The name proposed by the Gesselschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) lies within the long tradition of naming elements to honor famous scientists. Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473, in Torún, Poland and died on 24 May 1543, in Frombork/Frauenburg also in Poland. His work has been of exceptional influence on the philosophical and political thinking of mankind and on the rise of modern science based on experimental results. During his time as a canon of the Cathedral in Frauenburg, Copernicus spent many years developing a conclusive model for complex astronomical observations of the movements of the sun, moon, planets and stars. His work published as “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, liber sixtus” in 1543 had very far reaching consequences. Indeed the Copernican model demanded major changes in the view of the world related to astronomy and physical forces and well as having theological and political consequences. The planetary system introduced by Copernicus has been applied to other analogous systems in which objects move under the influence of a force directed towards a common centre. Notably, on a microscopic scale this is the Bohr model of the atom with its nucleus and orbiting electrons. 

The Recommendations will be published in the March issue of the IUPAC journal Pure and Applied Chemistry and is available online at Pure Appl. Chem., 2010, Vol. 82, No. 3, pp. pp 753-755 (doi: 10.1351/PAC-REC-09-08-20). Priority of claims to the discovery of the element of atomic number 112 was determined by a joint working party of independent experts drawn from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). The group’s report was published in July 2009, Pure Appl. Chem., 2009, Vol. 81, No. 7, pp. 1331-1343 (doi: 10.1351/PAC-REP-08-03-05). The Joint Working Party will issue a second report, dealing with claims for the discovery of elements with atomic numbers in the range 113 to 118, in the near future.

IUPAC was formed in 1919 by chemists from industry and academia. For more than 90 years, the Union has succeeded in fostering worldwide communications in the chemical sciences and in uniting academic, industrial and public sector chemistry in a common language. IUPAC is recognized as the world authority on chemical nomenclature, terminology, standardized methods for measurement, atomic weights and many other critically evaluated data. More information about IUPAC and its activities is available at www.iupac.org.

2010/02/16
CHOPIN BIRTHDAY WEEK
The official celebrations of the Chopin Anniversary Year have begun. The 200th anniversary of Frédéric Chopin’s birth will be marked by not one but several special concerts, all of them taking place at the National Philharmonic and spanning two possible dates of composer’s birth…
www.culture.pl/en/culture/wy_in_nadzwyczajne_koncerty_urodzinowe_2010

2010/02/11
“CHOPIN: THE ROMANTIC REFUGEE”
Fryderyk Chopin first visited Britain in 1837 and returned in 1848. The story of his tour will be told in the context of the Polish fervour which had taken over the artistic and political life of the country. Original manuscripts of several of his most famous compositions will be shown alongside portraits, letters and concert programmes.
www.culture.pl/en/culture/wy_in_wy_chopin_romantic_refugee_londyn

2010/02/09
KRYSTIAN ZIMERMAN PLAYS CHOPIN
Krystian Zimerman will perform two Chopin Sonatas marking the 200th anniversary of Frederic Chopin’s birth. A couple days later, on March 1, another great pianist Maurizio Pollini will commemorate a possible alternative date of the composer’s birth…
www.culture.pl/en/culture/wy_in_koncert_zimerman_londyn_2010