Radioactivity and radium
Radiactividad y radio
- Date
- 1896–1898 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Henri Becquerel (uranium, 1896); Marie and Pierre Curie (polonium and radium, 1898)
- People
- 👤 Henri Becquerel1852–1908👤 Marie Curie1867–1934👤 Pierre Curie1859–1906
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Discovery that certain elements spontaneously emit radiation, and the isolation of radium. It revealed that the atom is not indivisible and opened up nuclear physics.
What it led to
- Nuclear physics, fission and the atomic bomb
- Radiotherapy against cancer
- Radiometric dating and isotopic tracers
Built on
- The number e and the exponential function1683
- X-rays1895
- The Curies' piezoelectric electrometer