What Marie Curie invented. Marie Curie

Vasilisa Ivanova

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Almost everyone has heard the name Marie Skłodowska-Curie. Some may also remember that she studied radiation. But due to the fact that science is not as popular as art or history, not many people are familiar with the life and fate of Marie Curie. Discovering her life path and achievements in science, I can’t believe that this woman lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

At that time, women were just beginning to fight for their rights - and for the opportunity to study and work on an equal basis with men. Not noticing the stereotypes and condemnation of society, Maria did what she loved - and achieved success in science, on a par with the greatest geniuses of those times.

Marie Curie's childhood and family

Maria was born in Warsaw in 1867 in the family of two teachers - Wladyslaw Skłodowski and Bronislawa Bogunska. She was the youngest of five children. She had three sisters and one brother.

At that time Poland was under control Russian Empire. Relatives on the maternal and paternal lines lost all property and fortune due to participation in patriotic movements. Therefore, the family was poor, and the children had to go through a difficult life path.

Video: Pierre and Marie Curie

Father, Vladislav Sklodovsky, taught mathematics and physics, and was the director of a gymnasium for boys. When the school laboratory was ordered to close, he brought all the equipment home. It was he who introduced young Maria with science.

His mother, Bronislawa Bohunska, ran a prestigious Warsaw school for girls. After Mary's birth, she left her post. During that period, her health deteriorated significantly, and in 1878 she died of tuberculosis. And shortly before that, the most elder sister Maria, Zofia. After a series of deaths, Maria becomes an agnostic - and forever renounces the Catholic faith that her mother professed.

At the age of 10, Maria enters school. Then she goes to study at a gymnasium for girls, from which she graduates with a gold medal in 1883.

After graduation, she takes a break from studying and goes to live with her father’s relatives in the village. After returning to Warsaw, she began tutoring.

An irresistible thirst for knowledge

At the end of the 19th century, women were not able to receive higher education and do science in Poland. But her family did not have the funds to study abroad. Therefore, after graduating from high school, Maria began working as a governess.

In addition to work, she devoted considerable time to study. At the same time, she found time to help peasant children, because they did not have the opportunity to receive an education. Maria gave reading and writing lessons to children of all ages. At that time, this initiative could be punishable; violators were threatened with exile to Siberia. For about 4 years she combined work as a governess, hard study at night and “illegal” teaching to peasant children.

She later wrote:

"You can't build better world without trying to change the fate of a particular person; therefore, each of us should strive to improve both our lives and the lives of others.”

Upon returning to Warsaw, she began studying at the so-called “Flying University” - an underground educational institution that existed due to significant restrictions on educational opportunities by the Russian Empire. At the same time, the girl continued to work as a tutor, trying to earn some money.

Maria and her sister Bronislava had an interesting agreement. Both girls wanted to study at the Sorbonne, but could not afford it due to their poor financial situation. They agreed that first Bronya would go to university, and Maria would earn money for her education so that she could successfully complete her studies and get a job in Paris. Bronisława was then to facilitate Maria's studies.

In 1891, the future great woman scientist was finally able to go to Paris and begin her studies at the Sorbonne. She devoted all her time to study, while sleeping little and eating poorly.

Personal life

In 1894, Pierre Curie appeared in Maria's life. He was the head of the laboratory at the School of Physics and Chemistry. They were introduced by a professor of Polish origin, who knew that Maria needed a laboratory to conduct research, and Pierre just had access to one.

Pierre allocated Maria a small corner in his laboratory. In progress collaboration they realized that they both had a passion for the natural sciences.

Constant communication and the presence of common hobbies led to the emergence of feelings. Pierre later recalled that he realized his feelings when he saw the hands of this fragile girl, corroded by acid.

Maria rejected the first marriage proposal. She was thinking about returning to her homeland. Pierre said that he was ready to move with her to Poland - even if he had to work only as a French teacher for the rest of his days.

Soon Maria went home to visit her family. At the same time, she wanted to find out about the possibility of finding a job in science - however, she was rejected because she was a woman.

The girl returned to Paris, and on July 26, 1895, the lovers got married. The young couple refused to hold a traditional ceremony in the church. Maria came to her own wedding in a dark blue dress - which she then wore in the laboratory every day for many years.

