Antoine Henri Becquerel (December 15, 1852 August 25, 1908) was a French physicist, Nobel laureate, and

d one of the discoverers of radioactivity. He inherited a tradition of research from his grandfather, Antoine Cesar Becquerel, who developed the field of electrolysis, and his father, A.E. Becquerel, who invented a new method for spectroscopic analysis. Henri's gifts included his ability to conduct extensive research and develop a summarizing theory which was written as a mathematical formula. He is known for the laws of radiation associated with phosphorescence. Becquerel's investigations were conducted during a period of new discoveries about energy, including the newly recognized Xrays of Wilhelm Conrad Rntgen. Duplicating Rntgen's experiments led Becquerel to intuitively compare the types of radiation and led him to accept the notion that some radiation comes from within the substance itself rather than by external stimulation, such as in the case of phosphorescence. His discovery of radiation from a uranium salt eventually contributed to a change in the paradigm of classical physics and helped begin the era of atomic physics. His work led to a more detailed understanding of the structure of matter and its relationship to energy. Becquerel discovered the radioactivity of uranium by accident. Searching for a connection between X rays (recently discovered by Roentgen) and phosphorescence, he placed a covered photographic plate next to a phosphorescent uranium salt. The plate became exposed even though it had an opaque cover and therefore was not subject to any light. Becquerel established that some of the radiation emitted by the uranium was deflected by a magnet, unlike X rays; also, the radiation was emitted by all uranium salts, whether phosphorescent or not. His discoveries led to the receipt of the Nobel Prize in physics for 1903 (shared with Marie and Pierre Curie). Marie Curie is remembered for her discovery of radium and polonium, and her huge contribution to the fight against cancer. Her achievements included a theory of radioactivity (a term that she coined), techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of two elements, polonium and radium. Under her direction, the world's first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms, using radioactive isotopes. She founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and in Warsaw, which remain major centres of medical research today. While an actively loyal French citizen, Marie Skodowska-Curie (she used both surnames) never lost her sense of Polish identity. She taught her daughters the Polish language and took them on visits to Poland. She named the first chemical element that she discovered polonium, which she first isolated in 1898 after her native country. Pierre Curie is most often associated with his wife Marie Curie, however Pierre Curie has played an important role in many of Marie Curie's discoveries and has become famous for several of his own as well. Pierre Curie was a French physicist who did important research on radioactive substances and piezoelectric effects. [3]Pierre Curie has constructed several pieces of apparatus which assisted him in his work and which are still being used to assist many great physicists in their experiments. Balances, electrometers, and piezoelectric crystals are some examples of his apparatus. "Pierre Curie discovered that the magnetic coefficients of attraction of paramagnetic bodies vary in inverse proportion to the absolute temperature--Curie's Law." [1] Pierre Curie also advanced on theories of symmetry which led him to the discovery of the temperature known as the Curie point. Even though Pierre has conducted many important experiments, one of his most important was the one he shared with his wife, the discovery of polonium and radium, which later on led them to the winning of the Noble Prize in 1903. Pierre's discovery of the piezo-electric phenomenon, his research on crystal symmetry, magnetism and paramagnetic substances Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) was responsible for a remarkable series of discoveries in the fields of radioactivity and nuclear physics. Rutherford discovered alpha and beta rays, set forth the laws of radioactive decay, and identified alpha particles as helium nuclei. Most important, he postulated the nuclear structure of the atom. Experiments done in Rutherford's laboratory showed that when alpha particles are fired into gas atoms, a few are violently deflected, implying a dense, positively charged central region containing most of the atomic mass. Ernest did an experiment where he shot alpha particles into a gold foil that proved the concept of a nuclear atom, that is an atom with a nucleus made of protons and neutrons and have electrons moving around the nucleus in some way. His experiment did not show the position of electrons or energy levels or even how they moved. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845 - 1923) discovered X rays, for which he received the first Nobel Prize for physics in 1901. He observed that barium platinocyanide crystals across the room fluoresced whenever he turned on a Crooke's, or cathode-ray discharge, tube, even when the tube was shielded by thin metal sheets. Roentgen correctly hypothesized that a previously unknown form of radiation of very short wavelength was involved, and that these X rays (a term he coined) caused the crystals to glow. He later demonstrated the metallurgical and medical use of X rays which later brough a revolution the medical science.. His research also included work on elasticity, capillary action of fluids, specific heats of gases, conduction of heat in crystals, absorption of heat by gases, and piezoelectricity. Radioactivity is the process whereby unstable atomic nuclei release energetic subatomic particles. The word radioactivity is also used to refer to the subatomic particles themselves. This phenomenon is observed in the heavy elements, like uranium, and unstable isotopes, like carbon-14. Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of energy from unstable atoms.
Radioactive decay occurs in unstable atomic nuclei that is, ones that dont have enough binding energy to hold the nucleus together due to an excess of either protons or neutrons.