Marie Curie
by Allison from Suwanee
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| A portrait of Marie Curie. (http://chicaintelligente.com/ ()) |
"Have no fear of perfection; you'll never reach it. Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood." This quote was said by Marie Sklodowska Curie. She was a scientist who changed the science community forever. Marie Curie is a hero.
Marie Curie was born November 7, 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. Both her parents were teachers. She developed her love of physics from her father, who was a physics teacher. She loved to learn and was a very intelligent girl. She attended Warsaw's "floating universities" because the school was for men only, and her family did not have the financial resources to let her go. In 1981, Curie attended Sorbonne University in France. She earned a degree in physics in 1983 and a degree in math in 1984. She met another scientist, Pierre Curie, at a lab at Sorbonne University. She married him on July 26, 1895. Curie was fascinated by the work of Henri Becquerel's work with the rays uranium cast off. This fascination led her to do a lot of work with the rays. One of Curie's most notable discoveries is when she discovered radium and polonium in 1898. She discovered that uranium and thorium was radioactive. She also coined the term radioactivity. She also figured out that no matter the amount of thorium or uranium is in a compound the radiation is always consistent. One of her most groundbreaking discoveries was when she discovered that radiation comes from the atom of a radioactive element, not the arrangement of atoms.
In addition, Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes for her scientific discoveries. In 1903, Marie Curie became the first woman to ever win a Nobel Prize. She won it in physics for her work with radioactivity. She split the award with Henri Becquerel and her husband, Pierre Curie. In 1911, Curie won her second Nobel Prize in chemistry. This made her the first person, regardless of gender, to win two Nobel prizes. Marie Curie is considered a hero for more reasons than her intelligence.
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| Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre Curie. (http://www.atomicheritage.org/ ()) |
Marie Curie is a hero to many because she was dedicated and compassionate. During Curie's career, the press ran many negative stories against Curie while she was in France. For example, the press published a story saying Curie was Jewish to discourage people from voting for her for the remaining chair at the French Academy of Scientists ("Marie Curie - Scandal and Recovery (1910-1913)"). Curie was not Jewish. The press also published many stories about a love affair between her and her late-husband's former student, Paul Langevin ("Marie Curie - Scandal and Recovery (1910-1913)"). This was controversial because Langevin was already married. Many people disliked her because of this. Instead of giving up, due to public negativity and embarrassment, Curie kept focusing on her studies. An other example of Curie's dedication is when Curie lost her mother early in her childhood (Biography.com editors). She did not let it affect her. She continued to work hard in school and was a good student. In 1906, her husband died in an accident (Biography.com editors). Even though Curie was distraught, she took over his teaching post and continued researching radioactivity. She did not mourn forever and did not let his death control her life. She was dedicated to it. Besides being very dedicated to her work, Curie is also a compassionate person. During World War I, Curie dedicated a lot of time and effort to help the soldiers. She helped improve upon the x-ray and x-ray soldiers ("Marie Curie - War Duty (1914-1919)"). She saved many lives. In addition, she also traveled to the United States to raise money and support to start a lab to study radioactivity for medical use, since she believed it could be used to save lives ("Our History"). She opened the Radium Institute to do this ("Our History"). She also started the Curie Foundation in 1920 with some friends ("Our History"). In 1922, the foundation opened a clinic that helps treat cancer patients using radioactivity ("Our History"). Curie knew radioactivity could help many people and she took action to learn about and study radioactivity to find a way help others. Curie's compassion and dedication led to huge discoveries that will forever change the way scientists study and use radioactivity.
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| Marie Curie is working in her lab. (http://www.chemteam.info/ ()) |
Curie's scientific work helped many other scientists learn more about radioactivity. It also led to her daughter, Irene and Irene's husband creating artificial radioactivity. Her work with radioactivity and medical uses has saved many lives and helped doctors come up with more ways to treat cancer. We can credit Marie Curie for her discoveries that will forever change the way people understand the world around them.
Marie Curie is definitely a hero. She discovered two scientific elements and radioactivity. She won two Nobel Prizes for her work, and helped many others with the medical uses of radioactivity. After Curie's death in 1934, her remains were entered in the Patheon, "the final resting place for France's greatest minds" (Biography.com editors).
Works Cited
Biography.com, Editors. ""Marie Curie Biography"" Biography.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.
"Marie Curie - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 14 Oct 2015.
""Marie Curie - Scandal and Recovery (1910-1913)"" Marie Curie and the Science of
Radioactivity. 2015 American Institute of Physics, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.
"Marie Curie - War Duty (1914-1919)." Marie Curie and the Science of Radioactivity. 2015
American Institute of Physics, n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2015.
"Our History." - Institut Curie:Cancer Foundation (research, Care, Training). N.p., 6 Sept. 2010.
Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
Page created on 10/20/2015 12:00:00 AM
Last edited 10/20/2015 12:00:00 AM
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