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Acknowledgements
This book has been the hardest task I’ve ever attempted. Throughout, my only goal has been to record this amazing story truthfully, fairly and accurately – albeit while having as much fun as possible. The adventures I’ve experienced in my research are some of the most potent memories of my life. It has been a two-year delirium, complete with dramatic highs and painful lows. It is thanks to the following people that Superheavy is with you today.
First, my fact checkers. Mark and Nancy Stoyer both read the book from cover to cover in an early draft, offering helpful suggestions and kind words of encouragement. So too did Sheila Chapman (love you, Mum!); Jennifer Newton, who gave proceedings some added pep; Nessa ‘Super Science Girl’ Carson, who had no reason to read anything but did so anyway; Hilary Sklar, who wisely told me not to dash off in strange directions; and Allison Holloway, who is my hero. Almost everyone quoted also read several chapters and offered gentle corrections to very stupid errors – any mistakes that remain are mine alone. Special mentions must go to Hideto En’yo, Julie Ezold, Jacklyn Gates, Sigurd Hofmann, Paul Karol, Matti Leino, Gottfried Münzenberg, Matti Nurmia, Yuri Oganessian and James Roberto for their kindness, patience and wisdom, and to Becky Miller, who agreed to fact-check the story of her father Jimmy Robinson. Thanks are also due to the team at Bloomsbury Sigma for letting me tackle such an ambitious story, and the advice and support they have offered along the way.
Support comes in many shapes and sizes. Friends and family have had to put up with me talking about one subject at every possible moment; they have done so with good grace and humour. The Chemistry World team at the Royal Society of Chemistry have been outstanding: Adam Brownsell, Phillip Broadwith, Jamie Durrani, Katrina Kramer, Scott Ollington, Christopher Pink, Philip Robinson, Emma Stoye, Rebecca Trager, Ben Valsler, Patrick Walter and Neil ‘rackets, not squash’ Withers. I have no idea how they put up with me. Mention must also go to Alex and Jen Corbett, Marco Galea, Alex Parnell and Adam Roberts, who also got regular doses of science history whether they wanted them or not.
All-access books don’t get very far without access. For that, I must thank the teams at the Australian National University (ANU), the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI), the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) and Stockholm University, as well as the scientists from other institutions – active or retired – who gave up their time to be interviewed in person, on the phone or both. The press offices at Argonne National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory also offered information crucial to the book.
Friendships forged on travels will, I hope, last a lifetime. I’ll never forget the long road to Dubna with Alexander Madumarov, raiding Gilman Hall with Lars Öhrström, almost getting kidnapped with Allana Sliwinski or sticker hunts with Shanon Smith. Stuart Cantrill helped with arrangements for my Scandinavian adventure (and gave things a final check), Alice Williamson gave me a chance to test my anecdotes in public, Kristy Turner and Sheila Kanani gave specialist input and James Holloway provided expertise on DC Comics and weird fiction.
Last, thanks to Gamera. You’re a dopey tortoise who almost destroyed the first draft of this manuscript, but you’re my little buddy.
Index
Abelson, Phil here, here, here, here, here
actinides here, here, here, here, here
actinium here
Aksenov, Nikolay here, here
Alonso, Carol here, here
Alonso, Jose here
aluminium here, here, here, here
Alvarez, Luis here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Amaldi, Edoardo here, here
American Chemical Society here, here
americium here, here, here, here
argon here, here
Armbruster, Peter here, here, here, here, here, here
astatine here, here, here
athenium here
atomic bomb here, here, here, here, here, here, here
atomic tests here, here
Operation Ivy here, here, here, here, here
Trinity here, here, here, here, here
atoms here
Bohr model of a carbon atom here
ausonium here, here
Australian National University (ANU) here, here
Bailey, Porter here
Bainbridge, Kenneth here, here, here
barium here
Becquerel, Henri here
Beria, Lavrentiy here
berkelium here, here, here, here, here, here, here
beryllium here, here, here, here
bevatron here, here, here
bismuth here, here, here, here, here
Block, Michael here
Bohr, Aage here
Bohr, Niels here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
bohrium here, here, here, here, here
Boll, Rose here
boron here
Brezhnev, Leonid here
Browne, Malcolm here
calcium-48 here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
californium here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Calvin, Melvin here, here
cassiopeium here
centurium here
cerium here, here, here
&nbs
p; Chadwick, James here, here, here, here, here
Chemical & Engineering News here
Chemistry International here
Chemistry World here
Chernobyl disaster here, here, here
Cherwell, Lord here
Cheverton, Dick here
chlorine here, here, here
Choppin, Gregory here, here, here
chromium here, here, here
cobalt here
cold fusion here, here, here, here, here, here
Compton, Arthur here, here
Conant, James here
copernicium here, here
Copernicus here
Coulomb barrier here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Coulomb repulsion here
Cunningham, Burris here
Curie, Marie here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Curie, Pierre here, here, here, here, here
curium here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
cyclotrons here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Daghlian, Harry here
darmstadtium here
Dasgupta, Nanda here, here
Davy, Humphry here, here
Despotopoulos, John here
Dmitriev, Sergey here, here
Doudna, Jennifer here
dubnium here, here, here, here
Economist, The here
Eichler, Robert here, here, here
Einstein, Albert here, here, here, here
einsteinium here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Eisenhower, Dwight here, here, here
electron shells here
oganesson here
elements here
En’yo, Hideto here, here, here
Eskola, Pirkko and Kari here, here, here
