Иван Г. Драганић : (1924–2012)
Apstrakt
Students of natural sciences – and especially physical chemistry – at the
University of Belgrade have used a series of textbooks in the fields of
radiochemistry and radiation chemistry that were collectively referred to as the
“Draganić” since the early 1960s. “Draganić” was an institution of a sort, but
most of its readers did not know who was the person that co-authored and
edited the famous textbook on Radioactive Isotopes and Radiations.
Ivan Draganić was born on September 10th 1924 to father Gedeon (who
was a state clerk) and mother Sofi ja. He grew up in Zemun, and his family was
of modest means. In 1939, the family moved to Petrovgrad (today Zrenjanin),
where Ivan fi nished high school during the German occupation. In 1944, as the
antifascist fronts approached Zrenjanin from the east and the south, Ivan
Draganić joined the war eff ort. Th e news of the Allied victory reached him in
Osijek, where his Th ird Army was on its way to Slovenia; following his
demobilizatio...n, he strongly intended to dedicate himself to studies at the
University of Belgrade.
Draganić started his studies in physical chemistry in 1946 at the
Department of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade. His motivation was
to enter the area of nuclear sciences, which have witnessed an explosion of
interest since the discovery of nuclear fi ssion in 1939. Classes in this fi eld were
taught by the famous professor Pavle Savić. It was through Savić’s infl uence that
Draganić secured a position at the Nuclear Institute in Vinča in 1949, shortly
before graduation. He stayed at Vinča until his retirement in 1981, but during
that time he held sabbatical and long-term positions at several research centers
throughout the world, totaling more than 12 years.
Scientifi c opus of Ivan Draganić includes the development of chemical
dosimeters for ionizing radiations, studies in radiation chemistry – especially
in the context of water and aqueous solutions, and the importance of ionizing
radiation in the chemical evolution processes on the early Earth and in the
cores of comets – both of which are related to the origins of life. His research
contributions are matched by his pedagogical activity, interest in the
popularization of science and scientifi c methods of thinking, as well as his
international activities.
Vinča: Th e Early Days. Draganić’s fi rst task upon joining the Vinča
institute was to develop a method for fl uorimetric determination of uranium
in various samples. In less than a year, this original procedure was developed
and the apparatus built that allowed serial measurements. Th is method was later included in the fi rst USSR textbook on the analytical chemistry of
uranium (1962).
In late 1952, the Institute in Vinča started radiation training for the users
coming from factories, institutes, and clinics. In 1956, in response to a request
from the Federal Commission for Nuclear Energy, Draganić established the
famous School of Isotopes which is still in existence; he served as its Founding
Director until 1962.
France. In 1953, Draganić worked in the nuclear center Chatillon in
Paris, France. During his stay in France, he was immersed in radiation chemistry,
a subdiscipline which was then in its infancy. Draganić will continue his work
in radiation chemistry virtually throughout his career that spanned several
decades. Th is represented a departure from his early work in Vinča. His work in
Paris was focused on the development of chemical dosimeters for high radiation
doses, with a particular focus on oxalic acid solutions. Part of these investigations
will later become the basis of his doctoral dissertation entitled Infl uence of
Ionizing Radiation on the Aqueous Solutions of Oxalic Acid, which he applied for
in 1955 at the Sorbonne as the prestigious state doctoral dissertation. Draganić
dedicated his doctoral thesis to his professor Pavle Savić, and defended it in
1958. Th e results of these fi rst investigations were published at the inaugural UN
International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (Geneva, 1955),
as well as in the prestigious French Journal de Chimie Physique.
While in Paris, Draganić dreamt of establishing his own lab in Vinča. In
1955, he founded the Division of Radiation Chemistry at the Institute; at fi rst,
since Vinča initially did not have high-quality radiation sources, his laboratory
closely collaborated with French colleagues. Th e focus of lab’s investigations
was radiation chemistry of water, which was used as the model system.
Simultaneously, the researchers within the lab studied the chemistry and
dosimetry of high doses of mixed radiation emanating from nuclear reactors.
