Otto Berg (scientist)

Otto Berg ( born November 23, 1873 in Berlin, † 1939) was a German chemist. In 1925 he was involved in the discovery of element 75, rhenium, by Walter and Ida Tacke Noddack, and not officially recognized discovery of the element 43, which the research team at the time the name was Masurium (today technetium ).

Life

From 1894 to 1898 studied mountain Chemistry in Berlin, Heidelberg and Freiburg im Breisgau. In the years 1902-1911 he worked as a lecturer in Greifswald. He was then an employee of Siemens & Halske in Berlin- Charlottenburg.

As a specialist in X-rays, he supported Walter and Ida Tacke Noddack ( after her marriage Ida Noddack ) in the search for the last unknown natural elements, namely those with atomic numbers 43 and 75 in 1925, the team managed the discovery of the two; they called Masurium and rhenium. Rhenium could be detected in spectra and separated in an amount of 1 g. Despite the röntgenspektroskopischen proof of the element showed in 28 of 1000 spectra safe and in 70 cases, most likely 43 Masurium remained Noddack, Tacke and Berg denied recognition because they could not isolate the element and signals - on the border of traceability - could not be reproduced.

The recognized discovery in 1937 by Emilio Segrè and Carlo Perrier, who gave him the name technetium. On the IUPAC conference in 1949 the name was officially established.