Antoine Henri Becquerel
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Antoine Henri Becquerel (15 December 1852 – 25 August 1908) was a French physicist, Nobel laureate, and the discoverer of radioactivity along with Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie,[1] for which all three won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics. Biography
[edit]Early life
Becquerel was born in Paris into a family which produced four generations of scientists: Becquerel 's grandfather (Antoine César Becquerel), father (Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel), and son (Jean Becquerel). He studied engineering at the École Polytechnique and the École des Ponts et Chaussées. In 1890 he married Louise Désirée Lorieux.
[edit]Career
In 1892, he became the third in his family to occupy the physics chair at the Muséum National d 'Histoire Naturelle. In 1894, he became chief engineer in the Department of Bridges and Highways.
Becquerel 's discovery of radioactivity is a famous example of serendipity, of how chance favors the prepared mind. Becquerel had long been interested in the phosphorescence, the emission of light of one color following a body 's exposure to light of another color. In early 1896, in the wave of excitement following Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen 's discovery of X-rays the previous fall, Becquerel thought that phosphorescent materials, such as some uranium salts, might emit penetrating X-ray-like radiation when illuminated by bright sunlight. His first experiments appeared to show this.
Describing them to the French Academy of Sciences on 24 February 1896, he said:
One wraps a Lumière photographic plate with a bromide emulsion in two sheets of very thick black paper, such that the plate does not become clouded upon being exposed to the sun for a day. One places on the sheet of paper, on the outside, a slab of the phosphorescent substance, and one exposes the whole to the sun for several hours. When one then develops the photographic plate, one recognizes that the silhouette of the phosphorescent substance appears in black
Antoine Henri Becquerel (15 December 1852 – 25 August 1908) was a French physicist, Nobel laureate, and the discoverer of radioactivity along with Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie,[1] for which all three won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics. Biography
[edit]Early life
Becquerel was born in Paris into a family which produced four generations of scientists: Becquerel 's grandfather (Antoine César Becquerel), father (Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel), and son (Jean Becquerel). He studied engineering at the École Polytechnique and the École des Ponts et Chaussées. In 1890 he married Louise Désirée Lorieux.
[edit]Career
In 1892, he became the third in his family to occupy the physics chair at the Muséum National d 'Histoire Naturelle. In 1894, he became chief engineer in the Department of Bridges and Highways.
Becquerel 's discovery of radioactivity is a famous example of serendipity, of how chance favors the prepared mind. Becquerel had long been interested in the phosphorescence, the emission of light of one color following a body 's exposure to light of another color. In early 1896, in the wave of excitement following Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen 's discovery of X-rays the previous fall, Becquerel thought that phosphorescent materials, such as some uranium salts, might emit penetrating X-ray-like radiation when illuminated by bright sunlight. His first experiments appeared to show this.
Describing them to the French Academy of Sciences on 24 February 1896, he said:
One wraps a Lumière photographic plate with a bromide emulsion in two sheets of very thick black paper, such that the plate does not become clouded upon being exposed to the sun for a day. One places on the sheet of paper, on the outside, a slab of the phosphorescent substance, and one exposes the whole to the sun for several hours. When one then develops the photographic plate, one recognizes that the silhouette of the phosphorescent substance appears in black
References: 2. ^ Henri Becquerel (1896). "Sur les radiations émises par phosphorescence".Comptes Rendus 122: 420–421. 3. ^ Comptes Rendus 122: 420 (1896), translated by Carmen Giunta. Accessed 10 September 2006. 4. ^ Henri Becquerel (1896). "Sur les radiations émises par phosphorescence".Comptes Rendus 122: 501–503. 5. ^ Comptes Rendus 122: 501–503 (1896), translated by Carmen Giunta. Accessed 10 September 2006. 6. ^ "This month in physics history March 1, 1896 Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity". APS News 17:3. March, 2008. 7. ^ Niepce de Saint-Victor (1857) "Mémoire sur une nouvelle action de la lumière"(On a new action of light), Comptes rendus … , vol. 45, pages 811–815. 8. ^ Niepce de Saint-Victor (1858) "Deuxième mémoire sur une nouvelle action de la lumière" (Second memoir on a new action of light), Comptes rendus … , vol. 46, pages 448–452. 9. ^ Niepce de Saint-Victor (1861) "Cinquième mémoire sur une nouvelle action de la lumière" (Fifth memoir on a new action of light), Comptes rendus … , vol. 53, pages 33–35. 10. ^ "Y a-t-il encore polémique autour de la découverte des phénomènes dits radioactifs? (English: Is there still controversy about the discovery of radioactive phenomena?)". Science Tribune. Juin, 1997. 11. ^ Rothman, Tony, Everything 's Relative: And Other Fables from Science and Technology (New York, New York: Wiley, 2003) Chapter 5 "Invisible light: The discovery of radioactivity," pages 46–52. ISBN 0-471-20257-6 See also:Amazon.com .