Th e Division has since grown into the Laboratory for Radiation Chemistry,
which is still in existence today.
Draganić worked on the models for water radiolysis and published close
to twenty articles in this field between 1964 and 1975. Perhaps more
importantly, in 1971, Ivan and Zorica Draganić published a reference book
titled Th e Radiation Chemistry of Water (Academic Press, New York). In
addition to this, Draganić published approx. 70 books, book chapters, and
review articles – out of which twenty are books. Several of them were aimed at
popularizing science, and others were important textbooks. It is noteworthy
that his textbook on Radiochemical Procedures: Work with Radioactive Isotopes
was published in an English translation in the USA (1962), and that his joint
book on Radiation and Radioactivity on Earth and Beyond (with Z. Draganić
and J. P. Adlof) was published in English, Serbian, and Japanese editions. Starting in 1960, Draganić had an intensive collaboration with the Risø
National Laboratory in Denmark. Th is collaboration was in the fi eld of
dosimetry, with the particular focus on the dosimetric calibration of
instruments connected to the new electron accelerator that was just being
brought online. Th is practical collaboration evolved into a research-based one,
which resulted in several reports produced for the Danish Commission on
Atomic Energy, as well as in a dozen articles in scientifi c journals.
Radiolysis and Prebiotic Chemical Evolution. Ivan Draganić got
interested in this area as an already experienced radiation chemist. A relatively
well-accepted theory is that prebiotic Earth had numerous inorganic molecules,
especially water, and an abundance of sources of energy to cause chemical
transformations of these molecules. Draganić wrote: “we noticed the
underestimated role of the radiation chemistry in these processes”. Most
attention was devoted to the radiation chemistry of cyano compounds and
water. Th rough the collaboration with the Danish group, Draganić put forward
a hypothesis that the radiolysis of early ocean water – caused by the radiation
that arose from the radioactive decay of a potassium isotope – could have
produced oxygen under prebiotic conditions 3.8 billion years ago. Between
1979 and 1991, around thirty publications appeared in this area. In addition,
two doctoral dissertations at the University of Belgrade, and two master’s theses
– one in Th ailand and one in Mexico – were defended in the same fi eld.
Draganić published the results of investigations from his own lab in the Vinča
Institute, as well as those from collaboration with research centers in the Unites
States, Denmark, Th ailand, and Mexico. In these papers, Draganić consistently
brought attention to the importance of ionizing radiation in the chemical
changes during our plant’s early history. It was shown that approx. seventy
biologically relevant molecules – including amino acids and peptides – can be
formed using such radiation chemistry-mediated synthesis, under the
conditions that existed on the prebiotic Earth.
Radiation Chemistry and Cores of Comets. Th is is a theme that
Draganić pursued chiefl y aft er he retired from Belgrade and took a position at
the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he acted as the director
of the Department of Radiation Chemistry within the Nuclear Science Institute
(Instituto de ciencias nucleares); he stayed in Mexico for four years. It is
considered that cores of comets represent a relatively well-preserved residues
of the presolar cloud; thus, their chemical composition off ers insights into the
composition of the interstellar cloud that ultimately gave rise to the Solar
system. Th ese studies suggested the possibility that radiation-mediated
synthesis could have resulted in a series of organic molecules of relevance for
the processes involved in the origin of life. Th e results of this work were
summarized in eight journal articles and one doctoral dissertation, defended at the University of Belgrade. Draganić presented this work in invited talks at
several international conferences, including three plenary presentations at
COSPAR (Cosmic Space Research) conferences. International conference on the
Role of Radiation in the Origin and Evolution of Life (held in Osaka, Japan, in
1998) opened with Draganić’s talk on Radiation Chemical Approaches to
Chemical Evolution Processes on Earth and Beyond.
Popularization of Science. Ivan Draganić held a belief that science
should serve the society, and that science and culture present key levers through
which a society can achieve true progress. Th is belief translated into the notion
that scientifi c method of thinking should be introduced to the general public.
