1969: Rutherfordium - The book of science

Rutherfordium
Atomic number 104
Shining
Commentary

Berkeley—Albert Ghiorso, Matti Nurmia, James Andrew Harris, Kari Eskola, Pirkko Eskola elements

Rutherfordium

In 1964, scientists at Dubna
tried to synthesize element 104
by bombarding plutonium-242 with neon-22 ions
and had trouble characterizing their results
as their experiment produced multiple isomers
that decayed in a flury.
*
In 1969, scientists at Berkeley
tried to synthesize element 104
by bombarding californium-249 with carbon-12 ions
and were able to measure
the decay of rutherfordium-257
and its daughter nobelium-253.

Atomic number 104

Sixteen radioisotopes
and four isomers
created by particle
accelerators
some by hot fusion
some by cold
some by direct fusion
and some by decay.

Shining

Artificial and heavy,
it won’t hold together.
Forget the plan;
forget the schedule.
If it feels right,
if it makes sense,
its beauty shines
for more than a moment.

Tbe Soviet team responsible for the experiments in 1964—Georgy Flyorov, Yuri Tsolakovich Oganessian, Yu. V. Lobanov, V. I. Kuznetsov, V. A. Druin, V. P. Perelygin, K. A. Gavrilov, S. P. Tretiakova, and V. M. Plotko—are sometimes given credit for also discovering rutherfordium; however, naming rights went to the Berkeley team because their results were more definitive.