Frederic Joliot-Curie: biography and achievements

Frederic Joliot-Curie is a well-known public figure and French physicist. He was one of the leaders and founders of the Pugwash movement of scientists, as well as the Movement of Peace Supporters. Together with his wife Irene received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This article will present his brief biography.

Childhood and study

Jean Frederic Joliot was born in Paris in 1900. Father Henry's son was quite successful in commerce, and Emilia's mother came from a Protestant family. Frederic was the youngest in the family of Joliot, numbering six children.

In 1910, the boy was sent to study at the boarding school Lakanal. After seven years, Jean returned to Paris and decided to devote his life to science. In 1920, the young man entered the Higher School of Applied Chemistry and Physics. In 1923, Joliot graduated with the best result in the group.

Service and work

Frederic received his diploma as an engineer. During his studies he acquired good skills in the practical application of physics and chemistry. But most of all, Jean was interested in fundamental scientific research. The fault was the influence of Paul Langevin (French physicist). It was with him that Frederic discussed his plans for the future when he returned home after military service. Paul advised Joliot to get an assistant to the Radium Institute to Maria Curie. In 1925, Frederic began to work as a preparer in this institution. In his spare time, the young man continued to study physics and chemistry.

Personal life

At the institute, Joliot met with Maria's daughter Irene. A year later the young people got married. After this, Frederic took a double surname - Joliot-Curie. The wife followed his example. Soon the couple had two children - a daughter and a son (in the future both became scientists).

Research

After the wedding, the hero of this article continued his work at the Radium Institute. In 1930, he received his doctorate for researching the radioactive constituent of polonium. But, even despite the degree, practically no one in the scientific community knew what the name of Joliot-Curie was. That is, he was little known.

Frederic was trying to find an academic position, but his attempts were unsuccessful. The scientist was already thinking about getting a practical chemist for industrial production. Joliot-Curie helped Jean Perrin. Thanks to a colleague, Frederic won a government scholarship and was able to stay at the institute. In 1930, the German physicist Walter Bothe discovered that when bombarded with helium nuclei (formed during the decay of polonium) boron and beryllium, the latter emit high penetrating radiation.

The presence of engineering education allowed Joliot-Curie to create a sensitive detector with an integrated condensation chamber. This device recorded penetrating radiation. Polonium was taken as the first sample. In 1931, Frederic and his wife began research. In the course of the experiment, they found out that if a thin plate of a hydrogen-containing substance is placed between the irradiated boron (or beryllium) and the detector, the initial level of radiation is doubled.

Opening new items

Additional experiments explained the nature of the additional radiation. It turned out that it consists of hydrogen atoms, which, when colliding with radiation, acquire a rather high speed, although neither Frederick nor Irene fully understood the essence of the process. However, thanks to the results of their research, James Chadwick in 1932 discovered a particle neutron, which is part of the atomic nucleus. At the same time, the American physicist Carl D. Anderson wrote about positrons that have become byproducts when attacked with alpha particles of aluminum or boron.

Irene and Frederick took up their research and set up a new experiment. In the condensation chamber, they put samples of aluminum and boron, and its opening was covered with a thin aluminum foil. Then the spouses began irradiation with alpha radiation. Positrons really began to stand out, but after the elimination of the polonium source, their emission lasted only a few minutes.

Thus, Frederick and Irene found that some irradiated samples of boron and aluminum were transformed into new chemical elements. In addition, they became radioactive. Boron was converted into an isotope of nitrogen, and aluminum - into phosphorus.

Nobel Prize

In 1935, Irene and Frederic were awarded the Nobel Prize for the synthesis of new radioactive elements. Thus, the name of Joliot-Curie was forever inscribed in the history of chemistry. In his Nobel speech, the scientist noted that artificial radioactive elements should be used as tagged atoms. This greatly simplifies the problem of finding and eliminating various components that are in the living body.

Further work

In 1937 the physicist Joliot-Curie continued to work at the Radium Institute. He also received the position of professor at the Paris College de France. Here, the scientist opened a research center for nuclear chemistry and physics. And Frederic created a laboratory where specialists from different profiles could work closely together to achieve the best result. In addition, the physicist controlled the construction of the first in France cyclotron, where the source of alpha particles was planned to make radioactive elements.

War

In 1939, the German chemist Otto Gan made a discovery. He told the scientific community about the possibility of dividing the uranium atom. After this, Joliot-Curie proved that it is explosive in nature. The physicist understood what a huge amount of energy is released during the fission of an atom. To use it, Frederic bought from Norway almost all the available stock of heavy water. But the research of the scientist was interrupted by the world war that broke out at that time. France was occupied by the German army. Strongly risking, Joliot-Curie forwarded all the heavy water to England, where scientists used it during the development of nuclear weapons.

Policy

During the occupation, Frederic stayed in Paris. Despite the fact that the scientist was in the French Socialist Party and had anti-fascist views, he retained his posts in the College de France and the Radium Institute. Also Joliot-Curie was part of the Resistance Movement and was at the head of the "National Front" (underground organization). And Frederic used his laboratory to produce radio equipment and explosives, which were delivered to the Resistance fighters. At the height of the war, the scientist followed the example of his teacher Langevin and joined the Communist Party.

After the liberation of the French capital, the hero of this article was appointed director of the National Research Center. Frederic was supposed to revive the country's scientific potential. In late 1945, the scientist asked the President Charles de Gaulle. Joliot-Curie wanted to create in France, the Commissariat for Atomic Energy. Three years later, the physicist headed the launch of the country's first nuclear reactor. This significantly increased his authority as a scientist and administrator. Nevertheless, Frederick's membership in the Communist Party aroused dissatisfaction among many. In 1950, he was released from the post of director of the Commissariat.

Death

The last years of his life, Frederic Joliot-Curie, whose biography was presented above, devoted to teaching and research work. He also headed the Peace Council and conducted an active political activity. In 1956 Irene passed away. The death of his wife was a heavy blow for Frederic. But he had to pull himself together and lead the Radium Institute. Also Joliot-Curie supervised the construction of a new university in Orsay and taught at the Sorbonne. However, soon his body, weakened by previous hepatitis and stress, failed. In August 1958, the scientist died in Paris.

Hobbies and rewards

Colleagues described Frederic as a patient, kind and sensitive person. He liked to read, draw landscapes and play the piano. In 1940, F. Joliot-Curie received the Barnard gold medal from the Columbia Institute for outstanding scientific merit. And in the USSR Frederic was awarded the Stalin Prize, which was awarded "For the Strengthening of Peace Among Nations".