He published more than a hundred articles in daily and weekly magazine, as
well as scientifi c journals, dealing with the themes of popularization of science,
and the relationship between the society and science. In addition, Draganić
presented his views in several interviews. Finally, he collected his views on
various topics – including science, society, the world at large, history, future, as
well as his own life – in a voluminous interview titled Conversations in Vinča.
He wrote screenplays for scientifi c documentaries and TV shows, and he was
also the author of the TV series Radiations and Radioactivity, for which the
Education & Scientifi c Program of the Serbian National TV received a special
award in 1995.
Educational Activities. Ivan Draganić was a precious teacher in the area
of nuclear sciences. He organized the fi rst specialist courses in Yugoslavia for
experts that used radioisotopes and radiation. He was engaged in universitylevel
education. However, his most signifi cant education contribution was the
supervision of approx. ten doctoral dissertations and approx. twenty master’s
and Diploma theses which were defended at the University of Belgrade. His
vast experience was drawn upon by doctoral students at other universities in
Yugoslavia and abroad. In fact, Prof. Draganić established a school of radiation
chemistry, whose work was recognized in broad international circles.
International Activities. Between 1952 and 2001, Draganić went on 87
trips abroad, as either a participant in conferences, visiting professor, or a UN
expert. He attended scientifi c meetings in the areas of dosimetry, radiation
chemistry, and chemical evolution. He gave invited seminars at the Oak Ridge
and Argonne National Laboratories, the University of Notre Dame, the
National Bureau of Standards, the University of Chicago, and the California
Institute of Technology (all in the United States); at the USSR Academy of
Sciences in Moscow; at the Nuclear Research Center in Iran; at the Nuclear
Center Trombay in India; at the Chulalongkorn University in Th ailand; at the
Université de Strasbourg, Institut du radium, and Centre d’énergie nucleaire
Saclay (all in France), and at the Risø National Laboratory in Denmark. As a visiting professor he taught specialist courses at universities in Mexico City,
Washington, and Bangkok.
Th roughout his long career, Professor Draganić had a clear path ahead
of him; he knew what he wanted and how to get it. His key tools on this path
were persistency, incessant work, self-confi dence, a keen ability to distinguish
the relevant from the irrelevant, high respect for his peers, and loyalty to the
society that he came from and his family. As a talented and curious researcher,
and an excellent manager, he was a pioneer in virtually every fi eld he worked
in. He was highly involved in establishing a new branch of science in a country
where that kind of science was virtually unknown. He could easily bring people
together wih his ideas – and his charisma, hard work, and an honest relationship
with science are probably the reasons why he could do so repeatedly.
Ključne reči:
Ivan Draganić / Serbian scientists / biography / bibliography / physical chemistryIzvor:
Живот и дело српских научника, 2020, 391-450Izdavač:
- Београд : Српска академија наука и уметности
Napomena:
- Биографије и библиографије / Српска академија наука и уметности ; књ.17. II Одељење, Одбор за проучавање живота и рада научника у Србији и научника српског порекла ; књ. 17
TY - CHAP AU - Миљанић, Шћепан PY - 2020 UR - https://dais.sanu.ac.rs/123456789/10436 AB - Students of natural sciences – and especially physical chemistry – at the University of Belgrade have used a series of textbooks in the fields of radiochemistry and radiation chemistry that were collectively referred to as the “Draganić” since the early 1960s. “Draganić” was an institution of a sort, but most of its readers did not know who was the person that co-authored and edited the famous textbook on Radioactive Isotopes and Radiations. Ivan Draganić was born on September 10th 1924 to father Gedeon (who was a state clerk) and mother Sofi ja. He grew up in Zemun, and his family was of modest means. In 1939, the family moved to Petrovgrad (today Zrenjanin), where Ivan fi nished high school during the German occupation. In 1944, as the antifascist fronts approached Zrenjanin from the east and the south, Ivan Draganić joined the war eff ort. Th e news of the Allied victory reached him in Osijek, where his Th ird Army was on its way to Slovenia; following his demobilization, he strongly intended to dedicate himself to studies at the University of Belgrade. Draganić started his studies in physical chemistry in 1946 at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade. His motivation was to enter the area of nuclear sciences, which have witnessed an explosion of interest since the discovery of nuclear fi ssion in 1939. Classes in this fi