From Natural History to the Nuclear Shell Model: Chemical Thinking in the Work of Mayer,Haxel, Jensen,and Suess

In 1949 the nuclear shell model was discovered simultaneously in the United States and Germany. Both discoveries were the result of a nuclear scientist looking at geochemical and nuclear data with the eyes of a chemist. Maria Goeppert Mayer in the United States and Hans Suess in Germany both brought a chemists perspective to the problem; the theoretical solution was subsequently supplied independently by Mayer and Hans Jensen.Karen E. Johnson is Priest Associate Professor at St.Lawrence University, where she teaches physics and history of science. She is currently writing a dual biography of Maria Goeppert Mayer and Joseph E.Mayer.