Becquerel, Antoine César
Becquerel, Antoine César
Born Mar. 8, 1788, at Châtillon-Coligny; died Jan. 18, 1878, in Paris. French physicist. Member of the Académie des Sciences (1829).
Becquerel served in the French Army as an officer in the engineering corps until 1815. In 1837 he was appointed a professor at the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. His works were devoted to research on phosphorescence, fluorescence, thermoelectricity, the magnetic properties of substances, crystal optics, the theory of primary cells, and the electrical conductivity of matter. In 1829, Becquerel invented a primary cell with weak polarization.