eld were taught by the famous professor Pavle Savić. It was through Savić’s infl uence that Draganić secured a position at the Nuclear Institute in Vinča in 1949, shortly before graduation. He stayed at Vinča until his retirement in 1981, but during that time he held sabbatical and long-term positions at several research centers throughout the world, totaling more than 12 years. Scientifi c opus of Ivan Draganić includes the development of chemical dosimeters for ionizing radiations, studies in radiation chemistry – especially in the context of water and aqueous solutions, and the importance of ionizing radiation in the chemical evolution processes on the early Earth and in the cores of comets – both of which are related to the origins of life. His research contributions are matched by his pedagogical activity, interest in the popularization of science and scientifi c methods of thinking, as well as his international activities. Vinča: Th e Early Days. Draganić’s fi rst task upon joining the Vinča institute was to develop a method for fl uorimetric determination of uranium in various samples. In less than a year, this original procedure was developed and the apparatus built that allowed serial measurements. Th is method was later included in the fi rst USSR textbook on the analytical chemistry of uranium (1962). In late 1952, the Institute in Vinča started radiation training for the users coming from factories, institutes, and clinics. In 1956, in response to a request from the Federal Commission for Nuclear Energy, Draganić established the famous School of Isotopes which is still in existence; he served as its Founding Director until 1962. France. In 1953, Draganić worked in the nuclear center Chatillon in Paris, France. During his stay in France, he was immersed in radiation chemistry, a subdiscipline which was then in its infancy. Draganić will continue his work in radiation chemistry virtually throughout his career that spanned several decades. Th is represented a departure from his early work in Vinča. His work in Paris was focused on the development of chemical dosimeters for high radiation doses, with a particular focus on oxalic acid solutions. Part of these investigations will later become the basis of his doctoral dissertation entitled Infl uence of Ionizing Radiation on the Aqueous Solutions of Oxalic Acid, which he applied for in 1955 at the Sorbonne as the prestigious state doctoral dissertation. Draganić dedicated his doctoral thesis to his professor Pavle Savić, and defended it in 1958. Th e results of these fi rst investigations were published at the inaugural UN International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (Geneva, 1955), as well as in the prestigious French Journal de Chimie Physique. While in Paris, Draganić dreamt of establishing his own lab in Vinča. In 1955, he founded the Division of Radiation Chemistry at the Institute; at fi rst, since Vinča initially did not have high-quality radiation sources, his laboratory closely collaborated with French colleagues. Th e focus of lab’s investigations was radiation chemistry of water, which was used as the model system. Simultaneously, the researchers within the lab studied the chemistry and dosimetry of high doses of mixed radiation emanating from nuclear reactors. Th e Division has since grown into the Laboratory for Radiation Chemistry, which is still in existence today. Draganić worked on the models for water radiolysis and published close to twenty articles in this field between 1964 and 1975. Perhaps more importantly, in 1971, Ivan and Zorica Draganić published a reference book titled Th e Radiation Chemistry of Water (Academic Press, New York). In addition to this, Draganić published approx. 70 books, book chapters, and review articles – out of which twenty are books. Several of them were aimed at popularizing science, and others were important textbooks. It is noteworthy that his textbook on Radiochemical Procedures: Work with Radioactive Isotopes was published in an English translation in the USA (1962), and that his joint book on Radiation and Radioactivity on Earth and Beyond (with Z. Draganić and J. P. Adlof) was published in English, Serbian, and Japanese editions. Starting in 1960, Draganić had an intensive collaboration with the Risø National Laboratory in Denmark. Th is collaboration was in the fi eld of dosimetry, with the particular focus on the dosimetric calibration of instruments connected to the new electron accelerator that was just being brought online. Th is practical collaboration evolved into a research-based one, which resulted in several reports produced for the Danish Commission on Atomic Energy, as well as in a dozen articles in scientifi c journals. Radiolysis and Prebiotic Chemical Evolution. Ivan Draganić got interested in this area as an already experienced radiation chemist. A relatively well-accepted theory is that prebiotic Earth had numerous inorganic