Frédéric Joliot-Curie

Frederick Joliot’s position of an assistant to Marie Curie in 1925 transformed both his private and professional life. He first met Curie’s daughter Irene Curie. The two hit it off instantly and following year, On October 4, 1926 tied the nuptials. Post marriage, they hyphenated their surname to Joliot-Curie.

In 1927, the couple was blessed with a daughter, Helena Langevin-Joliot who became a noted physicist and a son Pierre in 1932, who became a biologist.

He died on August 14, 1958, at the age of 58, in Paris, France

Jean Frederic Joliot was born on March 19, 1900, to Henri Joliot and Emilie Roederer in Paris, France. His father was a merchant by profession.

Early on, Joliot was more inclined towards sports than academics. He studied at the Lycee Lakanal boarding school but later on due to financial constraints he opted out of the boarding school and enrolled at the Lavoisier municipal school.

After passing from school, he entered École de Physique et de Chimie Industrielle and graduated with a first rank degree in engineering

After his stint in military, Frederic Joliot Curie accepted a research scholarship that helped him secure the position of an assistant to Marie Curie at the Radium Institute in 1925. During this time, he fell in love and eventually married Marie Curie’s daughter, Irene Curie. The two adopted the surname Joliot-Curie.

At the insistence of Marie Curie, Joliot-Curie secured his second baccalaureate. In 1927, he obtained his license es sciences. He studied further and in 1930, obtained a doctorate degree in science. The topic of his thesis was electrochemistry of radio elements. Meanwhile, he also taught at the École d’Électricité Industrielle Charliat.

During this time, the husband-wife duo carried out extensive research on the structure of the atom. Their work on the projection of the nuclei was instrumental in the discovery of neutron by Chadwick and of positron by Anderson; both in the in year 1932

In 1934, Joliot-Curie and Irene Joliot-Curie struck the magnum opus of their career with the discovery of artificial radioactivity. The discovery was a milestone in science. For the same, they bombarded boron, aluminium, and magnesium with alpha particles. On bombardment, they obtained radioactive isotopes of elements not ordinarily radioactive, namely, 13 of nitrogen, 30 of phosphorus, 27 of silicon and 28 of aluminium. Since these elements were not found naturally, they decomposed easily emitting positive and negative electrons.

It was after the discovery of the artificially produced isotopes that the possibility of using them to follow chemical changes and physiological processes were realized. The isotopes thus discovered were used variedly - the absorption of radioiodine by the thyroid gland was detected, and the course of radiophosphorus was traced in the metabolism of the organism.

Joliot-Curie’s most important contribution came with his fellow researcher and wife, Irene Curie. Together, the two discovered artificial radioactivity which led to the discovery of short-lived radioisotopes. The discovery was a breakthrough moment in the field of chemistry as it led to the formation of radioactive isotopes of elements that were not found naturally. These isotopes decomposed easily emitting positive and negative electrons.