University of Manchester to Celebrate Wrong Transmutation Discovery

June 5, 2019 — By Steven B. Krivit —

Fifth in a Series of Articles on the Rutherford Nitrogen-to-Oxygen Transmutation Myth

This Saturday, the University of Manchester will host a one-day meeting titled “Centenary of Transmutation.” The purpose of the meeting is to “celebrate the centenary of the first experiments to successfully transmute one element into another.”

The meeting has been organized by the U.K. Institute of Physics History of Physics Group and the Royal Society of Chemistry, based on the long-held incorrect belief that, in 1919, at the University of Manchester, Rutherford had transmuted nitrogen into oxygen. This transmutation claim has been one of the longest-standing myths in the history of modern physics.

According to the organizers, the meeting marks “100 years since publication of ‘Collision of Alpha-Particles with Light Atoms: I, II, III, IV,’ by Ernest Rutherford, June 1919” and is intended to “celebrate the centenary of Rutherford’s discovery of artificial transmutation by collision of alpha-particles with nitrogen.”

But the organizers, like most people in the past 70 years, were mistaken about this history. By now, however, most of the meeting organizers and top university officials know that the transmutation discovery belongs to Patrick Blackett, not Rutherford, that those experiments took place at the University of Cambridge, not the University of Manchester, and that they were published in 1925, not 1919. Some of these people have known for two years.

Until July 10, 2018, the University of Manchester had claimed on its Web site that Rutherford had not only performed nitrogen-to-oxygen transmutation experiments but also done so at Manchester:

Between 1914 and 1919, Rutherford conducted many experiments at the University by bombarding nitrogen gas with alpha particles. These experiments found some of the alpha particles were absorbed by the nitrogen nuclei. This process led to excess energy in the nitrogen nuclei, resulting in an oxygen atom and a hydrogen nucleus being emitted.

The main speaker at Saturday’s meeting will be New Zealander John Campbell, a promoter of the New Zealand-born Rutherford. For decades, Campbell had told public and scientific audiences that Rutherford was the world’s first successful alchemist because he performed an experiment that showed the transmutation of the element nitrogen to the element oxygen.

Earlier this week, Campbell changed his position. Here’s a list of people who now know the facts about this history:

University of Manchester
On June 26, 2018, I notified Martin Schröder, vice-president and dean, professor of chemistry, and Sean Freeman, head of the School of Physics and Astronomy and professor of nuclear physics, at the University of Manchester, of the historical facts.

On July 10, 2018, the University of Manchester began correcting its Web site. (One more detail remains to be corrected.) Here are links to the current page, a PDF image of the original page, a PDF of the first correction, and a PDF of the most recent correction to the page.

Royal Society of Chemistry
On July 11, 2018, I wrote to Robert Parker, chief executive officer of the RSC. Parker directed my letter to Stephen Hessey, education content manager for the RSC.

On October 23, 2018, the Royal Society of Chemistry corrected its Web site in full concordance with the historical facts. Here are links to the current page, a PDF image of the original page, and a PDF of the corrected page.

Institute of Physics
On Sept. 5, 2018, I notified Charles Tracy, IOP Head of Education; Dame Julia Higgins, President, IOP Council; and Martin Andrew Whitaker, Chairman, IOP History of Physics Group.

On September 28, 2018, the IOP Digital Education division corrected its Web site in full concordance with the historical facts. Here are links to the current page, a PDF image of the original page, and a PDF of the corrected page.

The University of Manchester
On May 19, 2019, I notified Neil Todd and Peter Rowlands, the organizers of the June 8, 2019, meeting, about the fact that the meeting, as promoted, was for the wrong discovery and wrong discoverer. I also informed Michael Jewess, a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry Historical Group; James Hopkins, the historian and heritage manager at the University of Manchester; and Martin Schröder, the vice-president and dean at Manchester. They did not respond.

University of Manchester Leadership
On May 21, 2019, I informed the leadership of the University of Manchester: Lemn Sissay, Chancellor; Edward M. Astle, Chair of the Board of Governors; and Gillian Easson, Pro-Chancellor, about the situation.

A few hours later, Todd responded, “We will respond to you in due course with a considered view when the IOP History of Physics of Group has had a chance to review your various claims.”

I wrote back immediately to Todd and informed him that the IOP not only had reviewed my information eight months earlier but had also concurred.

Tomorrow: The Origin of The Rutherford Transmutation Myth