Talk:Glenn T. Seaborg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Glenn T. Seaborg has had a peer review by Wikipedia editors which is now archived. It may contain ideas you can use to improve this article.

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography. For more information, visit the project page.	Biography Portal
B	This article has been rated as B-Class on the project's quality scale. [FAQ]
	This article is supported by the Science and academia work group.
More information about this article... The following comments have been left for this page: I recently submitted an edit to this article. It had said that Seaborg sneaked a tiny camera past Soviet guards to photograph Kennedy and Khrushchev signing the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963. In fact, the Treaty was signed in Moscow, but Kennedy was not present. The U.S. delegation was headed by Averill Harriman, who signed for the U.S. I edited the article to remove the Kennedy reference. (edit)

	This article falls within the scope of WikiProject University of California, a WikiProject interested in improving the encyclopedic coverage and content of articles relating to University of California, its history, accomplishments and other topics. If you would like to help out, you are welcome to drop by the project page and/or leave a query at the project's talk page.
NB: Assessment ratings and other indicators given below are used by the Project in prioritizing and managing its workload.
???	This article has not yet been assigned a rating on the Project's quality scale.
???	This article has not yet been assigned a rating on the Project's importance scale.

	This article is within the scope of the San Francisco Bay Area WikiProject, a collaborative effort to build a more detailed guide on Wikipedia's coverage of San Francisco and the Bay Area. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.
B	This article has been rated as B-class on the quality scale.
Low	This article has been rated as low-importance on the importance scale.

[edit] Alpha Chi Sigma

Seaborg was actually fucked up, according to UCLA. "he always came to class high" said John Frank, dean of UCLA at that time. one of the founding members of the UCLA chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma, the fraternity of chemists said that he really regretted ever letting Seaborg or "SCREW-up"as they called him, join the frat. --205.175.225.5 17:58, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

I can confirm he was one of the founding members of the UCLA chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma, the professional chemistry fraternity. Restevens1 04:02, 20 May 2007 (UTC) restevens1

Seaborg also was chair of the fraternity's scholarship committee and served on its Educational Foundation Board of Directors. He frequently attended the national meetings, preferring to bunk in the dormatory with the other members, rather than a hotel room of his own. This lead to surprising introductions with collegiate members from universities from across the country, in the dorm restroom, standing there shaving early in the morning. Restevens1 04:22, 20 May 2007 (UTC)restevens1

[edit] Seaborg Medal

UCLA's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry awards the Seaborg Medal for achievement in chemistry and biochemistry. --205.175.225.5 17:58, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Plutonium preceded the Manhattan Project

While it is commonly assumed that plutonium was discovered during the Manhattan project, it was actually created by Seaborg and his associates on February 23, 1941 at 307 Gilman Hall, University of California, Berkley. The Manhattan Project did not begin until 1942.

Seaborg and his colleagues were quite disappointed and upset that pre-war secrecy prevented them from publishing their discoveries in scientific journals. They did send notices to both the Uranium Committee and the editors of Physical Review with a reluctant request that publication be withheld.

[edit] Books Section (help needed)

Seaborg wrote 50+ books. Please help complete this section if you can. Glenn4pr 08:53, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cleanup: Legacy section

I put a cleanup tag there because that section, a list of "principal accomplishments" seems like promotional material that is not ordinarily present in encyclopedic biographies. I really don't see the need for this list, as everything in it has already been mentioned in the article. The scope of the list should be better defined, or the list itself should be deleted.--Jiang 07:38, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

As you know, a biography of this sort is complicated by the sheer mass and range of the individual's accomplishments. In these cases, a summarizing section is in order to help crystallize the subject's principal accomplishments. For WP parallels, see the "Honors" section in the Einstein article. The "Legacy" section in the article on Isaac Newton, FDR and Mao. I suppose it becomes subjective to determine which biographies require these kind of summarizing sections regarding legacy. In Seaborg's case, however, he was listed in the Guiness Book of World's Records as having the longest entry in Marquis' Who's Who, which sort of justifies the need for a summary. Someone nominated this as one of the more important biographies, so that may be taken as another objective justification for a legacy section. Anyway, I'll try removing the bullet points and focusing on the legacy implications, when I get a chance. Glenn4pr 15:20, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

The summary of the article resides in its lead section; it is not necessary to summarize again. The "honors" section of the Einstein article lists awards (i.e. honors) given to Einstein over the years, after his death. The "legacy" section of the Newton article lists discoveries that were later expanded and molded. This is precisely what the word "legacy" means: things handed down from the past. "Legacy" does not mean "principal accomplishments" or "summary of one's biography". Element 106 is part of Seaborg's legacy; that he won the Nobel Prize or was given the title of University Professor is not. We don't need to repeat that he won the Nobel Prize since this fact is already visible in the lead section. --Jiang 23:47, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Jiang, since you have already given this some thought, I suggest that you go through this section and remove those items you object to. If they are already in the article, they should not be reinstated, and I would support you on that. Sincerely, GeorgeLouis 19:23, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] His alma mater

