O. I. Leipunsky’s «On Synthetic Diamonds» in Chemistry Uspekhi (1939): A difficult path of discovery


The 1939 article by O. I. Leipunsky «On Synthetic Diamonds» had a difficult story of post-publication recognition. Conceived as a review article, it also included Leipunsky’s original calculations of the equilibrium line and phase diagram for carbon and diamond. Having concluded that a direct solid-phase transformation of graphite into diamond was difficult, Leipunsky suggested using carbon dissolved in metals. The General Electric Company which started producing synthetic diamonds in the 1950s, later tried to sue the Soviet producers for patent infringement. Leipunsky’s article helped defeat the claim, which resulted in the final recognition of his priority.

 
 

Recommended bibliographic description

, O. I. Leipunsky’s «On Synthetic Diamonds» in Chemistry Uspekhi (1939): A difficult path of discovery, Voprosy Istorii Estestvoznaniia i Tekhniki [Studies in History of Science and Technology], , p.  124–142

     
    © Studies in the History of Science and Technology: Quarterly scientific journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2015)
    ISSN 0205-9606. Индекс 70143