Madame Curie
Madame Curie was a Polish and French physicist and chemist who pioneered the study of the radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.
Early Life and Education
Maria Skłodowska was born in 1867 in Warsaw in the Russian partition of Poland. Her family were teachers and the household valued the education.
She studied at the clandestine Flying University in Warsaw. She worked as a governess to support the studies of her elder sister.
She went to Paris in 1891 and studied at the Sorbonne. She took the degrees in the physics and the mathematics.
The Discovery of the Radioactivity
She married Pierre Curie in 1895 and the couple collaborated on the research. She investigated the rays emitted by the uranium.
She discovered that the thorium also emitted the rays and coined the term radioactivity. She found that the mineral pitchblende was more radioactive than the pure uranium.
She and Pierre isolated the new elements polonium and radium in 1898. The polonium was named for her native Poland.
They processed tons of the pitchblende to obtain a small amount of the radium. The work was arduous and the conditions were poor.
The Nobel Prizes and the Career
Marie and Pierre Curie shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 with Henri Becquerel. The award recognised the discovery of the radioactivity.
Pierre died in 1906 and Marie took his professorship at the Sorbonne. She was the first woman to teach at the university.
She received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 for the discovery of the radium and the polonium. She was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes.
She founded the Radium Institute in Paris in 1914. The institute became a centre for the research and the treatment of the cancer.
The Later Years and the Legacy
Marie Curie served in the First World War and equipped the mobile radiography units. The units were used to treat the wounded soldiers.
She suffered from the effects of the radiation and died in 1934 from the aplastic anaemia. Her notebooks remain radioactive and are stored in the lead-lined boxes.
Her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie also won a Nobel Prize. The family is one of the most decorated of the scientific history.
She is regarded as one of the greatest of the scientists. The element curium and the institutions are named in her honour.
The Isolation of the Elements
Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the polonium and the radium in 1898. They processed tons of the pitchblende to obtain the small amounts.
The work was arduous and the conditions were poor. The laboratory was a shed with the leaking roof.
The discovery of the radium was a landmark of the science. The element was used in the medicine and the industry.
The Nobel Prizes and the Institute
Marie and Pierre Curie shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. Marie received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911.
She founded the Radium Institute in Paris in 1914. The institute became a centre for the research and the treatment of the cancer.
She served in the First World War and equipped the mobile radiography units. The units were used to treat the wounded soldiers.
The Later Years
Marie Curie served in the First World War and equipped the mobile radiography units. The units were used to treat the wounded soldiers.
She suffered from the effects of the radiation and died in 1934. Her notebooks remain radioactive and are stored in the lead-lined boxes.
Her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie also won a Nobel Prize. The family is one of the most decorated of the scientific history.
The Legacy and the Memory
Marie Curie is regarded as one of the greatest of the scientists. The element curium and the institutions are named in her honour.
She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.
She founded the Radium Institute in Paris. The institute continues the research and the treatment of the cancer.
The Discovery of the Radioactivity
Marie Curie investigated the rays emitted by the uranium. She discovered that the thorium also emitted the rays.
She coined the term radioactivity. She found that the pitchblende was more radioactive than the pure uranium.
She and Pierre isolated the polonium and the radium. The polonium was named for her native Poland.
The Personal Life
Marie married Pierre Curie in 1895. The couple collaborated on the research and the marriage was happy.
Pierre died in 1906 in a street accident. Marie took his professorship at the Sorbonne.
She died in 1934 from the aplastic anaemia. Her notebooks remain radioactive.
See also
- Radioactivity
- Radium
- Nobel Prize
- Nuclear physics