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The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating [II]

This article traces the metrological history of radiocarbon, from the initial breakthrough devised by Libby, to minor (evolutionary) and major (revolutionary) advances that have brought (14)C measurement from a crude, bulk [8 g carbon] dating tool, to a refined probe for dating tiny amounts of preci...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Currie, Lloyd A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: [Gaithersburg, MD] : U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology 2004
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4853109/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27366605
http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/jres.109.013
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author Currie, Lloyd A.
author_facet Currie, Lloyd A.
author_sort Currie, Lloyd A.
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description This article traces the metrological history of radiocarbon, from the initial breakthrough devised by Libby, to minor (evolutionary) and major (revolutionary) advances that have brought (14)C measurement from a crude, bulk [8 g carbon] dating tool, to a refined probe for dating tiny amounts of precious artifacts, and for “molecular dating” at the 10 µg to 100 µg level. The metrological advances led to opportunities and surprises, such as the non-monotonic dendrochronological calibration curve and the “bomb effect,” that gave rise to new multidisciplinary areas of application, ranging from archaeology and anthropology to cosmic ray physics to oceanography to apportionment of anthropogenic pollutants to the reconstruction of environmental history. Beyond the specific topic of natural (14)C, it is hoped that this account may serve as a metaphor for young scientists, illustrating that just when a scientific discipline may appear to be approaching maturity, unanticipated metrological advances in their own chosen fields, and unanticipated anthropogenic or natural chemical events in the environment, can spawn new areas of research having exciting theoretical and practical implications.
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spelling pubmed-48531092016-06-30 The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating [II] Currie, Lloyd A. J Res Natl Inst Stand Technol Article This article traces the metrological history of radiocarbon, from the initial breakthrough devised by Libby, to minor (evolutionary) and major (revolutionary) advances that have brought (14)C measurement from a crude, bulk [8 g carbon] dating tool, to a refined probe for dating tiny amounts of precious artifacts, and for “molecular dating” at the 10 µg to 100 µg level. The metrological advances led to opportunities and surprises, such as the non-monotonic dendrochronological calibration curve and the “bomb effect,” that gave rise to new multidisciplinary areas of application, ranging from archaeology and anthropology to cosmic ray physics to oceanography to apportionment of anthropogenic pollutants to the reconstruction of environmental history. Beyond the specific topic of natural (14)C, it is hoped that this account may serve as a metaphor for young scientists, illustrating that just when a scientific discipline may appear to be approaching maturity, unanticipated metrological advances in their own chosen fields, and unanticipated anthropogenic or natural chemical events in the environment, can spawn new areas of research having exciting theoretical and practical implications. [Gaithersburg, MD] : U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology 2004 2004-04-01 /pmc/articles/PMC4853109/ /pubmed/27366605 http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/jres.109.013 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ The Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is a publication of the U.S. Government. The papers are in the public domain and are not subject to copyright in the United States. Articles from J Res may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright.
spellingShingle Article
Currie, Lloyd A.
The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating [II]
title The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating [II]
title_full The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating [II]
title_fullStr The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating [II]
title_full_unstemmed The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating [II]
title_short The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating [II]
title_sort remarkable metrological history of radiocarbon dating [ii]
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4853109/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27366605
http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/jres.109.013
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