molecules, especially water, and an abundance of sources of energy to cause chemical transformations of these molecules. Draganić wrote: “we noticed the underestimated role of the radiation chemistry in these processes”. Most attention was devoted to the radiation chemistry of cyano compounds and water. Th rough the collaboration with the Danish group, Draganić put forward a hypothesis that the radiolysis of early ocean water – caused by the radiation that arose from the radioactive decay of a potassium isotope – could have produced oxygen under prebiotic conditions 3.8 billion years ago. Between 1979 and 1991, around thirty publications appeared in this area. In addition, two doctoral dissertations at the University of Belgrade, and two master’s theses – one in Th ailand and one in Mexico – were defended in the same fi eld. Draganić published the results of investigations from his own lab in the Vinča Institute, as well as those from collaboration with research centers in the Unites States, Denmark, Th ailand, and Mexico. In these papers, Draganić consistently brought attention to the importance of ionizing radiation in the chemical changes during our plant’s early history. It was shown that approx. seventy biologically relevant molecules – including amino acids and peptides – can be formed using such radiation chemistry-mediated synthesis, under the conditions that existed on the prebiotic Earth. Radiation Chemistry and Cores of Comets. Th is is a theme that Draganić pursued chiefl y aft er he retired from Belgrade and took a position at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he acted as the director of the Department of Radiation Chemistry within the Nuclear Science Institute (Instituto de ciencias nucleares); he stayed in Mexico for four years. It is considered that cores of comets represent a relatively well-preserved residues of the presolar cloud; thus, their chemical composition off ers insights into the composition of the interstellar cloud that ultimately gave rise to the Solar system. Th ese studies suggested the possibility that radiation-mediated synthesis could have resulted in a series of organic molecules of relevance for the processes involved in the origin of life. Th e results of this work were summarized in eight journal articles and one doctoral dissertation, defended at the University of Belgrade. Draganić presented this work in invited talks at several international conferences, including three plenary presentations at COSPAR (Cosmic Space Research) conferences. International conference on the Role of Radiation in the Origin and Evolution of Life (held in Osaka, Japan, in 1998) opened with Draganić’s talk on Radiation Chemical Approaches to Chemical Evolution Processes on Earth and Beyond. Popularization of Science. Ivan Draganić held a belief that science should serve the society, and that science and culture present key levers through which a society can achieve true progress. Th is belief translated into the notion that scientifi c method of thinking should be introduced to the general public. He published more than a hundred articles in daily and weekly magazine, as well as scientifi c journals, dealing with the themes of popularization of science, and the relationship between the society and science. In addition, Draganić presented his views in several interviews. Finally, he collected his views on various topics – including science, society, the world at large, history, future, as well as his own life – in a voluminous interview titled Conversations in Vinča. He wrote screenplays for scientifi c documentaries and TV shows, and he was also the author of the TV series Radiations and Radioactivity, for which the Education & Scientifi c Program of the Serbian National TV received a special award in 1995. Educational Activities. Ivan Draganić was a precious teacher in the area of nuclear sciences. He organized the fi rst specialist courses in Yugoslavia for experts that used radioisotopes and radiation. He was engaged in universitylevel education. However, his most signifi cant education contribution was the supervision of approx. ten doctoral dissertations and approx. twenty master’s and Diploma theses which were defended at the University of Belgrade. His vast experience was drawn upon by doctoral students at other universities in Yugoslavia and abroad. In fact, Prof. Draganić established a school of radiation chemistry, whose work was recognized in broad international circles. International Activities. Between 1952 and 2001, Draganić went on 87 trips abroad, as either a participant in conferences, visiting professor, or a UN expert. He attended scientifi c meetings in the areas of dosimetry, radiation chemistry, and chemical evolution. He gave invited seminars at the Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories, the University of Notre Dame, the National Bureau of Standards, the University of Chicago, and the California Institute