Isotope filming and Isotope Pecha Kucha in Glasgow

In early December, a TV crew were on campus in Glasgow, recording material for a short slot on the BBC's One Show, telling the story of Frederick Soddy, Margaret Todd, isotopes, and Soddy's early predictions of misuse of atomic energy. Although they had to rush off and film other news stories twice during recording, the filming was eventually completed on the 10th December, and an edited item sent off to the One Show HQ in London.

I alerted parents, relatives and Corporate Communications at the University. We tuned in to watch. However, no isotope slot appeared. Rumour has it that the item may appear in the New Year - we will see....

Meanwhile, Prof. Maggie Cusack and Dr. Cristina Persano, colleagues from the School of Geographic and Earth Sciences, organised, at incredibly short notice,  isotope Pecha Kuch event on the 18th December. I think this may have bee nthe first such pure science Pecha Kucha held in Glasgow. A star-studded lineup included TV's Professor Iain Stewart (who cheated, by giving an excellent, but non-isotope presentation on outrage and information in public perceptions of science). A large turnout enjoyed 10 very varied Pechas (or should it be Kuchas?) covering a wide range of chemical, medical, geological and environmental uses of isotopes....

Frederick Soddy on TV?

An outside broadcast team from the BBC have been recording material for a possible slot on the BBC's early evening "One Show". They've been looking at Soddy's life and work, and at some of the radioactive and non-radioactive materials relating to his work here in Glasgow.

The recording has not gone smoothly, having been interrupted first by developments in the Clutha bar helicopter crash, and then by high winds and damage to buildings.

However, yesterday, we managed to get all the filming done. If editing goes as planned, there should be an item on the One Show, at 7pm tomorrow night (12th December).

Amazing Frederick Soddy fact:

He was the first scientist of the atomic age to foresee the weapons potential. In a scientific article with Ernest Rutherford,  published in 1903 the phrase "atomic energy" had been used for the first time.(Rutherford,E. and Soddy,F. 1903, Radioactive Change. Philosophical Magazine series 6, No. 5, p 576-591). To the end of his life, Rutherford never believed that anything would come of "atomic energy", but Soddy saw at once the temptation that this might pose as the basis for new and terrible weapons, as well as for peaceful uses.

I n January 1904, he gave a speech to the Corps of Royal Engineers, at Chatham, which included this:

"It is possible that all heavy matter possesses latent and bound up with the structure of the atom, a similar quantitiy of energy to that possessed by radium. It it could be tapped and controlled, what an agent it would be in shaping the world's destiny! The man who put his hand on the lever... would possess a weapon by which he could destroy the earth if he chose."

Soddy's awareness, not just of the energy involved in nuclear processes, but of the likelihood of military applications was remarkable. This became a recurring theme in Soddy's writing, and was one of the main factors responsible for his giving up research in radiochemistry, and devoting his later academic life to economics, social policy, and the role of science in decision-making.

 HG Wells took on board Soddy's ideas, and in 1914, before the First World War, he published a novel "The World Set Free" which is dedicated to Soddy's ideas, and in which the phrase "atomic bomb" first appears (on page 96).  These bombs, dropped from biplanes, can destroy whole cities, and lead to a catastrophic global war, before mankind chooses peace, and a new era of atomic-powered prosperity and wealth.

This book helped create the actual atomic bomb. Leo Szilard read Wells' book in 1932,  had the insight that a nuclear chain reaction could be used to create such a weapon, and patented the idea in 1934. With Einstein and others, he was part of the group which secured US government funding for the Manhattan Project. Soddy's ideas, and Wells novel thus had a direct link to the creation, and use of nuclear weapons.


Having helped create this new world, Soddy was also probably the first nuclear objector, abandoning his reearch when at the height of his powers. In doing so, he attracted ridicule, and wrote himself out of much of the history of the atomic  age which was written later in the century. Perhaps now it is time to look again at his short, but amazing contribution to birth of our modern scientific world view,  in Montreal, London and Glasgow at the start of the 20th century.

Happy Isotope Day!

Today is the birthday of the word "isotope", and we are celebrating here in Glasgow. Joining us, are several members of the Soddy family, from as far afield as Canada. Here they are in the Hunterian Museum with Frederick Soddy's "biscuit tin electroscope" and the famous "Soddy Box", the mock-medieval treasure chest built in the 1950s to house his radioactive samples.

NB The radioactive samples are no longer kept in the box - empty,  it's perfectly safe.

Several generations of Soddys in the Hunterian

Our new Science Showcase space will be opened tonight, with the initial show:

Born in Glasgow: 100 Years of Isotope Science

running until the end of March. We will be having a regular series of talks, demonstrations and other activites by isotope scientists and students in this space during this period. Wtach this space!

Soddyite but not Soddyium

Frederick Soddy is perhaps an obvious omission from the list of radiochemistry pioneers commemorated in the names of elements. We have curium rutherfordium, hahnium, seaborgium and meitnerium, and among physicists, bohrium, einsteinium, roentgenium, and fermium.

However, if you pause for a moment and imagine what the name might sound like:

soddyium

It sounds very like the well known element with atomic number 11.


However, Soddy has been commemorated in the mineralogical world. The bright yellow uranium silicate mineral species soddyite is named after him.  The original description of the species by Schoep  in 1922 uses the form "soddite", but the spelling "soddyite" is now universally used.

Yellow crystals of soddyite from Shinkolobwe, Zaire. Hunterian museum specimen M11678