ll. t. Ch. 4 (8 15 pp Anl", n . St nd M. Orn, Ed., h tr nd KASIMIR FAJANS (1887-1975): rrvtn fChl Intrnttn, dl, tn, 86, pp. THE MAN AND HIS WORK 24. Ehrnn, rh nr Shlznt t hülf dr rt I: Erp rlft, Strbr, 8. 4. Ehrnn, E d nArt d n l Ad d l Ar d Reynold E. Holmen, White Bear Lake, MN Ar tl, rtl, Strbr, 8. h rnh trnl tn f rfrn , t hh t r b vr r ddd. To some, the name of Kasimir Fajans calls to mind a man . S Crll t Entdnn, 8, 8, nd rfrn whose early achievements in radiochemistry secured for him 6, pp. 24. a place in the history of chemistry. A very few may recall one 6. S . rtntn, A tr f Chtr, l. , Ml of those blue volumes published under the aegis of the Baker ln, ndn, 62, p. 48. Lectures at Cornell University and which evolved from lec- . A. vr, "Sr n n d ntr ndrbl tures given by Fajans during his visit to the United States in nt ltn d f t d l hlr, dn l prtn h", 1930. Some may even have been contemporaneous with his M. Ad. S., 82, 4, pblhd 8. Al rprntd n teaching years at the University of Michigan, beginning in Ovr d vr, l. 2, Iprr Iprl, r, 86, pp. 1936. If so, his name may conjure up recollections of an 4242. r n Enlh r, rfrn 6, p. 48. outspoken critic of instruction in chemistry, particularly of the 8. C. Mntj, El tr d n ptt G dominant qualitative approach to chemical bonding. To yet prd hrd d Srn, rr rdnt d rlnt d r, Le another group, those who were fortunate to have heard one or rnt brr, r, 800. more lectures by him, the name recalls a person who left an . Cn, "El d M. rdnt d Srn", Mr indelible mark on his listeners. r Srvr A tr Sn, Cl, r, 80. None of these recollections, however, really gives much 20. Wtbr, "brt r, r. Arn Eltrh insight into what made this man "tick" or into the genesis of his l nr", n G. bprnll nd . Wtbr, Ed., Sltd major contributions to the progress of chemistry in our century. p n th tr f Eltrhtr, Eltrhl St, In this account I will try, among other things, to reduce this void rntn, , 8, pp. 004. by recounting some of the events said by him to have had a 2. r frthr dtl f th lf f hrd, E. Gnzlz, profound influence on the development and direction of his "n ptt Gprd hrd d Srn: bln, Mtht career (1). n, Atrnr, ht, Cht, rntr, blhr, Artt nd Kasimir Fajans, the centennial of whose birth was cele- Mn", prntd t th Mdt nt n th tr f Sn, brated in 1987 (2), was born in Warsaw, Poland, on 27 May I Stt Unvrt, A, I, 28 Aprl 8. 1887. He was the second child and the elder son of five 22. h bldn ltd t d lUnvrté, r, children born to Herman and Wanda (Wolberg) Fajans. Both rn, 00. parents' families had members who had distinguished them- 2. rnl ntn fr M. n r, Edtrl selves at some period during the 18th, 19th, or 20th centuries: Gllrd, r. whether in science, medicine, music, photography, govern- 24. r, Mr f th Sppl nd Appltn f th l ment, or in Polish patriotic movements. The Fajans family was pp, Chl St f hldlph, hldlph, 802. part of the highly emancipated and "polonized" Jewish popu- prntd n hl. M., 802, 4, 28, 288 nd Ann. Ch., 802, lation. Polish, not Yiddish, was the daily language. Not surpris- 4, . ingly, as the elder son, Kasimir served as a role model for his 2. S, fr xpl, . Mthll, Elnt f Chl younger siblings in what was reported to have been a loving hlph, Crr nd rbn, Cnnnt, O, 82, ftnt n and respectful family environment. p. 6. For the first years, private teachers taught Fajans at home. 26. r brf r f th rl htr f th xhdrn He later moved on to the Real-Gymnasium, a school where blpp, . rtntn, A tr f Chtr, l. , natural sciences, rather than