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Maria's
family included her French husband, Pierre, and their daughter,
Irene. Pierre was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1901,
while Irene won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1935. Their other
daughter, Eve, was a successful author.
Marie is the only person in history
to have both a spouse and a daughter (or a son) win Nobel Prizes,
but that wasn't even her greatest accomplishment. During her long
career as a scientist, she and her husband also discovered two of
the elements on the Periodic Table of Elements, and a third element
is named after them. (The Periodic Table of Elements is familiar to
those who took chemistry in high school.) Pierre's research led to
what is now known as alpha, beta and gamma rays.
When Pierre died in 1906 at age 46,
Maria was left to raise her two young daughters by herself. How did
Pierre die? As a result of a traffic accident; actually, he was run
over by a horse-drawn wagon!
This wasn't the first time Maria
experienced a deep loss. Her mother had died when Maria was only 9,
and Maria grew up in Poland during the time it was occupied by
Russia. In addition, her first boyfriend broke up with her because
his parents didn't approve of him marrying a woman from a poor
family.
Despite the success that her husband
and daughters achieved, it's unlikely that this mother of invention
ever felt overshadowed by her family. Earlier, I mentioned that her
husband was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1901. Who was
the other co-winner? It was Maria, his wife.
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Maria earned a second Nobel Prize in
1911; this prize was in chemistry. By the end of World War I, she
was possibly the most famous woman in the world, even though you've
probably never heard her name before now. You see, Maria Sklodowska
changed her first name to the French version when she moved to
Paris. She changed her last name when she married Pierre.
Which of the Periodic Table of
Elements did Marie and Pierre discover? Radium and polonium. In
fact, it was Maria who coined the term "radioactivity." The element
that's named after them is known as curium.
You learned about her in science
class. Except that you learned about her by her married name -- of
Marie Curie, the woman who discovered radium. Her work continues to
benefit anyone who receives radiation treatments for cancer.
In
addition to being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, Marie Curie
was also the first woman to:
- Teach at the university level in
France.
- Be part of a mother-daughter
combination winning Nobel Prizes -- the only pair like that.
- Win two Nobel Prizes.
Marie died on July 4, 1934, in a
nursing home. Here's one more first for Marie Curie: She is believed
to be the first person to die of radiation poisoning, and it was
probably her own radiation experiments that eventually killed her.
[Paul Niemann]
Paul Niemann is the author of Invention Mysteries. He can be
reached at niemann7@aol.com.
© Copyright Paul Niemann 2005
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