Professor Emeritus John R. Huizenga publishes Five Decades of Research in Nuclear Science

The University of Rochester and the Departments of Chemistry and Physics are pleased to announce that John R. Huizenga’s research memoir entitled Five Decades of Research in Nuclear Science has recently been published by Meliora Press.

A summary of more than forty years of work in the field, Five Decades of Research in Nuclear Science delves into the results of several projects in which John R. Huizenga played a key role. What began as a journey into a largely unexplored region of the periodic table, rightly predicted to be a rich and fertile source of new chemical and nuclear information, quickly developed into a race for the discovery of new elements. The volume follows Prof. Huizenga’s distinguished research, teaching and leadership career in the field of nuclear science, carried out during the last half of the twentieth century at Argonne National Laboratory and subsequently from 1967 at University of Rochester.

Prof. Huizenga’s research began on the Manhattan Project and continued at the Argonne National Laboratory, where in 1949 he and his colleagues initiated a major program to produce transplutonium nuclei by multiple neutron capture in reactors. Following the first thermonuclear explosion in 1952, Huizenga participated in the discovery of the elements einsteinium and fermium found in its debris. At Argonne, he extensively studied the nuclear properties and systematics of actinide nuclei. In 1967, Huizenga moved to the University of Rochester, where he investigated the excited states of actinide nuclei by reaction spectroscopy and the decay modes of actinide muonic atoms. He also made detailed studies of the energy dissipation, nucleon transfer, and microscopic time-scale associated with a new heavy-ion reaction process known as “strongly damped collisions.” Throughout his scientific career, Huizenga taught and lectured worldwide - also included in this volume are descriptions of selected travels, meetings with renowned scientific leaders, government service, and other activities related to his professional career.

John R. Huizenga is the Tracy H. Harris Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Rochester. He is the author of Cold Fusion: the Scientific Fiasco of the Century and co-author of Nuclear Fission and Damped Nuclear Reactions. Among his professional awards are a Fulbright Fellowship (1954-55), two Guggenheim Fellowships (1964-65 and 1973-74), the Department of Energy’s E. O. Lawrence Memorial Award (1966), the American Chemical Society’s Glenn T. Seaborg Award (1975), Calvin College’s Distinguished Alumni Award (1975) and the Leroy Randle Grumman Medal for Outstanding Scientific Achievement (1991). Prof. Huizenga is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Chemical Society, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Throughout his 50-year scientific career, John Huizenga has been a towering figure guiding research at the frontiers of science, having made exceptional contributions to nuclear science and technology. His legacy continues in the impressive body of knowledge and insights recorded in his many scientific articles and books, and lives on in his students, whose intellectual formation and scientific careers he so markedly influenced.

Those wishing to obtain a copy of Five Decades of Research in Nuclear Science are invited to contact the Department of Chemistry. Please contact Debra Haring, or 585-275-2915 with your request.

Table of Contents

1. Early Years and Time on the Manhattan Project
2. Argonne National Laboratory Years (1949–1954): Discovery of Elements 99 and 100
3. Fulbright Year (1954–1955)
4. Argonne National Laboratory Years (1955–1964)
   1. Cosmic Abundance of Selected Elements
   2. Fission Research
   3. Nuclear Reactions
   4. New Nuclides and Decay Schemes
   5. Isomeric Cross-Section Ratios
5. First Guggenheim Year
6. Argonne National Laboratory Years (1965-1967): Visit to USSR Laboratories
7. University of Rochester Years (1967–1973)
   1. Reaction Spectroscopy of Actinide Elements
   2. Fission Research
   3. Nuclear Reactions
   4. Nuclear Level Densities
   5. Beryllium-7 Decay under Pressure
   6. Other Activities Including Lectures in Japan
8. Second Guggenheim Year (1973–1974)
9. University of Rochester Years (1974–1983)
   1. Reaction Spectroscopy
   2. Heavy-Ion Reactions
   3. Actinide Muonic Atoms
   4. Other Activities Including Lectures in China
10. The Years as Department Chair (1983–1988)
    1. My Administrative Venture
    2. Damped Nuclear Reactions
    3. Fission-Like Reactions
    4. Other Activities
11. The Years to Retirement (1988–1991)
    1. Heavy-Ion Reactions
    2. Other Activities
12. The Years after Retirement (1991–)

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