Development of Instrumental Techniques: The Twentieth Century - Important Figures of Analytical Chemistry from Germany in Brief Biographies - page 113

was on the solubility of I 2 in CO 2 . After a short time as assistant in Hanover, he
accepted a post at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut (KWI) für Chemie in Berlin (1929).
Straßmann's expertise in analytical chemistry was employed for working with
radioactive isotopes and their application for structure elucidation and for age
determination of minerals and stones. His paid post expired at the end of 1932,
but he continued his work, unsalaried, at the KWI [ 88 ]. In 1934, he declined a job
in industry because he did not want to register with the Nazi-controlled German
Chemical Society. Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner found an assistantship for him
at the KWI at half pay (1934), and from 1935 on a full assistant position. The
Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (now Humboldt-Universität) Berlin denied him
habilitation, which was a prerequisite for academic career, because of his opposi-
tion to the Nazi system.
Straßmann's task was the investigations of the products of uranium bom-
barded by neutrons [ 89 ]. Enrico Fermi reported the generation of transuranium
elements by neutron bombardment but was unable to identify such elements by
chemical means. Hahn and Straßmann succeeded at the end of 1938 in the detec-
tion of an artificial radioactive Ba isotope, i.e. they discovered nuclear fission. Lise
Meitner and her nephew Otto Frisch provided the physical interpretation of the
analytical results (1939). Straßmann continued his investigations of fission prod-
ucts of thorium and uranium as well as on the element 93 until 1946 (for portrait
see Fig. 4.15 ). All his results were continuously published in publicly accessi-
ble journals Naturwissenschaften, Zeitschrift für Physik and Abhandlungen der
preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. After major destruction during bom-
bardment of Berlin, the KWI was relocated in 1944 to Tailfingen (now part of
Fig. 4.15 Fritz Straßmann
in the Institute for Inorganic
and Analytical Chemistry
Johann Gutenberg-Universität
Mainz, around 1960. Photo
Chronicle, Universität
Mainz, Institute for Nuclear
Chemistry, with permission