Women in Science, Medicine and Mathematics

Marie Curie

Maria Salomea Skłodowska, was born in Warsaw, Poland, on November 7, 1867. She was the daughter of a secondary school teacher. Marie received a general education from local schools and some scientific training from her father. Marie's father lost his fortune after a bad investment went south, so Marie took on a teaching job, also joining a revolutionary student organization; where she read to working women, in Polish. At the age of 18, Marie took on a governess position and from her earnings financed her sister's, Bronisława's medical education, in Paris; with the promise that Bronisława would do the same for her. Marie decided to leave Warsaw, in 1891 because it was part of Russian-occupied Poland. She went to Paris and changed her name to Marie. In Paris, she began following the lectures of Paul Appel, Gabriel Lippmann and Edmond Bouty, at the Sorbonne; while there she also met well-known physicists like: Jean Perrin, Charles Maurain and Aime Cotton. Her first major endeavor at the Sorbonne, was the license of physical sciences, in 1893; at the time she practically lived on bread, butter & tea. Marie began to work in Lippmann's laboratory and in 1894, she placed 2nd in the license of mathematical sciences. In the spring of that year she met Pierre Curie. 

Marie and Pierre Curie married on July 25, 1895, their union marked the beginning of a partnership that would soon have world significance. Their most famous discoveries were that of polonium (named for Marie's homeland of Poland), in the summer of 1898 and of radium, a few months after that. After Henry Becquerel's discovery of what would later be called radioactivity, in 1896, Marie was looking for a subject for a thesis, she wanted to find out if the properties of uranium could be found in other matter. Marie found that this was true for thorium at the same time G.C Schmidt did. 

Marie turned her attention to minerals and found her interest in pitchblende, a mineral of higher activity, superior to pure uranium, which could only be explained by the small quantities of ores in an unknown substances. Her husband than joined in her research, which lead to their discovery of the aforementioned elements of polonium and radium. While Pierre focused more on the physical study of the new forms of radiation, Marie struggled to get pure radium in a metallic state, she was aided by Andre-Louis Debierne, one of Pierre's pupils. Upon the results of this research, in June 1903, Marie received her doctorate of science; Marie & Pierre received the Nobel Prize for Physics, along with Becquerel, for their discovery of radioactivity the same year. 

The birth of her two daughters, Irene and Eve, in 1897 and 1904, didn't interrupt her extensive research. In 1900, Marie was appointed as a physics lecturer at the École Normale Supérieure. In December 1904, she was appointed chief assitant in the labratory directed by her husband, Pierre. The sudden death of Pierre on April 19, 1906, was a bitter blow to Marie, however it was also a defining moment in her career, as she was able to dedicate herself solely to the scientific research, that her and her husband had started. On May 16 of that year, she was appointed to take over her husband's teaching position at the Sorbonne and became the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne. In 1911, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for her discovery of the isolation of pure radium. 

During WW1 Marie with help from her daughter, Irene, dedicated herself to the development of x-radiography (better known as x-ray). In 1918, the Radium Institute which Irene had joined, began operations in earnest; it was later to become the universal centre for nuclear chemistry and physics. In 1922, Marie was at the height of her fame and devoted her time to the study of the chemistry of radioactive substances and their potential medical benefits. 

One of Marie's greatest achievements was that she understood that radioactive sources could not only be used for curing illnesses but to also have a abundant supply for nuclear physics research. Her resulting stockpile was an unrivalled instrument until after 1930 and the introduction of particle accelerators. The stock was 1.5 grams and stored at the Radium Institute, it contributed greatly to the successful experiments carried out around 1930, particularly those carried out by Marie's daughter. Irene and her husband, Frederic Joliot, who she married in 1926. These experiments also paved the way for the discovery of the neutron by Sir James Chadwick and most importantly for Irene and Frederic's discovery of artificial radioactivity, in 1934. 

Marie died a few months after the discovery, on July 4, 1934, as a result of leukemia from her immense exposure to radiation. Her contribution to the fields of chemistry and physics is beyond substantial, not just because of her research and consequential Nobel prizes but the the influence she had on future generations of nuclear physicists and chemists. Her ashes were enshrined at the Pantheon in Paris, in 1995, she was the first woman to receive the honor. 

Some of Marie Curie's other achievements

1908- became the head professor of physics at the Sorbonne, in Paris. 

1910- her research on radioactivity was published

1914- Marie sees the completion of Institut du Radium (Radium Institute), at the University of Paris. 

1920's- Marie is appointed to the International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation by the council of the League of Nations. 

She also made speeches in Belgium, Brazil, Spain & Czechslovakia. Marie also had the satisfaction of seeing the unveiling of the Curie Foundation, in Paris and the opening of the Radium Institute, in Warsaw, Poland, where her sister, Bronislawa became a director.  

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marie-Curie