Tomás Batuecas Marugán (1893–1972) was a Spanish chemist, most notable for his work on atomic weights of the elements. Batuecas was a professor of chemistry and vice-chancellor of the

University of Santiago de Compostela , established = , type = Public , budget = €228 million (2011) , rector = Prof. Dr. Antonio López Díaz , city = Santiago de Compostela , state = Galicia , country = Spain , undergrad = 23,835 , postgrad = 1,716 , doctoral = 2,697 ...

Life

He graduated with honors from the Faculty of Sciences at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is th ...

in 1913 and in the same year began doctoral studies in Madrid under

Blas Cabrera Felipe Blas Cabrera y Felipe (May 20, 1878 – August 1, 1945) was a Spanish physicist. He worked in the domain of experimental physics with focus in the magnetic properties of matter. He is considered one of the greatest scientists of Spain and one ...

. In 1916, Batuecas studied in the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

with Philippe A. Guye where he was interested in density and compressibility of real gases. In Geneva he also met

Enrique Moles Ormella Enrique Moles Ormella (26 August 1883 – 30 March 1953) was a Spanish pharmacist, physicist, and chemist, most notable for his work on atomic weights of the elements. Enrique Moles is considered one of the foremost Spanish chemists of his time. ...

, who became his long-standing research colleague. In 1917, he presented his doctoral thesis at the University of Madrid and then returned for a brief period to the University of Geneva to teach chemistry. On his return to the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

, he continued his work on properties of gases with Cabrera and Moles. In 1932, Batuecas joined the University of Santiago, where he remained until his retirement in 1963. In 1936, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor. During his career, Batuecas published more than 130 scientific papers. His research mainly involved determinations of

atomic weight Relative atomic mass (symbol: ''A''; sometimes abbreviated RAM or r.a.m.), also known by the deprecated synonym atomic weight, is a dimensionless physical quantity defined as the ratio of the average mass of atoms of a chemical element in a giv ...

s, either using density measurements of gases or

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...

. The work on atomic weights started in Geneva in 1916 with Guye, and was focused to evaluate Daniel Berthelot’s method of limiting densities for real gases. In Madrid (1924) Batuecas also became interested in X-ray crystallography to determine the atomic weights of elements. The most notable contribution of Batuecas in this field is perhaps his role in the adoption of the international scale of atomic weights based on the

carbon-12 Carbon-12 (12C) is the most abundant of the two stable isotopes of carbon (carbon-13 being the other), amounting to 98.93% of element carbon on Earth; its abundance is due to the triple-alpha process by which it is created in stars. Carbon-12 i ...

nuclide. Batuecas was the chairman of the International Atomic Weights Commission from 1960–1963 and, in 1961, at the

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

(IUPAC) General Assembly held in Montreal, he played a decisive role in establishing the new atomic mass scale.

Honors

The city of Santiago, where Batuecas lived for 40 years, awarded him the silver medal of the city on the eve of his death. A street is named after him in Santiago. and in his hometown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batuecas, Tomas 1893 births 1972 deaths Spanish chemists University of Salamanca alumni Academic staff of the University of Santiago de Compostela Academic staff of the Complutense University of Madrid