Marie Curie stands as a giant in the world of science, shattering glass ceilings with the same intensity that she split atoms. She dedicated her life to the study of radioactivity, a term she coined herself, and ultimately gave her life for the research that saved millions of others. As the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, she proved that genius knows no gender. Furthermore, her legacy continues through her family, who won more Nobel Prizes than any other dynasty in history. Prepare to enter the lab of the woman who glows in history books.
Marie Curie
Her research notebooks remain too radioactive to handle safely. She carried bottles of polonium and radium in her pockets and stored them in her desk drawers. Consequently, libraries now keep her papers in lead-lined boxes, and researchers must wear protective gear to read them.
Marie Curie stands as the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields. She won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and later won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. While other scientists have won two awards, no one else has conquered two distinct branches of science.
During World War I, she developed mobile X-ray units called “Little Curies.” She realized that doctors needed to see bullets and shrapnel inside wounded soldiers on the battlefield. Therefore, she learned to drive, fixed the engines herself, and drove these radiology cars to the front lines to help surgeons.
She named the element polonium after her native country, Poland. At the time, Poland did not exist as an independent country on the map because Russia, Prussia, and Austria had partitioned it. She hoped that naming the element after her homeland would bring global attention to its plight for independence.
Albert Einstein wrote her a letter of encouragement during a public scandal. When the French press attacked her for a romantic affair after her husband died, Einstein told her to ignore the “reptiles.” He expressed his deep admiration for her intellect and advised her not to read the hateful newspapers.
She intentionally refused to patent the radium-isolation process. She believed that scientific discoveries belonged to the people and should help humanity without profit. By leaving the process open, she allowed the medical community to develop cancer treatments much faster.
The French Academy of Sciences rejected her simply because she was a woman. Even after she won a Nobel Prize, the sexist institution voted against her membership by a narrow margin. She never applied again, yet she continued to outshine the members of the Academy with her work.
She attended a secret “Floating University” in Warsaw. Because the Russian government banned women from higher education, she and her sister attended illegal underground classes. These constantly changing locations allowed Polish youth to learn about their culture and science in secret.
Her daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, also won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Marie taught her daughter the fundamentals of science, and Irène eventually discovered artificial radioactivity. This achievement makes the Curies the most successful Nobel family in history.
She met her husband Pierre because she needed a larger laboratory. A colleague introduced them thinking Pierre might have extra space for her experiments. Instead of just finding room for her equipment, she found a partner who treated her as an intellectual equal.
Marie Curie essentially died from her own discovery. Decades of exposure to high-energy radiation caused aplastic anemia, which eventually took her life in 1934. Doctors at the time did not fully understand the dangers of the materials she handled daily.
The French government moved her body to the Panthéon in 1995. She became the first woman interred in the national mausoleum on her own merit rather than as a spouse. The authorities had to line her coffin with lead to contain the radiation that still emanated from her remains.
She worked as a governess to pay for her sister’s medical school tuition. The sisters made a pact that Marie would work to support Bronisława’s education in Paris, and then Bronisława would support Marie. This deal delayed Marie’s own education by several years but ensured both succeeded.
Thomas Edison gave her a gram of radium as a gift. During her tour of the United States, the President presented her with the valuable element, which American women had purchased through donations. This gift allowed her to continue her research at the Radium Institute in Warsaw.
Finally, Marie Curie had to conduct her Nobel-winning research in a leaky shed. The University of Paris refused to give her a proper laboratory, so she processed tons of pitchblende ore in a drafty outbuilding. Despite the poor conditions, she managed to isolate pure radium through sheer physical labor.
