Page 157 - Neutrons for Sciences and Society

Chapter 6: The start of research activities and the arrival of the British
The change in status of the reactor was accompanied by the replacement of the director. Maier-Leibnitz left at the end of January 1972. He had presided over the construction and commissioning of a great research tool equipped with instruments necessary for optimal operation. It was the realisation of a work for which he had longed, when the Institut obtained the first scientific results. The organisation he wanted was in place and would stay in place without major modifications until the present day.
He was replaced on March 1st
by Rudolf Mössbauer (Fig. 6.1),
a recent Nobel Laureate for the
discovery of the effect named after
him. The choice of Mössbauer as
director was a little surprising; he
had no connections with neutrons,
but he was a former student of
Maier-Leibnitz. It is also difficult
to imagine two more different
personalities. Maier-Leibnitz
made no boundaries between
professional and private life. He
invited many to his house, and this
was a deliberate way of making contacts with others. His wife was very active in the social life of the Institut. For Mössbauer this boundary was totally insurmountable. This said, he was an excellent director. My relations with him during the two years that I spent with him at his request were very good. The roles of these two successive directors were very different. Maier-Leibnitz had
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Fig. 6.1: Rudolf MÖSSBAUER