重元素 (I) 超ウラン元素から超重元素へ

History of the synthesis and discovery of heavy elements starting from 93 is reviewed. This article describes the story of thrilling competition for the discovery of new elements with increasing difficulties as the atomic number increases, beginning the 93 element, neptunium. Particularly, competition between USA and USSR has lasted from 102 to 106 element and was unsettled until a new aspect was developed in relation with the superheavy elements theoretically predicted. Here, the search of naturally occurring superheavy elements is briefly explained as an introduction to the present and future perspectives of the research on the superheavy elements which is appearing in the succeeding article.