Charles D. Coryell
Encyclopedia
Charles DuBois Coryell was an American
chemist
who was one of the discoverers of the element
promethium
.
Coryell earned a Ph.D at California Institute of Technology
in 1935 under Arthur A. Noyes
. During the late 1930s he engaged in research on the structure of hemoglobin
in association with Linus Pauling
. He also taught at UCLA before 1942. In 1942 he took a position in the Manhattan Project
, for which he was Chief of the Fission Products Section, both at the University of Chicago
(1942–1946) and at Clinton Laboratories (now Oak Ridge National Laboratory
) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
(1943–1946). His group had responsibility for characterizing radioactive isotopes created by the fission
of uranium
and for developing of a process for chemical separation of plutonium
.
In 1945 he was a member of the Clinton Laboratories team, with Jacob Marinsky and Lawrence E. Glendenin
, that isolated the previously undocumented rare earth element
61. Marinsky and Glendenin produced promethium both by extraction from fission product
s and by bombarding neodymium
with neutron
s. They isolated it using ion-exchange chromatography. Publication of the finding was delayed until later due to the war. Marinsky and Glendenin announced the discovery at a meeting of the American Chemical Society
in September 1947. Upon the suggestion of Coryell's wife, the team named the new element for the mythical Prometheus
, who stole fire from the gods and was punished for the act by Zeus
. They had also considered naming it "clintonium" for the facility where it was isolated.
Coryell was among the Manhattan Project scientists who in 1945 signed the Szilárd petition
urging President Harry S. Truman
not to use the first atomic bomb "without restriction," urging him instead to "describe and demonstrate" its power and give Japan
"the opportunity to consider the consequences of further refusal to surrender."
With Dr. Nathan Sugarman, Coryell was co-editor of Radiochemical Studies: The Fission Projects, a volume of 336 research papers from the Manhattan Project.
After World War II
he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) in 1945 as a faculty member in inorganic
and radiochemistry
. At MIT he conducted research in fission fine-structure and beta decay theory until his death in 1971.
In 1954 he received the Louis Lipsky Fellowship at the Weizmann Institute of Science
in Rehovot, Israel. In 1960 he received the American Chemical Society's Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry. The Charles D. Coryell Award of the Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology of the American Chemical Society, which is awarded annually to undergraduate students doing research projects in nuclear-related areas, is named in his honor.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
who was one of the discoverers of the element
Chemical element
A chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. Familiar examples of elements include carbon, oxygen, aluminum, iron, copper, gold, mercury, and lead.As of November 2011, 118 elements...
promethium
Promethium
Promethium is a chemical element with the symbol Pm and atomic number 61. It is notable for being the only exclusively radioactive element besides technetium that is followed by chemical elements with stable isotopes.- Prediction :...
.
Coryell earned a Ph.D at California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
in 1935 under Arthur A. Noyes
Arthur Amos Noyes
Arthur Amos Noyes was a U.S. chemist and educator. He served as the acting president of MIT between 1907 and 1909. He received a PhD. in 1890 at Leipzig under the guidance of Wilhelm Ostwald. Roscoe Gilkey Dickinson was one of his famous students. Noyes served as Professor of Chemistry at the...
. During the late 1930s he engaged in research on the structure of hemoglobin
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of all vertebrates, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae, as well as the tissues of some invertebrates...
in association with Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
. He also taught at UCLA before 1942. In 1942 he took a position in the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
, for which he was Chief of the Fission Products Section, both at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
(1942–1946) and at Clinton Laboratories (now Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy by UT-Battelle. ORNL is the DOE's largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville...
) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
(1943–1946). His group had responsibility for characterizing radioactive isotopes created by the fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
and for developing of a process for chemical separation of plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
.
In 1945 he was a member of the Clinton Laboratories team, with Jacob Marinsky and Lawrence E. Glendenin
Lawrence E. Glendenin
Lawrence Elgin Glendenin was an American chemist who co-discovered the element promethium.- Biography :Glendenin was born in Bay City, Michigan on November 8, 1918...
, that isolated the previously undocumented rare earth element
Rare earth element
As defined by IUPAC, rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium...
61. Marinsky and Glendenin produced promethium both by extraction from fission product
Fission product
Nuclear fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large atomic nucleus fissions. Typically, a large nucleus like that of uranium fissions by splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons and a large release of energy in the form of heat , gamma rays and neutrinos. The...
s and by bombarding neodymium
Neodymium
Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is a soft silvery metal that tarnishes in air. Neodymium was discovered in 1885 by the Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach. It is present in significant quantities in the ore minerals monazite and bastnäsite...
with neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
s. They isolated it using ion-exchange chromatography. Publication of the finding was delayed until later due to the war. Marinsky and Glendenin announced the discovery at a meeting of the American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
in September 1947. Upon the suggestion of Coryell's wife, the team named the new element for the mythical Prometheus
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
, who stole fire from the gods and was punished for the act by Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
. They had also considered naming it "clintonium" for the facility where it was isolated.
Coryell was among the Manhattan Project scientists who in 1945 signed the Szilárd petition
Szilárd petition
The Szilárd petition, drafted by scientist Leó Szilárd, was signed by 155 scientists working on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois. It was circulated in July 1945 and asked President Harry S. Truman to consider an observed...
urging President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
not to use the first atomic bomb "without restriction," urging him instead to "describe and demonstrate" its power and give Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
"the opportunity to consider the consequences of further refusal to surrender."
With Dr. Nathan Sugarman, Coryell was co-editor of Radiochemical Studies: The Fission Projects, a volume of 336 research papers from the Manhattan Project.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT) in 1945 as a faculty member in inorganic
Inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds. This field covers all chemical compounds except the myriad organic compounds , which are the subjects of organic chemistry...
and radiochemistry
Radiochemistry
Radiochemistry is the chemistry of radioactive materials, where radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the properties and chemical reactions of non-radioactive isotopes...
. At MIT he conducted research in fission fine-structure and beta decay theory until his death in 1971.
In 1954 he received the Louis Lipsky Fellowship at the Weizmann Institute of Science
Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science , known as Machon Weizmann, is a university and research institute in Rehovot, Israel. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences....
in Rehovot, Israel. In 1960 he received the American Chemical Society's Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry. The Charles D. Coryell Award of the Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology of the American Chemical Society, which is awarded annually to undergraduate students doing research projects in nuclear-related areas, is named in his honor.
External links
- Key Participants: Charles D. Coryell - It's in the Blood! A Documentary History of Linus Pauling, Hemoglobin, and Sickle Cell Anemia