BÎews of the
Weeh
President Truman announces "atomic explosion 7 7 in Russia . . · Reactions vary from charges of politics to renewed demands for international control · · . Radiation instruments guessed as most logical detection method, seismograph and espionage also considered npHB announcement which American •• scientists have said was inevitable rame at 11:00 A.M. on Friday, Sept. 23, when President Truman issued a statement indicating that evidence of a n •itomic explosion in the U.S.S.R. had been detected within recent weeks. Although he did not say that Russia had developed Hie atom bomb, the statement was i n •prpreted generally to mean as much. The text of President Truman's statement folows: I believe the American people to the fullest extent consistent with the n a tional security are entitled to be i n formed of all developments in the field »f atomic energy. That is my reason for making public the following information. We have evidence that within recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in «he U.S.S.R. Ever since atomic energy was first released by man, the eventual development of this new force by other nations was to be expected. This probability
has always been taken into account by us. Nearly four years ago I pointed out that "Scientific opinion appears to b e practically unanimous that the essential theoretical knowledge upon which the discovery is based is already widely known. There is also substantial agreement that foreign research can come abreast of our present theoretical knowledge in time." And, in the three-nation declaration of the President of the United States and the prime ministers of the United Kingdom and of Canada, dated N o v . 15, 1945, it was emphasized that n o single nation could, in fact, have a m o nopoly of atomic weapons. This recent development emphasizes once again, if indeed such emphasis were needed, the necessity for that truly effective and enforceable international control of atomic energy which this Government and the large majority of members of the United Nations support. Speculation as to when and where the blast or blasts occurred and how they were detected was widespread. B e -
use Nlaleic Esters
I*
DIETHYL M a l e a t e Sp. Gr. : 1.0703 B. P.: 222.4 C
C0P0LYMERIZATI0N WITH: DIBUTYL M a l e a t e Sp. Gr..· 0 . 9 9 6 4 B. P.: 280.6 C DI(2-ETHYLHEXYL) M a l e a t e Sp. Gr.: 0 . 9 4 3 6 B. P.: decomposes
VIIIYI
VIIIUIIUC
Vinyl Acetate Acrylonitrile Vinylidene Chloride A N D AS INTERMEDIATES
I
I N N E W SYNTHESES
j
Inquiries f o r other Maleic Esters a r e invited.
G A R B I DE A N D C A R Β Ο Ν CHEMICALS
2846
CORPORATION
CH
EMICAL
sides espionage, there are at least two known physical means of detecting atom bomb explosions: earth shock recorders similar in principle to seismographs, and radiation detectors capable of registering unnatural accumulations of radioactivity in the atmosphere. T h e latter means also requires careful study of air movements to trace the radioactivity's source. Effects of the Bikini explosions were said to have been observed by both methods. It has been reported that the United States has a chain of shock-recording stations extending from Cuxhaven, Germany, to Florence, Italy, which weiv ostensibly set up t o record the effects of blasts used to blow up the German fortress of Helgoland two years ago. Although no government officials would reveal the manner of detection, two spokesmen said to be in high government circleswere reported to have indicated thai mechanical means were employed. T h e location of the blast or blasts was· the subject of several reports from Europe. French army engineer^ and scientists were reported to have detected three atomic explosions on the plains of central Russia near Tobogsk, 1,150 mile* east of Moscow. American-made instruments, furnished by the United States for atomic surveillance 10 months ago were reported to have been used. A Paris newspaper pointed t o Saratov, about 500 miles north of Stalingrad, as the location of the Russians' first successful A-bomb explosion on July 10. A spokesman for the State Institute of Physics in Prague said the institute seismograph recorded a violent quak«on July 10, estimated to have occurred in southern Turkestan. T h e Paris-Press Intransigeant claimed three separate atomic explosion» in Russia had been detected early in September. T h e locations were traced to a spot 750 miles east of the Urals. An earth tremor from the Black tfea area of Russia was picked up on Sept 14 b y the same seismograph in Athens which recorded the Bikini explosions, according to a report from Greece. Several other European meteorological stations have been reported to have recorded earth shocks this summer apparently originating in Russia or Siberia. Any tie-in to atom bomb blast origin at the time was said to have been met with skepticism b y scientists. On Tuesday, the Christian Science Monitor reported that a copyrighted dispatch from Berlin revealed that the test was conducted somewhere in the Kazakhstan Desert in central Asia. Pietro Nenni, leader of the pro-CornAND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
