Jacques Abulafia Danon, Brazilian physical chemist (Santos, São Paulo State 23 August 1924 – Paris 30 October 1989)

From Sephardic Jewish heritage 

Recognized all over the world as one of the founders of Mossbauer chemical and solid state spectroscopy

International authority on Mossbauer effect

Authored about 160 papers and 6 books

ACHIEVEMENTS

Clarified important aspects of the chemistry of iron compounds and of metallic iron

Established a link between the hyperfine parameters measured by Mossbauer spectroscopy and the bonding between the atoms in a solid or a molecule (1963-6)

Nuclear isomer shift and convalency in iron complexes. J. Chem. Phys. 39:236-7, 1963

Electronic structure of transition metal complex which nitrosyl ligand Mossbauer investigation. J. Chem. Phys. 41:3374-84, 1964

Developed a formalism describing the electronic structure of transition impurities in simple, noble and transition metals

With X.A. da Silva & A.A. Gomes. Phys. Rev. B4 1161 & 1168, 1971

With J.M. Knudsen discovered an iron nickel alloy which can only be produced in high energy particle accelerators

Performed important discoveries in magnetic microorganisms

Discovered magnetotactic algae

With H. G.P. Lins de Barros, D.M.S. Esquivel & L.P.H. de Oliveira. Magnetotactic algae. An. Acad. Bras. Ciencias 54:258-9, 1982

Other important results

With D.M.S. Esquivel, H.G.P. Lins de Barros, M. Farina & P.H.A. Aragão. Microorganismes magnetotactiques de la region de Rio de Janeiro. Biol. Cell. 47:227-34, 1983

With M. Farina, H.G.P. Lins de Barros & D.M.S. Esquivel. Electron microscopy and ultrastructure of a magnetotactic microorganism. Biol. Cell. 48:85-8, 1983    

Improved many laboratory techniques

Indicated new procedures for dating objects and minerals (e.g. thermo luminescence)

With H. Macedo & A.A.L. Zamith. A stochastic theory of chromatography (1958)

Authored An Introduction to Mossbauer spectroscopy  

Papers in Nature

With R.B. Scorzelli, I.S. Azevedo, J. Laugier & A. Chamberod. Santa Catharina meteorite and phase composition of irradiated Fe-Ni invar alloys. Nature 284:537-8, 1980

With R.B. Scorzelli, I.S. Azevedo, W.C. Curvello, J.F. Albertsen & J.M.Knudsen. Iron-nickel 50-50 Superstructure in the Santa Catharina meteorite. Nature 277:283-4, 1979

With R.B. Scorzelli, I.S. Azevedo & M.C. Michel-Levy. Iron-nickel superstructure in metal particles of chondrites. Nature 281:469-71, 1979

With A.A.L. Zamith. Solvent extraction of polonium from nitric acid solutions. Nature 177:746-7, 1956

HONORS

Chairman, II Panel on Applications of the Mossbauer effect its Science and Technology, Atomic Energy International Agency, Vienna (1974)

Chairman, Spring School about Mossbauer Spectroscopy, Hurfeld, Germany (1975)

Danonite Mattievich, Amorim, Amaral Jr., Torres-Tapia & Domínguez 1997 (Synthetic mixed valence iron arsenate)