Latin and Greek, were stressed. Mlln, ndn, 62, pp. 242. Nevertheless, the Russian dominance throughout the schools mandated that Russian be the official language. Polish was not allowed in the school building. The clash between Fajans' interests and that of the teacher's showed up in another way. In Dr. Elsa L. Gonzalez, 1414 E. 59th Street, Apt. 517, Chicago, a Russian language class, Fajans was once given a poor grade IL, 60637, is associated with the Morris Fishbein Center of the for writing on "Climate" as an essay subject. Fortunately the University of Chicago, and has made a detailed study of the life director of the school was a scientist and responded favorably of Bochard de Saron. to Fajans' complaint about the grade. Beyond his early interest in science, Fajans was also a sports lover. He played tennis 6 ll. t. Ch. 4 (8 (thn h pt p ntl rtrnt, rd bl ( nvlt thn, nd ftn hd n th ntrd nd n tn. h first vnt dntfbl td th th pf drtn f h vntl rr rn hn h nn r ld, vtnn th th fl t r rrt. fthr, n trnr bl vt fr th t, hd brht nl pblhd b bt th rntl dvrd öntn r. h nt, hh nldd th frt ptr f th bn thn th hn hnd, rd th b ntrt. In pn, t l f ntrt t nt tht, n r rlr, jn fthr hd hd th fthr f Mr Sld Cr h hh hl ph thr. jn fthr, hnd, bnvlnt nd llld, fl bnn rprntn Gr, lr txtl fr. h nntn d th fthr r f th ntrb tn f htr t d thnl. Undrtndbl, h vr h ntd h n t n t td d htr nd t t plnt n th txtl plnt. jn, hvr, r Kr jn. r 2. ntrtd n pr n thn n thnl. rthrr, th pltl ttn n lnd bd. pz ll, nd h tll n "At rfr" t Evn t th nvrt lvl ll bjt hd t b tht n th t (Grn prt lld nl n fll prfr n nd th dn f h tdnt rtrtd. rtz br the rfr f Chtr. rd was S, flln th xpl f rnn h ld ffrd t, jn ntrtd n tl, n fld n th brdrln btn ptd t lv lnd. Wth h fthr bln, h h t phl nd rn htr. h ppld t jn dl t th Unvrt f pz, ntndn t td bl. ntrt. Svrl ht (A. thnn, fr xpl hd h bjtv hnd drn th frt r, fr h n brvd tht trdrtd rtn ld b tlzd b b ntrtd n htr. h fd Wlhl Otld ntrll rrn nz, nd jn r th rd th rfr f Chtr. Aln th Arrhn, nt dlt th th f n tr b, h ntn, t ff, nd (ltr rnt, h hd bn n f th fndn prfrntll tlz th frtn f n r rtn fthr f th n dpln f phl hrntr n th prdt vr nthr. dtrl th nttld Partial 880 nd 80. Separation of Stereochemical Isomers by Asymmetrical Cat- h flt t pz d t b n dl n. h alysis (. dvr drn th r f th drtd ntf tphr prvd t b vr tltn nd jn drbxltn f phr rbxl d th frt ttndd n nr pbl. Evn thh h dd nt f ntht pnd t th trpf tlt ndrtnd h f th bjt ttr, h vld th hn t prprt f nz. r th h rnd th dr f Dr. hr nd t dtnhd ntt. Unfrtntl, Ot phil. nat. nd rdd th tr Mr prz n Otbr ld hd ddd t rtr t th rl f 2 n rdr t f 0. It drn h lt tr t dlbr tht jn pr h n thr ntrt, h th dvlpnt f n l hd th d frtn t t Sl Kpln, dl ntrntnl ln, lr thr, nd pntn. A vtn tdnt nd h ftr f. prfrhp t rvrd t h fr t f th hl f th prvln ndrt rl, th dtrl r, nd h rtrnd nl n t fr jn t hr h lt xntn prr t th rdn f th dr ndtd r ltr. Otld lft n 0 nd h r trnd tht rd. Onl fll prfr r lld n th t t b npbl. h, n trn, ld t th dprtr f th rntt, hh ntd f hlpp nrd, bl rz thr ntbl flt br, nldn M. dntn, . nnr nd rfr f h, d Könbrr, th rndlh (h brtr Atnt fr th r n rfr f Mtht, nd hdr Crt, h hd Qlttv Anl nd hd jt pltd h r n th dd tr Mr rfr f Orn Chtr drptn thr, nd . thr (Atnt brtr ("r rn th f nrn bprdt," rltd rtr nd thr f th Otldthr lbrtr txt jn. Crt, nt hn t brr jn, d f f phl htr. pl tn bt rn htr, bt dd nt dr t h nfrn nd nfvrbl dvlpnt l d hlln h n phl htr. hn, hvn fnhd n jn t lv fr dlbr th r. hr h h rr xntn, Crt prdd t pnd th nxt ptd t td ndr Gr rd, h hd rntl lft hr tln bt his own work.