Seaborg was born in Ishpeming, Michigan, on April 19, 1912. At the age of 10, he moved with his family to Los Angeles, where he attended public schools. He entered the University of California at Los Angeles in 1930 and earned his bachelor's degree four years later. In 1937, he was awarded his Ph.D. in chemistry from the Berkeley campus of the university. He was appointed to the faculty at Berkeley the same year and eventually served as assistant, associate, and full professor (1937-1958), chancellor (1958-1961) and university professor (1971-date). Between 1961 and 1971, he served as chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.

Seaborg became interested in the study of transuranium elements while he was still a doctoral student. It is not surprising, therefore, that he soon became involved in research on the first of those elements, neptunium. In fact, when the co-discoverer of neptunium, Edwin...