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Marie Curie's remarkable journey to scientific acclaim was characterized by determination and a thirst for knowledge. Living amidst poverty and political turmoil, her unwavering passion for learning and her contributions to the fields of physics and chemistry have made an everlasting impact on the world of science.
Early Life
Marie Curie, born as Maria Salomea Sklodowska in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, faced immense challenges during her early life due to both her gender and her family's financial struggles. Her parents, fervent Polish patriots, sacrificed their wealth in support of their homeland's fight for independence from Russian, Austrian, and Prussian rule. Despite these hardships, Marie's parents, who were educators themselves, instilled a deep love for learning and Polish culture in her.
Marie and her sisters were initially denied higher education opportunities due to societal restrictions and lack of financial resources. In response, Marie and her sister Bronislawa joined a clandestine organization known as the Flying University, aimed at providing Polish education, forbidden under Russian rule.
Contributions
Marie Curie's path to scientific greatness began when she arrived in Paris in 1891 to pursue higher education. Inspired by the work of French physicist Henri Becquerel, who discovered the emissions of uranium, Marie chose to explore uranium's rays for her Ph.D. thesis. Her research led her to the groundbreaking discovery of radioactivity, revealing that matter could undergo atomic-level transformations.
Marie Curie collaborated with her husband, Pierre Curie, and together they examined uranium-rich minerals, ultimately discovering two new elements, polonium and radium. Their work was published in 1898, and within just five months, they announced the discovery of radium.
In 1903, Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering work in radioactivity. Marie became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, marking a historic achievement.
Awards
Tragedy struck in 1906 when Pierre Curie died suddenly in a carriage accident. Despite her grief, Marie Curie persevered and continued her research, taking over Pierre's position at the University of Paris. In 1911, she earned her second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, for her remarkable contributions to the fields of polonium and radium.
Marie Curie's legacy extended beyond her Nobel Prizes. She made significant contributions to the fields of radiology and nuclear physics. She founded the Radium Institute in Paris, which produced its own Nobel laureates, and during World War I, she led France's first military radiology center, becoming the first female medical physicist.
Death
Marie Curie died in 1934 from a type of anemia that likely stemmed from her exposure to such extreme radiation during her career. In fact, her original notes and papers are still so radioactive that they’re kept in lead-lined boxes, and you need protective gear to view them.
Legacy
Marie Curie's legacy endures as one of the greatest scientists of all time. She remains the only person to receive Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields, a testament to her exceptional contributions to science. Her groundbreaking research in radioactivity revolutionized our understanding of matter and energy, leaving her mark on the fields of physics, chemistry, and medicine.
— Lacy Schley
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The Nobel Prize-winning scientist paved the path for other female scientists to follow. Here are some interesting facts about Marie Curie’s discoveries.
Marie Curie (1867-1934) was a pioneering physicist and chemist who made groundbreaking contributions to science. She was often the only woman in a room full of male scientists. But that didn't stop her from being the first female to win a Nobel Prize, and the first and only to win the award in two separate fields.
Marie Curie’s Early Life as a Child Prodigy
The Polish-born French physicist gained recognition for her research on radioactivity, but she racked up accomplishments throughout her life. Marie was a child prodigy who exhibited extraordinary skills as young as age four. Born to two teachers who had instilled the value of education, 4-year-old Marie taught herself to read both French and Russian.
Equally as impressive was Marie's memory, which allowed her to recall vivid events from her toddler years.
Marie Curie's Education
In 1891, her French came in handy as the young scientist headed for Paris to further her education at Sorbonne University, where she studied chemistry, math and physics. There she discovered two radioactive elements: radium and polonium. Soon after, she met her husband and science partner, Pierre Curie.
Marie Curie’s Legacy in Science and Medicine
The Curie's discoveries on the properties of radioactive elements had a lasting impact, particularly in the fields of diagnosis and radiation therapy in medicine. Pierre and Marie shared a love for science and research, which led to their ground-breaking discovery of radioactivity — the spontaneous emission of energetic particles or waves via unstable atomic nuclei. The term radioactivity was coined by Marie herself and garnered the world's attention.
Marie Curie's Nobel Discoveries
For their groundbreaking work, Marie Curie and her husband received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1903. Even though Marie became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, she didn't stop there.
In 1911, she became the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize for chemistry for her work on pure radium. Today, Marie Curie's discoveries on the properties of radioactive elements have paved the way for diagnosis and radiation therapy in medicine.
5 Fun Facts About Marie Curie
Here are five fun facts about Marie Curie, a radiant woman who paved the way for women in science and whose family continued her legacy of excellence.
1. Marie Curie’s Discoveries: Humble Settings
When you think of a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, you can only imagine how legit their workspace must be. Marie Curie may have broken barriers in science, but her lab was far from glamorous.
When Marie and her husband sought to conduct a series of experiments that would prove the existence of the elements radium and polonium, they needed plenty of space — a traditional laboratory just didn't make the cut. Turns out Team Curie opted to work out of an old shed for much of their Nobel prize-winning research.
2. Marie Curie: A World War I Hero
Curie helped save thousands of soldiers by developing mobile radiology units that were delivered to the front lines for army doctors to use. The portable technology allowed them to X-ray the wounded soldiers and helped guide their surgeries.
Over a million soldiers benefited from the “Petites Curies," Marie's invention that came with a generator, a hospital bed, an X-ray and the ability to save a life.
