Historical Figure
Maria Sklodowska-Curie
1867–1934
Polish-French physicist and chemist (1867–1934)
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Biography
Maria Salomea Skłodowska Curie, better known as Marie Curie, was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist. She shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband Pierre Curie "for their joint researches on the radioactivity phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel". She won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "[for] the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element".
In Their Own Words (5)
I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery also has its beauty. Neither do I believe that the spirit of adventure runs any risk of disappearing in our world. If I see anything vital around me, it is precisely that spirit of adventure, which seems indestructible and is akin to curiosity.
As quoted in Madame Curie : A Biography (1937) by Eve Curie Labouisse, as translated by Vincent Sheean, p. 341 , 1937
There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead of establishing the truth.
As quoted in The Commodity Trader's Almanac 2007 (2006) by Scott W. Barrie and Jeffrey A. Hirsch, p. 44 , 2006
You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.
Pierre Curie (1923), as translated by Charlotte Kellogg and Vernon Lyman Kellogg, p. 168 , 1923
I have no dress except the one I wear every day. If you are going to be kind enough to give me one, please let it be practical and dark so that I can put it on afterwards to go to the laboratory.
Instructions regarding a proposed gift of a wedding dress for her marriage to Pierre in July 1895, as quoted in ''Madame Curie : A Biography (1937) by Eve Curie Labouisse, as translated by Vincent Sheean, p. 137 , 1937
All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.
Pierre Curie (1923), as translated by Charlotte Kellogg and Vernon Lyman Kellogg, p. 162 , 1923
Timeline
The story of Maria Sklodowska-Curie, told in moments.
Born Maria Sklodowska in Warsaw, then part of the Russian Empire. Her father was a physics teacher whose lab equipment she played with as a child. Women couldn't attend university in Poland.
Moved to Paris and enrolled at the Sorbonne. Lived in a cold garret, surviving on bread and chocolate. Graduated first in her physics degree class in 1893.
Announced the discovery of radium and polonium. She coined the term "radioactivity." Polonium was named after Poland, her occupied homeland. The work was done in a converted shed with a leaking roof.
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics alongside her husband Pierre and Henri Becquerel. First woman to win a Nobel. The committee almost left her off. Pierre insisted she be included.
Won her second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, for isolating pure radium. Still the only person to win Nobels in two different sciences. The French press attacked her that same week over a rumored affair.
Died of aplastic anemia near Sallanches, France. The disease was caused by decades of radiation exposure. Her personal notebooks are still radioactive. They're kept in lead-lined boxes at the Bibliotheque nationale.
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