Henri Becquerel
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{{For|the SI unit of radioactivity|Becquerel}}
{{Infobox_Scientist
| name = Antoine Henri Becquerel
| image = Henri Becquerel.jpg|300px
| image_width = 200px
| caption = Antoine Becquerel, French [[physicist]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1852|12|15|}}
| birth_place = [[Paris]], [[France]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1908|8|25|1852|12|15}}
| death_place = [[Le Croisic]], [[Brittany]], [[France]]
| nationality = [[France]]
| field = [[Physics]], [[Chemistry]]
| work_institution = [[Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers]]</br>[[École Polytechnique]]</br>[[Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle]]
| alma_mater = [[École Polytechnique]]</br>[[École nationale des ponts et chaussées|École des Ponts et Chaussées]]
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students = [[Marie Curie]]
| known_for = [[Radioactivity]]
| religion = Roman Catholic
| prizes = [[Image:Nobel medal dsc06171.jpg|20px]] [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1903)
| footnotes = Note that he is the father of [[Jean Becquerel]], the son of [[A. E. Becquerel]], and the grandson of
[[Antoine César Becquerel]].
}}
[[Image:Becquerel plate.jpg|thumb|right|Image of Becquerel's photographic plate which has been fogged by exposure to radiation from a uranium salt. The shadow of a metal [[Maltese Cross (symbol)|Maltese Cross]] placed between the plate and the uranium salt is clearly visible.]]
'''Antoine Henri Becquerel''' ([[December 15]], [[1852]] ; [[August 25]], [[1908]]) was a [[France|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 Becquerel|Jean]], produced four generations of scientists. He studied science at the [[École Polytechnique]] and engineering at the [[École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées|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 plate]]s 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,
<blockquote>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 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.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Henri Becquerel|title =Sur les radiations émises par phosphorescence|journal=Comptes Rendus |volume = 122| pages = 420–421|year=1896|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k30780/f422.chemindefer}}</ref><ref>''Comptes Rendus'' 122, 420 (1896), [http://web.lemoyne.edu/~giunta/becquerel.html translated by Carmen Giunta]. Accessed [[September 10]], [[2006]].</ref></blockquote>
In 1903, he shared the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Pierre Curie|Pierre]] and [[Marie Curie]] "in recognition of the extraordinary services he has 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 is a [[Becquerel (lunar crater)|Becquerel crater on the Moon]] and a [[Becquerel (crater)|Becquerel crater on Mars]].
*[[Rumford Medal]] (1900)
*[[Helmholtz Medal]] (1901)
*[[Nobel Prize for Physics]] (1903)
*[[Barnard Medal]] (1905)
==See also==
* [[Antoine César Becquerel]] (his grandfather)
* [[A. E. Becquerel]] (his father)
* [[Jean Becquerel]] (his son)
==References==
<references />
==External links==
* [http://www.nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1903/becquerel-bio.html Henri Becquerel - Biography]
* [http://www1.bipm.org/en/si/history-si/radioactivity/becquerel.html Becquerel short biography] and the use of his name as a unit of measure in the [[SI]]
* [http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people/Becquerel,+Henri Annotated bibliography for Henri Becquerel from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
<br />{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1901-1925}}
{{Persondata
|NAME=Becquerel, Antoine Henri
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=[[France|French]] [[physicist]]
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[December 15]], [[1852]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Paris]], [[France]]
|DATE OF DEATH=[[August 25]], [[1908]]
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Le Croisic]], [[Brittany]], [[France]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becquerel, Antoine Henri}}
[[Category:1852 births]]
[[Category:1908 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the École Polytechnique]]
[[Category:Experimental physicists]]
[[Category:French physicists]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:Radioactivity]]
[[Category:French Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Nuclear physicists]]
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[[zh:亨利·贝克勒尔]]