Łotysz Sławomir
Uniwersytet Zielonogórski.
Kwart Hist Nauki Tech. 2009;54(2):63-82.
In early 1930s the newspapers and street journals in Europe and the United States were frequently reporting on a case of Zbigniew Dunikowski, a Polish engineer, who claimed to be in possession of a secret formula allowing production of gold from ordinary sand and rocks. He believed that most of those materials contain some particles of gold. For the precious metal however, it takes millions of years to precipitate into the ledges that could be mined. His method was based on a conviction, that the process can be accelerated. Although he was nicknamed "Polish alchemist" very soon, his vain promises attracted attention of financiers and even some European political leaders. After few years of futile experiments, he was sued by his impatient financial backers, and arrested. While in detention, he was allowed to make the last attempt to produce gold and regain his repute and freedom. When this attempt failed, the judge sentenced him for two years in prison and ordered him to repay some 3 million francs ($100,000) to his investors. He was also fined with ... 100 francs fine (some 4 dollars). It can not be definitively stated, whether Dunikowski was truly convicted that his formula for making gold could have been working or he acted as a swindler from the very beginning. He exclaimed that the accusation of fraud was caused by bankers, who would never let his method to undermine the status quo of world's economy. The experiments conducted in Ecole Centrale in Paris during his trial, were assisted buy several eminent French scientist. But although the judge sentenced, that Dunikowki's "secret process for turning sand into gold is an impracticable combination of absurdities and contradictions," Polish engineer was still able to find other backers after being released from French prison. We find the traces of his further activity in Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Philippines. Finally, in early 1950s he ended his journey in the United States as a political refugee.
20世纪30年代初，欧美地区的报纸和街头小报频繁报道波兰工程师兹比格涅夫·杜尼科夫斯基的案子。他宣称自己掌握了一种能从普通沙子和岩石中提炼黄金的秘密配方。他认为这些物质大多含有一些金颗粒。然而，要让贵金属沉淀成可开采的矿脉需要数百万年。他的方法基于一种信念，即这个过程可以加速。尽管他很快就被昵称为“波兰炼金术士”，但他空洞的承诺还是引起了金融家甚至一些欧洲政治领导人的注意。经过几年徒劳无功的实验后，他被不耐烦的资助者起诉并被捕。在拘留期间，他被允许做最后一次提炼黄金的尝试，以挽回声誉和重获自由。这次尝试失败后，法官判处他两年监禁，并责令他向投资者偿还约300万法郎（10万美元）。他还被处以100法郎的罚款（约4美元）。无法确切说明杜尼科夫斯基是真的确信他的炼金配方可行，还是从一开始就是个骗子。他声称欺诈指控是银行家造成的，因为他们绝不会让他的方法破坏世界经济的现状。在他受审期间于巴黎中央理工学院进行的实验，有几位杰出的法国科学家协助。尽管法官宣判杜尼科夫斯基的“将沙子变成黄金的秘密过程是荒谬和矛盾的不切实际的组合”，但这位波兰工程师在从法国监狱获释后仍能找到其他资助者。我们在意大利、瑞士、比利时和菲律宾发现了他后续活动的踪迹。最后，在20世纪50年代初，他作为政治难民在美国结束了自己的旅程。
