Hesperium (or esperium; atomic symbol Es) was the name assigned to the element with

atomic number The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol ''Z'') of a chemical element is the charge number of an atomic nucleus. For ordinary nuclei, this is equal to the proton number (''n''p) or the number of protons found in the nucleus of ever ...

94, now known as

plutonium Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exh ...

. It was named in Italian ''Esperio'' after a Greek name of Italy, Hesperia, "the land of the West". The same team assigned the name ausenium to element 93, after Ausonia, a poetic name of Italy. By comparison,

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

, the heaviest of the primordial elements, has atomic number 92. The discovery of the element, now discredited, was claimed by

Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" an ...

and a team of scientists at the University of Rome in 1934. Following the discovery of

nuclear fission Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radio ...

in 1938, it was realized that Fermi's hesperium was a mixture of

barium Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. Th ...

krypton Krypton (from grc, κρυπτός, translit=kryptos 'the hidden one') is a chemical element with the symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas that occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere and is of ...

and other elements. The actual element was discovered several years later, and named plutonium. Fascist authorities wanted one of the elements to be named ''littorio'' after the Roman ''

lictor A lictor (possibly from la, ligare, "to bind") was a Roman civil servant who was an attendant and bodyguard to a magistrate who held ''imperium''. Lictors are documented since the Roman Kingdom, and may have originated with the Etruscans. Origi ...

es'' who carried the ''

fasces Fasces ( ; ; a '' plurale tantum'', from the Latin word '' fascis'', meaning "bundle"; it, fascio littorio) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian sym ...

'', a symbol appropriated by Fascism.

References

Element name etymologies
Retrieved February 23, 2010. *Enrico Fermi
Artificial radioactivity produced by neutron bombardment
Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1938. *{{cite journal, title = The Search for Transuranium Elements and the Discovery of Nuclear Fission, journal = Physics in Perspective, volume = 2, issue = 1, year = 2000, doi = 10.1007/s000160050036, pages = 48–62, first = Ruth Lewin, last = Sime, authorlink=Ruth Lewin Sime, bibcode = 2000PhP.....2...48S, s2cid=117751813 Plutonium 1934 introductions Science and technology in Italy Enrico Fermi Misidentified chemical elements

See also

References