General Discussion after Session III

• Published in: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical and physical sciences 1988-07, Vol.325 (1587), p.559-567
• Main Authors: Wetherill, G. W., Delsemme, A. H., Pillinger, C. T., Pellas, P., Wallis, M. K., Clayton, R. N., Jessberger, E., Wanke, H., Chang, S., Hutchison, R., Sears, D. W. G., Lipschutz, M. E., Wasson, J. T., McVittie, G. C., Clayton, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbonates; Chemical composition; Chondrites; Chondrules; Comets; Earth; Fractionation; Ice; Molecules; Nitrogen; The Chemistry of Small Bodies and Terrestrial Planets
• ISSN: 0080-4614; 2054-0272
• DOI: 10.1098/rsta.1988.0068

G. W. Wetherill. Much has happened in the years since I started on isotope measurements, over 50 years ago. It was a struggle to make even elementary measurements in the early days and 1 % accuracy or so was considered good; now they worry about fractions of a unit. Work in this area and in many areas illustrates the important role industry has played in recent years in making instruments available. When I used to work on these things we had to build our own instruments but now through the availability of instruments of all kinds, not only mass spectrometers, the field has opened to many other people. Many other talents can enter the field, which is why we have seen this enormous progress in the field in recent years. However, I was curious that in Professor Delsemme’s talk he said nothing about daughter elements or daughter molecules, in the way that they used to be talked about.