1932 - Science

Science

Splitting the atom for the first time in history presents the possibility of a vast new energy source (see Thomson, 1897; Urey, 1930). English physicist John D. (Douglas) Cockcroft, 35, and his associate Ernest Walton employ a voltage multiplier they developed in the 1920s to accelerate charged subatomic particles to extremely high velocities. They use this "atomic gun" to bombard lithium with protons, and the alpha particles (helium nuclei) they produce show that the protons have reacted with the lithium nuclei to produce helium (see Joliot-Curie, 1934).

Cambridge University physicist James Chadwick, 41, discovers the neutron—a particle similar in mass to the proton but without an electric charge (see electron, 1897). Chadwick has worked with Ernest Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge since 1923, bombarding various elements with alpha particles to study their transmutation. He has noticed that bombarding beryllium releases a heretofore unknown kind of radiation that ejects protons from the nuclei of various substances (see Bothe, 1930). Since it is neutral, the neutron easily penetrates atoms and permits efficient splitting of atomic nuclei for developing atomic reactors (see 1934).

Canton, S.D.-born University of California, Berkeley, physicist Ernest O. (Orlando) Lawrence, 31, and his colleagues build the world's first practical cyclotron—a device with a constant magnetic field that can be changed from one side to the other and thereby force subatomic particles into accelerating spiral paths until they reach velocities that approach the speed of light. New York-born Wall Street financial wizard and science enthusiast Alfred Lee Loomis, 43, has built a laboratory at his Tuxedo Park, N.Y., country house and will help finance Lawrence's work (see Veksler, 1944).

New York-born California Institute of Technology physicist Carl D. (David) Anderson, 26, announces that he and his colleague Seth Neddermeyer have found what he calls a positron—a subatomic particle equal in mass to the electron but positively charged (see cosmic rays, 1925; Dirac, 1928). They have found definite evidence of its existence in a cloud chamber, says Anderson, who has studied under Robert A. Millikan, and his announcement startles those who have believed the atomic structure to consist simply of the proton, neutron, and electron. Some doubt his claim, but British physicist Patrick M. S. Blackett and Italian physicist Giuseppe Occhialini will verify it next year, and by next year Anderson will have produced the positron artificially by gamma-ray bombardment as he and others begin to extend Paul Dirac's theories to produce a more comprehensive theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED).

The Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics by John von Neumann provides a precise formulation and proof of the "ergodic hypothesis" of statistical mathematics (see 1926). Now 28, von Neumann published a definition of ordinal numbers 8 years ago, has seen it universally adopted, and will become a professor next year at Princeton's Institute of Advanced Study.

A University of Cincinnati team headed by Minneapolis-born archaeologist Carl W. (William) Blegen, 45, resumes excavations at the site of ancient Troy begun by the late Heinrich Schliemann (see 1890).

Nobel physical chemist Wilhelm Ostwald dies outside Leipzig April 4 at age 78.

Swiss-born U.S. physicist Auguste Piccard, 48, develops an enclosed gondola for an ascension balloon that carries men to an altitude of 55,500 feet for scientific observations (see 1934).

Oklahoma-born radio engineer Karl Guthe Janksy, 26, pioneers radio astronomy by detecting radio waves that he determines to have emanated from beyond the solar system.