3. Marie Curie’s Family: A Dynasty of Nobel Prize Winners
Winning Nobel Prizes was a family affair: The Curie family earned five total Nobel Prizes. Marie held the most, with two to her name, while her husband, Pierre, held one. In 1935, daughter Irène Joliot-Curie followed in her parents' footsteps and received a Nobel alongside her husband, Frederic Joliot, for their discovery of new radioactive isotopes.
Following the family tradition, the youngest Curie married a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Henry Richardson Labouisse, who received the award as the head of UNICEF in 1965.
4. Marie Curie and Albert Einstein’s Relationship: An Intellectual Bond
Who would think that Albert Einstein would be part of the fun facts about Marie Curie? In 1906, Pierre was killed in a tragic road accident. As a grieving widow, Marie faced the brutal sexism that accompanied her fame as a solo female scientist.
It was then that Einstein decided to send a glowing letter to Marie in hopes of uplifting her. The note not only described how Einstein was inspired by her drive and intellect, but also that she had his full support. Here's what the father of modern physics had to say about this remarkable woman: “Marie Curie is, of all celebrated beings, the only one whom fame has not corrupted."
5. Marie and Pierre Curie: A Science Love Story
Marie and Pierre Curie's partnership forged a bond in both marriage and scientific endeavor that challenged the norms of their time. Nothing says true love like a shared passion for science. Marie and Pierre were introduced by Marie's colleague shortly after she graduated from Sorbonne University.
The dynamic duo soon became partners in both life and research. In fact, it was Pierre who insisted his wife be equally recognized when awarded the Nobel Prize for their scientific discoveries. Though Marie was often undermined as a woman in a male-dominated field, Pierre backed her every step of the way.
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Marie Curie in one of her mobile X-ray units in October 1917
Ask people to name the most famous historical woman of science and their answer will likely be: Madame Marie Curie. Push further and ask what she did, and they might say it was something related to radioactivity. (She actually discovered the radioisotopes radium and polonium.) Some might also know that she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. (She actually won two.)
But few will know she was also a major hero of World War I. In fact, a visitor to her Paris laboratory in October of 1917 – 100 years ago this month – would not have found either her or her radium on the premises. Her radium was in hiding and she was at war.
For Curie, the war started in early 1914, as German troops headed toward her hometown of Paris. She knew her scientific research needed to be put on hold. So she gathered her entire stock of radium, put it in a lead-lined container, transported it by train to Bordeaux – 375 miles away from Paris – and left it in a safety deposit box at a local bank. She then returned to Paris, confident that she would reclaim her radium after France had won the war.
With the subject of her life’s work hidden far away, she now needed something else to do. Rather than flee the turmoil, she decided to join in the fight. But just how could a middle-aged woman do that? She decided to redirect her scientific skills toward the war effort; not to make weapons, but to save lives.
X-rays Enlisted in the War Effort
X-rays, a type of electromagnetic radiation, had been discovered in 1895 by Curie’s fellow Nobel laureate, Wilhelm Roentgen. As I describe in my book “Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation,” almost immediately after their discovery, physicians began using X-rays to image patients’ bones and find foreign objects – like bullets.
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X-ray of a bullet in the heart.
But at the start of the war, X-ray machines were still found only in city hospitals, far from the battlefields where wounded troops were being treated. Curie’s solution was to invent the first “radiological car” – a vehicle containing an X-ray machine and photographic darkroom equipment – which could be driven right up to the battlefield where army surgeons could use X-rays to guide their surgeries.
One major obstacle was the need for electrical power to produce the X-rays. Curie solved that problem by incorporating a dynamo – a type of electrical generator – into the car’s design. The petroleum-powered car engine could thus provide the required electricity.
Frustrated by delays in getting funding from the French military, Curie approached the Union of Women of France. This philanthropic organization gave her the money needed to produce the first car, which ended up playing an important role in treating the wounded at the Battle of Marne in 1914 – a major Allied victory that kept the Germans from entering Paris.
More radiological cars were needed. So Curie exploited her scientific clout to ask wealthy Parisian women to donate vehicles. Soon she had 20, which she outfitted with X-ray equipment. But the cars were useless without trained X-ray operators, so Curie started to train women volunteers. She recruited 20 women for the first training course, which she taught along with her daughter Irene, a future Nobel Prize winner herself.
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One of Curie’s mobile units used by the French Army.
The curriculum included theoretical instruction about the physics of electricity and X-rays as well as practical lessons in anatomy and photographic processing. When that group had finished its training, it left for the front, and Curie then trained more women. In the end, a total of 150 women received X-ray training from Curie.
Not content just to send out her trainees to the battlefront, Curie herself had her own “little Curie” – as the radiological cars were nicknamed – that she took to the front. This required her to learn to drive, change flat tires and even master some rudimentary auto mechanics, like cleaning carburetors. And she also had to deal with car accidents. When her driver careened into a ditch and overturned the vehicle, they righted the car, fixed the damaged equipment as best they could and got back to work.
In addition to the mobile little Curies that traveled around the battlefront, Curie also oversaw the construction of 200 radiological rooms at various fixed field hospitals behind the battle lines.
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Medics at a French WWI field hospital locating a bullet with X-ray machine.
