The pre-fermi reactor and plutonium-244 in the early solar system

Becquerel was born in Paris, France, in 1852 and one hundred years later in 1952, the U.S. Government conducted the first thermonuclear weapon's test on the Island of Enewetak in the Pacific Ocean. The new knowledge gained by man in building the nuclear weapons in the 20th century has eventually led to the discoveries of the remnants of the Pre-Fermi reactor in Republic of Gabon, Africa, and the occurrence of /sup 244/Pu in the early solar system. A brief historical outline is presented here of the progress made in the field of nuclear cosmochemistry since the middle of the 19th century. (author)