Journal and Proceedings of
The Royal Society of New South Wales
Volume 128 Parts 3 and 4 [Issued December 1995]
CONTENTS
| AUTHORS & TITLES | PAGES |
| Riley, S.J. Issues Assessing the Long-Term stability of Engineered Landforms at Ranger Uranium-Mine, Northern Territory, Australia | 67-78 |
| Graham, Ian T. and Colchester, David M. The Occurrence and Origin of well-crystallised Uvarovite garnet from the podiform Chromitite Deposits of South Eastern New South Wales | 78-88 |
| A Century of X-rays. Proceedings of a half-day seminar commemorating Professor Röntgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895 | 89-112 | Stephens, Frederick O. New Approaches in Integrated Treatments for locally advanced cancers | 113-116 |
| Nossal, Gustav Kt, CBE, AC, G.J.V. Medical Science and Human Goals: a Struggling Pilgrim's Progress [Address on occasion of award of James Cook Medal] |
117-130 |
| Dance, I.G. Inorganic Chemistry: Frontiers and Future (29th Liversidge Research Lecture, 1994) | 131-140 |
| Theses Abstracts [Not reproduced on this page, but available here] | |
| Cunningham, Elizabeth A. Introductory Studies of Silica Fume released as a By-Product of Electrometallurgical Process | 141 |
| Long, John M. Light Scattering Studies of Microstructure in YBa2Cu3O7-x Super-conductors | 142 |
| Mallinson, Samuel G. Shock Wave/Boundary Layer Interaction at a Compression Corner in Hypervelocity Flows | 143 |
| Beavis, Sara G. Geological Factors influencing erosion gullying in the Greenfell Gooloogong Area, Mid- western New South Wales | 144 |
| Lappas, P. Parameters affecting S.I. Engine Knock | 145-146 |
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.67-78
Issues in Assessing the Long-term Stability of Englneered Landforms at Ranger Uranium Mine, Northern Territory, Australia
S.J.Riley
Abstract. Assessment of the long-term stability of engineered landforms of rehabilitated uranium mines and uranium mill tailings containment structures is primarily a geomorphic issue. It involves consideration of site stability, containment stability and the dispersion of the products of weathering and erosion and hence relies on models of the hydrogeomorphic environment.
For Ranger Uranium Mine geomorphic assessment has defined areas with the least risk of instability and the erosional stability of uranium mill tailings containment structures has been modelled using the geomorphic model SIBERIA. Assessment of the dispersion of products throughout the receiving fluvial system is critical in setting the guide1ines for acceptable levels of erosion and risk to the environment of failure of the containment structore.
Design and assessment is ultimately an issue of acceptable probabilities of failure (risk), which are set by society. The geomorphic research is directed towards assessing whether or not the designs meet acceptable standards.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.79-88
The Occurrence and Origin of Well-crystallised Uvarovite Garnet from the Podiform Chromitite Deposits of South-eastern New South Wales.
Ian T Graham and David M Colchester
Abstract. Chromian garnets occur within three podiform chromitite deposits in south-eastern N.S.W. Fourteen new analyses of these garnets are presented in this paper and these reveal that the garnets are either uvarovite or chromian grossular in composition. These analyses, along with analyses of uvarovite garnets from other world occurrences, suggest that there is no distinct relationship between the composition of uvarovite garnets and the geological setting in which they occur. Although the composition of the chromium-bearing garnets from the two deposits which are examined in some detail in this paper are quite different, their environment of formation was similar. All of the Cr-bearing garnets have formed during calcium metasomatism congruent with localised remobilisation of chromium.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.89-112
A Century of X-rays. Proceedings of a half-day seminar commemorating Professor Röntgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895
| Editor's Foreword | 89-90 |
| Booth, E.A.. A Century of Röntgen Rays | 90-91 |
| Ryan J. The Discovery of X-Rays and its Immediate Impact | 91-94 |
| Roberts B.A. Roentgen's X-Rays, A Pioneering Discovery for the Development of 20th Century Physics | 94-97 |
| Albury W.R. Röntgen Rays in Early Twentieth Century Medical Diagnosis and Therapy: Searchlight or Scalpel? | 97-101 |
| Palmer F.J. The Role of Röntgen Rays in Contemporary Medical Imaging | 101-104 |
| Hockings C.M. Roentgen Rays, An Indispensable Tool In Contemporary Engineering And Science | 105-108 |
| Reinhardt, O.G. Goethe's Scientific Ideas and the Advancement of Experimental Science since his death in 1832 | 108-112 |
Editors Foreword
W.R. Albury and G.C. Lowenthal
Some inventions and discoveries strike the popular imagination more than others. The announcement of the discovery of a new, utterly mysterious radiation, revealing what had so far been absolutely hidden from human eyes not least the bones and organs in living men, women and children caused a sensation which our blase age would find it hard to duplicate.
