Radium in America
About This Collection
Title
Radium in America
Description
In the final years of the nineteenth century, researchers in physics and chemistry discovered new forms of energy, starting with x-rays in 1895. In 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium naturally emitted an invisible, previously-unknown form of energy. Following up on Becquerel's work, the husband-and-wife team of Pierre and Marie Sklodowska Curie discovered that uranium ore contained two new elements—"polonium" and “radium”—that constantly radiated tremendous amounts of energy. The Curies came up with a new word for these emissions: "radioactivity," Along with x-rays, this new form of energy came to be known as “ionizing radiation," and it would forever alter the world of medicine.
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