1934 - Science

Science

French physicist Irene Joliot-Curie, 38, and her husband, Frederic, 34, bombard aluminum with alpha particles that are emitted as positively charged helium nuclei from polonium and produce artificial radiation for the first time, turning the aluminum into a radioactive form of phosphorus (see 1904; Cockcroft, 1932). Their work inspires physicist Enrico Fermi to find another way to produce artificial radiation: now 33, he takes neutrons obtained from radioactive beryllium, reduces their speed by passing them through parrafin, and uses them to bombard uranium, producing emissions of radioactive transuranium elements (see 1938; Becquerel, 1896; Fermi, 1926; Segrè, 1937).

Physicist James Chadwick at Cambridge University and his Austrian-born colleague Maurice Goldhaber, 23, bombard a nucleus with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays and discover that they disintegrate the nucleus (see 1932). This nuclear photoelectric effect will lead to the realization that the neutron is heavier than the proton (see Goldhaber, 1937).

Chemist Fritz Haber dies at Basel January 29 at age 65; Marie Curie of pernicious anemia at Sancellemoz, France, July 4 at age 66. Albert Einstein says of her that she was "of all celebrated beings, the only one whom fame has not corrupted."

Chemist Jean F. Piccard and his wife make the first successful balloon ascension into the stratosphere October 23, taking off from Dearborn, Mich., reaching a height of 57,579 feet, and collecting data concerning cosmic rays (see 1932). Piccard's twin brother Auguste has previously ascended more than 16 kilometers into the air.