Perlman, Isadore

The work on the Plutonium Project in early 1942 was centralized in the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago. The following extract from my journal describes my arrival in Chicago with my colleague Isadore Perlman ... 

Isadore Perlman and I arrived in Chicago aboard the City of San Francisco. Although our trip from Berkeley took almost two full days, we feel that the time has not been wasted. Many lively discussions ensued in the privacy of our bedroom and, with appropriate care, in the club car regarding ways to separate element 94 chemically from uranium (that will be neutron-irradiated in chain-reacting piles) and from the fission by-products that will be produced concurrently in the neutron-irradiation process. 

Using lanthanum fluoride as a carrier, Seaborg isolated a weighable sample of plutonium in August 1942. At the same time, Isadore Perlman and William J. Knox explored the peroxide method of separation John E. Willard studied various materials to determine which best adsorbed plutonium Theodore T. Magel and Daniel K. Koshland, Jr., researched solvent-extraction processes and Harrison S. Brown and Orville F. Hill performed experiments into volatility reactions. 

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