Anticipations and Discoveries of the Heavy Hydrogen Isotopes, 1913-1939

Abstract

Just as the chemical elements from hydrogen (Z = 1) to oganesson (Z = 118) once were discovered, so were the numerous isotopes. The histories of how the isotopes were discovered are less well known, but in a few cases they are as interesting and instructive as those of the elements figuring in the periodic table. Following an overview of criteria usually associated with the concept of discovery in general, this paper examines in detail the historical developments that led to the discoveries of deuterium and tritium and also, as a by-product, the helium-3 isotope. It also includes a brief section on the neutron, which in the 1920s, when it was still a hypothetical particle, was sometimes discussed together with the mass-2 and mass-3 hydrogen isotopes. The paper concludes with a discussion of priority questions relating to suggestions of the two heavy isotopes as well as to their actual discoveries.