Marie Curie: The Great Woman Scientist

Marie Curie has been quoted as saying “I am one of those who think, like Nobel, that humanity will draw more good than evil from new discoveries” (Marie Curie - The Great Woman Scientist). Marie Curie’s enthusiasm for science, thirst for knowledge, and intense curiosity allowed her to become a pioneer in both the research areas of chemistry and physics. She came from humble beginnings, but instead of letting obstacles slow her down, her resolve to advance scientific knowledge only grew stronger. Marie Curie was not only recognized with a Nobel Prize in both chemistry and physics, but she also left an imprint on this world and we have been forever changed by her discoveries.

Marie Curie was born on November 7, 1967 in Warsaw, Poland. Born

Maria Sklodowska and nicknamed Manya, she was the youngest of five children. Although her family did not have much money, they gave her the foundation necessary for her to become a Nobel Prize winning scientist. Both of her parents were school teachers, and her father was a teacher of both math and physics. They felt strongly about all their children, but especially their daughters, being educated and encouraged Marie’s interest in science from a very early age. She graduated high school at the top of her class.

Marie wanted to continue her education at the University of Warsaw, but higher education was only available for men in Poland. Since her father could not afford to send her out of the country, she had to learn in the “Floating University” – illegal classes that got their name because they had to continually change locations in order to evade being discovered. She eventually followed her sister to Paris, France where she studied chemistry, math and physics at Sorbonne, and read every science book she could get her hands on.

Marie needed to find lab space for her research and in 1894 and an acquaintance introduced her to Pierre Curie, a physics researcher and professor. They shared a lab and ended up getting married only a year later. Marie was very interested in the X-rays discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen as well as Henri Becquerel’s discoveries that uranium also cast off rays. She used her new lab to further study uranium rays and conduct additional experiments. She discovered that uranium rays did not change, despite differences in the condition of uranium. The strength of the rays was only dependent on the amount of uranium present. Marie discovered that the atomic structure of uranium created the rays. Although she did not invent the concept, Marie Curie did coin the term radioactivity to describe her discovery.

Pierre Curie was so impressed with Marie’s discoveries that he put his own work aside in order to study with her. They studied a variety of ores for radioactivity and discovered that chalcolite and pitchblende were even more radioactive than uranium. Marie believed these ores probably held radioactive components that have yet to be discovered. She discovered two new elements from the ore that were radioactive: polonium and radium. This radioactive realization was such an important discovery that, together with her husband and Henri Becquerel, Marie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. It’s interesting to know that the nominating committee did not want to include a woman as a candidate, but Pierre convinced them to include her because all the original research was a product of Marie’s efforts.

After her husband’s death in 1906, Marie continued her research and in 1910 she chemically isolated a pure sample of radium for the first time. Scientists were now able to confirm that atoms were not the smallest particles of matter. In 1911, Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for recognition of her role in furthering the research area of chemistry. Not only did she discover the chemical elements of polonium and radium, but she also distinguished the properties of radium by isolating a pure sample of the element.

Shortly after winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry, a key historical event, World War I, was changing lives. Marie recognized the suffering and agony that soldiers would go through in the field, and she wanted to use her knowledge and skills to help. So she put aside her own research and work for the moment and developed portable x-ray machines to be used in the field. Doctors would be able to diagnose injuries and save lives by easily finding bullets, shrapnel and broken bones. “The use of the X-rays during the war saved the lives of many wounded men. It also saved many from long suffering and lasting infirmity” (Marie Curie Biography).

Marie Curie became recognized for her efforts in the war and after the war ended, she used that recognition to further her research in radioactivity. She discovered that the rays from these radioactive elements were beneficial in the treatment of tumors. She opened the Radium Institute in Warsaw where the worked on developing cancer therapies that used radium. She was so important to furthering these discoveries that the Radium Institute was renamed the Curie Institute and to this day it continues to do critical medial research.

Marie Curie died on July 4, 1934 in France from aplastic anemia, a blood disorder that can develop after extended exposure to radioactive materials.

Although she was no longer actively contributing to the advancement of radioactivity, her work continued to impact society all over the world. Her daughter, Irene Joliot-Curie, even carried on her legacy and won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for the discovery of artificial radioactivity. Marie continues to be held in very high esteem by the scientific community and Albert Einstein was once quoted as saying “Not only did she do outstanding work in her lifetime, and not only did she help humanity greatly by her work, but she invested all her work with the highest moral quality. She accomplished all of this with great strength, objectivity, and judgment. It is very rare to find all of these qualities in one individual” (Marie Curie).

Marie Curie’s impact is felt far beyond the improved understanding of radioactivity and the advancement of the research area of chemistry. Her work and efforts also have made a difference to society in general. She is widely regarded as a role model for female scientists, having been the first women to ever win a Nobel Prize and the only person to ever receive Nobel Prizes in two sciences, which was not easy considering the favoritism towards men in the field during her lifetime. She was also known to be an outstanding person in general, have such high standards and very honest and

charitable.

But her scientific work has impacted everyday life in several key ways. Her work in World War I paved the way for modern x-rays. Often when people today go to the doctor, they receive an x-ray for broke bones, mammograms, osteoporosis, and even cavities! Today’s x-rays only use small bits of radiation, but the technology wouldn’t have been possible without the development of her portable field x-ray machines.

But probably the most significant way her work has had an effect on everyday life is by setting the stage for modern cancer treatments. Radiation therapy has helped millions of people fight cancer. Although safer methods now exist, at one point radium was inserted directly into diseased tissues in hopes of shrinking or eliminating cancerous tumors. In fact, many research institutes and medical offices have been named after her!

Marie Curie lived a life of determination, overcoming obstacles and refusing to give up. Her love of science and desire to make the world a better place paid off and she became a successful scientist in the areas of chemistry and physics. But perhaps just as important as her two Nobel Prizes, her radiation research and efforts have helped improve the lives of millions of people and have touched almost everybody at one point. I know the next time I get an x-ray at the doctor, I’m going to think of how her efforts made it possible!