of Technology (all in the United States); at the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow; at the Nuclear Research Center in Iran; at the Nuclear Center Trombay in India; at the Chulalongkorn University in Th ailand; at the Université de Strasbourg, Institut du radium, and Centre d’énergie nucleaire Saclay (all in France), and at the Risø National Laboratory in Denmark. As a visiting professor he taught specialist courses at universities in Mexico City, Washington, and Bangkok. Th roughout his long career, Professor Draganić had a clear path ahead of him; he knew what he wanted and how to get it. His key tools on this path were persistency, incessant work, self-confi dence, a keen ability to distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant, high respect for his peers, and loyalty to the society that he came from and his family. As a talented and curious researcher, and an excellent manager, he was a pioneer in virtually every fi eld he worked in. He was highly involved in establishing a new branch of science in a country where that kind of science was virtually unknown. He could easily bring people together wih his ideas – and his charisma, hard work, and an honest relationship with science are probably the reasons why he could do so repeatedly. PB - Београд : Српска академија наука и уметности T2 - Живот и дело српских научника T1 - Иван Г. Драганић : (1924–2012) SP - 391 EP - 450 UR - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_10436 ER -
@inbook{ author = "Миљанић, Шћепан", year = "2020", abstract = "Students of natural sciences – and especially physical chemistry – at the University of Belgrade have used a series of textbooks in the fields of radiochemistry and radiation chemistry that were collectively referred to as the “Draganić” since the early 1960s. “Draganić” was an institution of a sort, but most of its readers did not know who was the person that co-authored and edited the famous textbook on Radioactive Isotopes and Radiations. Ivan Draganić was born on September 10th 1924 to father Gedeon (who was a state clerk) and mother Sofi ja. He grew up in Zemun, and his family was of modest means. In 1939, the family moved to Petrovgrad (today Zrenjanin), where Ivan fi nished high school during the German occupation. In 1944, as the antifascist fronts approached Zrenjanin from the east and the south, Ivan Draganić joined the war eff ort. Th e news of the Allied victory reached him in Osijek, where his Th ird Army was on its way to Slovenia; following his demobilization, he strongly intended to dedicate himself to studies at the University of Belgrade. Draganić started his studies in physical chemistry in 1946 at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade. His motivation was to enter the area of nuclear sciences, which have witnessed an explosion of interest since the discovery of nuclear fi ssion in 1939. Classes in this fi eld were taught by the famous professor Pavle Savić. It was through Savić’s infl uence that Draganić secured a position at the Nuclear Institute in Vinča in 1949, shortly before graduation. He stayed at Vinča until his retirement in 1981, but during that time he held sabbatical and long-term positions at several research centers throughout the world, totaling more than 12 years. Scientifi c opus of Ivan Draganić includes the development of chemical dosimeters for ionizing radiations, studies in radiation chemistry – especially in the context of water and aqueous solutions, and the importance of ionizing radiation in the chemical evolution processes on the early Earth and in the cores of comets – both of which are related to the origins of life. His research contributions are matched by his pedagogical activity, interest in the popularization of science and scientifi c methods of thinking, as well as his international activities. Vinča: Th e Early Days. Draganić’s fi rst task upon joining the Vinča institute was to develop a method for fl uorimetric determination of uranium in various samples. In less than a year, this original procedure was developed and the apparatus built that allowed serial measurements. Th is method was later included in the fi rst USSR textbook on the analytical chemistry of uranium (1962). In late 1952, the Institute in Vinča started radiation training for the users coming from factories, institutes, and clinics. In 1956, in response to a request from the Federal Commission for Nuclear Energy, Draganić established the famous School of Isotopes which is still in existence; he served as its Founding Director until 1962. France. In 1953, Draganić worked in the nuclear center Chatillon in Paris, France. During his stay in France, he was immersed in radiation chemistry, a subdiscipline which was then in its infancy. Draganić will continue his work in radiation chemistry virtually throughout his career that spanned several decades. Th is represented a departure from his early work in Vinča. His