František Běhounek (; 27 October 1898

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

– 1 January 1973

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...

) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

scientist (radiologist), explorer and writer. The asteroid 3278 Běhounek is named after him.

Biography

Běhounek studied physics and mathematics at

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

, later

radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

in France with Marie Curie-Skłodowska. In 1920s, he was one of the founders of State Radiological Institute. In 1926, he took part in an expedition of

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...

to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

with airship '' Norge''. In 1928, as an expert on

cosmic rays Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar ...

, he was a member of crew of airship ''

Italia Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

'' led by Umberto Nobile. He survived its crash in 1928, and later described it in his book ''Trosečníci na kře ledové''.literally ''Castaways on an ice floe'' As a scientist, he worked in industrial companies, medical institutions, universities and in the state academy. From the 1950s on, he participated in

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

projects.

Works

Běhounek published about 28 novels (most of them aimed at young people, popularizing science or

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

) and many scientific works. *''Boj o zeměkouli'' – sci-fi novel (Prague, 1939) *''Tajemství polárního moře'' – adventure novel about a north pole expedition (Prague, 1942) *''Kletba zlata'' – short stories (Prague, 1942) *''Svět nejmenších rozměrů'' (Prague, 1945) *''Případ profesora Hrona'' – sci-fi novel (Prague, 1947) *''Swansonova výprava'' – sci-fi novel (Prague, 1949) *''Akce L'' – sci-fi novel (1956) *''Robinsoni vesmíru'' – sci-fi novel (1958) *''Tábor v lese'' (Prague, 1960) *''Projekt Scavenger'' – sci-fi novel (Prague, 1961) *''Fregata pluje kolem světa'' – adventure novel about Austrian Imperial expedition of (Prague, 1969)

References

External links

Biography concentrated on explorer and writer (in Czech)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behounek, Frantisek 1898 births 1973 deaths Czech physicists Czech male writers Czech science fiction writers Czech explorers Scientists from Prague Charles University alumni