Photographs, disintegration

Dombrowski, N. and Fraser, R. P. Phil. Trans. 247A (1954) 101. A photographic investigation into the disintegration of liquid sheets. 

Roentgen s discovery of x-rays stimulated great interest in this new form of radiation worldwide. Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) accidentally discovered the process of radioactivity while he was studying x-rays. Radioactivity involves the spontaneous disintegration of unstable atomic nuclei. Becquerel had stored uranium salts on top of photographic plates in a dark drawer. When Becquerel retrieved the plates, he noticed the plates contained images made by the uranium salts. Bec-querel s initial discovery in 1896 was further developed by Marie Curie (1867-1934) and Pierre Curie (1859-1906). Marie Curie coined the word radioactive to describe the emission from uranium. 

RADIOACTIVITY. The spontaneous disintegration of the nucleus of an atom with the emission of radiation. This phenomenon was discovered by Becquerel in 1896 by the exposure-producing effect on a photographic plate by pitchblende (uranium-containing mineral) while wrapped m black paper in the dark, Soon after this, it was found that uranium minerals and uranium chemicals showed more radioactivity than could be accounted for by the uranium content. About the same dmc. radioactivity of thorium minerals and thorium chemicals was also discovered. 

Figure 4.18 Disintegration of a Newtonian 0.35 mm diameter castor oil thread in a Newtonian silicone oil matrix. Redrawn from photographs taken every second.

Taylor, H. J. and M. Goldhaber. 1935. Detection of nuclear disintegration in a photographic emulsion. Nature 135(3409) 341. 

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