Albert Ghiorso: The man who expanded the periodic table
Albert Ghiorso (1915–2010), born in California to an Italian-American family, was not a conventional scientist. From an early age he showed an overflowing passion for electronics and radio, which led him to work on designing instruments for detecting atomic particles. That combination of technical ingenuity and scientific vocation catapulted him to the center of one of the most fascinating chapters of modern chemistry: the expansion of the periodic table.
Throughout his career at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Ghiorso took part in the discovery of 12 chemical elements, among them berkelium, californium, nobelium and lawrencium. He was a pioneer in detecting synthetic elements produced by particle accelerators, working alongside scientists such as Glenn T. Seaborg. Many of these elements were named in honor of institutions or regions linked to scientific progress —including his homeland— and opened new lines of research in nuclear physics and the chemistry of transuranic elements.
Ghiorso not only discovered; he also invented: he developed single-atom detection techniques and electronic recording systems that revolutionized the way of observing what once seemed unobservable. His legacy combines discovery, technology and a persistent vision of what science can achieve.
At CymitQuimica, we are inspired by that same ambition to explore the invisible and make it tangible. That is why we provide laboratories, universities and research centers with the materials they need to advance in fields such as nuclear chemistry, spectrometry or the synthesis of new compounds.
If you work in elemental analysis, nuclear physics research or materials characterization, we invite you to discover our selection of:
- Inorganic compounds: metals, metalloids, etc.
- Reference standards:
With more than 4 million scientific products within your laboratory’s reach, the CymitQuimica catalog is the ideal tool for those who want to go beyond the known.
Because expanding knowledge also requires expanding your tools.
And as Ghiorso showed, every new element begins with the decision to look for it.