of the Twentieth Century will probably al- ways be considered a remarkable one in the history of scientific progress on account of the advances made in connection with thc phenomena of radiation. Not only has there been a great extension of knowledge with regard to those types of radiation, allied to light, which enter into every- day experience, and which have been the object of inquiry for centuries, but, in addition, entirely 'new kinds of rays have been discovered, and to account for them new conceptions have arisen, fresh fields of research have been opened up, and problems, before deemed insoluble, have been brought within the range of direct experimental attack. The previously existing foundations upon which the Vast fabric of modern science has been successfully raised are be- ing exchanged, without injury or alteration to the structure, for others one step deeper and more fundamental. The work of transition has been proceeding quietly and simultaneously from many sides, and in this respect the present century is inseparably connected with those preceeding, but until quite lately few, except those actually engaged in the Work, real- ised the magnitude of the results being obtained or the real consequences of the conclusions being arrived at. Most re- cently, however, the advent of radium, and the prominence given to the almost daily discoveries that followed, have drawn universal attention to the newly explored regions. The chemist 's atom is no longer the unit of the sub-division of matter, and the internal structure of the atom is now the object of experimental study.

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Golden Hair Eustace C-ullimm. Golden, caught from tints of morn. Gold in heaven's aleinbie fined, Marigold and poppy paled In her tresses intertwined. Sylph in form, in soul a prayer, This was witehing Golden Hair. In the meadows when she strayed, Zephyrs, with their soft caress, Bringing roses to her cheeks XVantoned in each glowing tress. Did she wander in the shade Haloes ilitted through the glade. Hearts were offered at her shrine, Hearts with youthful fires aglow. Whom she favored most of all, Human heart will never know. Each believed itself preferred, Doting on a glance or word. Better so. Beloved by all NVent she hence in beauty ls bloom Death himself but lightly breathed On earth's tribute to the tomb. 'Mid the clustering angels there Passed the soul of Golden Hair.

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RADIO-ACTIVE SUBSTANCES 23 The present day development of Radio-Activity arose out of a discovery in 1896 by M. Henri Becquerel, that certain kinds of matter have the property of emitting a. new and pe- culiar type of radiation continuously and spontaneously, and this class of bodies has been termed radio-active. This discovery was, however, directly connected with previous dis- coveries by Crookes, Lenard and Rontgcn of other new kinds of radiation. The discovery of this new property of self- radiance. or radio-activity, has proved to be the beginning of a new science, in the development of which physics and chemistry have worked together in harmony. The pioneer in the chemical development of the subject was Madame Curie, who, by the discovery of radium, extended our knowledge of the new property out of the region of the infinitely small effects in which it had its beginning, and demonstrated it on a scale that could neither be explained nor explained away. On the physical side, the brilliant and elaborate researches of Professor Rutherford, at first mainly with thorium-an element which, like uranium, is so feebly active that it had been studied for a century before its radio-activity was dis- covered-paved the way for a complete and general theory of the cause and nature of the new property. According to this theory the elements exhibiting radio- activity are in the process of evolution into lighter and more stable forms, and the radiations spontaneously emitted are due to the incessant flight, radially from the substance, of a swarm of light fragments of the original atoms, expelled in the course of their explosive disintegration. This theory has recently received a direct experimental confirmation in the discovery of the continuous production of the element helium from radium. In these advances, physics and chemistry have borne equal shares, and in the close relation between the two sciences throughout the investigations the secret of the rapid- ity and definiteness of the progress is to be found. Radio-activity has passed from the position of a descrip- tive to that of an independent science, based upon the prin-