New Worlds in Nuclear Physics

One of the primary reasons of maritime exploration during the 15^th-16^th centuries was to advance the commercial interests of nations such as Spain and Portugal. Indeed, Christopher Columbus searched for a westward route to the rich islands of East Asia. Ferdinand Magellan expanded this objective and reached the Spice Islands in the western Pacific Ocean.

Scientific exploration also seeks for treasure, but this treasure is the treasure of knowledge. As scientific experiments build our knowledge, we increasingly have a better idea of what the unknown is like.

One region of discovery in science today is the known isotopes of the chemical elements. These can be plotted by proton and neutron number. As we do a three-dimensional plot of proton number, neutron number, and the logarithm of the lifetime, we obtain what looks like a landmass with a mountain range in the middle. This is what nuclear physicists call the “nuclear landscape”. As each new isotope is discovered, we in a sense discover a new small piece of the nuclear landscape.

My Picture of Orcas Island, WA

A frequent criticism of nuclear physics is that all of the expense of experiments usually results in a small number of atoms of short-lived isotopes. Critics see the enormous cost of experiments as worthless considering the seemingly underwhelming results of fleetingly-lived atoms.

However, the study of nuclear physics has led to enormous technological advancements over the last 100 years. If Henri Becquerel never placed a piece of uranium on a photographic plate in the dark, then we would have never understood the concept of radioactivity. If Ernest Rutherford never bombarded that gold foil with alpha particles, we would have never entered the new world of nuclear physics. If Frederick Soddy never bothered to study the different lifetimes of a substance with the same chemical properties (which would later be known as protactinium), then our knowledge of different isotopes of uranium (fissile vs non-fissile) would never have come to fruition, and nuclear fission would never have become a major power source for the world. Therefore, the study of nuclear physics has given us profound technological advancements and advantages over time.

Likewise, if Christopher Columbus never sailed west to find a new route to the Far East, then our knowledge of the Americas would have been postponed. Instead, the discovery of the Americas eventually led to the creation of the United States of America, a beacon of freedom to the world.