Born in France on May 15, 1859, Pierre showed a strong understanding of subjects of Mathematics and Physics. He went on to discover radioactivity with his wife, Marie Curie. The modern crystal oscillators owe themselves to Pierre’s discovery of behavior of crystals with pressure and electricity and electric fields (John Senior, 1998). Together with a student, he was the first to discover Nuclear Energy by observation of emission of heat from radium particles.
Further carrying on with this work he identified that radioactive particles have a corresponding charge attached to them which is either positive, negative or they remain neutral. These particles are called alpha beta and gamma radiation in modern quantum and radioactive physics.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Physics in 1903 for his work on Radioactivity. His death came about in a carriage accident in Paris on April 19, 1906.
Marie Curie
Born in the Russian Empire on November 7, 1987 she also showed keen interest in the field of Physics. She also had qualities leading her to becoming a chemist. She was the first person who achieved two Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. The first was for her work in Radioactivity (1903) with her husband Pierre Curie and the second was for her work in Chemistry (1911).
After her husband’s death in 1906 she was devastated. She did not continue her work as vigorously as before and during world war one she designed medical machines to help heal wounded soldiers. She gave up all her and her husband’s gold to the war relief find, even her Noble Peace Medals (Quinn, 1995). Her death resulted by severe exposure radiation during the course of her life in 1934.
Enrico Fermi
Born on September 29, 1901, Enrico was an Italian Physicist who is famous for his work in developing the first Nuclear Reactor. His other notable works include contributions to the quantum theory, nuclear physics and efforts made to understand statistical Mechanics. Undoubtedly he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (1938) for his work on Induced Radioactivity.
He has a great contribution in the discovery and development of the process of Nuclear Fission with the help of other Famous Scientists of his time. His work on nuclear reactors is referred to as “ The Manhattan Project” (Carlo Bernardini and Luisa Bonolis, 2004). He died on November 28, 1954.
Earnest Rutherford
Born in August 30, 1871, he was a strong Physicist who was more commonly known as the father of nuclear physics. His orbital theory of the structure of atom is famous till now and his gold foil experiment showing the ions emitted by atoms is still taught in basic chemistry and physics courses today. It was he who gave the names alpha and beta to the radioactive particles having their respective charges. He was the chair of Physics Department at the McGill University in Canada and his work there earned him a Nobel Prize in 1908.
He discovered the phenomenon of Radioactive Decay with a co-worker (Frederick Soddy). He was knighted in 1914 and went on to producing outstanding students who were all responsible to making breakthroughs in the fields of Physics and Chemistry (Michael F. L’Annunziata and Werner Burkart, 2007). He died in October 19, 1937 while waiting for medical attention at a hospital to get his operation for umbilical hernia conducted.
Henri Becquerel
Born on December 15, 1852, he was a French Physicist and among those who discovered Radioactivity. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Marie and Pierre Curie in 1903 for discovering radioactivity.
Continuing his accidental discovery of radioactivity he went on to discover nuclear radiation by wrapping a radioactive substance, potassium uranyl sulfate in photographic plates (M. C. O’Riordan, H. G. Menzel and Henri Becquerel, 1996). He died on August 25, 1908 in France.
