Gottfried Münzenberg
Encyclopedia
Gottfried Münzenberg is a German
physicist.
He studied physics at Justus-Liebig-Universität in Giessen
and Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck
and completed his studies with a Ph.D. at the University of Giessen
, Germany, in 1971. In 1976 he moved to the department of nuclear chemistry at GSI
in Darmstadt
, Germany, which was headed by Peter Armbruster
. He played a leading role in the construction of SHIP, the 'Separator of Heavy Ion Reaction Products'. He was the driving force in the discovery of the cold heavy ion fusion and the discovery of the elements bohrium
(Bh Z=107), hassium
(Hs Z=108), meitnerium
(Mt Z=109), darmstadtium
(Ds Z=110), roentgenium
(Rg Z=111) and copernicium (foermerly eka-mercury or ununbium) (Uub Z=112). In 1984 he became head of the new GSI project, the fragment separator, a project which opened new research topics, such as interactions of relativistic heavy ions with matter, production and separation of exotic nuclear beams and structure of exotic nuclei. He directed the Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Chemistry department of the GSI and was professor of physics at the University of Mainz until he retired in March 2005.
Gottfried Münzenberg was born into a family of Protestant ministers (father Pastor Heinz and mother Helene Münzenberg). All his life he is deeply concerned about the philosophical and theological implications of physics.
Among the rewards he received should be mentioned the Röntgen-Prize of the University of Giessen in 1983 and (together with Sigurd Hoffmann) the Otto-Hahn-Prize of the city of Frankfurt/Main in 1996.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
physicist.
He studied physics at Justus-Liebig-Universität in Giessen
University of Giessen
The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...
and Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck
Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck
University of Innsbruck has been a university in Austria since 1669.It is currently the largest education facility in the Austrian Bundesland of Tirol and third largest in Austria according to student population, behind Vienna University and the University of Graz.-History:In 1562 a Jesuit grammar...
and completed his studies with a Ph.D. at the University of Giessen
University of Giessen
The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...
, Germany, in 1971. In 1976 he moved to the department of nuclear chemistry at GSI
GSI
GSI may refer to:* Several geographical or geological organisations:** Geological Survey of India** Geological Survey of Iran** Geographical Society of Ireland** Geological Survey of Ireland** Geological Survey of Israel...
in Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, Germany, which was headed by Peter Armbruster
Peter Armbruster
Peter Armbruster is a physicist at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung facility in Darmstadt, Germany, and is credited with co-discovering elements 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , and 112 with research partner Gottfried Münzenberg.He studied physics at the Technical...
. He played a leading role in the construction of SHIP, the 'Separator of Heavy Ion Reaction Products'. He was the driving force in the discovery of the cold heavy ion fusion and the discovery of the elements bohrium
Bohrium
Bohrium is a chemical element with the symbol Bh and atomic number 107 and is the heaviest member of group 7 .It is a synthetic element whose most stable known isotope, 270Bh, has a half-life of 61 seconds...
(Bh Z=107), hassium
Hassium
Hassium is a synthetic element with the symbol Hs and atomic number 108. It is the heaviest member of the group 8 elements. The element was first observed in 1984...
(Hs Z=108), meitnerium
Meitnerium
Meitnerium is a chemical element with the symbol Mt and atomic number 109. It is placed as the heaviest member of group 9 in the periodic table but a sufficiently stable isotope is not known at this time which would allow chemical experiments to confirm its position, unlike its lighter...
(Mt Z=109), darmstadtium
Darmstadtium
Darmstadtium is a chemical element with the symbol Ds and atomic number 110. It is placed as the heaviest member of group 10, but no known isotope is sufficiently stable to allow chemical experiments to confirm its placing in that group...
(Ds Z=110), roentgenium
Roentgenium
Roentgenium is a synthetic radioactive chemical element with the symbol Rg and atomic number 111. It is placed as the heaviest member of the group 11 elements, although a sufficiently stable isotope has not yet been produced in a sufficient amount that would confirm this position as a heavier...
(Rg Z=111) and copernicium (foermerly eka-mercury or ununbium) (Uub Z=112). In 1984 he became head of the new GSI project, the fragment separator, a project which opened new research topics, such as interactions of relativistic heavy ions with matter, production and separation of exotic nuclear beams and structure of exotic nuclei. He directed the Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Chemistry department of the GSI and was professor of physics at the University of Mainz until he retired in March 2005.
Gottfried Münzenberg was born into a family of Protestant ministers (father Pastor Heinz and mother Helene Münzenberg). All his life he is deeply concerned about the philosophical and theological implications of physics.
Among the rewards he received should be mentioned the Röntgen-Prize of the University of Giessen in 1983 and (together with Sigurd Hoffmann) the Otto-Hahn-Prize of the city of Frankfurt/Main in 1996.