21 Facts About Henri Becquerel

Antoine Henri Becquerel was a French engineer, physicist, Nobel laureate, and the first person to discover evidence of radioactivity.

Henri Becquerel was born in Paris, France, into a wealthy family which produced four generations of physicists: Henri Becquerel's grandfather, father, and son.

Henri Becquerel started off his education by attending the Lycee Louis-le-Grand school, a prep school in Paris.

Henri Becquerel studied engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees.

In 1874, Henri Becquerel married Lucie Zoe Marie Jamin, who died while giving birth to their son, Jean.

Later on in 1894, Henri Becquerel became chief engineer in the Department of Bridges and Highways before he started with his early experiments.

Early in his career, Henri Becquerel studied the Earth's magnetic fields.

Henri Becquerel's discovery of spontaneous radioactivity is a famous example of serendipity, of how chance favors the prepared mind.

Henri Becquerel had long been interested in phosphorescence, the emission of light of one color following a body's exposure to light of another color.

The intensive research of radioactivity led to Henri Becquerel publishing seven papers on the subject in 1896.

In 1868, Edmond Henri Becquerel published a book, La lumiere: ses causes et ses effets.

Later in his life in 1900, Henri Becquerel measured the properties of Beta Particles, and he realized that they had the same measurements as high speed electrons leaving the nucleus.

In 1901 Henri Becquerel made the discovery that radioactivity could be used for medicine.

Henri Becquerel made this discovery when he left a piece of radium in his vest pocket and noticed that he had been burnt by it.

Henri Becquerel did not survive much longer after his discovery of radioactivity and died on 25 August 1908, at the age of 55, in Le Croisic, France.

In 1889, Henri Becquerel became a member of the Academie des Sciences.

In 1900, Henri Becquerel won the Rumford Medal for his discovery of the radioactivity of uranium and he was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour.

In 1903, Henri Becquerel shared a Nobel Prize in Physics with Pierre Curie and Marie Curie for the discovery of spontaneous radioactivity.

In 1906, Henri was elected Vice Chairman of the academy, and in 1908, the year of his death, Becquerel was elected Permanent Secretary of the Academie des Sciences.

Henri Becquerel was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1908.

Henri Becquerel has been honored with being the namesake of many different scientific discoveries.