The discovery was made by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923), Professor of Physics at the University of Wurzburg, then a smallish town in south-west Germany. Although it happened at a time when many astonishing inventions and discoveries in physics, chemistry and engineering were appearing, Röntgen s discovery of these mysteriously penetrating rays and what could be done with them, provoked a sense of wonder not unmixed with uneasiness.
The centenary of Röntgen's discovery is worthily commemorated all around the world. However, most of these functions are directed to members of scientific and other professional societies. The following six papers were contributed to a Seminar commemorating Röntgen's discovery and recalling its numerous consequences in almost every field of human endeavour. The addresses given at the Seminar and reported in these proceedings were directed primarily to members of the general public, and this did not happen by chance.
In recent years there had been increasing public awareness of negative sides of scientific activities. The innumerable ways in which science and scientific technology have made life more secure and more comfortable are often taken for granted. On the surface, and most of us rarely see or are able to see below the surface of scientific achievements, everything appears clear and simple like pictures on a television screen. The complex physics behind the screen is quietly overlooked.
As it happened, Röntgen's discovery began with a fluorescent screen which had much in common with today's TV screens. But that was only the beginning. A consideration of how Röntgen rays became, over the years, indispensable tools in innumerable spheres of human activity was thought to offer a welcome opportunity to stimulate interest in some of the science behind the TV screen. The Seminar was organised with this opportunity in mind.
It is still necessary to add a few words about Röntgen the man. When he made his path breaking discovery he was no longer young but in his 51st year — an age when he might have welcomed this chance to start a new career which had every prospect of leading to fame and fortune beyond the dreams of avarice.
None of this happened. On December 28, 1895, he announced his discovery to the members of the Physica-Medical Society of Würzburg in a sober and cautiously worded publication. Over the next few years he published two or three more papers on his discovery, but that was all. He left it to younger men to follow up what he had initiated, which was done with a vengeance. By December 1896, just a year after the first announcement, more than a thousand papers had been published seeking to elucidate phenomena which were to remain inexplicable for over 15 years.
Röntgen received innumerable invitations to demonstrate his discoveries from men of distinction in all walks of life. He declined in almost every case, though he did demonstrate the powers of his mysterious rays to the German Emperor in a special audience. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1901, the first year in which this coveted distinction was awarded, but he refused to patent his discovery, not wishing to impede the spread of an innovation with the potential to benefit vast numbers of people everywhere. He refused numerous other opportunities to gain material advantage from what he had done.
To Röntgen, and to many other scientists before and since, the certainty of having added to knowledge about the world was all the reward they sought and found. He died in 1923 in poverty and ill health in his 78th year, but we have reason to be confident that he had the satisfaction of knowing that he was leaving a heritage of achievement which few would or could have equalled.
However, there is another side to all human activities. It was Röntgen's even more famous countryman, the great German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who raised this other side over a hundred years before the coming of Röntgen rays. Goethe took a very different view of the benefits to be expected from a growth of knowledge about the world around us, and this has not been overlooked in what follows.
The papers presented at the Seminar are reprinted here to introduce readers to the vast extent of Röntgen's heritage, demonstrating that it touches our lives in many more ways than is commonly realised. We hope that these contributions will not only encourage a balanced appreciation of scientific activities, but also stimulate a continuing interest in their rich history.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.90-91
A Century of Röntgen Rays
E.A. Booth
Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Some thirty years ago I was invited to speak at a dinner arranged by the Medical Society of the University of New South Wales. A short time before, there had been the first Conferring of Degrees of the Faculty of Medicine from this University, when its main address had heen given by Sir Macfarlane Burnet. During my speech at that dinner I endeavoured to make the point that the end of the medical course was only the beginning of one's medica1 career, and I stressed the need to develop an inquiring mind. About a hundred years ago Wilhelm Coorad Röntgen did just that.
