Joliot Quotes

There is no doubt that radium is transformed spontaneously into an active gas, radon, emitting at the same time alpha particles, or helions. ~ Frederic Joliot-Curie

The time necessary for the disappearance of half the atoms, called the half-life, is a fundamental characteristic of each radio-element; according to the substance, the value of the half-life varies between a fraction of a second and millions of years. ~ Irene Joliot-Curie

We have shown that it is possible to create a radioactivity characterized by the emission of positive or negative electrons in boron and magnesium by bombardment with alpha rays. ~ Irene Joliot-Curie

Raised in a completely nonreligious family, Joliot never attended any church and was a thoroughgoing atheist all his life. ~ Francis Perrin

In England and the United States, where physicists have at their disposal equipment of very high voltages, several new elements were prepared using protons and deuterons as projectiles. ~ Frederic Joliot-Curie

The first unquestionable proofs of the transformation of elements into different chemical elements have been provided by the study of the phenomena of radioactivity. ~ Frederic Joliot-Curie

The farther the experiment is from theory, the closer it is to the Nobel Prize. ~ Irene Joliot-Curie

It was at the beginning of 1934 while working on the emission of these positive electrons that we noticed a fundamental difference between that transmutation and all the others so far produced; all the reactions of nuclear chemistry induced were instantaneous phenomena, explosions. ~ Irene Joliot-Curie

Each emission of an alpha or beta ray accompanies the transmutation of an atom; the energy communicated to these rays comes from inside the atom. ~ Irene Joliot-Curie

Astronomers sometimes observe that a star of medium magnitude increases suddenly in size; a star invisible to the naked eye may become very brilliant and visible without any telescope - the appearance of a Nova. ~ Frederic Joliot-Curie

Some months ago we discovered that certain light elements emit positrons under the action of alpha particles. Our latest experiments have shown a very striking fact: when an aluminium foil is irradiated on a polonium preparation [alpha ray emitter], the emission of positrons does not cease immediately when the active preparation is removed: the foil remains radioactive and the emission of radiation decays exponentially as for an ordinary radio-element. We observed the same phenomenon with boron and magnesium. ~ Frederic Joliot-Curie

It is because I know all that science can bring to the world that I shall continue my efforts to ensure that it contributes to the happiness of all men, whether they be white, black, or yellow, and not to their annihilation in the name of some divine mission or other. ~ Frederic Joliot-Curie