This is Marie Curie.
She discovered radioactivity.
She lived over 100 years ago.
She worked at a time when people didn't think that women were clever enough to be scientists. Curie proved them wrong!
Watch: Marie Curie
There was a time when people didn't think that women were clever enough to work in science.
We know today this is nonsense, but not then.
One woman, Marie Curie, helped change the lives of people all over the world and showed that girls are as good at science as boys!
When Marie lived in Poland girls were not allowed to go to university, so her parents had to send her in secret.
She later moved to Paris to study.
Marie married another scientist, Pierre. They worked together to find out about the tiny parts, called elements, that make up everything in our Universe.
They discovered a new element that gave off rays of heat and light - they called this radium. They studied the light and heat it gave off and called this radioactivity.
They were given the most important prize in the world for science: the Nobel Prize. Marie was the first woman ever to receive this!
Marie and Pierre found that radium could help the body fight cancer cells.
Sadly Pierre died when he was just 46. Marie took over his teaching job at the University of Paris - she was so good they made her a professor. The first woman professor the university ever had!
A few years later, Marie won another Nobel Prize and the university built her a laboratory.
Marie worked hard to find a cure for cancer - nobody knew that working with radium was dangerous. But it was and because of this Marie became very ill and died.
Marie Curie inspired others to continue her work.
Over time, this has saved the lives of many people all over the world and, of course, showed people that women are just as able to study science as men!
What did Marie Curie do?
- Marie was born in Poland in 1867. Her name at birth was Maria Sklodowska.
- When Marie lived in Poland girls were not allowed to go to university, so her parents had to send her in secret.
- She later studied physics and maths in Paris.
- In 1895, Marie married another scientist called Pierre Curie. Together they worked on the theory of ‘radioactivity’, a word that she created.
- In 1895 Marie and Pierre discovered that a metal called radium could kill cancer cells.
- She was the first woman to become a Professor at the University of Paris.
- She was the first woman to win the important Nobel Prize. She won two in her lifetime.
- In World War One, she helped put x-ray machines in ambulances. This helped doctors see where bullets were in the body of a soldier.
Did you know?
- Marie named the first chemical element she discovered ‘polonium’ after her home country Poland.
- Marie and Pierre did most of their work in a leaky shed!
- Her notebooks are still too dangerous to touch. You need to wear special clothes because of radioactivity.
- Marie’s daughter, Irene, also became a famous scientist and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Activity 1 – Sort the events in Marie Curie's life
Activity 2 – Marie Curie quiz
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