Biography of Marie and Pierre Curie

After doing some research over Marie and Pierre Curie I was able to put together this paper. This paper contains information about the life of Pierre and Marie Curie and their significance to physics and science in general. Pierre and Marie Curie are best known for their pioneering work in the study of radioactivity. The couple’s work led to their discovery of the elements radium and polonium (Dick).

Pierre Curie was born on May 15, 1859. He was born in Paris, France. Pierre’s parents were Eugene Curie and Sophie-Claire Depoully Curie. Pierre had one older brother, Jacques Curie. Eugene was a scientist who gave up his dreams of a scientific career in order to support the needs of his family. It was through his medical practice that enough money was brought in for the Curie’s to live a modest lifestyle. Sophie-Claire Depoully came from a family of manufacturers (Bailey).

Pierre’s family lived in simple circumstances, but due to their closeness and affection, they were happy. Jacques and Pierre were especially close, and the two brothers spent most of their time together (Bailey).

Pierre was educated at home by his brother and his parents. Some would have considered Pierre slow, but his father believed that he was simply reflective and independent. Eugene realized that Pierre was capable of intense concentration, but easily distracted. Most of Pierre’s free time was spent outside in the woods. Often times he even brought home specimens of minerals, flora and fauna (Bailey).

At the age of fourteen, Pierre was given a private tutor. This tutor discovered Pierre’s great interest in mathematics and physics. At age sixteen, Pierre earned his bachelor’s degree. He received his licentiate in physics ...

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...orm. Debierne became her faithful collaborator until her death in 1934. In 1911 Marie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She received this award for the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of nature and compounds of this element (Froman).

From the day Pierre met Marie at a friend’s house, he was smitten. Together the scientific couple published over thirty papers on radioactivity. They could have become rich by patenting their process of extracting radium, but the Curies refused to do so. They were generous. They thought that scientific research should not be hidden but belong to everyone (Bailey). The Curie’s work, which dealt with changes in the atomic nucleus, led toward the modern understanding of the atom as an entity that can be split to release enormous energy (“Marie and Pierre Curie”).