Marguerite Perey

Marguerite Perey was a French chemist who discovered francium in 1939 while studying actinium decay. In 1962, she became the first woman elected to the French Academy of Sciences.

Marie Curie: Marie Curie was a Polish-born physicist and chemist who pioneered research on radioactivity and discovered polonium and radium. Curie hired Perey at the Radium Institute and trained her in radiochemical methods.
Actinium: Actinium is a radioactive chemical element with atomic number 89, found in trace quantities in uranium ores. Perey studied actinium samples whose decay produced the activity she attributed to francium.
Discovery of francium: The discovery of francium was the 1939 identification of element 87 in products of actinium decay. Perey’s experiments established the element’s existence and its place in the periodic table.
Women in science: Women in science are women who conduct, shape, or support scientific research across disciplines and historical periods. Perey’s election and career became part of the history of women’s access to French scientific institutions.
Irène Joliot-Curie: Irène Joliot-Curie was a French chemist and physicist who shared the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering artificial radioactivity. She led the Radium Institute laboratory where Perey identified francium.
Actinium-227: Actinium-227 is a radioactive isotope that decays mainly by beta emission and partly by alpha emission. Its rare alpha decay produces francium-223, the isotope Perey detected.
Francium: Francium is a highly radioactive alkali metal with atomic number 87 and no stable isotopes. It is the element Perey discovered and named after France.
Scientific academies: Scientific academies are learned institutions that recognize research and advise governments or the public. Perey’s election marked a rare opening in an influential academy’s membership.
André-Louis Debierne: André-Louis Debierne was a French chemist who discovered actinium and succeeded Marie Curie as director of the Radium Institute. Perey worked under Debierne before her experiments on actinium decay.
Alpha decay: Alpha decay is radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a helium-4 nucleus. Perey’s evidence depended on a small alpha-decay branch of actinium-227.

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Albert GhiorsoRelated: Perey’s work intersects with Ghiorso’s career through element discovery and the history of nuclear chemistry.