European Physical Journal H here
europium here, here, here
Ezold, Julie here, here, here
Fackler, Paul here, here
FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) here, here
Faraday, Michael here
Fermi gases here
Fermi, Enrico here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Fermi, Laura here, here, here, here
fermium here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Feynman, Richard here
Flerov, Georgy Nikolayevich here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
flerovium here, here, here
francium here
Frisch, Otto here
Fukushima, Japan here
Gadolin, Johan here
Gagarin, Yuri here
Gäggeler, Heinz here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Gates, Jacklyn here, here, here, here, here, here
Geiger counters here, here, here, here, here
Ghiorso, Al here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Ghiorso, Bill here
Ghiorso, Wilma here, here, here, here
Goeppert Mayer, Maria here, here, here, here
gold here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Gorbachev, Mikhail here
Gregorich, Ken here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Groves, Leslie here, here
GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Germany here
Guthals, Paul here
Haba, Hiromitsu here
Hades here
Hagan, Bob here
Hahn, Otto here, here, here, here, here, here, here
hahnium here, here, here, here, here
halogens here
Hargis, Sue here
Harris, James here, here, here, here
Harvey, Bernard here, here
hassium here, here, here, here
Hawking, Stephen here
helium here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Henning, Walter here
Herrmann, Günter here, here
hesperium here, here
High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), US here, here, here, here, here
HILAC (heavy ion linear accelerator) here, here, here, here, here
Hinde, David here, here
Hitler, Adolf here
Hoffman, Darleane here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Hoffman, Marvin here
Hofmann, Sigurd here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Holden, Norman here
hot fusion here, here, here, here
Hulet, Ken here, here, here, here, here
hydrogen here, here, here, here, here
hydrogen bomb here, here, here, here
International Bureau of Weights and Measures here
iodine here, here, here
iron here
Iron Man here here
island of stability here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
IUPAC here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
IUPAP here, here, here, here, here
James, Ralph here
Jensen, Hans here, here, here
Johnson, Lyndon here
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Russia here, here, here
Joliot-Curie, Frédéric here, here, here, here
Joliot-Curie, Irène here
joliotium here, here, here, here
Kaftanov, Sergei here
Källberg, Anders here, here
Karol, Paul here, here, here
Kennedy, John F. here, here
Kennedy, Joseph here
Khruschev, Nikita here, here
kilograms here
krypton here, here, here, here, here
Kurchatov, Igor here, here, here, here, here, here
kurchatovium here, here, here, here
lanthanides here, here, here, here
lanthanum here, here
Large Hadron Collider (CERN) here
Lavoisier, Antoine here, here, here, here
Lavoisier, Marie-Anne Paulze here, here
Lawrence, Ernest here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
cyclotron here, here
Lawrence, Francine here
lawrencium here, here, here, here, here
Lazar, Bob here
Le Grand K here
lead here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Leino, Matti here, here, here, here, here, here
Lemmy here
Lincoln, Kenneth here
lithium here, here
livermorium here, here
Lougheed, Ron here, here, here
Loveland, Walter here, here, here, here, here
lutetium here
Mainstone, John here
Maly, Ya. here
Manhattan Project here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Marchand, John here, here
Marinov, Amnon here
Mayo, Simon here
McCarthy, Joseph here, here
McMillan, Edwin here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Meitner, Lise here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
meitnerium here, here, here, here
Mendeleev, Dmitri here, here, here, here, here
mendelevium here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
mercury here, here
Meroney, Virgil here
Miller, Becky here
Modern Nuclear Chemistry here
Moody, Ken here, here, here, here
Morgan, Leon (Tom) here, here
Morita, Kōsuke here, here
Morrissey, David here
Moseley, Henry here, here
Münzenberg, Gottfried her
e, here, here, here, here, here
Mussolini, Benito here, here
Nature here, here
Nazarewicz, Witold here, here, here
neodymium here
neon here, here, here, here, here, here, here
neptunium here, here, here, here, here
neutrons here
neutron capture here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
New York Times here, here, here, here
Newton, Isaac here
nielsbohrium here, here, here
nihonium here, here
Ninov, Victor here, here, here, here, here, here
niobium here
Nishina, Yoshio here, here
Nitschke, Mike here, here
Nixon, Richard here, here
Nobel Prize here, here
Nobel, Alfred here
nobelium here, here, here, here, here, here
noble gases here, here, here
Noddack, Ida here, here
nuclear fission here, here, here, here, here, here
nuclear reactors here, here
High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), US here, here, here, here, here
Research Institute of Atomic Reactors, Russia here
nuclear weapons here
atomic bomb here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Fat Man here
hydrogen bomb here, here, here, here
First Lightning RDS-1 here
Gadget here, here, here, here, here
nucleus here
nuclear shell model here
Nurmia, Matti here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Oganessian, Irina here
Oganessian, Yuri here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
oganesson here, here, here
Ogawa, Masataka here, here, here
Onishi, Yukari here
Oppenheimer, Robert here, here, here
Oswald, Lee Harvey here
Parnell, Thomas here
particle accelerators here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Patterson, Robert here
Pauling, Linus here
Perey, Marguerite here
periodic table here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Peterson, Don here
Phelps, Clarice here
phosphorus here, here
Physical Review here, here, here, here, here
pitch drop here
Planck constant here
plutonium here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here