Technikatörténeti szemle 7. (1973-74)

TANULMÁNYOK - Palló Gábor: Szilárd Béla fotokémiai munkái

time, we have to confine ourselves to the earliest period of his activity, between 1904 and 1907. He had a vast knowledge on the subject of photochemistry that had been at an empiric level at that time, he himself carried on research in this field (e.g. he determined the radiation of the mineral water „Igmándi" by a photochemical system and he found it to be radioactive, these investigations — as far as we know — are probably the first ones in this domain in Hungary). He suecesfully applied his photochemical knowledge in practice and his first patent concerning a photochemical desensitizing dye was due to this fact too. By the help of this dye it became possible to develop photographs by daylight. Besides scientific research and industrial application as we can see from a great number of his articles — he considered the propagation of knowledge very important, too. In 1905, he obtained his doctor's degree on a subject of organic chemistry. In certain respects this was a detour in Szilárd's career but these studies prove his modern attitude all the same. In 1907, the talented young man went to Paris with a scholarship given by the Ministry of Justice. There, his works were presented at the French Academy of Sciences by such prominent scientists as e.g. Henry Poincaré or Gabriel Lippmann, etc. Besides the above personalities, Mr. Szilárd was in connection with many other great scientists as well. Béla Szilárd was one of the gifted researchers who were dealing with the most modern scientific subjects and obtained numerous very important results but whose activity did not reach the level of the persons becoming the classical characters of scientific progress in this period, as e.g. the Curies, Rutherford, etc. The works of such researchers as Béla Szilárd are, however, indispensable for scientific evolution, since the entire accomplishmen and development of the theory and the technics of these revolutionary discoveries are the results of their activity. Béla Szilárd's scientific legacy is of a great value for the history of chemistry in Hungary and it is partly through his person that the society of Hungarian chemists is connected to the science of radioactivity. SG