This marriage was as ideal as possible, because Maria and Pierre had many common interests. They were united all-consuming love to science, to which they devoted most of their lives. Besides work, the young people spent everything free time together. Their common hobbies were cycling and traveling.

In her diary, Maria wrote:

“My husband is the limit of my dreams. I never could have imagined that I would be next to him. He is truly a gift from heaven, and the longer we live together, the more we love each other.”

The first pregnancy was very difficult. But, nevertheless, Maria did not stop working on her research into the magnetic properties of hardened steels. In 1897, the first daughter of the Curies, Irene, was born. The girl will devote herself to science in the future, following the example of her parents - and being inspired by them. Almost immediately after giving birth, Maria began work on her doctoral dissertation.

The second daughter, Eva, was born in 1904. Her life was not connected with science. After Mary's death, she would write her biography, which would become so popular that it would even be filmed in 1943 ("Madame Curie").

Maria describes the life of that period in a letter to her parents:

“We still live. We work a lot, but we sleep soundly, and therefore work does not harm our health. In the evenings I spend time with my daughter. In the morning I dress her, feed her, and around nine o’clock I usually leave the house.

For the whole year we have never been to the theater, or to a concert, or as a guest. Despite all this, we feel good. Only one thing is very difficult - the absence of my family, especially you, my dears, and my dad.

I often and sadly think about my alienation. I can’t complain about anything else, since our health is not bad, the child is growing well, and I have a husband - I can’t even imagine a better one.”

Curie's marriage was happy, but short-lived. In 1906, Pierre was crossing the street in a rainstorm and was hit by a horse-drawn carriage, his head falling under the wheels of the carriage. Maria was crushed, but did not give in and continued the work they had begun together.

The University of Paris invited her to take the place of her late husband at the physics department. She became the first woman professor at the University of Paris (Sorbonne).

She never married again.

Advances in science

• In 1896, Maria, together with her husband, discovered a new chemical element, which was named after her homeland - polonium.
• In 1903 she received the Nobel Prize for her services to the study of radiation (together with her husband and Henri Becquerel). The justification for the award was: "In recognition of the exceptional service they have rendered to science through their joint research into the phenomena of radiation discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel."
• After the death of her husband, in 1906 she became acting professor of the physics department.
• In 1910, together with Andre Debierne, he isolated pure radium, which was recognized as an independent chemical element. This achievement took 12 years of research.
• In 1909 she became director of the department basic research And medical use radioactivity at the Radium Institute. After the First World War, on the initiative of Curie, the institute's activities focused on the study of cancer. In 1921, the institution was renamed the Curie Institute. Maria taught at the institute until the end of her life.
• In 1911, Maria received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of radium and polonium (“For outstanding services in the development of chemistry: the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this wonderful element”).

Maria understood that such dedication and loyalty to science and career is not inherent in women.

She never encouraged others to lead the kind of life she lived:

“There is no need to lead such an unnatural life as I led. I devoted a lot of time to science because I had a passion for it, because I loved scientific research.

All I wish for women and young girls is simple family life and the work that interests them.”

Maria devoted her entire life to the study of radiation, and it did not pass without a trace.

In those years, the destructive effects of radiation on the human body were not yet known. Maria worked with radium without using any protective equipment. She also always had test tubes with a radioactive substance with her.

Her vision began to rapidly deteriorate and cataracts developed. Despite the catastrophic harmfulness of her work, Maria was able to live to the age of 66.

She died on July 4, 1934, in a sanatorium in the town of Sancellmoz in the French Alps. The cause of Marie Curie's death was aplastic anemia and its consequences.

Persecution

Throughout her life in France, Maria was condemned on a variety of occasions. It seemed that the press and people did not even need a valid reason for criticism. If there were no reasons to emphasize her alienation from French society, they were simply made up. And the public happily picked up the new “hot fact.”

But Maria seemed not to pay attention to idle conversations, and continued to do her favorite thing, without reacting in any way to the dissatisfaction of others.

Often the French press stooped to direct insults to Marie Curie because of her religious views. She was a convinced atheist - and was simply not interested in issues of religion. At that time the church was playing one of critical roles in society. Her visit was one of the obligatory social rituals of “decent” people. Refusal to attend church was practically a challenge to society.

The hypocrisy of society was revealed after Maria received the Nobel Prize. Immediately the press began to write about her as a French heroine and the pride of France.