At that time, it had been shown that something happened when a large electric current was transmitted from the cathode to the anode of a glass tube from which air had been evacuated. It had been found that certain chemicals fluoresced on these occasions.
Holding a piece of material coated with one of these chemicals near such an energised tube Röntgen saw the bones of the fingers stripped of their flesh. One can imagine his excitement. However, being a true scientist he went on to produce many papers to elucidate these mysterious, unknown X-rays.
There have been other similar discoveries such as penicillin (Fleming), smallpox vaccination (Jenner), etc. Scientists asked "Why is it so?" as Professor Sumner Miller used to do, and proceeded to find an answer.
I am reminded of the prayer of Maimonides, the medieval physician and philosopher, "In all things let me be content in all but the great science of my calling. Let the thought never arise that I have attained to enough knowledge; but vouchsafe to me ever the strength, the leisure, and the eagerness to add to what I know. For art is great and the mind of a man ever growing".
We are here today to celebrate a century of Röntgen rays the 100th anniversary of Röntgen's discovery. It is a momentous occasion and although there have been such great changes in our knowledge and use of X-rays, it all began when Röntgen sought an answer "Why is it so?"
We all do well to remember this great man and the benefits that have followed his wonderful discovery. I am sure we are all most grateful to the organisers and sponsors of this seminar, which I now have much pleasure in declaring "open".
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.91-94
The Discovery of X-Rays and its Immediate Impact
J. Ryan
Abstract: Professor Röntgen called the rays he had discovered X-rays because their origin was a deep mystery to him and it did remain unexplained for another 15 years. He spent seven weeks following his discovery working intensely in his laboratory to clarify as many of the characteristics of these mysterious rays as was then possible before announcing his discovery on 28th December 1895, to experience, within days, a sensationalism of press reporters that was no less strident in 1895 than it is at present. Another lesson came when he had to defend his priority to the discovery against jealous colleagues. X-ray applications expanded rapidly all around the globe and not only in medicine. The news of Röntgen's discovery arrived in Australia during the first days of January 1896. Subsequent early developments in this country will be described in some detail.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp. 94-97
Roentgen's X-Rays, A Pioneering Discovery for the Development of 20th Century Physics
B.A. Roberts
Abstract: Röntgen's 1895 discovery was the culmination of centuries of observation and experimentation in electricity and magnetism. The magnetic properties of amber (a Baltic fossil resin) were discovered by the Greeks 2,500 years ago. Sailors in the Mediterranean for thousands of years had used Lodestone, a naturally occurring magnetic ore as a primitive form of compass. The observation that friction caused amber to attract light objects and the ability of Lodestone to attract ore led to the first scientific study of this phenomenon. In addition to electricity and magnetism, the third major physical principle involved in X-ray production is the vacuum and the evacuated glass tube. This occurred in the 19th century with the development of the Crookes tube. It was Röntgen's ability to both synthesise the scientific work that had gone before him and make the forward leap to postulate the existent of a new form of ray that was the hallmark of his genius. Nevertheless, Röntgen's discovery in itself was simply part of an evolving spectrum of scientific discovery which subsequently resulted in the discovery of radioactivity, the development of nuclear energy and (regrettably) nuclear weaponry.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.97-101
Röntgen Rays in Early Twentieth Century Medical Diagnosis and Therapy: Searchlight or Scalpel?
W.R. Albury
Abstract: A comparison of the early medical use of Röntgen rays and the introduction of the stethoscope reveals some informative parallels and contrasts. Both technologies served a clinical need for visualisation, but the ability of X-rays to produce photographic and fluoroscopic images led to an overemphasis on the ways in which they were analogous to light rays and an underemphasis on the ways in which their biological effects differed from those of ordinary light. As a result of this attitude, many X-ray pioneers showed little concern for the possible dangers of this new technology, with adverse consequences for themselves and their patients. It is suggested that a different analogy for the medical use of X-rays would have encouraged a more cautious approach by these early pioneers.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.101-104
The Role of Röntgen Rays in Contemporary Medical Imaging
F.J. Palmer
Abstract: In a matter of weeks following Röntgen's provisional communication of 28 December, 1895, X-rays were being used for clinical diagnosis. Starting from crude, and often dangerous, technology, progress to the production of images of excellent quality and radiation safety was inexorable. For a hundred years, X-rays have been the mainstay of medical imaging, providing invaluable information for the diagnosis and management of disease. The ability to visualise pathology within the intact body also led to advances in medicine and surgery. The introduction of Computerised Tomography, which utilises X-rays in a different manner, has, in recent years, revolutionised the practice of medicine. Recent decades have seen the introduction of imaging modalities which do not utilise X-rays notably Ultrasound and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Whilst these have replaced X-ray examinations to some extent, the latter remain the preponderant form of imaging, and Röntgen's X-rays are alive and well in medicine a century after this great discovery.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.105-108
Roentgen Rays, An Indispensable Tool In Contemporary Engioeering And Science
C.M. Hockings
Abstract: The use of radiographic methods in non-medical science and industry is widespread and long established. Growth in its application can be shown to follow the technological development of radiography equipment. The scope of applications vary from an atomic level in the examination of crystals to the evaluation of structures as large as buildings. Many applications are related to public health and safety, hence radiography makes a significant contribution to society. However most people in the community are unaware that their lives are improved by its use.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.108-112
Goethe's Scientific Ideas and the Advancement of Experimental Science since his Death in 1832.
