Marie was ten years old. This was a series of informal classes held in secrecy that admitted female students. In , Marie enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. She had very little money, and survived on buttered bread and tea. She met Pierre Curie in After graduating from the Sorbonne, Marie was looking for a large laboratory space. A mutual colleague believed Pierre had access to such a space. At first, Marie and Pierre worked alone, focusing on their own projects.
This changed when Marie developed a theory about uranium rays. Marie furthered the research of French Physicist Henri Becquerel.
Becquerel discovered that uranium emitted rays. She theorized that these rays originated from the atomic structure of the uranium. Her theory created the field of atomic physics. To describe this new kind of energy, Marie coined a new term:. The general attitude towards this new energy was that it had to be good for your health.
Makers of everything—from cigarettes to makeup—added radioactive materials to their products. It was marketed as chocolate that would make you look younger. Water crocks that stored drinking water were radium-lined.
Manufacturers promoted them as a cure for arthritis and wrinkles. Golf balls had small amounts of radioactive materials embedded in them. This let Golfers find missing balls with a portable Geiger counter.
Pierre and Marie would later discover two elements. They used pitchblende, a radioactive mineral rich in uranium. Marie believed that there were other unknown radioactive elements within it. They separated pitchblende into separate components. Using an electrometer, the Curies measured the radioactivity of each section. The bismuth section acted chemically like bismuth.
But since it was radioactive, this meant it was something new. In , the Curies published their discovery of a new element: Polonium, in honor of Poland. The barium section also contained something new.
Five months later, the Curies published their discovery of another element: Radium. Marie was not nominated. A member of the nomination committee had to intervene. The committee then validated her nomination. In , Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Notably, this Nobel Prize did not mention their discovery of two new elements. The nomination committee believed that both Curies could win the prize again, and chose to omit it.
Tragically, the committee was wrong. In , three years later, Pierre lost his life. He was in Paris. It was a Thursday. It was raining.
Pierre was on his way to a meeting to review proofs with his publisher. While crossing the street, a horse-drawn wagon carrying six tons of military uniforms ran him over. In an instant, Pierre was dead. Less than a month later, Marie received a job offer from the Sorbonne. In , she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of radium and polonium.
Marie alone received the prize. Since she and her husband Pierre were still trying to understand radioactivity, they didn't take the same precautions used today. So when Curie died, her body, still riddled with radioactive atoms, had to be buried safely. Curie is buried in a casket made of lead to contain the radiation, but according to The Journal of the British Society for the History of Radiology , people didn't know Curie's coffin was made of lead until her body was exhumed in The French government wanted to move the Curies' bodies to the Pantheon to celebrate them as French history icons.
When they approached the grave, they detected traces of radium and polonium, the elements Curie studied. At first, the workers came across a wooden coffin, but once they opened it, they saw an intact lead casket inside. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App.
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