munist Italian socialists recently returned from a visit t o Moscow, said t h e Soviet atomic explosion occurred in Eastern Siberia. Places named as centers of Soviet atom bomb work include Alma A t a , capital of the province of Kavakstan in central Asia ; Sukhum in southern Trans caucasia o n the Black S e a ; Kara-Kum, south of Lake Aral in Turkmenistan; Zlatoust, south of Cheliabinsk in the Urals; and Tashkent, in Uzbekistan. Several reports agreed that there have been three bombs exploded, the first two in t h e area of the Caspian Sea, but one correspondent added that t w o earlier attempts in the same area were unsuccessful. Defense establishment officials were quoted as saying very definitely that the Russian development of atomic fis sion was not based on information stolen from the United States. Information and samples of U 235 obtained by a Soviet spy ring in Canada, however, would have been of considerable help in atomic research, according t o the Royal Commission Report on Espio nage. President Truman's announcement was met with official silence from the U.S.S.R. until Sunday, Sept. 25, when Tass, the official Russian news agency, issued a radio statement referring to previous announcements which claimed that Rus sia has had the secret of the atom bomb since 1947. Commenting o n t h e an nouncement "that an atomic explosion has occurred in Russia," Tass stated that ''the Soviet Union is working on many projects which require large-scale blast ing. I t is possible this blasting might draw attention beyond t h e confines of the Soviet Union." Reached in Atlantic City on Friday, just at t h e close of the AMERICAN C H E M I
CAL SOCIETY'S 116th Meeting, A C S Presi dent Linus Pauling issued the following statement : T h e statement b y President Truman that an atomic explosion has occurred in the U.S.S.R. has not come as a surprise r.o the scientists of the United States. Four years ago it was estimated b y t h e men w h o worked o n the atomic bomb project that the Russian scientists and engineers would be able t o build a n atomic bomb in approximately five years, b y making use of information available to every nation, as summarized in the S m y t h Report. S o far as I a m aware t h e S y m t h Report did n o t con tain a n y information in the field of pure science that had n o t already b e e n published and it is m y opinion that t h e technical processes referred to in t h e Smyth Report as having been used suc cessfully for t h e production of fissionable material would surely have been tried out b y t h e Russians whether or n o t they were mentioned in the report. Since this development, t h e occurrence of an atomic explosion in Russia, is o n e that w e have been expecting, there is no reason for the people of the United States t o b e unduly excited b y it. I
VOLUME
believe that the event should, however, serve t o point out t h e necessity of tak ing immediate action t o avert t h e atomic catastrophe that the world is facing. I believe that i t should b e a warning t o the people of the world and a potent incentive t o the nations of t h e world to resume negotiations through t h e United Nations Organization for t h e establishment of an effective system of international control of atomic energy. These negotiations, to be successful, will have t o be carried o u t i n a spirit of compromise and mutual cooperation between the East and t h e West. This is, of course, a very difficult task. An effective system of control of atomic energy would require the relinquishment of a certain amount of national sover eignty, and this has been opposed i n the past both by Russia and b y t h e western nations. T h e supernational or ganization controlling atomic energy would have t o be provided with teeth, and both t h e East and t h e West would have t o agree to t h e transfer of power to this organization in t h e interests of the world as a whole. I n answer t o t h e question as t o how the United States has obtained the information that an atomic explosion has occurred in Russia, I would say, not as an atomic scientist but from a general background of knowl edge of physics and chemistry, that it probably has been obtained by the meas urement, with Geiger counters, of an increased amount of radioactive material (the products of fission) in t h e air, t h e time required for these products of fission to b e distributed over the earth's surface by the motion of air masses being approximately a week. The amount of radioactivity distributed over t h e earth's surface this way is not great enough t o be dangerous to man.
