Becquerel’s serendipity
Stories from Physics
for 11-14
14-16
16-19
Serendipity sometimes plays a role in the development of physics, for instance in the case of Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radiation. The French physicist had assumed that sunlight was involved in uranium-enriched crystals’ ability to expose photographic plates. A period of inclement weather forced Becquerel to pause his experiments so he placed his crystal and plate in a closed drawer. On removing them, he was surprised to find the fogging effect continued in the absence of light, leading him to hypothesise a novel explanation for the phenomenon: radioactive decay.
References
A. Cropley, & D. Cropley, Resolving the paradoxes of creativity: An extended phase model. Cambridge Journal of Education, vol. 38, no. 3, 2008, pp. 355-373.
S. Brandt, The Harvest of a Century: Discoveries in Modern Physics in 100 Episodes, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 217