X-rays’ Long Shadow for Marie Curie
Although few, if any, of the women X-ray workers were injured as a consequence of combat, they were not without their casualties. Many suffered burns from overexposure to X-rays. Curie knew that such high exposures posed future health risks, such as cancer in later life. But there had been no time to perfect X-ray safety practices for the field, so many X-ray workers were overexposed. She worried much about this, and later wrote a book about X-ray safety drawn from her war experiences.
Curie survived the war but was concerned that her intense X-ray work would ultimately cause her demise. Years later, she did contract aplastic anemia, a blood disorder sometimes produced by high radiation exposure.
Many assumed that her illness was the result of her decades of radium work – it’s well-established that internalized radium is lethal. But Curie was dismissive of that idea. She had always protected herself from ingesting any radium. Rather, she attributed her illness to the high X-ray exposures she had received during the war. (We will likely never know whether the wartime X-rays contributed to her death in 1934, but a sampling of her remains in 1995 showed her body was indeed free of radium.)
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Marie Curie and her daughter Irène in the laboratory after WWI.
As science’s first woman celebrity, Marie Curie can hardly be called an unsung hero. But the common depiction of her as a one-dimensional person, slaving away in her laboratory with the single-minded purpose of advancing science for science’s sake, is far from the truth.
Marie Curie was a multidimensional person, who worked doggedly as both a scientist and a humanitarian. She was a strong patriot of her adopted homeland, having immigrated to France from Poland. And she leveraged her scientific fame for the benefit of her country’s war effort – using the winnings from her second Nobel Prize to buy war bonds and even trying to melt down her Nobel medals to convert them to cash to buy more.
She didn’t allow her gender to hamper her in a male-dominated world. Instead, she mobilized a small army of women in an effort to reduce human suffering and win World War I. Through her efforts, it is estimated that the total number of wounded soldiers receiving X-ray exams during the war exceeded one million.
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1.Where Was Marie Curie Born?
Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, in what was then the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire, on November 7, 1867.
2.Where Did Marie Curie Learn?
Marie Curie studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris, where she earned her higher degrees and conducted her Nobel Prize-winning research.
3.Why Did Marie Curie Become a Scientist?
Marie Curie became a scientist due to her profound curiosity and passion for learning, driven by her desire to understand the natural world. Her father, who was a teacher of mathematics and physics, also greatly influenced her.
4. What Did Marie Curie Do?
Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She developed methods for the separation of radium from radioactive residues, allowing for its study and use in medicine.
5. What Was Marie Curie Famous For?
Marie Curie is famous for being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences (physics in 1903, and chemistry in 1911).
6.What Did Marie Curie Discover?
Marie Curie's most notable discoveries include the radioactive elements radium and polonium. She also developed the theory of radioactivity (a term she coined) and techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes.
7. When Did Marie Curie Discover Radium?
Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre Curie, discovered radium in 1898.
8. What Did Marie Curie Do for Atomic Theory?
Marie Curie's work on radioactivity was crucial in the development of atomic theory. She provided key evidence that atoms are not indivisible, as previously thought, by showing that radioactive elements decay into other elements.
9. What Barriers Did Marie Curie Face?
Marie Curie faced numerous barriers, including gender-based discrimination in the scientific community, financial difficulties, and health issues related to her radiation work. Despite these challenges, she persisted and made groundbreaking scientific contributions
10. When Did Marie Curie Die?
Marie Curie died on July 4, 1934, at the Sancellemoz Sanatorium in Passy, in the Haute-Savoie region of France.
11. How Did Marie Curie Die?
Marie Curie died from aplastic anemia, believed to be caused by prolonged exposure to radiation during her research and during her service in World War I, when she developed mobile X-ray units.
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She was the mother of modern physics — and she remains so radioactive that her personal belongings are still too dangerous to handle.
Marie Curie, the trailblazing scientist who discovered polonium and radium, died in 1934 from aplastic anemia — a rare condition linked to prolonged exposure to radiation. Her tireless research not only advanced science but also came at a tragic personal cost.
More than a century has passed since her groundbreaking discoveries, and yet her legacy quite literally glows. Her clothes, furniture, recipe books, and even her research journals remain contaminated by radioactive isotopes — especially radium-226, which has a half-life of 1,600 years. That means her possessions will remain hazardous for well over another millennium.
Today, these items are considered national treasures and are stored in lead-lined boxes at the National Library of France in Paris. But if you want to access them, you’ll need to sign a waiver acknowledging the risk — and wear protective gear. Her laboratory notebooks are still “hot,” not just with brilliance, but with radiation.
Curie’s impact on science is unmatched. She is the only woman to win Nobel Prizes in two separate disciplines — physics and chemistry. Her work helped pave the way for the discovery of uranium’s radioactive properties, which earned Henri Becquerel a Nobel Prize in 1903.
Even in death, her story remains extraordinary. When Curie was laid to rest in the Panthéon in Paris alongside her husband Pierre, her coffin had to be lined with 2.5 cm (1 inch) of lead to protect the environment from her radioactive remains.
Marie Curie’s life is a reminder of both the power and the peril of scientific discovery. Her brilliance changed the world. Her courage continues to inspire generations.
💡 Science lives on — sometimes literally glowing in the dark.
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Curie, a French-Polish scientist, made history as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win in two different sciences — physics in 1903 and chemistry in 1911.
Despite being barred from higher education due to her sex, Curie pursued her studies at the clandestine "Flying University," where she laid the foundation for her revolutionary discoveries of radium, polonium, and the concept of radioactivity.