O.G. Reinhardt
Abstract: This paper looks at Goethe's scientific theories and the aspects that caused them to have so little influence on experimental science in the nineteenth century. Essentially these were that he believed in nature as a unity that should not be interfered with but observed; that hypotheses would lead to finding only what one was looking for; and that the mathematical model is an inadequate way of explaining the world ideas that went against the basic tenets of empirical science, so that despite his own discoveries, he was respected only as a poet. The twentieth century has come to value his holistic approach to nature and his historical approach to notions of truth.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.113-116
Newer Approaches in Integrated Treatments for Locally Advanced Cancers
Frederick O Stephens AM
Introductory Paragraphs: Over the ages medical practitioners have searched for and applied a large number of medicinal agents (including herbs and toxins), physical and chemical agents, dietary changes, spiritual activities and a variety of potions and local applications in attempts to find a cancer cure. However a somewhat crude form of operative surgery was the only effective anti-cancer treatment available until approximately 150 years ago.
The situation changed after the discovery of general anaesthesia in 1842 when painless surgery became possible. An era of severe surgical cross-infections followed the new upsurge of pain free operative surgery. This was changed by the work of such greats as Lister, Pasteur, Semmelweis and Koch who discovered the association between micro-organisms and wound infection. They introduced aseptic techniques for surgical operation. This combination of surgery under anaesthesia with aseptic technique was the basis upon which the modem era of great advance. in operative surgery was founded allowing treatment of many diseases including cancer.
The second effective modality in cancer treatment, radiotherapy, was introduced less than 100 years ago. This followed the work of the Curies in discovering Xrays at the turn of the century.
Thus for most of this century localised cancers have been treated either by surgeons or by radiotherapists. Sometimes operative surgery and radiotherapy have been used in combination in integrated treatments particular1y for such tumours as small localised breast cancers. After surgical removal of the obvious cancer, follow up radiotherapy is often used in an attempt to cure without tota1 removal of the breast.
The first effective medical anti-cancer agents were discovered about 50 years ago. First certain hormones were found to affect growth of some tumours followed by discovery of the first effective cytotoxic anti-cancer drugs. Thus a third effective anti-cancer treatment modality was developed.
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.117-130
Medical Science and Human Goals: a Struggling Pilgrim's Progress
Sir Gustav Nossal
Award of the James Cook Medal to Sir Gustav Nossal on 13 September, 1995, and his Address
Full text here
vol 128 pts 3-4 pp.131-140
Inorganic Chemistry: Frontiers and Future
I. G. Dance
29th Liversidge Research Lecture, delivered before the Royal Society of New South Wales, 9th August 1994
Abstract. Inorganic chemistry the chemistry of all elements has turned up some real surprises in the last few years. Even elemental carbon is undergoing a revolution, literally. Molecules which are simply binary combinations of the elements, such as MxSy and MxCy have been discovered. These are molecular fragments of compounds otherwise known only as non-molecular solids, and are totally unexpected and unpredictable: their structures are being explored by computational methods. The multiple "non- bonded" interactions between inorganic molecules in crystals are being recognised and understood, and can be deployed in crystal engineering. Highly evolved molecular biology reveals tantalising chemical possibilities beyond current laboratory capabilities, such as the mild reduction of the most recalcitrant molecule in chemistry, N2, by the enzyme nitrogenase. Insight into the mechanism of this enzyme comes from investigations of the clusters MzCy.