Hélène Langevin-Joliot

Infobox Scientist


image_width = 150px
name = Hélène Langevin-Joliot
birth_date = 17 September 1927
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residence = France
citizenship = France
nationality = French
field = Physics
work_institution = CNRS
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footnotes = Parents: Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric JoliotGrandparents: Marie and Pierre Curie

Dr. Hélène Langevin-Joliot (born 17 September 1927) is a French nuclear physicist. She was educated at the "Institut de physique nucléaire" (English: Institute of Nuclear Physics) at Orsay, a laboratory which was set up by her parents Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot. She is a member of the French government's advisory committee.Cite web|url=http://www.canalsup.unilim.fr/index.php4?page=emissions&rep=7&num=94|title=Emission|accessdate=2007-01-19|publisher=canslup.unilim.fr|language=French [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.canalsup.unilim.fr/index.php4%3Fpage%3Demissions%26rep%3D7%26num%3D94&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=10&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DH%25C3%25A9l%25C3%25A8ne%2BLangevin-Joliot%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26hs%3DIh3%26sa%3DG Google translation] ] Currently, she is a professor of nuclear physics at the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the University of Paris and a Director of Research at the CNRS. She is also known for her work in actively encouraging women to pursue careers in scientific fields.Cite web|url=http://best.me.berkeley.edu/~aagogino/e24/curie.html|title=Madam Curie's Legacy|accessdate=2007-01-17|publisher=best.me.berkely.edu] Cite web|url=http://www.info-france-usa.org/publi/nff/0305/reg.htm|title=An Interview with Hélène Langevin-Joliot, the Granddaughter of Pierre and Marie Curie|accessdate=2007-04-06] She is Chairman of the panel that awards the Marie Curie Excellence award, a prize given to outstanding European researchers.Cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp6/mariecurie-actions/news/headline20_en.html|title=First EU Marie Curie Awards in recognition of world-class achievements in European research|accessdate=2007-04-06] She is President of the French Rationalist Union.Cite web|url=http://www.union-rationaliste.org/Frame_Qui_sommes_nous.html|title= Union rationaliste – Qui sommes-nous?|accessdate=2007-04-12|publisher=union-rationaliste.org|language=French]

Family

Her husband, Michel Langevin, is grandson of the famous physicist Paul Langevin and is also a nuclear physicist at the Institute, and her son, Yves, is an astrophysicist.Cite web|url=http://www.links.org/links-cgi/readged?/home/camilla/links-data+c-joliet367+1-1-0-1|title=Family Records|accessdate=2007-01-24]

Langevin-Joliot is from a family of well-known scientists. Her grandparents were Marie and Pierre Curie, famous for their study of radioactivity, for which they won a Nobel Prize in physics with Henri Becquerel in 1903. Marie Curie was also the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two sciences, the second being for chemistry (1911) with her discovery of radium and polonium.

Hélène Langevin-Joliot's parents likewise won a Nobel Prize for chemistry, in 1935, for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. Pierre Joliot is her brother and a noted biophysicist who has made contributions to the study of photosynthesis.

Due to her family's legacy, Langevin-Joliot regularly grants interviews and gives talks about their history.Cite web|url=http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2003-07/djna-mp071103.php|title=Marie & Pierre Curie’s granddaughter, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, visits the United States|accessdate=2007-01-17|publisher=Eurekalert.org] Her knowledge of her family's history led to her writing the introduction to "Radiation and Modern Life: Fulfilling Marie Curie's Dream", including a brief history of the Curies.Cite web|url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1359067|title=Radiation and modern life Fulfilling Marie Curie’s dream|accessdate=2007-04-06]

References