Sadly, Curie’s pioneering work came at a great cost.
She unknowingly exposed herself to lethal doses of radiation. She often carried radium in her pockets, studied it tirelessly in her lab, and even admired its glow at night. She succumbed to aplastic anemia in 1934, a condition linked to her exposure. Today, her body and personal belongings remain radioactive and are expected to stay so for another 1,500 years, a lasting testament to her profound impact on science.
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Marie became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, marking a historic achievement.
Marie Curie, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist paved the path for other female scientists to follow.
Super, super interesting post sis.
Interesting post vidha its a great motivation
for female scientist sis.
Her brilliance changed the world. Her courage continues to inspire generations.
Namma ippo in the nilamai la nitkurom enra we have to thank many woman one of them is Marie Curie, who sacrified her whole life for science.
And innoru vishayam I got from this post is. When you have the right partner on your side you will be unstopple❤️. Like Marie Curie got Pierre Curie
So choose your Partner wisely😉.
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Ishaa Sis very very true 👍
Thanks for your feedback Sis😍
Inum sila vishayangal Marie Curie pathi poduven🙏
Don't miss that too Sis😊
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Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie were pioneers in the field of radioactivity, whose groundbreaking work in the late 19th century changed the course of science. The couple met in 1894 in Paris, France, when Marie, originally from Poland, was seeking research opportunities. At that time, Pierre Curie was already a respected physicist, known for his work on crystals and magnetism. Their partnership quickly blossomed, both personally and professionally, leading to their marriage in 1895. The two shared a passion for scientific discovery that would drive them to explore the mysteries of atomic energy.
In 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie announced the discovery of two new elements, polonium (named after Marie's homeland) and radium. This achievement was monumental, as it expanded the understanding of atomic structure and introduced the concept of radioactivity. At a time when the atom was thought to be indivisible, the Curies' research revealed that certain elements emitted energy as they decayed into other elements. Their discoveries opened new avenues in the study of physics and chemistry, leading to advances in medicine and energy.
The process of isolating radium was physically demanding and hazardous. Marie and Pierre worked tirelessly in a rudimentary laboratory, using large quantities of pitchblende ore to extract minute amounts of radium. They often spent long hours stirring vats of chemicals and conducting painstaking measurements. Despite the challenging conditions, they made significant progress. Their laboratory work was a testament to their dedication and commitment to advancing human knowledge, even when the dangers of radiation exposure were not fully understood.
In 1903, Marie and Pierre Curie, along with Henri Becquerel, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on radioactivity. Marie Curie made history as the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, breaking barriers in a field dominated by men. The Curies’ Nobel Prize brought them international acclaim, but it also meant increased pressure and scrutiny from the scientific community. The couple remained humble, often turning down lucrative offers and maintaining a modest lifestyle. Their primary focus remained on their research and the potential applications of their discoveries.
Tragically, Pierre Curie’s life was cut short in 1906 when he was struck by a horse-drawn carriage in Paris. His sudden death left Marie devastated, but she persevered in their shared mission. She took over Pierre's position at the University of Paris, becoming the first female professor at the institution. Marie continued her research, eventually receiving a second Nobel Prize in 1911, this time in Chemistry, for her work in isolating pure radium. She remains the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields.
Marie Curie’s later years were marked by her efforts to apply radioactivity in practical ways, particularly in medicine. During World War I, she developed mobile X-ray units, known as "little Curies," which were used to diagnose injuries on the battlefield. This work saved countless lives and further cemented her legacy as a scientist dedicated to the betterment of humanity. Despite suffering from health issues related to prolonged exposure to radiation, Marie Curie continued her research until her death in 1934.
The Curies’ contributions to science had a lasting impact, paving the way for the development of nuclear energy and cancer treatments using radiation. Their story is one of perseverance, intellectual curiosity, and a deep commitment to the pursuit of knowledge. Today, Marie and Pierre Curie are remembered not only for their scientific achievements but also for their remarkable partnership and shared passion for discovery. Their legacy endures in the laboratories, hospitals, and classrooms where the principles they uncovered continue to shape our understanding of the natural world.
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In 1903, the Nobel Committee made a decision: to award the Nobel Prize in Physics to Henri Becquerel and Pierre Curie for their work on radioactivity. But Pierre Curie did something extraordinary.
He refused to accept it unless his wife, Marie Curie, was recognized too.
Marie wasn’t just helping behind the scenes—she was a brilliant physicist in her own right, leading much of the research on radioactive elements. Pierre knew that awarding him alone would erase the contribution of the woman who had worked tirelessly beside him.
So he spoke up. He wrote letters. He insisted that the Nobel Committee acknowledge her role. And they listened.
The prize was amended. Marie Curie became the first woman ever to receive a Nobel Prize.
She would go on to win a second Nobel, in Chemistry, entirely on her own. But it was in 1903—thanks to her husband’s insistence—that the world began to understand just how bright her light truly was.
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Albert and Marie liked each other's company and had a great bond. From the beginning, Albert admired the genius of Madame Curie. Years later, when Curie had an affair with fellow Physicist Langevin, the scientific community and the press portrayed her as a homewrecker and a widow who tarnished the reputation of her deceased husband, Pierre Curie. Marie went through a stressful time. Just weeks before receiving the second Nobel, when the controversy and scandal were at their peak, Albert wrote a letter to Marie dated 23 November 1911:
Highly esteemed Mrs. Curie,
Do not laugh at me for writing you without having anything sensible to say. But I am so enraged by the base manner in which the public is presently daring to concern itself with you that I absolutely must give vent to this feeling. However, I am convinced that you consistently despise this rabble, whether it obsequiously lavishes respect on you or whether it attempts to satiate its lust for sensationalism!
