Curie, Pierre
The Frenchman Pierre Curie (1859 - 1906), son to a medical doctor, was a French physicist and chemist.
He studied various types of magnetism and discovered that ferromagnetic substances exhibited a critical temperature, now known as the Curie temperature, above which these substances lost their ferromagnetic behavior.
He made the first discovery of nuclear energy. He also investigated the radiation emissions of radioactive substances, and was able to show that some emissions were positively charged, some were negative and some were neutral. These correspond to alpha, beta, and gamma radiation.
He and his wife Maria Salomea Skłodowska isolated the chemical elements polonium and radium. They were the first to use the term "radioactivity".
He lent his name to the Curie law and the Curie temperature.
He and his wife lent their name to to the curie, the unit of activity. The chemical element 96 curium (Cm) is named in their honour.