The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel was the second of three generations of eminent French physicists. His father, Antoine-César Becquerel (1788-1878), was an experimental professor at the Paris Museum of Natural History; his son was Antoine-Henri Becquerel (1852-1908), the discoverer of radioactivity. Alexandre also served at the Museum of Natural History, turning down opportunities at the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Normale Superieure in order to work with his father. He later received his doctorate from the University of Paris, and eventually took a professorial position at the Agronomic Institute of Versailles.
Becquerel conducted extensive research in the fields of magnetism, electricity, and optics. He was especially interested in phosphorescence and luminescence, chemical reactions caused by exposing certain substances to light. In the 1840s he found that these reactions could produce an electric current in both liquids and metals. He devised an instrument, called an actinometer, that could measure the intensity of a light source by observing the amount of electrical current it elicited in these substances. The connection between light energy and chemical energy was seized upon by many scientists in the following years, and research has led to the development of the photoelectric cell.
During this time, Becquerel was considered the foremost authority on luminescent phenomena and published several important papers on the subject. He conducted three pioneering experiments between the years 1857 and 1859 that formed the foundation of all later studies of luminescence.