Everything about Henri Becquerel totally explained
Antoine Henri Becquerel (
December 15,
1852 ;
August 25,
1908) was a
French physicist,
Nobel laureate, and one of the discoverers of
radioactivity. He won the 1903
Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering
radioactivity.
Early days
Becquerel was born in
Paris into a family which, including him and his son
Jean, produced four generations of scientists. He studied science at the
École Polytechnique and engineering at the
École des Ponts et Chaussées. In 1890 he married Louise Désirée Lorieux.
Rise in natural sciences, discoveries, and major works
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.
In 1896, while investigating
phosphorescence in
uranium salts, Becquerel accidentally discovered
radioactivity. Investigating the work of
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Becquerel wrapped a fluorescent substance, potassium uranyl sulfate, in
photographic plates and black material in preparation for an experiment requiring bright sunlight. However, prior to actually performing the experiment, Becquerel found that the photographic plates were fully exposed. This discovery led Becquerel to investigate the spontaneous emission of
nuclear radiation.
Describing his method to the
French Academy of Sciences on January 24, 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 doesn't 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 on the negative. If one places between the phosphorescent substance and the paper a piece of money or a metal screen pierced with a cut-out design, one sees the image of these objects appear on the negative. … One must conclude from these experiments that the phosphorescent substance in question emits rays which pass through the opaque paper and reduces silver salts.
In 1903, he shared the
Nobel Prize in Physics with
Pierre and
Marie Curie "in recognition of the extraordinary services he's rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity".
Final days and legacy
In 1908, the year of his death, Becquerel was elected Permanent Secretary of the
Académie des Sciences. He died at the age of 55 in
Le Croisic.
The
SI unit for radioactivity, the
becquerel (Bq), is named after him, and there's a
Becquerel crater on the Moon and a
Becquerel crater on Mars.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Henri Becquerel'.
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