The Resume

(December 15, 1852-August 25, 1908)
Born in Paris, France
Birth name was Antoine Henri Becquerel
Physicist
Discovered radioactivity
Co-recipient (with Pierre and Marie Curie) of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1903)

Why he might be annoying:

He discovered radioactivity by accident: When overcast skies kept him from conducting his planned experiments with phosphorescent uranium salts, he stored the salts in a drawer with photographic plates. When he developed the plates, he found the silhouette of the uranium crystals on the photograph.
Two years after discovering radioactivity, he stopped publishing papers about it, since it seemed to be associated only with uranium and was less useful than x-rays.
He resumed investigating radiation only after Gerhard Schmidt discovered it was also produced by thorium and after the Curies discovered the new radioactive elements radium and polonium.
Like many other pioneers in studying radioactivity, he took few safety precautions, and developed severe radiation burns on his skin.

Why he might not be annoying:

He demonstrated that the radiation produced by uranium differed from x-rays, since it could be deflected by magnetic and electric fields.
Marie Curie was one of his doctoral students.
He received the Legion of Honor (1900).
A paper he published describing a burn he received from a sample of radium carried in his pocket inspired physicians to investigate medical uses of radiation.
He was the namesake for an asteroid, craters on the Moon and Mars, and the unit of radioactivity in the international system.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 19th Century Scientists
• 20th Century Scientists
• An Asteroid was Named in My Honor (Ranked: 6914)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 55]
• I am a Citizen of France
• I Died in 1908 (Ranked: 55)
• Known By a Middle Name
• My Name Became a Unit of Measurement
• Nobel Prize for Physics (Ranked: 1903)
• Profiles 36001-36250 (Ranked: 36141)
• Scientists

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 43.75% Annoying