Arthur Wahl

Arthur C. Wahl
Wahl's identity badge photo from Los Alamos Laboratory
Born	Arthur Charles Wahl (1917-09-08)September 8, 1917 Des Moines, Iowa
Died	March 6, 2006(2006-03-06) (aged 88) Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.
Alma mater	Iowa State University (B.S.) and University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.)
Known for	First isolation of plutonium
Awards	ACS Award for Nuclear Chemistry (1966)[1]
Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry
Institutions	Washington University in St. Louis
Doctoral advisor	Glenn T. Seaborg

Arthur Charles Wahl (September 8, 1917 – March 6, 2006)^[2] was an American chemist who, as a doctoral student of Glenn T. Seaborg at the University of California, Berkeley, first isolated plutonium (94) in February 1941^[3][4] shortly after the element neptunium (93) was discovered by McMillan and Abelson in 1940.^[5]

Wahl was a researcher on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos until 1946, when he joined Washington University in St. Louis. Beginning in 1952, he was the Henry V. Farr Professor of Radiochemistry; he received the American Chemical Society Award in Nuclear Chemistry in 1966 and retired in 1983.^[6] He moved back to Los Alamos in 1991 and continued his scientific writing until 2005.

He died in 2006 of Parkinson's disease and pneumonia.^[7]

Further reading

• Seaborg, Glenn T.; Katz, Joseph J. (1954). The Actinide Elements. National Nuclear Energy Series. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
• Seaborg, Glenn T. (1958). The Transuranium Elements. Atoms for Peace. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
• Clark, David L.; Hecker, Sigfried S.; Jarvinen, Gordon D.; Neu, Mary P. (2006-02-17). "Plutonium and Plutonium Compounds". Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-48494-3.

References

1. ACS Award for Nuclear Chemistry Archived November 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
2. Daues, Jessica (2006-04-27). "Wahl, professor who discovered plutonium; 89". The Source. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
3. Seaborg, G. T.; Wahl, A. C.; Kennedy, J. W. (1946-04-01). "Radioactive Element 94 from Deuterons on Uranium". Physical Review. 69 (7–8): 367–367. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.69.367. ISSN 0031-899X.
4. Seaborg, G. T.; Mcmillan, E. M.; Kennedy, J. W.; Wahl, A. C. (1946-04-01). "Radioactive Element 94 from Deuterons on Uranium". Physical Review. 69 (7–8): 366–367. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.69.366.2. ISSN 0031-899X.
5. McMillan, Edwin; Abelson, Philip Hauge (1940-06-15). "Radioactive Element 93". Physical Review. 57 (12): 1185–1186. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.57.1185.2. ISSN 0031-899X.
6. "Arthur Wahl". Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
7. Sobotka, Lee G.; Holtzer, Alfred M.; Friedlander, Gerhart; Sarantites, Demetrios G.; Weissman, Samuel I. (2006-07-11). "Obituary of Arthur C. Wahl". Physics Today. doi:10.1063/PT.4.2311.

External links

• Arthur Charles Wahl at Find a Grave