Antoine Henri Becquerel
...1878 which they named Jean. Jean made the fourth generation in the Becqueral of family to become a physicist. Later in life Jean became a professor of physics at the French Museum of Natural History. Antoine Henri Becqueral died at the age of 52 at Le Croisic on August 25, 1908. During Antoine Heri Becquerel’s 52 year life span he was able to contribute many things to the world. During Becquerel’s early work he was concerned with the plane polarization of light, with the phenomenon of phosphorescence and with the absorption of light by crystals. Becquerels also worked on the subject of terrestrial magnetism. In 1896, his previous work was overshadowed by his discovery of the phenomenon of natural radioactivity. The discovery of radioactivity has had a huge affect on the world. Radiation can be very harmful to humans and since many natural material as well as electronical devices that many Americans use everyday have some kind of radiation being emitted from them scientists are having to come up with ways to protect humans from these harmful radiations. Scientists are also coming out with ways to lower the amount of radiation that is being emitted from these devices. Some devices in which radiation is emitted from are x-ray machines used in hospitals and also cell phones which most people in todays society have. A natural material that emittes radiation is uranium. Antoine Henri Becquerel’s greatest contribution to the world was his discovery of radioactivity. Becquerel inherited the minerals and compounds studied by his father. And upon learning how Wilhelm Rontgen discovered x-rays by observing the fluorescence they produced, Becquerel had a ready source of fluorescent materials with which to pursue his own investigations of these mysterious rays. The material Becquerel chose to work with was a double sulfate of uranium and potassium which he exposed to sunlight and placed on photographic plates wrapped in black paper...