Marie Curie was probably the greatest woman scientist in history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries her discoveries in a new area of science known as radioactivity made her famous throughout the world. She would pay a high price for her success.MARIE’S EARLY LIFE
Marie Curie was born Maria Sklodowska on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire. Her father was a mathematics and physics teacher. Marie was interested in science as a child, winning a gold medal at school for her studies. She found the lack of opportunities for a Polish woman in a Russian-dominated land very frustrating. After working as a governess in Warsaw, she moved to Paris when she was 24 to continue her studies. She studied physics and mathematics at the famous Sorbonne university. In 1894 she met Pierre Curie, who was also a physicist, and in the following year they married. Together they began a great partnership of scientific discovery.
DISCOVERING RADIUM
In 1895 the scientific world was in a state of intense excitement. German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen had just discovered a new form of radiation, which he called X-rays. The very next year, French scientist Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered that the chemical element uranium emitted another new radiation.
Marie was interested in whether other elements emitted this new radiation. She began working on a naturally occurring black substance called pitchblende, from which uranium is produced. In 1898 she discovered that pitchblende produced very strong emissions of radiation, and she called these emissions “radioactive”. Marie realized that this radioactivity was so strong that it had to be due to the presence of one or more elements in the pitchblende and not just the uranium. After a huge effort, she and Pierre collected tiny amounts of two new elements that were causing the radioactivity: she named them polonium and radium.
Many scientists were not so sure about these discoveries and wanted to see more. In a shed in the grounds of the physics school where they worked, Marie and Pierre spent four years collecting 0.1 gram of pure radium and so proved to the world that they were right.
GREAT SCIENTIST
The world soon recognized their achievement, and Marie and Pierre, together with Becquerel, were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 for their work on radioactivity. After Pierre was killed in a road accident in 1906, Marie devoted herself to her work on radioactivity as well as teaching at the newly created Pierre Curie Institute. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911 for discovering radium. Marie Curie is the first and only person to be awarded two Nobel Prizes for science.
During World War I, Curie devoted herself to using the controlled radioactivity of radium for medical purposes, helping develop the technique of radiotherapy to treat some cancers. Her legacy can be seen in hospitals throughout the world where this is now used. She strongly believed in the importance of science helping humanity.
Because no one knew about the dangers of radioactivity, Curie had been exposed during her career to massive doses of radiation. We now know that overexposure can destroy cells in the human body. She died on July 4, 1934, from leukaemia, almost certainly caused by the radioactivity of the radium she had discovered.
Many scientists were not so sure about these discoveries and wanted to see more. In a shed in the grounds of the physics school where they worked, Marie and Pierre spent four years collecting 0.1 gram of pure radium and so proved to the world that they were right.
GREAT SCIENTIST
The world soon recognized their achievement, and Marie and Pierre, together with Becquerel, were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 for their work on radioactivity. After Pierre was killed in a road accident in 1906, Marie devoted herself to her work on radioactivity as well as teaching at the newly created Pierre Curie Institute. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911 for discovering radium. Marie Curie is the first and only person to be awarded two Nobel Prizes for science.
During World War I, Curie devoted herself to using the controlled radioactivity of radium for medical purposes, helping develop the technique of radiotherapy to treat some cancers. Her legacy can be seen in hospitals throughout the world where this is now used. She strongly believed in the importance of science helping humanity.
Because no one knew about the dangers of radioactivity, Curie had been exposed during her career to massive doses of radiation. We now know that overexposure can destroy cells in the human body. She died on July 4, 1934, from leukaemia, almost certainly caused by the radioactivity of the radium she had discovered.
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