Long before the hydrogen bomb indelibly associated radioactivity with death, many chemists, physicists, botanists, and geneticists were excited thinking that radium held the key to the secret of life. Luis Campos examines the many and varied connections between early radioactivity research and understandings of vitality, both scientific and popular, in the first half of the twentieth century. As some physicists and chemists early on described the wondrous new element and its radioactive brethren in lifelike terms ( decay, half-life, and frequent reference to the natural selection and evolution of the elements), many biologists of the period eagerly sought to bring radium into the biological fold. They did so with experiments aimed at elucidating some of the most basic phenomena of life, including metabolism and mutation, and often saw in these phenomena properties that in turn reminded them of the new element. These initially provocative links between radium and life proved remarkably productive in experimental terms and ultimately led to key biological insights into the origin of life, the nature of mutation, and the structure of the gene. "Radium and the Secret of Life" traces the half-life of this connection between the living and the radioactive, while also exploring the approach to history that emerges when one follows a trail of associations that, asymptotically, never quite disappears."

Excerpt from The Wonders of Radium: Explained in a Popular Manner This brief discourse is intended to place before you, in a popular manner, the wonders of Radium, which have revolutionised modern Science, and indeed, hold out the promise of giving to mankind new powers, undreamt of.a few years ago. It is necessary to omit all calculations, technical data, and various delicate experiments, from which the facts here given were obtained, and many of these facts, moreover, cannot be accepted as perfectly accurate, since it is desired to avoid a considerable amount of technicality which must otherwise be introduced, if the subject is to be treated from a purely scientific standpoint. My object is to explain to the mind which is not technical, the wonders of radio-active matter, and the results possible from the discovery. Consequently, the simplest language and the simplest methods must be employed. I have taken my facts in a large measure from the papers and works of Professors Rutherford, Strutt, Soddy, Makover, Sir William Ramsay, Sir J. J. Thomson, the Curies, Becquerel, and others. It was Becquerel who first investigated the radio-active nature of Uranium; and later the Curies, when examining Uranium ore for radio-active properties, found some minerals far more active than would have been expected, and naturally concluded that there must be something more in the material than the Uranium they were examining. The result was the discovery of a highly radio active substance called Polonium, which is in fact a substance produced from Radium during its disintegration. Later, the Curies found the element known as Radium, which Madame Curie was recently able to obtain in a metallic state, but which could not be kept in that state owing to its rapid combination with other elements. In fact, Radium is generally used in the form of a bro mide, sulphate, or other combination. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

A fascinating exploration of the properties and potential uses of radium, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the subject, presented in language that is accessible to the layperson. With informative illustrations and clear explanations, David Lionel Goldsmidstern Salomons sheds light on one of the most intriguing and mysterious substances known to science. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.