Naslov
Radiation processing in the former Yugoslavia, 1947-1966 - From big science to nullity

Autori
Ražem, Dušan

Izvornik
Minerva (0026-4695) 32 (1994), 3; 309-326

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, ostalo

Ključne riječi
Radiation processing

Sažetak
The years after the Second World War were times of great technological optimism, confidence that science could bring peace and prosperity for all, and the conviction that national prestige depended on the promotion of scientific discovery and application. The image of contemporary science was dominated by nuclear science. This was true even in a relatively poor country like Yugoslavia. Although it was not clear at the end of the war what good might be expected from the application of the discoveries in nuclear physics, the conviction that there must be some was strong. J. Robert Oppenheimer said: "Therefore, if I speak of "beneficial applications", I want to make it clear that I don't know at all precisely what they are, but I share the belief that is widespread in the American people that a development of this kind in the hands of intelligent and resourceful men will lead to good thins". The poorer countries had to confine themselves to less elaborate equipment and more modest ambitions. One of these was the development of ideas on the use of large sources of radiation for the irradiation of substances ; it aimed at achieving definite technological goals - for example, food preservation by irradiation - and became known as radiation processing. This activity was accessible only to institutions, such as nuclear research centres, which were adequately equipped and staffed for handling relatively large sources of radiation. The development of radiation processing is thus inseparable from the development of radiation research. In former Yugoslavia, as well as in many other poor countries, in the absence of large accelerators, radiotelescopes and similar installations, nuclear research institutes - which were considered the most desirable establishments of "big science" - concentrated on radiation processing.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Kemija

POVEZANOST RADA