Which physicist discovered artificial radioactivity with Frédéric Joliot-Curie in 1934?

Irène Joliot-Curie discovered artificial radioactivity with Frédéric Joliot-Curie in 1934.

The pair bombarded stable elements with alpha particles and observed that the resulting substances continued emitting radiation after the bombardment stopped. This showed that radioactive isotopes could be produced artificially rather than found only in nature.

Their discovery quickly became important in chemistry, medicine, and nuclear physics. Artificial radioisotopes later supported medical imaging, cancer treatment, and biological tracing. The Joliot-Curies received the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the work.

Irène was the daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, but her achievement was independent and experimentally distinct from her parents’ discovery of natural radioactivity. Frédéric and Irène worked as scientific collaborators and married in 1926.