Chemistry and radioactive transformation
Soddy graduated in chemistry from Oxford in 1898 and later worked at McGill University in Canada. With Ernest Rutherford he combined chemical investigations with measurements of radiation.
They interpreted radioactivity as the disintegration of atoms with the formation of new kinds of matter. Their collaboration included the two-part paper “The Cause and Nature of Radioactivity” in 1902.
The isotope concept
Working on radioactive materials at Glasgow, Soddy studied substances that behaved alike chemically but differed in atomic weight and radioactive properties. In 1913 he introduced the isotope concept to describe different forms of the same element.
He also investigated radioactive displacement, relating alpha emission to a change in an element’s position in the periodic table.
Appointments and recognition
Soddy later held chairs at Aberdeen and Oxford, becoming Dr Lee’s Professor of Chemistry at Oxford in 1919. The Nobel Prize designated for 1921 recognized his radioactive chemistry and isotope research; it was awarded in 1922. His later interests extended to economic and social questions.