I am impelled to tell you how much I have come to admire your intellect, your drive, and your honesty, and that I consider myself lucky to have made your personal acquaintance in Brussels. Anyone who does not number among these reptiles is certainly happy, now as before, that we have such personages among us as you, and Langevin too, real people with whom one feels privileged to be in contact. If the rabble continues to occupy itself with you, then simply don’t read that hogwash, but rather leave it to the reptile for whom it has been fabricated.
With most amicable regards to you, Langevin, and Perrin, yours very truly,
A. Einstein
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Marie Curie famously said, "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." This quote embodies her approach to both science and life.
Marie Curie was a true leader and role model who not only revolutionized the field of science with her groundbreaking discoveries but also demonstrated immense resilience and dedication in the face of numerous obstacles. She inspired generations of scientists and leaders to pursue knowledge and innovation fearlessly.
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"http://friendstamilchat.org/forumfiles/2025/mp4/Mc1.mp4"
This is Marie Curie, the mother of modern physics and the first woman ever to win not one, but two, Nobel prizes. Her work led to the discovery of polonium and radium, however, her research came at a cost. Curie was constantly exposed to ionizing radiation, and the effects of this exposure would eventually lead to her death from aplastic anemia. Even today, over a century after her death, Marie Curie's belongings, including her laboratory notes, furniture, and even her cookbooks, are still contaminated with radioactive polonium and radium. These items are currently housed in lead-lined boxes at the French National Library.
Visitors who wish to view these artifacts must sign a liability waiver and wear protective gear due to the ongoing radiation risk. Curie's body is also radioactive and was buried in a lead-lined coffin.
During her early years, Marie Curie couldn't legally attend college. So she did it illegally, going to what was known as the 'Flying University', a secret organization. The Flying University was an underground educational network that operated in Poland, which was then under the control of the Russian Empire, and offered courses to women who were excluded from higher education due to gender discrimination. The name "Flying University" was used because the courses were held secretly in various locations, including private homes, to avoid detection by the authorities. Marie Curie was one of the students of the Flying University in her early years, and she attended courses in physics, chemistry, and mathematics.
The experience she gained from the Flying University helped her in her later academic pursuits and contributed to her groundbreaking discoveries in radioactivity. She went on to become the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences: physics and chemistry. The Flying University operated from 1885 to 1905. The university underwent an official transformation in 1920, and it became the Free Polish University, a fully accredited academic institution.
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"http://friendstamilchat.org/forumfiles/2025/mp4/Mc2.mp4"
Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903, which she shared with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel for their work on radioactivity.
She later became the first person to win a second Nobel Prize, receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium, as well as her investigation of their properties.
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"http://friendstamilchat.org/forumfiles/2025/mp4/Mc3.mp4"
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"http://friendstamilchat.org/forumfiles/2025/mp4/Mc4.mp4"
She discovered radium and polonium, pioneering research in radioactivity that laid the foundation for modern medicine and nuclear science. Her dedication was so immense that she carried radioactive materials in her pocket and worked tirelessly in her lab, unaware of the dangers. Tragically, her groundbreaking research cost her life, as she succumbed to aplastic anemia caused by prolonged exposure to radiation. Her notebooks, still radioactive for thousands of years, remain a powerful symbol of her enduring legacy. ☢️
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"http://friendstamilchat.org/forumfiles/2025/mp4/Mc5.mp4"
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"http://friendstamilchat.org/forumfiles/2025/mp4/Mc6.mp4"
Two-time Nobel prize winner Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel prize for her work on radioactivity. Battling sexism and her own ill health, she rose to become one of the most famous scientists in human history.
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"http://friendstamilchat.org/forumfiles/2025/mp4/Mc7.mp4"
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In my science education I was confronted many times with the names of important scientist.
But I never done a research about them.
I just studied their theory and passed my exams.
But all the information u shared about Marie Curie
Let me do my own research on her.
The 2 days I am reading about her making me admiring her more and more.
Physics was never my strenght but I am trying to remember about radioactivity, just to understand it more. Still today I am working with xray or theories, where Marie Curie layed the foundation.
Research is not a easy thing.
There will be setbacks.
But when you are in it wholeheartedly
and never give up you will make progress in it. ❤️
"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6JFRi0Qm_s&t=33s
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"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained."
"Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood."
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"I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy."
"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."
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The physicist’s dedication to science made it difficult for outsiders to understand her, but a century after her second Nobel prize, she gets a second look
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Marie Curie, in Paris in 1925, was awarded a then-unprecedented second Nobel Prize 100 years ago this month
When Marie Curie came to the United States for the first time, in May 1921, she had already discovered the elements radium and polonium, coined the term “radio-active” and won the Nobel Prize—twice. But the Polish-born scientist, almost pathologically shy and accustomed to spending most of her time in her Paris laboratory, was stunned by the fanfare that greeted her.
