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crossposted as requested by Donald Kerr on ExLibris. Please cc him on replies to this interesting question about the early history of radium: [log in to unmask] Karen Reeds 4/7/2011 >Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2011 23:43:07 +0000 >From: Donald Kerr <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Dr Hocken and radium > >Dear Exlibris colleagues, > >In December 1903, while preparing to return to >New Zealand, book collector Dr Thomas Morland >Hocken (1836-1910) purchased one sixth of a gram >of radium for £10. What intrigues me is how >Hocken, a visitor to England, secured the >radium, given its relatively new discovery by >the Curies and the extreme difficulty in >isolating it. (In December 1898, the Curie's >explained their discovery in the barium fraction >of another new element, which they named >"radium". Curie then set about separating the >radium from the barium - an exercise that was to >prove difficult. Despite the industrial >assistance the Curies received, it took the >Curies another four years to prepare one gram of >the element. To do so, they had to sift through >more than seven metric tons of pitchblende). > >Can anyone clarify what the situation was about >the trafficking and sale of this element at that >time. Was it available over the counter in >apothecary shops? If not, I imagine he got >professional assistance from a fellow surgeon. >And how was it packaged? A vial? And was that >the going rate for the element? Hocken certainly >obtained the radium in London, not Europe >(Paris). . > >While this is outside the normal coverage in the >list-group, perhaps a list member knows of >someone who deals in the field of history of >science, chemistry, etc. If so, could they >please pass this query on. Any leads would be >appreciated. > >Cheers >Donald >** please excuse cross-posting** >** >Dr. Donald Kerr, F.L.S. >Special Collections Librarian >University of Otago >P.O. Box 56 >Dunedin, New Zealand >Phone: (03) 479-8330 >Email: [log in to unmask] >** >Current Exhibition: >'Forging a Magical Landscape: The Works of Robert Graves, Poet.' >1 April to 17 June 2011 >http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/SpecialCollections/exhibitions.html > >** >'Happy, intense absorption in any work, which is >to be brought as near to perfection as possible, >this is a state of being with God, and the men >who have not known it have missed life itself.' >- D. H. Lawrence -- Karen Reeds, PhD, FLS Visiting Scholar, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania Princeton Research Forum http://www.princetonresearchforum.org/ [log in to unmask]