The infobox now gives him two alma maters. This is not possible. UCLA is his only alma mater (the school he graduated from). UC Berkeley is not his alma mater. I would change this but I don't know how to work infoboxes and can't find any help article about them. Sincerely, GeorgeLouis 05:32, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Seaborg received his bachelor's at UCLA and his doctorate at UC Berkeley. Since the definition of "Alma Mater" is the college or school that one attended or graduated from, I think it is reasonable to list both. Seaborg certainly considered himself an alumnus of both schools, regularly attending college bowl games for both schools (whenever they made it) until late in his life. Glenn4pr 02:12, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

After checking my Webster's 11th, I grant your point. Sincerely, GeorgeLouis 03:14, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

I'll bet, though, that during the period when he was chancellor at Berkeley, he muted his love for UCLA <grin>. MWS 16:21, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Writing address w/ elements

Removed the following:

For the remainder of his life, Seaborg was the only person in the world who could write his address in chemical element symbols: seaborgium, lawrencium, berkelium, californium, americium (Glenn Seaborg, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America), or, in chemical symbols: Sg, Lr, Bk, Cf, Am.

as it's trivial, and I doubt it's veracity. Seems out of place on a formal biography.Dirtyharry2 00:27, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

It might or might not be true, but it should be sourced if true. Did Seaborg actually do this? Seems like a stretch. GeorgeLouis 01:36, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

One of the first sources for this oft quoted point was an article in Discover magazine. See Jeffrey Winters, "What’s in a Name?" DISCOVER, Vol. 19 No. 01, January 1998. Also available on the web at http://www.discover.com/issues/jan-98/features/theyearinscience1309/ , website, accessed October 17, 2006. See also http://crookedtimber.org/2005/07/17/acronymity/ and http://www.tbtf.com/archive/0145.html#s09 Glenn4pr 05:56, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Rewrote passage regarding his address. It is more than trivia. It is instructive of both his prolific contributions to science and his strong ambition to create an enduring legacy. Glenn4pr 06:30, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm still not following. Other than Seaborgium (which is a proper name), anyone else who happened to live in the same place could claim the same 'achievement' regarding the address. I simply don't see the relevance. The fact that he discovered so many elements is documented at length elsewhere in the article, and tangential relevance to his address simply doesn't add much, IMHO. However, since I'm the poster who originally removed the text, I'll step back for someone else to act/not act.Dirtyharry2 18:21, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Although Seaborg never actually wrote his address on an envelope like this (to the best of my knowledge), I heard him say this. It is a "trivial" but unique fact. No one else living (before, at that time, nor currently) had an element named them. All were deceased at the time of naming, save Seaborg. Restevens1 04:08, 20 May 2007 (UTC)restevens1

[edit] Transmuting lead into gold?

I haven't been able to find any solid reference for the claim that he ever transmuted lead into gold. I did find a paper where he transmuted bismuth into gold. I suspect that the whole lead claim is just a kind of urban legend (bismuth didn't sound as glamorous, and most people haven't even heard of it!). The paper is K. Aleklett, D. J. Morrissey, W. Loveland, P. L. McGaughey, and G. T. Seaborg. Energy dependence of 209Bi fragmentation in relativistic nuclear collisions. Phys. Rev. C 1981, 23, 1044-1046. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.23.1044. (This work was originally presented at an ACS meeting in 1980, so the 1980 date in the article is correct.) --Itub 12:08, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Seaborgium - unconfirmed anecdote

I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Professor Seaborg while attending UCB and was struck by how tall and charming he was. Supposedly shortly after academics began using the seaborgium name for element 106, the ACS issued a statement reaffirming the policy of not naming elements after living people. As the story goes, when Seaborg was asked to comment on this, he said something to the effect of, "Well, it seems I've done enough to be nominated as the namesake for element 106, but as far as the ACS is concerned, I have yet to do one last thing--that is, to die." As morbid as it sounds, I'm certain it was meant to be humorous. It was definitely taken that way by people. (It's entirely possible that while the paraphrased comment is attributed to Seaborg, it was really made by someone else.) Of course, ultimately, the ACS relented. If anyone was worthy of making that exception, Seaborg was. --67.188.0.96 04:00, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

FWIW, I've heard the story too. I have no idea if it is real or just a legend, though. --Itub 09:19, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

The anecdote actually appears in his autobiography... "Adventures in the Atomic Age" or at least something similar to the anecdote does. The only reason I remember this anecdote was that it also applied to another, but by the time they named that element the other scientist had died. Das Nerd 02:00, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Per my personal conversation with Dr. Darleane Hoffman, she and Dr. Al Ghiorso had put together the idea to honor Glenn Seaborg. They ran it by Helen, his wife. She thought he would be pleased (and a little embarassed). So, they proposed it to IUPAC, which adopted it. Then they told Glenn. He was taken aback, but finally relented and agreed to this honor (since it was already a "done deal", he couldn't do much about it!) Restevens1 04:15, 20 May 2007 (UTC)restevens1