But when Maria nominated herself for membership in the French Academy in 1910, new reasons for condemnation were found. Someone presented evidence of her alleged Jewish origin. It must be said that in those years anti-Semitic sentiments were strong in France. This rumor was widely discussed - and did influence the decision of the Academy members. In 1911, Maria was denied membership.

Even after Mary's death in 1934, discussion of her Jewish roots continued. The newspapers even wrote that she was a cleaner in a laboratory and married herself Pierre Curie cunning.

In 1911, it became known about her affair with Pierre Curie's former student Paul Langevin, who was married. Maria was 5 years older than Paul. A scandal arose in the press and society, which was picked up by her opponents in the scientific community. She was called the “Jewish destroyer of families.” She was at a conference in Belgium when the scandal broke. Returning home, she found an angry crowd outside her house. She and her daughters had to seek refuge in a friend's house.

Unappreciated altruism

Maria was interested not only in science. One of her actions speaks about her strong civic position and support for the country. During World War I, she wanted to give away all her gold scientific awards to contribute financially to support the army. However, the National Bank of France refused her donation. However, she spent all the money she received along with the Nobel Prize to help the army.

Her help during the First World War was invaluable. Curie quickly realized that the sooner a wounded soldier was operated on, the more favorable the prognosis for recovery would be. To assist surgeons, mobile X-ray machines were required. She purchased necessary equipment— and created X-ray machines “on wheels.” These vans were later called "Little Curies".

She became the head of the radiology division of the Red Cross. More than a million soldiers have used mobile X-rays.

She also provided radioactive particles that were used to disinfect contaminated tissue.

The French government did not express gratitude to her for her active participation in helping the army.

• The term "radioactivity" was coined by the Curies.
• Marie Curie "raised" four future Nobel laureates, among whom were Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie (her daughter and son-in-law).
• Marie Curie was a member of 85 scientific societies around the world.
• All the records that Maria kept are still extremely dangerous due to high level radiation. Her papers are stored in libraries in special lead boxes. You can get acquainted with them only after wearing a protective suit.
• Maria was fond of long bicycle rides, which was very revolutionary for the ladies of that time.
• Maria always carried an ampoule with radium with her - her kind of talisman. Therefore, all her personal belongings are contaminated with radiation to this day.
• Marie Curie is buried in a lead coffin in the French Pantheon - the place where the most prominent figures France. There are only two women buried there, and she is one of them. Her body was transferred there in 1995. At the same time it became known that the remains were radioactive. It will take one and a half thousand years for the radiation to disappear.
• She discovered two radioactive elements - radium and polonium.
• Maria - the only woman in the world, which received two Nobel Prizes.

French physicist Marie Skłodowska-Curie (née Maria Skłodowska) was born in Warsaw, Poland. She was the youngest of five children in the family of Władysław and Bronisława (Bogushka) Skłodowski. Maria was brought up in a family where science was respected. Her father taught physics at the gymnasium, and her mother, until she fell ill with tuberculosis, was the director of the gymnasium. Maria's mother died when the girl was eleven years old.

Maria Sklodovskaya studied brilliantly in both primary and secondary school. Also in at a young age she felt the attractive power of science and worked as a laboratory assistant in the chemical laboratory of her cousin. The great Russian chemist Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, creator periodic table chemical elements, was a friend of her father. Seeing the girl at work in the laboratory, he predicted a great future for her if she continued her studies in chemistry. Growing up under Russian rule (Poland was then divided between Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary), Skłodowska-Curie was active in the movement of young intellectuals and anti-clerical Polish nationalists. Although Skłodowska-Curie spent most of her life in France, she always remained committed to the cause of the struggle for Polish independence.

There were two obstacles on the way to realizing Maria Skłodowska's dream of higher education: family poverty and the ban on admitting women to the University of Warsaw. Maria and her sister Bronya developed a plan: Maria would work as a governess for five years to enable her sister to graduate from medical school, after which Bronya would bear the cost of her sister’s higher education. Armor received medical education in Paris and, having become a doctor, invited Maria to her place. After leaving Poland in 1891, Maria entered the faculty natural sciences University of Paris (Sorbonne). In 1893, having completed the course first, Maria received a licentiate degree in physics from the Sorbonne (equivalent to a master's degree). A year later she became a licentiate in mathematics.