work in Paris was focused on the development of chemical dosimeters for high radiation doses, with a particular focus on oxalic acid solutions. Part of these investigations will later become the basis of his doctoral dissertation entitled Infl uence of Ionizing Radiation on the Aqueous Solutions of Oxalic Acid, which he applied for in 1955 at the Sorbonne as the prestigious state doctoral dissertation. Draganić dedicated his doctoral thesis to his professor Pavle Savić, and defended it in 1958. Th e results of these fi rst investigations were published at the inaugural UN International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (Geneva, 1955), as well as in the prestigious French Journal de Chimie Physique. While in Paris, Draganić dreamt of establishing his own lab in Vinča. In 1955, he founded the Division of Radiation Chemistry at the Institute; at fi rst, since Vinča initially did not have high-quality radiation sources, his laboratory closely collaborated with French colleagues. Th e focus of lab’s investigations was radiation chemistry of water, which was used as the model system. Simultaneously, the researchers within the lab studied the chemistry and dosimetry of high doses of mixed radiation emanating from nuclear reactors. Th e Division has since grown into the Laboratory for Radiation Chemistry, which is still in existence today. Draganić worked on the models for water radiolysis and published close to twenty articles in this field between 1964 and 1975. Perhaps more importantly, in 1971, Ivan and Zorica Draganić published a reference book titled Th e Radiation Chemistry of Water (Academic Press, New York). In addition to this, Draganić published approx. 70 books, book chapters, and review articles – out of which twenty are books. Several of them were aimed at popularizing science, and others were important textbooks. It is noteworthy that his textbook on Radiochemical Procedures: Work with Radioactive Isotopes was published in an English translation in the USA (1962), and that his joint book on Radiation and Radioactivity on Earth and Beyond (with Z. Draganić and J. P. Adlof) was published in English, Serbian, and Japanese editions. Starting in 1960, Draganić had an intensive collaboration with the Risø National Laboratory in Denmark. Th is collaboration was in the fi eld of dosimetry, with the particular focus on the dosimetric calibration of instruments connected to the new electron accelerator that was just being brought online. Th is practical collaboration evolved into a research-based one, which resulted in several reports produced for the Danish Commission on Atomic Energy, as well as in a dozen articles in scientifi c journals. Radiolysis and Prebiotic Chemical Evolution. Ivan Draganić got interested in this area as an already experienced radiation chemist. A relatively well-accepted theory is that prebiotic Earth had numerous inorganic molecules, especially water, and an abundance of sources of energy to cause chemical transformations of these molecules. Draganić wrote: “we noticed the underestimated role of the radiation chemistry in these processes”. Most attention was devoted to the radiation chemistry of cyano compounds and water. Th rough the collaboration with the Danish group, Draganić put forward a hypothesis that the radiolysis of early ocean water – caused by the radiation that arose from the radioactive decay of a potassium isotope – could have produced oxygen under prebiotic conditions 3.8 billion years ago. Between 1979 and 1991, around thirty publications appeared in this area. In addition, two doctoral dissertations at the University of Belgrade, and two master’s theses – one in Th ailand and one in Mexico – were defended in the same fi eld. Draganić published the results of investigations from his own lab in the Vinča Institute, as well as those from collaboration with research centers in the Unites States, Denmark, Th ailand, and Mexico. In these papers, Draganić consistently brought attention to the importance of ionizing radiation in the chemical changes during our plant’s early history. It was shown that approx. seventy biologically relevant molecules – including amino acids and peptides – can be formed using such radiation chemistry-mediated synthesis, under the conditions that existed on the prebiotic Earth. Radiation Chemistry and Cores of Comets. Th is is a theme that Draganić pursued chiefl y aft er he retired from Belgrade and took a position at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he acted as the director of the Department of Radiation Chemistry within the Nuclear Science Institute (Instituto de ciencias nucleares); he stayed in Mexico for four years. It is considered that cores of comets represent a relatively well-preserved residues of the presolar cloud; thus, their chemical composition off ers insights into the composition of the interstellar cloud that ultimately gave rise to the Solar system. Th ese