Marie Curie Biography

She was born in Poland on November 7, 1867. She was undoubtedly the most well-known woman in the world when she died on July 4, 1934. Her co-discovery of the radioactive elements radium and polonium with her husband Pierre Curie is one of the most well-known stories in contemporary science, for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. Marie Curie managed to raise her two tiny girls (Irène, who was given a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935, and Eve, who became an outstanding author) while continuing an exciting career in experimental radioactivity measurements despite Pierre Curie's untimely death. In this article let’s find out about Marie Curie and Madame Curie Biography.  

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Who is Marie Curie? 

Marie Curie was a Polish chemist and physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics. She was the first female professor at the University of Paris, and her work in the field of radioactivity was groundbreaking. Marie Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1867, the youngest of five children. She grew up in a poor, but well-educated home. Marie excelled in her academics and received numerous awards. She became committed to the goal of Polish independence from Russia, which was dominating Poland with an iron fist at the time, and made life tough for intellectuals in particular, at a young age. She desired to be able to teach other Polish women, most of whom were destined for illiteracy.

Marie Curie Education

Marie's interest in chemistry and biology was unusual for a woman at the time. Because higher education opportunities in Poland were restricted, Marie moved to Paris, where she was able to study at the Sorbonne after working as a governess. Marie pushed herself into her studies, lived an ascetic life dedicated to learning, as she struggled to acquire French. She went on to earn a physics degree and was the best student in her class. She was subsequently given funding from industries to study how the composition of steel affected its magnetic characteristics. The goal was to figure out how to make magnets that were more powerful. Her love for knowledge led her to continue her study, and at the age of 27, she earned a master's degree in chemistry.

Paris and Pierre

Marie had been homesick for a long time. She wanted to return to Poland and live there again. She vacationed in Poland, hoping to find work after working for a year in Paris on steel magnets, but there were no openings. She had been unable to pursue a degree in her hometown a few years prior due to her gender. She was now unable to find employment at a university for the same reason.

Marie made the decision to return to Paris and pursue a Ph.D. in physics. In 1895, she married Pierre Curie in Paris, at the age of 28. Before she returned to Poland, Pierre proposed to her. He had recently completed a Ph.D. in physics and had recently become a professor at the age of 36. After years of debate, he finally finished his Ph.D. thesis, thanks to Marie's encouragement. Pierre was a well-known industrial scientist and inventor who, with his brother Jacques, had discovered piezoelectricity at the age of 21. Pierre was also a specialist in magnetism, having discovered the Curie Point effect, in which a change in temperature has a significant impact on the properties of a magnet.

Marie Curie’s Scientific Discoveries

Curie chose to write her thesis on radiation, which Henri Becquerel had recently discovered in uranium. She discovered that an ore containing uranium was significantly more radioactive than its uranium content could explain. This led to the discovery of a new element 400 times more radioactive than uranium by her and her husband, Pierre. It was designated polonium after Curie's native country when it was added to the Periodic Table in 1898. Then Curie discovered radium, an even more radioactive material, and made a major discovery by observing it: Radiation was not dependent on the molecular organisation of atoms; something was going on inside the atom itself. The atom was not inert, indivisible, or even solid, as physicists assumed at the time. Curie supported the use of X-rays during World War I, developing radiological vehicles (later known as "petites Curies") to allow battlefield doctors to X-ray wounded soldiers and operate more effectively.

Fund Raising

Following World War I, Marie began raising funds for a hospital. The hospital held a fundraiser to support radiation research. She was encouraged to go across the United States to promote and expedite her radiation research project. In 1921, she set sail for the United States. She gathered sufficient funds and equipment to build a new laboratory. She then began speaking at meetings in order to earn additional funds and eventually became a celebrity. She also served on the League of Nations' council, which promoted world peace.

Tragedy and Progress

Marie and Pierre's lives were made simpler by the money they received from their Nobel Prizes. They could now afford a laboratory assistant for the first time. Pierre was appointed to Sorbonne's Chair of Physics. The university also agreed to furnish the pair with a new, well-equipped laboratory. Marie and Pierre had a second daughter, Eve, in 1904. Pierre was killed in 1906 when he was struck by a horse-drawn carriage while walking down the street. Despite her grief, Marie accepted the offer from the Sorbonne to take Pierre's place as Chair of Physics. She had already made history as the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and now she was the first female professor at the University of Paris.

Death

Curie's labs proved inadequate as her radioactive studies progressed. According to Goldsmith, the Austrian government jumped at the opportunity to hire Curie and offered to build her a cutting-edge laboratory. Curie arranged a radioactive research lab with the Pasteur Institute. The Radium Institute was nearly finished by July 1914. Curie put her research on hold and organised a fleet of mobile X-ray equipment for surgeons on the front lines when World War I broke out in 1914. She worked tirelessly after the war to raise funds for her Radium Institute. However, by 1920, she was suffering from health issues, most likely as a result of her exposure to radioactive materials. Curie died of aplastic anaemia, a disorder in which the bone marrow fails to create new blood cells, on July 4, 1934. Curie was buried in Sceaux, a commune in southern Paris, near to her husband. However, in 1995, their bones were moved and placed with France's finest citizens in the Pantheon in Paris. In 1944, the Curies were again honoured when the 96th element on the periodic table was found and dubbed "curium."

Facts About Marie Curie

• Marie was a student at Flying University, a school that (illegally) admitted female students, and she had to move multiple times to "hide" from authorities.

• Marie's older sister died when she was ten years old, and her mother died two years later. She also began attending a boarding school and a girls' gymnasium, where she won a gold medal.

• Marie was fascinated by physics as a child. She graduated at the top of her high school class at the age of fifteen. Marie became a teacher in order to support herself while attending school in Paris, France.

• Curie retained her Polish identity even after becoming a French citizen. In 1893, she was the first in her class to graduate. She received her master's degree in mathematics a year later.

• She was the first woman to obtain a Doctoral degree in Paris.

• Her shed was where she did a lot of her lab work. It was described by chemist Wilhelm Ostwald as "a hybrid between a stable and a potato shed."

• A Nobel Prize was accepted by five members of Marie's family.

• Because Marie's notebooks are still radioactive, they are currently kept in lead-lined crates.

• During World War I, Marie designed portable x-ray equipment to aid soldiers. "Petite Curies" was the name given to the machines (little Curies).

• Marie Curie was a scientist and chemist who is best known for her work on radioactivity, but she was also the discoverer of polonium and radium.

• She was denied education earlier, and the world never would have known who is Marie Curie, if she was not illegally admitted in the initial days. Now, she is the first person to earn two Nobel Prizes, one in physics, which she shared with her husband and Henri Becquerel, and the other in chemistry. She is still one of only four people in the world to have done so.

• Marie Curie death reason was leukaemia by overexposure to radiation & on July 4, 1934, she died. This exposure to radiation was the result of her experiments, as well as her work with X-ray machines.

Conclusion

Marie Curie is undoubtedly the most well-known female scientist. When she proposed that radiation was an atomic rather than a chemical feature, she achieved one of the most important theoretical breakthroughs of the twentieth century, paving the way for a better understanding of the structure of matter. She not only coined the term "radioactivity," but her thorough investigation also resulted in the discovery of two new elements, polonium and radium. She was awarded two Nobel Prizes for her achievements, one in physics and the other in chemistry. In this informative, engaging, and short Marie Curie biography, she is addressed not only as a devoted scientist but also as a complex woman with a chaotic personal life.