Pierre Curie 24509 223587485 2008-07-04T19:24:28Z Nihil novi 4062893 /* Prizes */ {{Infobox_Scientist | name = Pierre Curie | image = Pierrecurie2.jpg | caption = Pierre Curie (1859-1906) | birth_date = [[May 15]] [[1859]] | birth_place = [[Paris]], [[France]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1906|4|19|1859|5|5}} | death_place = [[Paris]], [[France]] | nationality = [[France]] | field = [[Physics]] | work_institutions = [[Sorbonne]] | alma_mater = Sorbonne | doctoral_advisor = <!--Please insert--> | doctoral_students = [[Paul Langevin]]<br />[[André-Louis Debierne]]<br />[[Marguerite Perey|Marguerite Catherine Perey]]<!--[[Pierre Ernest Weiss]]--> | known_for = [[Radioactivity]] | prizes = [[Image:Nobel prize medal.svg|20px]] [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1903) | footnotes = Married to [[Marie Curie]] (m. 1895), their children include [[Irène Joliot-Curie]] and [[Ève Curie]].}} '''Pierre Curie''' ([[May 15]] [[1859]] &ndash; died [[April 19]] [[1906]]) was a [[France|French]] [[Physics|physicist]], a pioneer in [[crystallography]], [[magnetism]], [[piezoelectricity]] and [[radioactivity]]. He shared the 1903 [[Nobel Prize]] in physics with his wife, [[Marie Curie|Maria Skłodowska-Curie]] (Marie Curie), and [[Henri Becquerel]], "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel." ==Early life and work== Born in [[Paris]], [[France]], Pierre was educated by his father, and in his early teens showed a strong aptitude for mathematics and geometry. By the age of 18 he had completed the equivalent of a higher degree, but did not proceed immediately to a doctorate due to lack of money. Instead he worked as a laboratory instructor. In 1880, Pierre and his older brother Jacques demonstrated that an electric potential was generated when crystals were compressed, i.e. [[piezoelectricity]]. Shortly afterwards, in 1881, they demonstrated the reverse effect: that crystals could be made to deform when subject to an electric field. Almost all digital electronic circuits now rely on this phenomenon in the form of [[crystal oscillators]]. Prior to his famous doctoral studies on magnetism he designed and perfected an extremely sensitive [[torsion balance]] for measuring magnetic coefficients. Variations on this equipment were commonly used by future workers in that area. Pierre Curie studied [[ferromagnetism]], [[paramagnetism]], and [[diamagnetism]] for his doctoral thesis, and discovered the effect of [[temperature]] on paramagnetism which is now known as [[Curie's law]]. The material constant in Curie's law is known as the Curie constant. He also discovered that ferromagnetic substances exhibited a [[critical temperature]] transition, above which the substances lost their ferromagnetic behavior. This is now known as the [[Curie point]]. Pierre formulated what is now known as the ''Curie Dissymmetry Principle'': a physical [[effect]] cannot have a dissymmetry absent from its efficient [[cause]]. For example, a random mixture of sand in zero gravity has no [[dissymmetry]] (it is [[isotropic]]). Introduce a [[gravitational field]], then there is a dissymmetry because of the direction of the field. Then the sand grains can ‘self-sort’ with the density increasing with depth. But this new arrangement, with the directional arrangement of sand grains, actually reflects the dissymmetry of the gravitational field that causes the separation. ==Work== Pierre worked with his wife Marie Curie in isolating [[polonium]] and [[radium]]. They were the first to use the term "[[radioactivity]]," and were pioneers in its study. Their work, including Marie's celebrated doctoral work, made use of a sensitive piezoelectric [[electrometer]] constructed by Pierre and his brother Jacques. Pierre and one of his students made the first discovery of [[nuclear energy]], by identifying the continuous emission of [[heat]] from [[radium]] particles. He also investigated the radiation emissions of radioactive substances, and through the use of magnetic fields was able to show that some of the emissions were positively charged, some were negative and some were neutral. These correspond to [[alpha particle|alpha]], [[beta particle|beta]] and [[gamma radiation]]. The [[curie]] is a unit of radioactivity (3.7 x 10<sup>10</sup> decays per second or 37 [[becquerel|gigabecquerels]]) originally named in honour of Pierre Curie by the Radiology Congress in 1910, after Pierre's death. Subsequently, there has been some controversy over whether the naming was in honour of Pierre, Marie, or both.