studies suggested the possibility that radiation-mediated synthesis could have resulted in a series of organic molecules of relevance for the processes involved in the origin of life. Th e results of this work were summarized in eight journal articles and one doctoral dissertation, defended at the University of Belgrade. Draganić presented this work in invited talks at several international conferences, including three plenary presentations at COSPAR (Cosmic Space Research) conferences. International conference on the Role of Radiation in the Origin and Evolution of Life (held in Osaka, Japan, in 1998) opened with Draganić’s talk on Radiation Chemical Approaches to Chemical Evolution Processes on Earth and Beyond. Popularization of Science. Ivan Draganić held a belief that science should serve the society, and that science and culture present key levers through which a society can achieve true progress. Th is belief translated into the notion that scientifi c method of thinking should be introduced to the general public. He published more than a hundred articles in daily and weekly magazine, as well as scientifi c journals, dealing with the themes of popularization of science, and the relationship between the society and science. In addition, Draganić presented his views in several interviews. Finally, he collected his views on various topics – including science, society, the world at large, history, future, as well as his own life – in a voluminous interview titled Conversations in Vinča. He wrote screenplays for scientifi c documentaries and TV shows, and he was also the author of the TV series Radiations and Radioactivity, for which the Education & Scientifi c Program of the Serbian National TV received a special award in 1995. Educational Activities. Ivan Draganić was a precious teacher in the area of nuclear sciences. He organized the fi rst specialist courses in Yugoslavia for experts that used radioisotopes and radiation. He was engaged in universitylevel education. However, his most signifi cant education contribution was the supervision of approx. ten doctoral dissertations and approx. twenty master’s and Diploma theses which were defended at the University of Belgrade. His vast experience was drawn upon by doctoral students at other universities in Yugoslavia and abroad. In fact, Prof. Draganić established a school of radiation chemistry, whose work was recognized in broad international circles. International Activities. Between 1952 and 2001, Draganić went on 87 trips abroad, as either a participant in conferences, visiting professor, or a UN expert. He attended scientifi c meetings in the areas of dosimetry, radiation chemistry, and chemical evolution. He gave invited seminars at the Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories, the University of Notre Dame, the National Bureau of Standards, the University of Chicago, and the California Institute of Technology (all in the United States); at the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow; at the Nuclear Research Center in Iran; at the Nuclear Center Trombay in India; at the Chulalongkorn University in Th ailand; at the Université de Strasbourg, Institut du radium, and Centre d’énergie nucleaire Saclay (all in France), and at the Risø National Laboratory in Denmark. As a visiting professor he taught specialist courses at universities in Mexico City, Washington, and Bangkok. Th roughout his long career, Professor Draganić had a clear path ahead of him; he knew what he wanted and how to get it. His key tools on this path were persistency, incessant work, self-confi dence, a keen ability to distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant, high respect for his peers, and loyalty to the society that he came from and his family. As a talented and curious researcher, and an excellent manager, he was a pioneer in virtually every fi eld he worked in. He was highly involved in establishing a new branch of science in a country where that kind of science was virtually unknown. He could easily bring people together wih his ideas – and his charisma, hard work, and an honest relationship with science are probably the reasons why he could do so repeatedly.", publisher = "Београд : Српска академија наука и уметности", journal = "Живот и дело српских научника", booktitle = "Иван Г. Драганић : (1924–2012)", pages = "391-450", url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_10436" }
Миљанић, Ш.. (2020). Иван Г. Драганић : (1924–2012). in Живот и дело српских научника Београд : Српска академија наука и уметности., 391-450. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_10436
Миљанић Ш. Иван Г. Драганић : (1924–2012). in Живот и дело српских научника. 2020;:391-450. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_10436 .
Миљанић, Шћепан, "Иван Г. Драганић : (1924–2012)" in Живот и дело српских научника (2020):391-450, https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_10436 .