Let’s start with a well-known scientist – Marie Curie – and see if we can stumble upon some details of her work that fall outside the better-known information we share. First, let’s cover the well known in brief, then on to some things where you can hopefully learn something new.:
- Marie Curie earned 2 of the 5 Nobel Prizes awarded to various Curie family members – in 1903 for Physics and 1911 for Chemistry.
- She is the first person and only woman to have ever won 2 Nobel Prizes.
- She is responsible for the term radioactivity, a word she made up.
- She discovered polonium and radium.
So what else happened in Mme. Curie’s life that makes her such an essential part of the science world? Well, she and husband Pierre published a paper in the early 1900s about radium destroying tumor-producing cells more rapidly than non-cancerous cells. A treatment that is now called curietherapy. While there is not a direct line from Mme. Curie’s practices to modern scientific safety protocols, she regulated her own laboratory’s safety protocols, including such things as only allowing trained, certified, experienced personnel to handle radium, and suggesting researchers have regular blood tests and take breaks to get fresh air.
During World War I, Curie saw the need for quicker surgery on soldiers and was involved in setting up field radiological centers near the front lines. Long after her death, Marie Curie is still seen as the most inspirational woman scientist. But like many (most? all?) women in science, Marie faced sexism during her career, such as when she failed to earn membership to the French Academy of Sciences.
Lasting Impact
After Pierre Curie’s death in 1906, Marie convinced the French government and the private Pasteur Foundation to fund the Radium Institute, where she directed the Curie Laboratory for physics and chemistry research (the institute’s other leg, the Pasteur Laboratory for biological research, was directed by a medical doctor). For Madame Curie’s 144th birthday, there was a Google doodle in honor of her achievements. There have been numerous movies and TV series about Curie’s life, such as the TV mini-series Marie Curie and the biographical film Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge. She is so well-known and influential, that she has even appeared on banknotes and postage stamps around the world.