<ref>{{cite web | author = Paul W. Frame | title = How the Curie Came to Be | url = http://www.orau.org/ptp/articlesstories/thecurie.htm | accessdate = 2008-04-30}}</ref> Pierre and Marie Curie's daughter [[Irène Joliot-Curie]] and their son-in-law [[Frédéric Joliot-Curie]] were also physicists involved in the study of radioactivity, and were also awarded the Nobel prize for their work. Their other daughter [[Ève Curie|Ève]] wrote her mother's biography. His granddaughter [[Hélène Langevin-Joliot]] is a [[professor]] of nuclear physics at the [[University of Paris]] and his grandson, [[Pierre Joliot]], who was named after him, is a noted biochemist. == Death == Pierre died as a result of a carriage accident in a snow storm while crossing the ''Rue Dauphine'' in [[Paris]] on [[April 19]], [[1906]]. Both Pierre and Marie were enshrined in the [[crypt]] of the [[Panthéon, Paris|Panthéon in Paris]] in April 1995. ==Prizes== * [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1903) * [[Davy Medal]] (1903) * [[Matteucci Medal]] (1904) ==See also== *[[Eusapia Palladino#Paris|Eusapia Palladino]] ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == {{commons|Pierre Curie}} * [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/articles/curie/index.html NOBELPRIZE.ORG: History of Pierre and Marie] * [http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1903/index.html Pierre Curie's Nobel prize] * [http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1903/pierre-curie-bio.html Official Nobel biography] * [http://www.aip.org/history/curie/pierre.htm Biography American Institute of Physics] * [http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people/Curie,+Pierre Annotated bibliography for Pierre Curie from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues] * [http://www.academie-sciences.fr/membres/in_memoriam/Curie/Curie_publi.htm Curie's publication in French Academy of Sciences papers] *[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9402E4DC1438EF32A25753C2A9629C946797D6CF ''Prof. Curie killed in a Paris street'': article of The New York Times about Curie death] * [http://himetop.wikidot.com/pierre-curie Some places and memories related to Pierre Curie] {{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1901-1925}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Curie, Pierre}} [[Category:1859 births]] [[Category:1906 deaths]] [[Category:French chemists]] [[Category:French physicists]] [[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]] [[Category:French Nobel laureates]] [[Category:Radioactivity]] [[Category:Discoverers of chemical elements]] [[Category:Burials at the Panthéon]] [[Category:Road accident deaths in France]] [[Category:People from Paris]] [[ar:بيار كوري]] [[ast:Pierre Curie]] [[bn:পিয়ের ক্যুরি]] [[bs:Pierre Curie]] [[bg:Пиер Кюри]] [[ca:Pierre Curie]] [[cs:Pierre Curie]] [[da:Pierre Curie]] [[de:Pierre Curie]] [[et:Pierre Curie]] [[es:Pierre Curie]] [[eo:Pierre Curie]] [[fa:پیر کوری]] [[fr:Pierre Curie]] [[gd:Pierre Curie]] [[gl:Pierre Curie]] [[ko:피에르 퀴리]] [[hi:पिएर क्युरी]] [[hr:Pierre Curie]] [[io:Pierre Curie]] [[id:Pierre Curie]] [[is:Pierre Curie]] [[it:Pierre Curie]] [[he:פייר קירי]] [[sw:Pierre Curie]] [[lb:Pierre Curie]] [[lt:Pierre Curie]] [[mr:पियरे क्युरी]] [[nl:Pierre Curie]] [[ja:ピエール・キュリー]] [[no:Pierre Curie]] [[nn:Pierre Curie]] [[oc:Pierre Curie]] [[pl:Pierre Curie]] [[pt:Pierre Curie]] [[ro:Pierre Curie]] [[ru:Кюри, Пьер]] [[sq:Pierre Curie]] [[simple:Pierre Curie]] [[sk:Pierre Curie]] [[sl:Pierre Curie]] [[sr:Пјер Кири]] [[sh:Pierre Curie]] [[fi:Pierre Curie]] [[sv:Pierre Curie]] [[th:ปีแอร์ กูรี]] [[vi:Pierre Curie]] [[tr:Pierre Curie]] [[uk:Кюрі П'єр]] [[war:Pierre Curie]] [[zh:皮埃尔·居里]]