Determination of the Fineness of Medieval Coins—Evaluation of Methods in a Case Study of a Medieval Pfennig

The original fineness of coins is very important information that can help us to understand the commercial situation in a wide historical context. This paper deals with a comparison of analytical methods suitable for the evaluation of the actual and original fineness of coins based on a detailed case study of a medieval coin sample. Both non‐destructive (i.e., scanning electron microscopy/energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, X‐ray fluorescence, atomic force microscopy and hydrostatic weighing) and destructive (i.e., inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry and the Volhard titration method) techniques were used. The original fineness can be also deduced from knowledge of the internal structure of the coin (limited miscibility of copper and silver). A new analytical method based on a combination of a micrograph of the metallographic cross‐section with consequent image analysis was developed for determination of the original fineness. The proposed approach is relatively simple and provides reliable values. Sample heterogeneity and its impact on the determination of fineness are also discussed.     

Multi-element analysis for dietary reconstruction at a balearic Iron Age site

The number of studies using trace elements as indicators of diet has increased with time, but the majority have used few elements and a small sample. The present study has as a principal objective a multi-element analysis of diet in a large sample in which diagenetic changes have been shown to be unimportant. The analysis was made using concentrations of seven elements—Sr, Ba, Mg, Cu, Zn, V and Ca—in 197 individuals from the necropolis of ‘S' Illot des Porros’ (Majorca, Spain). The results show that these individuals would have had a mixed diet with a high meat component, principally of marine origin (molluscs and fish), but with an important consumption of seeds and cereals and a low proportion of vegetables.     

The Unflinching Mr. Smith and the Nuclear Age**

This article focuses on the U.S. diplomat and nuclear arms control negotiator Gerald (Gerry) Coat Smith in order to cast new light on the importance of diplomats in the context of the set of international activities currently labelled as “science diplomacy.” Smith, a lawyer by training, was a key negotiator in many international agreements on post-WW2 atomic energy projects, from those on uranium prospecting and mining, to reactors technologies to later ones on non-proliferation and disarmament. His career in science (nuclear) diplomacy also epitomized the shortcomings of efforts to align other countries’ posture on nuclear affairs to U.S. wishes. In particular, the unswerving diplomat increasingly understood that strong-arm tactics to dissuade other countries from acquiring nuclear weapons would not limit proliferation. Not only did this inform later U.S. diplomacy approaches, but it lent itself to the ascendancy of the new notion of “soft power” as critical to the re-definition of international affairs.     

运用科学技术方法对清代珐琅的研究

作者运用原子发射光谱、扫描电子显微镜、偏光显微镜和金相显微镜,对故宫博物院藏清代珐琅残片进行了实验分析。研究中.对构成珐琅的硅酸盐材料、铜材料、焊接材料以及镀金层的元素组成进行了测试;对珐琅残片断面的焊接层和镀金层的微观形貌、焊接层的金相组织进行了观察和鉴别。在此基础上,运用结晶学、矿物学、金属学和金相学的基础理论对珐琅原料种类、各种原料的作用、珐琅料的熔制与烧蓝、铜材料与焊接材料的合金属性、焊层的金相组织、掐丝珐琅的烧制工艺等问题加以探讨,试图藉现代科技手段揭示清代珐琅所包含的科学技术内涵。     

Induced metal-ion exchange in excavated human bone

Excavated human bone was exposed to aqueous solutions containing high concentrations of a single added metal ion in order to examine the extent of introduction of contaminating materials during burial. Variables included pH, temperature, ion concentration, state of bone (whole or crushed), structure of buffer, and counterion. Calcium and sodium showed little increase, and even a decrease in some cases. Strontium, zinc, lead, and magnesium showed large increases probably through heteroionic replacement of calcium. Manganese, aluminum, and potassium showed increases, particularly under neutral conditions, probably through infiltration into voids and defects.     

近20年来中国学界的原子弹轰炸及其相关问题研究

80年代以来,我国学术界对原子弹轰炸及其相关问题的研究呈现出十分活跃的局面,并取得了可喜的成果。研究主要集中在美国使用原子弹的原因和动机、原子弹轰炸的历史作用、原子弹轰炸的后果和影响、原子弹轰炸的正当性问题以及关于日本败降的决定因素等问题上。     

Security and the shaping of identity for nuclear specialists

Atomic energy developed from 1940 as a subject shrouded in secrecy. Identified successively as a crucial element in military strategy, national status and export aspirations, the research and development of atomic piles (nuclear chain-reactors) were nurtured at isolated installations. Like monastic orders, new national laboratories managed their specialist workers in occupational environments that were simultaneously cosseted and constrained, defining regional variants of a new state-managed discipline: reactor technology. This paper discusses the significance of security in defining the new subject in the USA, UK and Canada – wartime allies with similar political traditions distinct but trajectories in this field during the Cold War. The intellectual borders and content of the subject developed differently in each country, shaped under the umbrella of secrecy by disparate clusters of expertise, industrial traditions, and national goals. The nascent cadre was contained until the mid 1950s by classified publications and state-sponsored specialist courses. The early context of high security filtered its members and capped enduringly both their professional aspirations and public engagement.     

河南唐代白釉彩瓷探析

在两晋青瓷点彩与南北朝、隋代白釉陶瓷加彩技法的基础上,河南唐代的白釉彩瓷产生并迅速发展起来,对宋、元时期烧制白釉彩瓷以及各个名窑的兴起起到了推动作用。     

Niels Bohr's Diplomatic Mission during and after World War Two

The Danish physicist Niels Bohr is best known for two major achievements: first, his model of the quantum atom, published in 1913, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1922; and second, the “Copenhagen interpretation” of quantum mechanics developed together with colleagues at his institute in the latter half of the twenties. Having turned his institute toward nuclear physics, making it a pioneer institution in this emerging field, Bohr escaped from Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1943. Learning in England about the advanced state of the secret project to develop an atomic bomb, which Bohr had so far considered impracticable in a foreseeable future, he agreed to join the project. Bohr decided instantly that the prospect of such a weapon of mass destruction would require what he came to call an “open world” among nations, and he worked conscientiously toward this end until he died in 1962. In the process, statesmen, including Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as diplomats from several countries, came to encounter Bohr and his political mission. Although not as successful as his scientific achievements, his mission was considered by Bohr himself as equally important. Yet it constitutes a hitherto relatively neglected part of Bohr's career.¹