She attended a luncheon on her first day at the house of Mrs. Andrew Carnegie before receptions at the Waldorf Astoria and Carnegie Hall. She would later appear at the American Museum of Natural History, where an exhibit commemorated her discovery of radium. The American Chemical Society, the New York Mineralogical Club, cancer research facilities and the Bureau of Mines held events in her honor. Later that week, 2,000 Smith College students sang Curie’s praises in a choral concert before bestowing her with an honorary degree. Dozens more colleges and universities, including Yale, Wellesley and the University of Chicago, conferred honors on her.
The marquee event of her six-week U.S. tour was held in the East Room of the White House. President Warren Harding spoke at length, praising her “great attainments in the realms of science and intellect” and saying she represented the best in womanhood. “We lay at your feet the testimony of that love which all the generations of men have been wont to bestow upon the noble woman, the unselfish wife, the devoted mother.”
It was a rather odd thing to say to the most decorated scientist of that era, but then again Marie Curie was never easy to understand or categorize. That was because she was a pioneer, an outlier, unique for the newness and immensity of her achievements. But it was also because of her sex. Curie worked during a great age of innovation, but proper women of her time were thought to be too sentimental to perform objective science. She would forever be considered a bit strange, not just a great scientist but a great woman scientist. You would not expect the president of the United States to praise one of Curie’s male contemporaries by calling attention to his manhood and his devotion as a father. Professional science until fairly recently was a man’s world, and in Curie’s time it was rare for a woman even to participate in academic physics, never mind triumph over it.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of her second Nobel Prize, the first time anyone had achieved such a feat. In her honor, the United Nations named 2011 the International Year of Chemistry. Curie has always been a fascinating character, the subject of books and plays and movies, and this anniversary has prompted several new works about her. October is Nobel Prize season, so it’s a good time to examine the story of her story—how she lived, but also how she has been mythologized and misunderstood.
Curie was born Manya Sklodowska in November 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, and raised there during a Russian occupation. Her mother died of tuberculosis when Marie was 10 years old. A prodigy in both literature and math, as a teenager Marie attended a secret school called the “Floating University”—its locale changed regularly to avoid detection by the Russians—which taught physics and natural history as well as the forbidden subjects of Polish history and culture. Her father, a science teacher, encouraged his daughter’s curiosity but could not afford to send her to college. Marie worked as a governess until, at 24, she had saved enough money and purchased a train ticket to Paris, where she gravitated to the Latin Quarter and enrolled at the Sorbonne.
She immersed herself in French and math and made ends meet cleaning glassware in university labs. She rationed her intake of food until, on more than one occasion, she collapsed of weakness. Science thrilled her, and she earned a degree in physics in 1893 and another in mathematics the following year.
In 1894, she met Pierre Curie, a 35-year-old physicist at a French technical college who had been studying crystals and magnetism. More than a decade before, he and his brother Jacques had discovered piezoelectricity, the electric charge produced in solid materials under pressure. Pierre was taken by Marie’s uncommon intellect and drive, and he proposed to her. “It would...be a beautiful thing,” he wrote, “to pass through life together hypnotized in our dreams: your dream for your country; our dream for humanity; our dream for science.”
They were married in 1895 in a civil service attended by family and a few friends. For the occasion, Marie donned a blue cotton dress, one practical enough to wear in the laboratory after the ceremony. From then on, she and Pierre followed what they called an “anti-natural” path that included a “renunciation of the pleasures of life.” They lived plainly in their apartment on the rue de la Glacière within walking distance of their experiments. Pierre earned a modest 6,000 francs per year, about $30,000 today, while Marie worked gratis in his laboratory and prepared for an exam that would certify her to teach girls.
The Curies’ first daughter, Irène, was born in 1897. A difficult pregnancy had forced Marie to spend less time in the lab just as she was gathering data for a doctoral thesis. When her mother-in-law died weeks after Irène’s birth, her father-in-law, Eugene, a retired physician, stepped in, becoming the hands-on parent that others expected Marie to be.
By the time her second daughter, Eve, was born in 1904, Marie had grown accustomed to the disdain of colleagues who thought she spent too much time in the lab and not enough in the nursery. Georges Sagnac, a friend and collaborator, eventually confronted her. “Don’t you love Irène?” he asked. “It seems to me that I wouldn’t prefer the idea of reading a paper by [Ernest] Rutherford, to getting what my body needs and looking after such an agreeable little girl.”
But read scientific publications she did. In labs across Europe, scientists were studying new and surprising phenomena. In 1895 Wilhelm Röntgen had discovered X-rays, and the mathematician Henri Poincaré sought to understand the luminescent rays that could pass through a hand and impress a ghostly image on photographic paper. Henri Becquerel was noting the emission of a different kind of mysterious rays, those from uranium salts. J. J. Thomson discovered negatively charged particles, which we now know as electrons (and which we now know are the source of X-rays).
Curie built on Becquerel’s observations of the element uranium. At first, she and other scientists were baffled about the source of the high-energy emissions. “The uranium shows no appreciable change of state, no visible chemical transformation, it remains, in appearance at least, the same as ever, the source of the energy it discharges remains undetectable,” she wrote in 1900. She wondered whether the emitted rays were violating a basic law of thermodynamics: the conservation of energy.
Finally, she posited a daring hypothesis: The rays emitted might be a basic property of uranium atoms, which we now know to be subatomic particles released as the atoms decay. Her theory had radical implications. Trish Baisden, a senior chemist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, describes it as a shocking proposal: “It was truly amazing and a bold statement at the time because the atom was thought to be the most elementary particle, one that could not be divided. It further meant that atoms are not necessarily stable.” Curie’s hypothesis would revise the scientific understanding of matter at its most elemental level.
