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Two Nobel Prizes, three new elements and thousands of lives saved – we talk about the most famous scientist and inventor Maria Sklodowska-Curie
Women in the XNUMXth century had a hard time: the ban on higher education and fierce competition with men did not allow even the most talented girls to break through. However, this did not stop Marie Sklodowska-Curie, and she became the first woman in the world to receive the Nobel Prize, the first person in the world to become a Nobel laureate twice and the first teacher at the Sorbonne.
How Skłodowska-Curie Became an Inventor
Maria was born into an intelligent family of teachers in Warsaw in 1868. After the death of her mother in 1878, the future Nobel laureate was forced to combine her work as a governess with her studies at the Flying University, a network of underground educational institutions for women.
Despite her talents and love for science, Maria could not get an education in Warsaw, because it was not available to women. The future scientist did not give up: she agreed with her sister Armor to take turns studying and working so that both would have the opportunity to get an education without burdening the family with additional expenses. It was then that Skłodowska had her first thoughts about getting a university degree abroad.
In 1891, Marie entered the Sorbonne and moved to Paris. The girl graduated from the university with honors, despite all the hardships of the life of an immigrant student. She was forced to give private lessons during the hours free from lectures, and study at night. Skłodowska lived in a regime of the most severe economy: she did not heat her apartment even in winter and went hungry. However, the scientist was truly happy and later recalled: “A new world seemed to open before me, the world of science, which I was finally allowed to know in all its freedom.” At the same time, Maria changes her name to the French manner and becomes Marie.
In 1894, Pierre Curie noticed the student. Impressed by her love of science, he granted Marie access to his laboratory where she could continue her research activities. From that moment began the story of the most famous couple in the world of science: Pierre and Marie got married a year later without a church service. At the ceremony itself, Marie was dressed in her blue work uniform, in which she would work for all subsequent years in the laboratory with her husband.
Less than 10 years later, in 1903, Marie became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for her contributions to the study of radioactivity. Interestingly, the couple were unable to make a mandatory report in the same year, thereby postponing the award until 1905. The family of scientists invested money from the Nobel Prize in their laboratory: they hired their first assistant and bought equipment to continue studying radiation.
Pierre Curie tragically died in 1906. For Marie, this was a blow, but she could not leave her scientific work. In the same year, she replaces her husband at the Sorbonne and becomes the first teacher.
Despite the phenomenal scientific achievements of Sklodowska-Curie, in 1911 it was her personal life that became the subject of general discussion – because of rumors about an affair with a former student of her husband. It seemed as if the details of her personal life that had surfaced overshadowed the scientific achievements of the scientist. Outraged by the inflated scandal, Einstein expressed words of support in a letter to Sklodowska-Curie: “If the rabble still occupies their minds with your life, then just don’t read this nonsense and leave it to those reptiles for whom it was fabricated.”
This period was difficult for a woman, but this did not prevent her from receiving a second Nobel Prize in 1911 (this time in chemistry) for the discovery of radium and polonium. In her acceptance speech, Skłodowska-Curie stressed that such a breakthrough in the study of radioactive elements would not have been possible without her husband.
In the postwar years, Sklodowska-Curie visited America for the first time: she lectured at almost all major universities in the country from Yale to Columbia. However, due to the constant work with radioactive substances, the health of the scientist was rapidly deteriorating. She died in 1934, not long before she received the Nobel Prize for her daughter Irene.
Inventions
1. Defined radiation
During her joint work in the laboratory with Pierre Curie, Marie worked extensively with uranium. She noticed that uranium in any physical form produced rays that were not related to the ability of the substance to fluoresce, as was then believed. Curie was the first to suggest that such radiation is characteristic of substances with a certain number of atoms. Together with her husband, Curie described the rays that produced these substances and gave them the name “radiation”.
2. Discovered polonium and radium
To study the properties of uranium, Sklodowska-Curie used pitchblende, or uranium pitch, a mineral containing uranium and its decay products (radium, actinium, polonium, and others). The scientist noticed that uranium resin affects the conductivity of air more than pure uranium. Thanks to this discovery, she suggested that pitchblende contains impurities of other radioactive elements – and she turned out to be right. Later, the scientist was able to isolate polonium from uranium ore, and named the new element in honor of her homeland. A few years later, Marie isolated radium, which turned out to be even more radioactive than uranium.
3. Proved that atoms are made up of smaller particles
In the process of research, Sklodowska-Curie discovered that the radiation emitted by a substance directly depended on the number of atoms in the sample. Observing the radioactive decay of uranium, the researcher realized that the radiated energy is a consequence of changes in the atomic structure of the element, which means that, contrary to the established theory, the atom consists of smaller particles. Moreover, she was able to prove that changes in the atomic structure of a substance can lead to the appearance of completely new substances, such as polonium and radium.
4. Laid the foundations of medical physics
Even during the First World War, Sklodowska-Curie introduced mobile X-rays, or “little curies”, as they were popularly called, into military medicine. Thanks to mobile X-rays, which Marie taught the nurses at the front to use, thousands of human lives were saved.
Later, the scientist became the first to propose the use of radiation to treat cancer. Between 1919 and 1934, she actively promoted the idea of ”Radium Institutes” – medical institutions in which small teams of young scientists studied the medical properties of radioactive substances. Sklodowska-Curie spent a lot of time in laboratories with her staff, discussing the scientific agenda with them and talking about achievements in the field of medical physics. It is also noteworthy that Marie hired Polish emigrants and women who found it especially difficult to get a job in France.
The Lessons of Marie Skłodowska-Curie’s Success
1. Life can be very hard, but you don’t need to be afraid of it.
Sklodowska-Curie believed that we are only afraid of what we do not know. So, in order not to be afraid of life, you need to study it and take risks. Thanks to talent and perseverance, you can survive the darkest times, and Marie proved this by her example.
2. Life is an adventure to be enjoyed
Our interest, desire to experiment and curiosity are the drivers of life, the scientist believed. Years of painstaking work in the laboratory taught Sklodowska-Curie that only an interest in knowledge helps not to give up even in difficult situations.
3. Progress comes with time
Nothing comes easy, any achievement must be suffered, thought Madame Curie. Her path in science has never been easy, but competition from men, prejudice on the part of teachers and lack of money did not become an obstacle for her in achieving her goal. She knew that in order to achieve much, you need to move slowly but surely.
4. in the dream is important
The researcher knew for sure that humanity needs dreamers who do not care about material gain and who are ready to give everything for the realization of their ideas. She believed that money does not always bring happiness, and sometimes you need to follow a dream, not a profit.
5. Don’t strive for perfectionism
Sklodowska-Curie believed that there is nothing ideal, and therefore it is not worth striving for this. The higher the expectations, the more difficult it is to meet them and the less you want to take on the job. Setting realistic goals and celebrating even the smallest progress is the way to get satisfaction from your work.
6. Before you change the world, you should start with yourself
The inventor believed that it was possible to influence the world around only after working on herself. Therefore, it is so important to help people in need and not be afraid to lend a helping hand to those who are suffering. Without nobility and a certain degree of altruism, it is impossible to make this life better.