James Howarth on behalf of the ATLAS Collaboration The University of Manchester
DEBYE ACCUSED OF COLLABORATION
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π ΙΤττη ιττ η ΐττ'Ί τ πΊΤι ι τ ι ΓΤτ ΓΙ HISTORY OF SCIENCE DEBYE ACCUSED OF COLLABORATION Dutch university strips the name of Peter J. W. Debye from scientific institute D OCUMENTARY EVIDENCE that chemistry Nobel Lau- reate PeterJ. W. Debye may have been a Nazi collaborator in Berlin in the 1930s has led Utrecht University in the Netherlands to remove his name from its Debye Institute of Physics & Chemistry of Nanomaterials & Interfaces. Another university, in Maastricht, the Netherlands, has reportedly stopped distributing a Debye sci- entific award. Utrecht University spokesman Ludo Koks says a book about physics Nobel Laureate Albert Einstein, published in January, led to the university's decision to "abandon" the Debye name in its physics and chemistry institute. Evidence in the book, he says, in- cludes a letter that Debye signed in 1938 in which he orders, in the name of the German authorities, Jewish coworkers to leave the Ger- man Physical Society. "The University Board con- tacted the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation to verify this," Koks says. " M O D found it reliable." Not everyone at Utrecht Uni- versity agrees with the decision: "It is not based on sound histori- cal investigations, which also take into account the circumstances in Germany in the period 1938-45," says Gijs van Ginkel, senior man- aging director of the (former) De- bye Institute. "Debye can hardly be called a Nazi collaborator just because he accepted the directorship of the then-new Kaiser Wilhelm In- stitute for Physics in 1936," says historian Marc Walker of Union College, Schenectady, NY. Walker has written about the German Physical Society under National Socialism. He continues, "If this was the standard, then almost every scientist who remained in Germany was a collaborator." Debye, who died in 1966, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1936 for his contributions to the study of molecular structure, pri- marily his work on dipole moments and X-ray diffraction. According to several biographies, Debye left Germany for the U.S. in 1939 after he refused to become a German citizen. In 1940, he became head of the chemistry department at Cornell University, which became a leader in solid-state research due to his influence. The book, available only in Dutch, is "Einstein in the Neth- erlands" by Berlin-based science writer Sybe I. Rispens. Rispens tells C&EN, "Debye showed Debye himself to be an extreme opportunist during the Nazi period." As in the letter expelling the Jews from the physics institute that Debye directed, Ris- pens says, Debye, in most of his correspondence, "shows himself as a will- ing helper of the regime, signing dozens of letters with 'heil Hitler.' There are no signs that he act- ed involuntarily or was threatened by the Nazis." The American Chem- ical Society presents a Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry sponsored by DuPont. ACS Grants & Awards Commit- tee Chair C. Gordon McCarty says, "The ACS Board Commit- tee on Grants & Awards is aware of the situation and the developing story and is considering what the impact will be on the ACS national award named for Peter Debye." "Utrecht University is fully aware of the eminent scientific work of Peter Debye," Koks says. "Still, the University Board thinks the name of Debye is no longer compatible with the image of one of our leading research insti- tutes."—WILLIAM SCHULZ THEORETICAL CHEMISTRY Superheavy Atom May Form Stable Molecule Ε lement 126 (E126) should readily form a stable diatomic molecule with fluorine, ac- cording to a theoretical study of the chemi- cal properties of the as-yet-unsynthesized super- heavy element U Chem. Phys. 2006,124, 071102). The molecule (E126F) is unique in that it con- tains an atom with a g atomic orbital that is pre- dicted to be occupied with valence electrons in the atom's ground state. The study further predicts that the ^-orbital electrons are involved in form- ing molecular orbitals, a bonding configuration that may impart distinct chemical properties. Decades-old predictions of enhanced stabili- ty of E126 relative to other transactinide nuclides suggest that, if atoms of the element (with 126 protons and 184 neutrons) can be synthesized, they may persist long enough for their chemical properties to be probed experimentally. Gulzari L. Malli of Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, is studying E126 com- putationally. Using relativistic methods, he finds the molecule's dissociation energy to be about 7.5 eV, 3 eV less than he finds with nonrelativistic methods. This result highlights the effects of rel- ativity, which can strongly alter the properties of heavy elements. Cautioning that the conclusions need to be ver- ified by additional studies, Walter D. Loveland, a professor of nuclear chemistry at Oregon State University, Corvallis, describes the work as "note- worthy." The "promise of g-electron chemistry adds to the interest in the formidable task of syn- thesizing the element," Loveland remarks. "Stud- ies like this of 'relativity in a test tube' extend the frontiers of both chemistry and physics."—MITCH JACOBY WWW.CEN-0NLINE.ORG C&EN / MARCH 6. 2006 1 9
Transcript of DEBYE ACCUSED OF COLLABORATION
π ΙΤτ τη ιττ η ΐττ'Ί τ πΊΤι ι τ ι ΓΤτ ΓΙ
H I S T O R Y O F S C I E N C E
DEBYE ACCUSED OF COLLABORATION Dutch university strips the name of Peter J. W. Debye from scientific institute
D OCUMENTARY EVIDENCE that chemistry Nobel Laureate Peter J. W. Debye may
have been a Nazi collaborator in Berlin in the 1930s has led Utrecht University in the Netherlands to remove his name from its Debye Institute of Physics & Chemistry of Nanomaterials & Interfaces. Another university, in Maastricht, the Netherlands, has reportedly stopped distributing a Debye scientific award.