Curie set out to measure the intensity of uranium’s rays by adapting the electrometer Pierre had invented with his brother. The device allowed her to measure extremely low electrical currents in air near mineral samples that contained uranium. She soon repeated the experiment with thorium, which behaved in similar ways.
But she was puzzled by data that showed that the intensity of the radiation emitted by uranium and thorium was greater than expected based on the amounts of the elements she knew to be in her samples. “There must be, I thought, some unknown substance, very active, in these minerals,” she concluded. “My husband agreed with me and I urged that we search at once for this hypothetical substance, thinking that,with joined efforts, a result would be quickly obtained.”
In 1898 she indeed identified one of the substances and named it polonium, after her homeland. Five months later, she identified a second element, which the world came to know as radium. Curie described the elements she studied as “radio-active.”
Pierre put his crystals aside to help his wife isolate these radioactive elements and study their properties. Marie extracted pure radium salts from pitchblende, a highly radioactive ore obtained from mines in Bohemia. The extraction required tons of the substance, which she dissolved in cauldrons of acid before obtaining barium sulphate and other alkalines, which she then purified and converted into chlorides.The separation of radium from the alkalines required thousands of tedious crystallizations. But as she wrote to her brother in 1894, “one never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.” After four years, Curie had accumulated barely enough pure radium to fill a thimble.
Working in a dilapidated shed with broken windows and poor ventilation, she nonetheless was able to make sensitive measurements. It is remarkable, says Baisden, that Curie calculated the atomic weight of radium so accurately given such deplorable conditions. “Large swings in temperature and humidity undoubtedly affected the electrometer...but Marie’s patience and tenacity prevailed.”
Both Curies were plagued by ailments—burns and fatigue—that, in retrospect, were clearly caused by repeated exposures to high doses of radiation. Both, too, were resistant to the suggestion that their research materials caused their ailments.
In 1903, Curie became the first woman in France to earn a PhD in physics.Professors who reviewed her doctoral thesis, which was about radiation, declared that it was the greatest single contribution to science ever written.
Rumors of a Nobel Prize began to circulate, but some members of the French Academy of Sciences attributed the brilliance of the work not to Marie, but to her co-workers. These skeptics began to lobby quietly for the prize to be split between Becquerel and Pierre. But Pierre insisted to influential people on the Nobel committee that Marie had originated their research, conceived experiments and generated theories about the nature of radioactivity.
Both Curies shared the Nobel Prize in physics with Becquerel in 1903. It was the first Nobel to be awarded to a woman.
At the awards ceremony, the president of the Swedish Academy, which administered the prize, quoted the Bible in his remarks about the Curies’ research: “It is not good that man should be alone, I will make a helpmeet for him.”
Whether Marie Curie took the remark as an insult is not known—it surely rankles today—but it must be among the most grudging comments ever said to a laureate. Moreover, the notion that Marie was a mere helpmeet to Pierre—one of the more persistent myths about her—was an opinion widely held, judging from published and unpublished comments by other scientists and observers.
“Errors are notoriously hard to kill,” observed her friend, the British physicist Hertha Ayrton, “but an error that ascribes to a man what was actually the work of a woman has more lives than a cat.”
At the Sorbonne, it was Pierre who got the plum job, a full professorship. Marie was not promoted. Pierre hired more assistants and made Marie the official head of the laboratory, freeing her to conduct experiments and for the first time, be paid for it.
The most successful collaboration between a husband and wife in the history of science ended suddenly on April 19, 1906, when Pierre, apparently lost in thought,walked into traffic on the rue Dauphine and was killed instantly by an onrushing carriage.
Instead of accepting a widow’s pension, Marie took over Pierre’s position at the Sorbonne, becoming the first woman to teach there. Hundreds of people—students, artists, photographers, celebrities—lined up outside the university on November 5, 1906, hoping to attend her first lecture. She gave no outward sign of mourning. She began by summarizing the recent breakthroughs in physics research. “When one considers the progress of physics in the last decade,” she said, “one is surprised by the changes it has produced in our ideas about electricity and about matter.”
She wrote a diary during this time, addressed to her late husband, about continuing their research. “I am working in the laboratory all day long, it is all I can do: I am better off there than anywhere else,” she wrote. In 1910, she published a 971-page treatise on radioactivity. Some men in the scientific establishment still didn’t consider her an equal, however; she applied for membership in the French Academy of Sciences in 1910, and although Pierre had been a member, she was denied by two votes. One Academy member, the physicist Emile Amagat, claimed that “women cannot be part of the Institute of France.”
In 1911, rumors spread that Curie was having an affair with the prominent physicist Paul Langevin, a man five years her junior who had been Pierre’s student and had worked closely with Albert Einstein. Langevin’s estranged wife discovered apparent love letters from Curie to her husband and gave them to a tabloid newspaper. It and other publications ran stories with headlines such as “A Romance in a Laboratory.” Although a widower under similar circumstances would likely not have suffered any consequences, Curie found her reputation tarnished. Neither Curie nor Langevin discussed their relationship with outsiders. “I believe there is no connection between my scientific work and the facts of private life,” she wrote to a critic.
The front-page coverage of the scandal threatened to overshadow another news story later that year: her second Nobel Prize.
