F.斯特拉斯曼1902—1980

生平

1938年，他和奥托·哈恩认证了中子轰击铀核产生的钡，发现了核裂变现象。

Friedrich Wilhelm Strassmann (German: [fʁɪt͡s ˈʃtʁasˌman]; 22 February 1902 – 22 April 1980) was a German chemist who, with Otto Hahn in December 1938, identified the element barium as a product of the bombardment of uranium with neutrons. Their observation was the key piece of evidence necessary to identify the previously unknown phenomenon of nuclear fission, as was subsequently recognized and published by Lise Meitner and Robert Frisch.

In their second publication on nuclear fission in February 1939, Strassmann and Hahn predicted the existence and liberation of additional neutrons during the fission process, opening up the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction.

Early life

Friedrich Wilhelm (Fritz) Strassmann was born in Boppard, Germany, to Richard Strassmann and Julie Strassmann (née Bernsmann). He was the youngest of nine children. Growing up in Düsseldorf, he developed an interest in chemistry at a young age and conducted chemistry experiments in his parents' home. His family was of modest means, and his father died at a young age, worsening the family's financial situation. Financial considerations limited Strassmann's initial choices of where to pursue his higher education and what subjects they should be.

Strassmann began his formal chemistry studies in 1920 at the Technical University of Hannover, supporting himself financially by working as a tutor for other students. He received a diploma in chemical engineering in 1924, and his PhD in physical chemistry in 1929. His doctoral research was on the solubility and reactivity of iodine in carbonic acid in the gas phase, which gave him experience in analytical chemistry. Strassmann's doctoral advisor was Hermann Braune.

Activities during Nazi rule

In 1933 Strassmann resigned from the Society of German Chemists when it became part of a Nazi-controlled public corporation. He was blacklisted by the Nazi regime. As a result, he could not work in the chemical industry nor could he receive his habilitation, as required to be an independent researcher in Germany at the time. Lise Meitner encouraged Otto Hahn to find an assistantship for Strassmann at half pay, and he eventually became a special assistant to Meitner and Hahn. Strassmann considered himself fortunate, for "despite my affinity for chemistry, I value my personal freedom so highly that to preserve it I would break stones for a living."

Strassman's wife Maria supported his refusal to join the Nazi Party. During World War II they concealed a Jewish woman, musician Andrea Wolfenstein, in their apartment for months, putting themselves and their three-year-old son at risk especially considering the housekeeper and downstairs neighbors were Nazi supporters.

Strassmann continued his research in radiochemistry during World War II, although he did not work on weapons development.

Post-war

Administrative responsibilities

In April 1945, Hahn and other German physicists were taken into custody as part of Operation Epsilon and interned at Farm Hall, Godmanchester, near Cambridge, England. In Hahn's absence, Strassmann became director of the chemistry section of the institute. Strassman became professor of inorganic chemistry and nuclear chemistry at the University of Mainz in 1946.

The Institute consisted of two departments: Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Physics were Josef Mattauch's departments, while Nuclear Chemistry was Strassmann's department. Mattauch was appointed director of the institute. Mattauch developed tuberculosis, and, in his absence, Strassman became acting director in 1948. As of 1949, the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute was renamed the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, and moved from Tailfingen to Mainz, Germany. In 1950 Strassmann became the official director of the institute. After Mattauch returned in 1951, there was considerable conflict over the allocation of resources to their respective departments.

Personal life

On 20 July 1937 Strassmann married Maria Heckter, also a chemist. Strassmann was a self-taught violinist. He met Maria Heckter through a group of young musicians that they both belonged to. They had a son, Martin.

Maria died of cancer in 1956. In 1959, Strassmann married journalist Irmgard Hartmann. He had known Hartmann for many years, as she was a member of the same group of young musicians to which Strassmann and his wife Maria had belonged.