Utrecht University spokesman Ludo Koks says a book about physics Nobel Laureate Albert Einstein, published in January, led to the university's decision to "abandon" the Debye name in its physics and chemistry institute. Evidence in the book, he says, includes a letter that Debye signed in 1938 in which he orders, in the name of the German authorities, Jewish coworkers to leave the German Physical Society.
"The University Board contacted the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation to verify this," Koks says. " M O D found it reliable."
Not everyone at Utrecht University agrees with the decision: "It is not based on sound historical investigations, which also take into account the circumstances in Germany in the period 1938-45," says Gijs van Ginkel, senior managing director of the (former) Debye Institute.
"Debye can hardly be called a Nazi collaborator just because he accepted the directorship of the then-new Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in 1936," says historian Marc Walker of Union College, Schenectady, NY. Walker has written about the German
Physical Society under National Socialism. He continues, "If this was the standard, then almost every scientist who remained in Germany was a collaborator."
Debye, who died in 1966, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1936 for his contributions to the study of molecular structure, primarily his work on dipole moments and X-ray diffraction. According to several biographies, Debye left Germany for the U.S. in 1939 after he refused to become a German citizen. In 1940, he became head of the chemistry department at Cornell University, which became a leader in solid-state research due to his influence.
The book, available only in Dutch, is "Einstein in the Netherlands" by Berlin-based science writer Sybe I. Rispens. Rispens tells C&EN, "Debye showed
Debye
himself to be an extreme opportunist during the Nazi period." As in the letter expelling the Jews from the physics institute that Debye directed, Rispens says, Debye, in most of his correspondence, "shows himself as a willing helper of the regime, signing dozens of letters with 'heil Hitler.' There are no signs that he acted involuntarily or was threatened by the Nazis."
The American Chem-ical Society presents a Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry sponsored by DuPont. ACS Grants & Awards Committee Chair C. Gordon McCarty says, "The ACS Board Committee on Grants & Awards is aware of the situation and the developing story and is considering what the impact will be on the ACS national award named for Peter Debye."
"Utrecht University is fully aware of the eminent scientific work of Peter Debye," Koks says. "Still, the University Board thinks the name of Debye is no longer compatible with the image of one of our leading research institutes."—WILLIAM SCHULZ
T H E O R E T I C A L C H E M I S T R Y
Superheavy Atom May Form Stable Molecule
Ε lement 126 (E126) should readily form a stable diatomic molecule with fluorine, according to a theoretical study of the chemi
cal properties of the as-yet-unsynthesized superheavy element U Chem. Phys. 2006,124, 071102).
The molecule (E126F) is unique in that it contains an atom with a g atomic orbital that is predicted to be occupied with valence electrons in the atom's ground state. The study further predicts that the ̂ -orbital electrons are involved in forming molecular orbitals, a bonding configuration that may impart distinct chemical properties.
Decades-old predictions of enhanced stability of E126 relative to other transactinide nuclides suggest that, if atoms of the element (with 126 protons and 184 neutrons) can be synthesized, they may persist long enough for their chemical properties to be probed experimentally.
Gulzari L. Malli of Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, is studying E126 computationally. Using relativistic methods, he finds the molecule's dissociation energy to be about 7.5 eV, 3 eV less than he finds with nonrelativistic methods. This result highlights the effects of relativity, which can strongly alter the properties of heavy elements.
Cautioning that the conclusions need to be verified by additional studies, Walter D. Loveland, a professor of nuclear chemistry at Oregon State University, Corvallis, describes the work as "noteworthy." The "promise of g-electron chemistry adds to the interest in the formidable task of synthesizing the element," Loveland remarks. "Studies like this of 'relativity in a test tube' extend the frontiers of both chemistry and physics."—MITCH JACOBY
W W W . C E N - 0 N L I N E . O R G C&EN / MARCH 6. 2006 1 9