This one, in chemistry, was for the discovery of polonium and radium. In her acceptance speech in Stockholm, she paid tribute to her husband but also made clear that her work was independent from his, spelling out their separate contributions and describing the discoveries she had made after his death.
At the end of 1911, Curie became very ill. She had an operation to remove lesions from her uterus and kidney, followed by a long recovery. In 1913, she began to travel again and return to science. In March of that year, Einstein paid her an extended visit, and later she opened and headed a new research facility in Warsaw. As she was setting up a second institute, in Paris, World War I broke out. She outfitted 18 portable X-ray stations that could treat wounded soldiers on the front lines. She sometimes operated and repaired the machines herself, and established 200 more permanent X-ray posts during the war.
Eve became a journalist and wrote the definitive biography, Madame Curie, published in 1937. Irène studied at her mother’s institute in Paris and married her mother’s assistant, the charismatic physicist Frédéric Joliot, with whom she bore two children. Irène maintained a strong presence in the lab, and in 1935, Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie were awarded a Nobel Prize for synthesizing new radioactive elements. It was another record: the first time both a parent and child had separately won the Nobel Prize.
After Marie Curie’s second Nobel Prize and her subsequent research, she was rarely dismissed as a helpmeet. And once the tabloids moved on from the Langevin scandal, her image as a homewrecker faded. But there were deliberate efforts to shape her story. A case in point was Curie’s first trip to America, in 1921.
The tour was largely the work of a New York City journalist named Missy Meloney, who had interviewed Curie in 1920 in Paris for the women’s magazine the Delineator, which Meloney edited. Meloney learned that the Curies had never patented the process for purifying radium. As a result, other scientists and U.S. chemical companies were processing radium, then selling it for cancer treatments and military research for $100,000 per gram. Curie was now unable to afford the element she had discovered. Sensing a human-interest story, Meloney created the Marie Curie Radium Fund to raise money to purchase radium for Curie’s continuing research.
American women would be inspired to give to Curie, Meloney figured, only if her image as a scientist—which stereotypically suggested someone dispassionate, even severe—could be softened. So Meloney’s articles presented Curie as a benevolent healer, intent on using radium to treat cancer. Meloney also persuaded editor friends at other newspapers and magazines to emphasize the same image. Curie understood that radium might be useful in the clinic, but she had no direct role in using it for medical treatments. Nevertheless, Curie’s motivation for discovering radium, according to a headline in the Delineator, was “That Millions Shall Not Die.” Writers described her as the “Jeanne D’Arc of the laboratory,” with a face of “suffering and patience.”
Curie disapproved of the publicity campaign. In lectures, she reminded her audience that her discovery of radium was the work “of pure science...done for itself” rather than with “direct usefulness” in mind.
And yet Meloney’s efforts succeeded: She raised more than $100,000 on Curie’s behalf within months, enough to buy a gram of radium for the Curie Institute in Paris. Meloney invited Curie to the United States.
Curie, who disliked travel and attention, agreed to come to thank Meloney and those who had contributed to the cause. But, she wrote Meloney, “you know how careful I am to avoid all publicity referring to my name. And how I should be very grateful to arrange for my voyage with the minimum of publicity.”
Curie sailed with Irène, 23, and Eve, 16, and within hours of disembarking in New York embarked on a whirlwind tour that took her as far west as the Grand Canyon. As it wore on, Curie became exhausted and asked to cancel events, or at least not have to speak at them. She appeared aloof and sometimes refused to shake hands with admirers. She did not appear to be the kindly maternal figure that Meloney had made her out to be. Clearly, Curie’s strength and patience were wearing thin.
She carried the gram of radium home to Paris in a vial handed to her by President Harding at the White House. She worked in her laboratory until her death.
When Curie died, at age 66 in 1934, journalists echoed the image popularized by Meloney. The New York Times called her a “martyr to science” who “contributed more to the general welfare of mankind” as a “modest, self-effacing woman.” The physicist Robert Millikan, president of the California Institute of Technology, issued a public statement: “In spite of her continuous absorption in her scientific work, she has devoted much time to the cause of peace....She embodied in her person all the simpler, homelier and yet most perfect virtues of womanhood.”
In the years after her death, scientists, historians, artists and others have grappled with her story, often highlighting qualities or imputing traits to her that reflected contemporary social values more than biographical truths. Curie’s portrayal in books and movies tended to emphasize her roles as wife, mother and humanitarian at the expense of her importance as a brilliant physicist. Most memorably, MGM’s Madame Curie (1943) featured Greer Garson as a devoted wife rather than a sometimes prickly, independent scientist.
With the women’s movement of the 1960s and ’70s, Curie’s reputation as a remarkable scientist came to the fore. The physicist Rosalyn Yalow, in an essay she wrote at the time of winning her own Nobel Prize in 1977 for research involving radioactive compounds, said that Curie was her inspiration. Biographers attempted to depict the brilliance and complexity of this outsize character. A new play, Radiance, written by the actor and director Alan Alda, focuses on her relationships with Pierre and Langevin as well as her science. A new graphic novel, Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss, examines Curie’s life in the context of radioactivity’s impact on history. It has a glow-in-the-dark cover.
It’s taken a century, but we can finally appreciate her as a multifaceted woman of uncommon intensity, intelligence and will—a woman of courage, conviction and yes, contradictions. After a century we see her not as a caricature, but as one of the 20th century’s most important scientists, who was, at the same time, unmistakably, reassuringly human.