Frédéric Joliot-Curie

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The Joliot-Curies

Frédéric Joliot-Curie

French chemist and physicist

Also known as: Jean-Frédéric Joliot

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The Joliot-Curies — The Joliot-Curies Nobel Prize-winning French physical chemists Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie, c. 1930.

Frédéric Joliot-Curie was a French chemist and physicist, renowned for his pioneering work in radioactivity. Alongside his wife, Irène Joliot-Curie (daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie), he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificially prepared radioactive isotopes. Their research involved bombarding elements like boron and aluminum with alpha particles, leading to the creation of new radioactive isotopes of elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus. This work opened avenues for using radioactive isotopes in tracking chemical and biological processes and was a significant step toward understanding atomic energy release. Joliot-Curie also played a crucial role in establishing France's nuclear program after World War II, overseeing the creation of the country's first nuclear reactor.1

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Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie
…the same year she met Frédéric Joliot in her mother’s laboratory; she was to find in him a mate who shared her interest in science, sports, humanism, and the arts.
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…the same year she met Frédéric Joliot in her mother’s laboratory; she was to find in him a mate who shared her interest in science, sports, humanism, and the arts.
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Marie Curie
Later work
…Irène Curie in conjunction with Frédéric Joliot, whom she had married in 1926 (see Joliot-Curie, Frédéric and Irène). This work prepared the way for the discovery of the neutron by Sir James Chadwick and, above all, for the discovery in 1934 by Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie of artificial radioactivity.
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…Irène Curie in conjunction with Frédéric Joliot, whom she had married in 1926 (see Joliot-Curie, Frédéric and Irène). This work prepared the way for the discovery of the neutron by Sir James Chadwick and, above all, for the discovery in 1934 by Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie of artificial radioactivity.
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nuclear fission
History of fission research and technology
In 1939, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Hans von Halban, and Lew Kowarski found that several neutrons were emitted in the fission of uranium-235, and this discovery led to the possibility of a self-sustaining chain reaction. Fermi and his coworkers recognized the enormous potential of such a reaction if it…
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In 1939, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Hans von Halban, and Lew Kowarski found that several neutrons were emitted in the fission of uranium-235, and this discovery led to the possibility of a self-sustaining chain reaction. Fermi and his coworkers recognized the enormous potential of such a reaction if it…
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20th-century international relations
The race for nuclear arms
…by the French Communist physicist Frédéric Joliot-Curie, gathered petitions allegedly signed by 273,470,566 persons (including the entire adult population of the U.S.S.R.). Similar movements organized marches and protests in Western countries against nuclear arms (no such manifestations occurred in the Soviet bloc).
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…by the French Communist physicist Frédéric Joliot-Curie, gathered petitions allegedly signed by 273,470,566 persons (including the entire adult population of the U.S.S.R.). Similar movements organized marches and protests in Western countries against nuclear arms (no such manifestations occurred in the Soviet bloc).
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