Jacob Akiba Marinsky (April 11, 1918,

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

– September 1, 2005) was a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

who was the co-discoverer of the element

promethium Promethium is a chemical element with the symbol Pm and atomic number 61. All of its isotopes are radioactive; it is extremely rare, with only about 500–600 grams naturally occurring in Earth's crust at any given time. Promethium is one of onl ...

Biography

Marinsky was born in

on April 11, 1918. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo, beginning at age 16Jacob Marinsky; co-discoverer of promethium
Associated Press, September 9, 2005 and receiving a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in chemistry in 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was employed as a chemist for the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

, working for Clinton Laboratories (now

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research and ...

) from 1944 to 1946. In 1945, together with Lawrence E. Glendenin and

Charles D. Coryell Charles DuBois Coryell (February 21, 1912 – January 7, 1971) was an American chemist who was one of the discoverers of the element promethium. Coryell earned a Ph.D at California Institute of Technology in 1935 as the student of Arthur ...

, he isolated the previously undocumented

rare earth element The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or (in context) rare-earth oxides or sometimes the lanthanides (yttrium and scandium are usually included as rare earths), are a set of 17 nearly-indistinguishable lustrous silv ...

61 (promethium).Reactor Chemistry - Discovery of Promethium
, ''ORNL Review'', Vol. 36, No. 1, 2003 Marinsky and Glendenin produced it both by extraction from

fission product Nuclear fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large atomic nucleus undergoes nuclear fission. Typically, a large nucleus like that of uranium fissions by splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons, the release ...

s and by bombarding

neodymium Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is the fourth member of the lanthanide series and is considered to be one of the rare-earth metals. It is a hard, slightly malleable, silvery metal that quickly tarnishes i ...

with

neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beh ...

s. They isolated it using

ion-exchange chromatography Ion chromatography (or ion-exchange chromatography) separates ions and polar molecules based on their affinity to the ion exchanger. It works on almost any kind of charged molecule—including large proteins, small nucleotides, and amino a ...

. Publication of the finding was delayed until later due to the war. Marinsky and Glendenin announced the discovery at a meeting of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

in September 1947.Nervous Elements
Time magazine, September 29, 1947 Upon the suggestion of Charles D. Coryell's wife Grace Coryell, the team named the new element for the mythical god

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

, who stole fire from the gods and was punished for the act by

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

. They had also considered naming it "clintonium" for the facility where it was isolated.Promethium Unbound: A New Element
, ''ORNL Review'' Vol. 35, Nos. 3 and 4, 2002 Marinsky was among the Manhattan Project scientists who in 1945 signed a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

against using an

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He resumed his education after the war, obtaining a PhD in Nuclear and Inorganic Chemistry from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in 1949. He worked in industrial research before joining the faculty of the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1957.Jeremy Pearce
Jacob Marinsky, 87, Dies; Isolated Promethium Ions
''New York Times'', September 8, 2005 His research was concerned with nuclear

inorganic chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...

, physicochemical studies of

ion exchange Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one kind of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid with the reaction being used especially for softening or making water demineralised, ...

, and

polyelectrolyte Polyelectrolytes are polymers whose repeating units bear an electrolyte group. Ion#Anions and cations, Polycations and polyanions are polyelectrolytes. These groups dissociation (chemistry), dissociate in aqueous solutions (water), making the pol ...

and electrolyte systems. During the early 1960s Marinsky was a Fulbright Research Scholar at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He worked again for SUNY at Buffalo during the late 1960s; when during that time the university required faculty to sign an oath of loyalty to the United States, Marinsky refused, terming it a violation of

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

; some other faculty members lost their jobs due to such a refusal.Kenneth J. Heineman,
Campus Wars: The Peace Movement at American State Universities in the Vietnam Era
', NYU Press, 1994 , , pages 62-68. He retired in 1988, becoming a professor emeritus. In 1990, he received the Clifford Furnas Memorial Award of the State University of New York at Buffalo, awarded to graduates whose scientific accomplishments brought prestige to the university. Marinsky died on September 1, 2005, from

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, an ...

. He was buried in Pine Hill Cemetery in Buffalo. He was married to the former Ruth Slick, who survived him, for 63 years. They were the parents of four daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marinsky, Jacob A. 1918 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American chemists Discoverers of chemical elements Manhattan Project people Scientists from Buffalo, New York University at Buffalo faculty University at Buffalo alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Deaths from multiple myeloma Rare earth scientists