Science Guys Episode-2: Marie Curie

Marie Curie



Gather round eager minds, today we discuss one of the most influential women in modern science, her name inspires confidence in women as she left behind a legacy of scientific truths and empowerment during times when women were barely allowed to participate in science. We are of course talking about Madam Marie Curie. The proud Polish woman immortalized forever in the scientific literature.

Born in Warshow on the 7th of November 1867, of the well-known teachers Bronislawa Boguska and Wladyslaw Sklodowska, it is not a secret that her family was knowledgeable one which may be perhaps where her curiosity stemmed from. As her family lost property through Polish national uprisings, condemning her siblings to a rough start on life. As conditions worsened with her father losing his job and her mother passing away, she found herself slipping down the spiral of depression and it did not help that any attempts made by her to get into educational institutions for higher studies were met with ridicule, for in that era it was considered comedy for a woman to want to pursue higher studies.

Though she found her prayers answered as she started working with the “Floating University”, one of the few universities that admitted women. She became a governess for her father’s relatives to help her sister with her education, soon falling for their son, but it was love short-lived for his parents rejected her due to her financial status and thus found herself collecting money, with the help of her father, so that she may accept the offer made to her by her sister to join her and her husband in Paris.
While she could continue her education at the University of Paris, she still was penniless and therefore would find herself starving on days end. Barely making ends meet by being a student by day and tutor by eve, she found herself with her degree in 1893. Thus began her career as a scientist. During that time she met Pierre Curie, the two were brought closer by their love for natural sciences, and Pierre offered Marie a place to work in his laboratory. The two later got married and Marie aimed towards Krakow University to continue her research, but yet again her appeal met deaf ears as the sexist times prevailed and she was denied entry due to her gender. She found herself back in Paris, at the request of her husband to continue her Ph.D. there.

After the discovery of X-Rays and of the radioactivity of Uranium salts, Marie studied uranium rays in order to convert her discoveries into a thesis. 15 years later, after using an electrometer her husband invented, she discovered that air around the uranium sample conducted electricity. At this time we must remember that before this, people thought atoms were indivisible, and yet she hypothesized that radiation comes from atomic interactions and not molecular ones.

Unaware of the decaying caused by radiation and without funding from the School, the Curies found themselves working in their lab with only small subsidies from small companies. She later discovered the radioactivity of the element Thorium. She promptly published her results and presented them to the Academy of Sciences, later she found that Chalcolite and Pitchblende emitted radioactive rays stronger than that of uranium which lead to the discovery of Polonium, named after Poland. Up to 1902, the Curies had published 32 papers, one of which included the fundamentals of radiotherapy for cancer. In 1900 she became the first female member of École Normale Supérieure.

On December 1903, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Curies and Henri Becquerel the Nobel Prize in physics, even at that time the committee was hesitant to add the name of Marie but was convinced later. The Curies, however, were too busy with their research to accept the award.

After the tragic death of her husband in 1906, Marie was offered a position as a professor at the University of Paris, an offer she accepted. She headed the Radium Institute. During the First World War, she developed radiotherapy units that could be dispatched to help wounded soldiers on spot. In 1915 she used radon (a gas unknown at the time) to sterilize infected tissue. While her efforts were unrecognized by the French, Curie still wished to donate the gold in her Nobel Prize to the war effort.
In 1921, U.S. President Warren G. Harding received her at the White House to present her with the 1 gram of radium collected in the United States. She passed away on July 4th, 1934 due to contracting aplastic anemia due to prolonged exposure to radiation.

By
Merrik



#science #radioactivity #Curie #Atom #PolishScientisits #ScienceGuys #NobelPrize #Radiation #Radium #Physics #Chemistry #Uranium #CurieFamily

Comments

Most Popular

Liebster Award: Recognition as a Blogger

Science Guys Episode-1: Neil Degrasse Tyson