Alice Leigh-Smith (née Prebil) was an English nuclear physicist. She married Philip Leigh-Smith, the son of the Arctic explorer Benjamin Leigh-Smith, in 1933. She was a student of Marie Curie and was the first British woman to receive a PhD in nuclear physics. She, together with Walter Minder, announced the discovery of element 85 (now called astatine) in 1942. They proposed the name anglohelvetium for the new element. Later it was proven that in fact Walter Minder had not discovered element 85. Leigh-Smith was also involved in the use of radioactive substances as a treatment for cancer.
- Benjamin Leigh-Smith Arctic Explorer Image of Alice Leigh-Smith
- Stanley, A (1993). Mothers and daughters of invention : Notes for a revised history of technology. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-8135-2197-8.
- Nefedov, VD; Norseev, Yu V; Toropova, M A; Khalkin, Vladimir A (1968). "Astatine". Russian Chemical Reviews 37 (2): 87. Bibcode:1968RuCRv..37...87N. doi:10.1070/RC1968v037n02ABEH001603.
- Leigh-Smith, A; Minder, W (1942). "Experimental Evidence of the Existence of Element 85 in the Thorium Family". Nature 150 (3817): 767–768. Bibcode:1942Natur.150..767L. doi:10.1038/150767a0.
- Karlik, B; Bernert, T (1942). "Über eine vermutete ß-Strahlung des Radium A und die natürliche Existenz des Elementes 85". Naturwissenschaften 30 (44–45): 685. Bibcode:1942NW.....30..685K. doi:10.1007/BF01487965.
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