^Estradiol Potency in Estrogenic Hormones T h e F o o d and Drug Administration has announced that estrogenic hormone preparations, when fabricated in whole or in part from α-estradiol, should indi cate the content of t h e α-estradiol in terms of weight. F D A states that t h e declaration of the potency of α-estradiol in terms of international units of estrone activity is misleading since there is n o international unit for measuring activity of α-estradiol and n o accepted relation ship between its activity and that of estrone either in test animals or in humans. Details are found in the Federal Register, V o l . 14, N o . 165.
Raw Material for Supplied to Merck
Cortisone
Substantial quantities of desoxycholic acid, representing t h e annual yield from the bile of 200,000 cattle, will b e supplied by Winthrop-Stearns, Inc., t o Merck & Co. under an arrangement recently con cluded. Desoxycholic acid i s the only presently available starting material for the production of cortisone, whose dra matic value in the treatment ôf arthritis was discovered at t h e Mayo Clinic. I n announcing t h e arrangement Winthrop-Stearns, Inc., disclosed that it is
2 7, N O . 4 0 » » O C T O B E R
3, 1 9 4 9
LECISION-BORE DSL ASS TUBING tight or tapei [S NOl
Cdjflfnuous l e n ^ p upP» 12 f e e t - as^few as 99Èyter foot in q^niity Tajpiered meterin^ftubes wâfê glass or metal ball '*': A
floats
O.0|8" to 6.0" I.DL unif oi§n w i t h i η =ç West Coast sales representative of the vacuum equipment sales division of Distillation P r o d u c t s , Inc., has been announced by A. H. Hart man, the division's sales manager. Distillation Products. Inc.. is a subsidiary of E a s t m a n K o d a k Co. T h e export business of Merck & Co., Inc., will be conducted under the name Merck ( N o r t h A m e r i c a n ) Inc., it has been announced by G. W. Merck, presi dent of both firms, in letters to the export company's customers. T h e former name of the Merck export subsidiarv was P.W.R. Export Corp. Protective coatings division of P i t t s b u r g h Coke & Chemical Co. has an nounced the opening of a new office at 711 T h o m p s o n Building. Tulsa. Okla., to serve the central midwest. F . E. M c Xulty, former manager of the Koppers Co.'s Tulsa office, has joined the pro tective coatings staff as manager of the new office. Appointment of Η. Η . Means as service manager of protective coatings for the entire United States has also been announced. A m e r i m e x I n t e r n a t i o n a l , Inc., 1 East 42nd St.. New York, announces a complete foreign marketing service avail able to manufacturers in the drug, cos metic, and allied industries. T h e prin cipals of t h e newly organized company are Preston Mciïotîdwin. Jr.. and R H A meson. J a m e s P . M a r s h Corp. of Skokie, 111., has announced the purchase of the electrimatic valve division of Simoniz Co. of Chicago. All electrimatic valves will now be manufactured a n d distributed by the Marsh C o r p .
J
University N e w s
I
Graduate Courses at Delaware A total of 13 evening and S a t u r d a y graduate courses in chemistry and chemical engineering will be available to chemists and chemical engineers of the Wilmington area who desire to continue
2850
WEEK
formal s t u d y . T h e s e courses a r e being t a u g h t b y t h e University of Delaware faculty a n d by visiting lecturers from industry. Courses listed for t h e fall semester a r e : chemical thermodynamics, physical organic chemistry, physical chemical m e t h o d s , alicyclic compounds and terpenes, advanced inorganic chemistry, colloid chemistry, qualitative organic analysis, advanced physical m e t a l lurgy, chemical engineering problems, applied chemical kinetics, fluid m e chanics, drying of solids, a n d chemical engineering economics. Advanced courses in mathematics, physics, a n d mechanical engineering, as well as a variety of general cultural a n d self-impro\ r ement subjects are available.
