Artificial radioactive element properties unknown	memory peg
	1950 Stanley G. Thompson and co-workers, Berkeley, Calif., USA
	California, state of the USA

First prepared in 1950 by Stanley G. Thompson, Kenneth Street, Jr., Albert Ghiorso, and Glenn T. Seaborg at the Berkeley Laboraty of the University of California by bombardment of Curium with Helium ions.

About the naming of element #98 Glenn Seaborg wrote in 1978 in his biographical article on Stan Thompson (note):

"Naming element 98 was not as straightforward. According to the actinide concept, element 98 is the chemical homolog of the lanthanide element, dysprosium. A little research showed that the name «dysprosium» was based on the Greek word «dysprositos» meaning »hard to get at.« Although element 98 was hard to get at, in the sense that work had been going on toward its synthesis and identification for some three years, there was trouble finding an analogous name.

The group, therefore, toyed with a rather long list of possibilities. We found a handwritten list of names in some of our old files that apparently had been under consideration for element 98: lewisium, cyclotronium, cyclonium, euprosium, nonactinjum, enneactinium, enactinium, lawrencium, radlabium, praedicium, accretium, colonium, californium. As you know, californium (Cf) won out, honoring the state and the university where the work was done. In a weak attempt to add justification by comparison with its homologous element, in the publication announcing the discovery of californium Stan and his coworkers added, «The best we can do is point out, in recognition of the fact dysprosium is named on the basis of a word meaning 'difficult to get at,' that the searchers for another element [Gold] a century ago found it difficult to get to California.»"

←
The four codiscoverers of Berkelium and Californium in Glenn T. Seaborg's office as part of LBL's 25th anniversary of the discovery. Left to right: Kenneth Street, Jr., Stanley G. Thompson, Glenn T. Seaborg, and Albert Ghiorso.

The name California is of uncertain origin. it is said to be named so by Cortez in 1535, either from Spanish caliente fornalla (Latin calida fornax) = hot furnace, referring to the heat of the sun, or after the Greek mythological island of Queen Caliphia.

Anecdote

The following anecdote comes from Glenn T. Seaborg, 1990:

Upon learning about the naming of these elements, the "Talk of the Town" secton of the New Yorker magazine had the following to say:

"New atoms are turning op with spectacular, if not downright alarming frequency nowadays, and the University of California at Berkely, whose scientists have discovered element 97 and 98, has christened them berkelium and californium, respectively. While unarguably suited to their place of birth, these names strike us as indicating a surprising lack of public relations foresighton the part of the university, located, as it is, in a state where publicity has flourished to a degree matched perhaps only by evangelism. California's busy scientists will undoubtedly come up with another atom or two one of these days, and the university might well have anticipated that. Now it has lost forever the chance of immortalizing itself in the atomic tables with some such sequence as universitium (97), offium (98), californium (99), berkelium (100)."

"«Talk of the Town» has missed the point in their comments on naming of the elements 97 and 98. We may have shown lack of confidence but no lack of foresight in naming these elements «berkelium» and «californium.» By using thiese names first, we have forestalled the appalling possibility that after naming 97 and 98 «univesitium» and «offium,» some New Yorker might follow with the discovery of 99 and 100 and apply the names «newium» and «yorkium.»"

"We are already at work in our office laboratories on «newium» and «yorkium»! So far we have just the names."

Further reading:

• Mary Elvira Weeks, Discovery of the Elements, comp. rev. by Heny M. Leicester (Easton, Pa.: Journal of Chemical Education, 1968), pp. 848-850.
• S.G. Thompson, K. Street, Jr., A. Ghiorso, & G.T. Seaborg, The New Element Californium (Atomic Number 98). DOE-report. June 19, 1950. (Full text in PDF available on-line).
• Earl K. Hyde & Glenn T. Seaborg, Transurane : Teil A 1, I: Die Elemente. Gmelins Handbuch der anorganische Chemie, Ergänzungswerk zur 8. Aufl.; Band 7a. Weinheim/Bergstrasse: Chemie, 1973.
• Glenn T. Seaborg, "Stanley G. Thompson: a Chemist's Chemist." Chemtech 7 (1978), p. 408-413. (on-line).
• Glenn T. Seaborg, Transuranium elements: A Half Century. Remarks at ACS Symposium to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Transuranium Elements, Washington D.C., August 27, 1990. (PDF-file available on-line).
• Glenn T. Seaborg, Early History of LBNL, A transcript of the lecture on the 65th Anniversary of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, August 26, 1996 (on-line).