Paul De Bièvre was a researcher in isotope ratio measurements, reference materials and chemical metrology. His IUPAC Council biography records leadership in isotope mass spectrometry and isotope reference materials at the European Commission's nuclear-measurement laboratory, later the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements.[ref]
Paul De Bièvre nomination biography for the 43rd IUPAC Council. Professional Experience, group leadership and laboratory responsibilities.
With René Dybkær, Aleš Fajgelj and David Brynn Hibbert, Paul De Bièvre prepared the2011 IUPAC report on metrological traceability of chemical measurement results. The report's stated aim is a consistent view of traceability's creation, meaning and role in chemical measurement.[ref]
An original isotope-counting example shows why a ratio must be specified. If a hypothetical two-isotope material contains80 units of isotope A and20 of isotope B, its ratio A/B is4, while the fraction A/(A+B) is0.8. Multiplying a sample's total amount by ten changes neither value. An instrument response ratio still requires a measurement model relating its signals to those isotope amounts; unequal response to the two isotopes can alter the observed ratio.
This connects isotope measurements with reference material characterization and measurement calibration. A precise signal ratio is useful only when its relation to the specified measurand and reference is established, with appropriate measurement uncertainty. Paul De Bièvre's documented work joined those experimental and conceptual aspects.
Articles by others on the same topic
There are currently no matching articles.