Practical Course in Metallurgical Engineering Lehigh University, in cooperation with Bethlehem Steel Co., will inaugurate a new program of practical study in m e t a l lurgical engineering in the fall semester of 1950, according t o a joint a n n o u n c e m e n t issued recently. T h e new graduate curriculum will lead to t h e degree of master of science in metallurgical engineering practice. It is patterned after the school of chemical engineering practice at M I T . In addition to facilities o n t h e Lehigh University campus, a field station will be established in the local plant of t h e Bethlehem Steel Co. R. D . Stout, associate professor of metallurgy, will be the director of t h e field station. In outlining t h e course, G. E . D o a n , head of the d e p a r t m e n t of metallurgical engineering a t Lehigh, stated t h a t students will spend 24 weeks at t h e field station installation. T h e work performed \vi 11 consist essentially of original investigations of a development and plant test n a t u r e . After practical work is completed at the field station, students will be r e quired to carry a curriculum of 15 hours at Lehigh during the spring semester. This will include a required laboratory thesis, nine hours of metallurgical engineering courses, and one free elective. Enrollment in this course will b e limited to 10 graduate students.
First Tests of ISC Synchrotron T h e Iowa S t a t e College Institute for Atomic Research has made t h e first tests of its new 80 million-volt synchrotron. T h e a t o m smasher was built b y G e n eral Electric Co. in Schenectady, Ν . Υ. P a r t s were assembled in Ames b y m e m bers of t h e physics d e p a r t m e n t . S o m e five miles of electrical control wiring were completed b y electrical engineering
CHEMICAL
s t u d e n t s over t h e past several months? I t will b e several more m o n t h s before t h e entire installation is complete and r e a d y for operation, college officials said. T h e Iowa State synchrotron is housed in a special building built on a 200-acre tract northwest of t h e m a i n c a m p u s T h e building also contains laboratories» for research work and the training of g r a d u a t e students in phj'sies. I t s con struction was possible through fundim a d e available b y the Iowa S t a t e Col lege I n s t i t u t e for Atomic Research
Science
Show
Presented
" M a r c h of Research," a science show particularly designed for t h e average l a y m a n with a curiosity in scientific p h e n o m e n a , was presented a t t h e Uni versity of Detroit recently b y t h e Wesiinghouse Research Laboratories. Sponsored b y t h e university's studeui chapters of t h e American I n s t i t u t e of Electrical Engineers a n d t h e radio engi neers of t h e university, t h e show wa> conducted by R. C. Hitchcock, science lecturer a t t h e company's Pittsburgh laboratories. D e m o n s t r a t i o n s included a t o m i c power in action, jet propulsion, new magnetic materials, high tempera ture alloys, and new plastics.
University of Toronto to Open Chemistry Building A scientific conference will b e held ai t h e University of T o r o n t o Dec. 1, 2, and 3 in connection with opening ceremonies for t h e new Wallberg Memorial building for chemistry and chemical engineering T h r e e outstanding chemists will deliver scientific papers o n Dec. 1; t h e building will b e opened b y Viscount Alexander. G o v e r n o r General of C a n a d a , on Dec. 2 ; a n d three leading chemical engineers will be heard o n Dec. 3 . T h e n e w building, construction of which was b e g u n in 1946, houses 28 teaching labs, 56 research labs, 5 lecture theaters, 15 offices, and 13 s t u d y rooms. Each lab is supplied with steam, h o t and cold water, gas, air, 25 and 60 cycle cur rent, and direct current.
Akron Lecture
Polymer Group
T h e University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, will sponsor a program of lectures d u r ing t h e 1949-50 season on polymer c h e m istry. Subjects include : "Intrinsic Viscosi ties of P o l y m e r s , " "Orion," "Free R a d i cals and C h a i n R e a c t i o n s , " " E m u l s i o n Polymerization," "Fundamentals of E m u l s i o n Polymerization of S t y r e n e , " " T h e Properties of I o n Exchange R e s i n s as Acid C a t a l y s t s , " and "Flow Properties of High P o l y m e r s . "
AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
