Serendipity in action. Henri Becquerel came from a family of famous scientists. His grandfather had discovered piezoelectricity, while his father invented the phosphoroscope – an instrument that measures how long phosphorescent material glows after the source of light has been removed. For his own research, Becquerel followed closely in his father’s footsteps, conducted his research in his father’s laboratory and eventually took over the two professorships his father had held in Paris. Becquerel also extended the research his father had begun on phosphorescent material into matters relating to magnetic fields and explored the question of how crystals absorb light.
Among the greatest scientific networking opportunities at the time were the lectures held in Paris at the Académie de Paris. In January of 1896, Becquerel attended a lecture that presented the recently discovered phenomenon of X-rays. It set him thinking – was there any connection between the research on phosphorescence that his father and he himself had been doing and X-rays? He was also interested in the relatively early art of photography and his specialist area was uranium salts. In his laboratory, he set to work immediately. His photographs of uranium were pretty uninspiring – unclear and fuzzy, nothing like the sharp pictures of the X-rays that had been presented. Nevertheless, as a top professor he was able to present his results only four weeks later! Unsatisfied, he packed the photographic plates in a drawer with the uranium and waited for a sunny day to get sharp photographs. But rain in Paris is nothing unusual in February. The plates stayed in the drawer. When he took the uranium and the photographic plates out, he found clear images. Obviously the crystals were emitting radiation themselves. No external stimulation was necessary. So only a week after presenting his unconvincing results, Becquerel was able to present radioactivity to his audience. Naturally, his contemporaries called this phenomenon Becquerel’s ray. Over time, however, the term became outdated. It was not until 1975 that the International System of Units resurrected Becquerel as a unit of radioactivity. Today, becquerels describe the amount of radiation released as a result of radioactive decay.
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