The Discoverer of radioactivity

The Discoverer of radioactivity
Antoine Henri Becquerel (born in Paris, December 15, 1852 - died at Le Croisic, August 25, 1908 at age 55 years) is a French physicist who discovered radioactivity. His name is used for the unit of radioactivity.

Becquerel was born from a family that spawned four generations of scientists, including his own son Jean. Henri Becquerel studied natural sciences at the École Polytechnique and engineering at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées. In 1890, he married Louise Desiree Lorieux.

In 1892, he became the third person in his family who occupied the chair of physics at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. In 1894, he became chief engineer in the Department of Bridges and Highways. In 1896, when the observed phosphorescence of uranium salts, Becquerel accidentally discovered radioactivity. Examining the work of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Becquerel imprison a fluorescent substance, potassium uranyl sulfate, in photographic plate and a black material to prepare studies that require bright light.




However, before doing research, Becquerel found that photographic plate was exposed, showing a picture of the substance. That discovery made ​​him examine the spontaneous emission of nuclear radiation. In 1903, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics with Pierre and Marie Curie in recognition of extraordinary services he has done with the discovery of spontaneous radioactivity.