Who Is Marie Curie? A Closer Look at the "Female Genius"

Getting to Know Marie Curie Through Her Brilliant Mind and Fascinating Life Story

Marie Curie was born on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. During Curie's youth, Warsaw was governed by Russian Tsar Alexander II, and because women could not receive university education there, they studied abroad. Marie Curie saved money with her sister Bronya to study abroad, and with her sister's support, Curie went to Paris where she graduated first in her class in physics and subsequently obtained her diploma in mathematics. After her successful educational years in Paris, Marie Curie wanted to return to Warsaw and teach, and she was climbing the stairs of success with quick and confident steps… Henri Becquerel, who used uranium salt in his work related to X-rays, wrapped the object in his hand in his study so that light could not pass through it and placed uranium salt on top, leaving it in the sun for light stimulation. After some time passed, the object that had not received light darkened, and he noticed that the uranium salt emitted a ray that could penetrate paper. According to Becquerel, this was "an invisible ray". Marie Curie: "Like Nobel, I Think: Humanity Will Draw More Good Than Harm From New Discoveries."

"I Am Among Those Who Believe That Science Has a High Beauty."

In 1897, she examined the "invisible ray" discovered by Henri Becquerel from different angles. And she investigated in which other elements the ray found in uranium would be present or absent. At the Laboratory of the Industrial Physical Chemistry School, where her husband Pierre Curie served as director, they dissolved uranium ore and found a small amount of bismuth. As a result of their work, they discovered the polonium element resulting from the radioactive decay of uranium. The name of the polonium element comes from Marie Curie's country, Poland, and she herself gave this name to the element she discovered. After polonium element emerged, the couple continued their work and this time discovered the radium element. In 1898, with the help of the spectroscopy method of French chemist Eugene Anatole Demarçay, they discovered the naturally radioactive element radium. In 1903, Madam Curie earned her doctorate and became the "first woman" to receive a doctorate degree in the advanced science field in France. And also in 1903, she received the Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel. Thus she became the "first woman" scientist to inscribe her name in history in golden letters.

Because she found firsts in the field where she conducted her work, the unit of radioactivity is still called "Curie".

In 1904, Marie Curie became a mother to her second daughter and along with her husband, they began to fall ill due to the harmful effects of radiation rays to which they were exposed. Two years later, her husband Pierre Curie died after being struck by a horse-drawn carriage. This process was certainly very difficult for Madam Curie; on one hand she dedicated herself to science, on the other hand she was coping with depression. At the same time, the personal attacks she faced due to the Nobel Prize she received for her discoveries triggered her depression. After her husband's death, she continued to perform his duties at the Sorbonne. Thus in 1908 she became the "first woman" professor to hold a position there. When World War I broke out, she and her daughter Irène began teaching X-ray technology to girls using portable radiography. The scientist Madam Curie, who devoted her life to science and whose deep traces of discoveries continue to this day, dedicated herself for science and humanity, and due to the radiation exposure she suffered, she died of cancer in 1934.

Irène Joliot-Curie Also Followed in Her Mother's Footsteps

Madam Curie's daughter Irène Joliot-Curie followed in her mother's and father's path and, like them, devoted her life to radioactivity. After discovering artificial radioactivity with her husband Frédéric Joliot-Curie, she gained an important place in the scientific world. This fame naturally came to her through her ability to produce artificial radioactive elements, just like naturally occurring radioactive elements. Her success in producing magnesium, aluminum and silicon led her to be viewed as an "Alchemist". The most valid reason for this was that she transformed elements into one another, which of course was purely a scientific transformation. Thanks to the work she accomplished, the path to nuclear fission was opened and she became a guide for generations that came after her. In 1935, she was deemed worthy of the Nobel Prize and inscribed her name in history in golden letters. Irène Joliot-Curie, like her mother, devoted her life to science, and in 1946 a polonium explosion in the laboratory gave her leukemia. Marie Curie's notebooks used during her work will carry radioactive material until the year 3511, so today they can be examined in lead-lined compartments and with radioactive protection materials. Prepared by: Çağla Köksal Sources https://www.fikriyat.com/galeri/tarih/radyoaktif-izleri-silinemeyen-bilim-insani/3 https://www.timeturk.com/marie-curie/biyografi-804177 http://enerjicocuk.org/tr/icerik/marie-curie/58 http://www.lisan.eu/tr/blog/76/polonyali-bilim-insani-mariecurie-hayati-ve-buluslari https://evrimagaci.org/irne-joliotcurie-609