The naming of the deuteron involved a protracted debate between 1933 and 1935. The principal protagonists were Harold C. Urey, Gilbert N. Lewis, Ernest O. Lawrence, and Ernest Rutherford, but others on both sides of the Atlantic entered the fray as well. This paper examines the arguments and issues that emerged in the debate, and the process by which agreement was finally achieved on the name for this new particle.

Topics
Isotopes, Physicists, Public policy and governance
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© 1986 American Association of Physics Teachers.
1986
American Association of Physics Teachers
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