Maria Skłodowska-Curie was
born in Warsaw, Poland on November 7, 1867.
She was one of the greatest scientists of the 20th
century.
 | |||
Maria Skłodowska-Curie |
Maria Skłodowska-Curie let
her passion direct her way and she broke through societal norms becoming the
FIRST....
- Woman in Europe to receive her doctorate in science
- Woman to win a Noble Prize for Physics (in 1903 for the discovery of radio activity)
- Person to use the term "radioactivity"
- Person to receive two Nobel Prizes (the second one was in Chemistry for her discovery and isolation of pure radium in 1911)
- Woman professor and head of Laboratory in Sorbonne University in Paris
- Mother with a Nobel Prize to raise a daughter who also won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935
- Women to be laid to rest under the dome of Pantheon in Paris
 |
| Maria Skłodowska-Curie |
She managed to do all this keeping in
mind:
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of it? We must have perseverance and
above all confidence in ourselves. We
must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thinks must be
attained” – Maria Curie Skłodowska
Maria Skłodowska-Curie grew
up in Poland with her mother and father.
Her Father was a teacher of mathematics and physics; however he got
fired by his Russian supervisor for pro-Polish sentiments. Maria witnessed her family get degraded due
to their strong held national pride and Catholic beliefs. In 1891, Maria moved to France to
pursue her studies. There she met Pierre
Curie with whom she shared the love for physics and chemistry. Their passion for physics and chemistry grew
into a love for one another; they saw that together they would be able to be partners
and scientific collaborators.
 |
| Maria Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie |
Maria and Pierre were both teachers;
however, their passion was research. The
school would not sponsor Maria’s research, so she turned a shed that was
formally a medical school dissecting room with no ventilation or waterproof ability,
into her laboratory. Maria did not let
anything stop her. Her intrinsic motivation
propelled far beyond and adversity she was faced with.
She said, “One of our pleasured was
to enter our workshop at night; then, all around us, we would see the luminous
silhouettes of the beakers and capsules that contained our products.” - Maria Skłodowska-Curie This was
her love; she saw the great beauty within her work.
Maria studied two uranium minerals,
pitchblende and torbernite. She saw that
pitchblende was four times as active as uranium and concluded there must be
another substance that was more active then uranium present. She dedicated most of her time for this study, which was not done before. This was possible
due to her ability of divergent thinking.
She would not force inspiration; she would think of many possibilities and
try to see which one works.
“Her research idea was her own; no
one helped her formulate in, and although she took it to her husband for his
opinion she clearly established her ownership of it.”- Reid
 |
| Maria Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie |
During this time many physicists were
in a race to publish their finding, as to be the first to discover something. Maria had this sense of extrinsic motivation to
be the first to publish about their findings.
In July1898, Maria and her husband published paper announcing the existence of
a new element; polonium. She named it in
honor of her native country Poland. In
December of that same year she published a paper about the existence of radium. She was thrilled about finally discovering the
hidden element. She knew that there was
still work to be done. She said, “One never notices what has been done; one can
only see what remain to be done." – Maria Skłodowska-Curie
They did not however patent their
discovery, and therefore, did not financially benefit from their discovery. She
did win a Nobel Prize for it in 1903, and she used the prize money on furthering
her research and feeding her passion for it. In 1910 Maria succeeded in isolation radium for
which she won another Nobel Prize in 1911.
Throughout her life she had two
daughters and she devoted herself to her family.
The Graduate Student Cook Book has
this quote about her:
“Marie Curie: Overachiever who
cooked, cleaned, discovered radium, and raised a Nobel Prize-winning daughter,
but who never forgot how to make a good pierogi” – The Graduate Student
Cookbook
This quote really encompassed her
love for research, family, and Poland. She lived her life as a true women,
mother, wife, and scientist. She also enjoyed conversations with other scientists, one of which was Albert Einstein.
 |
| Maria Skłodowska-Curie and Albert Einstein |
 |
| Maria Skłodowska-Curie and Albert Einstein |
Maria was very well known and very humble
person, Albert Einstein once said:
“Marie Curie is, of all celebrated
beings, the one whom fame has not corrupted” -Albert Einstein
 |
| Maria Skłodowska-Curie |
Maria's creativity and ability of divergent thinking allowed her to discover things that other scientist were not able to. She had a strength that caused her to never give up and to passionately work on her discoveries. She has inspired me greatly, and I know she will continue to inspire many women scientists.
“Nothing in life is
to be feared. It is only to be
understood.”
–Maria Skłodowska-Curie
Other useful links:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1911/marie-curie-bio.html
http://www.warsawtour.pl/en/warsaw-for-everyone/in-the-footsteps-of-maria-sk-odowska-curie-160224.html
http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/atomic-and-nuclear-structure/curie.aspx
