Marie+Curie

Marie Curie was born on November 7, 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. She was given the name Maria Skoldowska at birth//.// At the age of ten, Maria had already lost her mother and one of her sister's. She was born into a family without an abundance of wealth but she didn't let this stop her from studies. “I easily learned mathematics and physics, as far as these sciences were taken in consideration in the school." Maria stated, "I found in this ready help from my father, who loved science...."([|http://www.aip.org/history/curie/polgirl1.htm] ) At the age of fifteen she graduated from a general public school and received a gold medal at her graduation in 1883. She held the highest position in her class. Shortly after graduation, Maria was found to be very depressed due to the loss of her mother and sister and decided to take a year off from her studies.

After Maria's year of rest came to an end, she joined her family in Warsaw. Unlike her brother, she couldn't attend the University of Warsaw. Girls were not allowed to be admitted. Along with her sister Bronya, Maria attended a "floating university." A floating university was illegal and met at various locations at night. This type of education did not meet Maria's standards. In 1889, Maria left her home of Warsaw and traveled to Paris. She registered at Sorbonne University under the name Marie, which was the French form of Maria. Marie completed her master's degree in physics and math. Marie soon realized she needed a lab to work in. She was introduced to Pierre Curie, who had his own lab. Pierre and Marie fell in love and he made her decide to stay in Paris, instead of returning home to Poland. They got married on July 26, 1985. Marie gave birth to a daughter named Irene in 1897, but still continued to work.

Marie Curie was interested in the studies of Wilhelm Roentgen, who discovered that rays could travel through flesh or wood, and Henri Becquerel who discovered that minerals that contain uranium give off rays. Using an electrometer (a device that detects extremely low electrical currents, created by Pierre himself), she studied different chemical compounds that had uranium in it. She found out that if the material was dry/wet or a solid/liquid it didn't make a difference in the uranium rays. She concluded that that the only difference in the strength in uranium rays came from the amount of uranium atoms. Her next step was finding more radioactive elements. They used the complex mineral pitchblende, which consisted of 30 different elements. In order to discover the new elements, they would have to isolate minuscule amounts of substances in the pitchblende. They then separated them into different compounds, and tested for the compounds for radiation. They noticed that strong rays were coming from the elements bismuth and barium. The more barium or bismuth they would extract, the higher the frequency of the rays would become. They realized since the level of rays was so much greater, that it could not be the same element. Marie stated, "We thus believe that the substance that we have extracted from pitchblende contains a metal never known before, akin to bismuth in its analytic properties. If the existence of this new metal is confirmed, we suggest that it should be called polonium after the name of the country of origin of one of us. "(http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/themes/physics/curie/. )They soon found the two new elements called polonium and radium. She came up with the word "radioactivity" to describe these two how these substance acted. In 1903, Marie became the first woman to receive a doctorate in France based on these discoveries.

Marie and Pierre received the Nobel Peace Prize of 1903. Shortly after Pierre was run over by a horse drawn carriage. After the tragedy, Marie became the first woman professor at Sorbonne. But she was soon caught in a scandal. Paul Langevin was in love with Marie, who was unhappily married with a woman who did not appreciate science. Some newspapers accused her of breaking Paul's marriage, and she was forced into hiding. In 1911, Marie was summoned to accept her second noble prize. Marie was able to return to work in 1912.

Marie's discoveries were very beneficial for x-rays and medicine. In World War One, she worked on the front lines, operating x-ray machines in vehicles. She trained radiologist nurses for the army, at what is now the Curie Institute. Under the International Red Cross, she became the head of the radiological service. She died on July 4, 1934. She is still remembered today for her great contributions to chemistry.



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