Also in 1894, in the house of a Polish emigrant physicist, Maria Sklodowska met Pierre Curie. Pierre was the head of the laboratory at the Municipal School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry. By that time, he had conducted important research on the physics of crystals and the dependence of the magnetic properties of substances on temperature. Maria was researching the magnetization of steel, and her Polish friend hoped that Pierre could give Maria the opportunity to work in his laboratory. Having first become close because of their passion for physics, Maria and Pierre got married a year later. This happened shortly after Pierre defended his doctoral dissertation. Their daughter Irène (Irène Joliot-Curie) was born in September 1897. Three months later, Marie Curie completed her research on magnetism and began looking for a topic for her dissertation.

In 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium compounds emit deeply penetrating radiation. Unlike X-rays, discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen, Becquerel radiation was not the result of excitation from an external energy source, such as light, but an internal property of uranium itself. Fascinated by it mysterious phenomenon and attracted by the prospect of starting new area research, Curie decided to study this radiation, which she later called radioactivity. Having begun work at the beginning of 1898, she first of all tried to establish whether there were substances other than uranium compounds that emitted the rays discovered by Becquerel. Because Becquerel noticed that air became electrically conductive in the presence of uranium compounds, Curie measured electrical conductivity near samples of other substances using several precision instruments designed and built by Pierre Curie and his brother Jacques. She came to the conclusion that of the known elements, only uranium, thorium and their compounds are radioactive. However, Curie soon made a much more important discovery: uranium ore, known as uranium pitchblende, emits Becquerel radiation stronger than uranium and thorium compounds, and at least four times stronger than pure uranium. Curie suggested that uranium resin blende contained an as yet undiscovered and highly radioactive element. In the spring of 1898, she reported her hypothesis and the results of her experiments to the French Academy of Sciences.

Then the Curies tried to isolate new element. Pierre put aside his own research in crystal physics to help Maria. By treating uranium ore with acids and hydrogen sulfide, they separated it into its known components. Examining each of the components, they found that only two of them, containing the elements bismuth and barium, had strong radioactivity. Since the radiation discovered by Becquerel was not characteristic of either bismuth or barium, they concluded that these portions of the substance contained one or more previously unknown elements. In July and December 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie announced the discovery of two new elements, which they named polonium (in honor of Poland, Marie's homeland) and radium.

Since the Curies had not isolated any of these elements, they could not provide chemists with decisive evidence of their existence. And the Curies began a very difficult task - extracting two new elements from uranium resin blende. They found that the substances they were about to find amounted to only one millionth of uranium resin blende. To extract them in measurable quantities, researchers needed to process huge quantities of ore. Over the next four years, the Curies worked in primitive and unhealthy conditions. They carried out chemical separations in large vats set up in a leaky, windswept barn. They had to analyze the substances in a tiny, poorly equipped laboratory at the Municipal School. During this difficult but exciting period, Pierre's salary was not enough to support his family. Although intensive research and Small child occupied almost all of her time, Maria in 1900 began teaching physics in Sèvres, at the Ecole Normale Superiore, an educational institution that trained teachers high school. Pierre's widowed father moved in with Curie and helped look after Irene.

In September 1902, the Curies announced that they had succeeded in isolating one tenth of a gram of radium chloride from several tons of uranium resin blende. They were unable to isolate polonium, since it turned out to be a decay product of radium. Analyzing the compound, Maria found that the atomic mass of radium was 225. The radium salt emitted a bluish glow and heat. This fantastic substance has attracted the attention of the whole world. Recognition and awards for its discovery came to the Curies almost immediately.

Having completed her research, Maria finally wrote her doctoral dissertation. The work was called "Studies on Radioactive Substances" and was presented at the Sorbonne in June 1903. It included a huge number of observations of radioactivity made by Marie and Pierre Curie during the search for polonium and radium. According to the committee that awarded Curie scientific degree, her work was the greatest contribution ever made to science by a doctoral dissertation.

In December 1903, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics to Becquerel and the Curies. Marie and Pierre Curie received half the award "in recognition... of their joint research into the phenomena of radiation discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel." Curie became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize. Both Marie and Pierre Curie were ill and could not travel to Stockholm for the award ceremony. They received it the following summer.

Even before the Curies completed their research, their work encouraged other physicists to also study radioactivity. In 1903, Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Soddy put forward a theory according to which radioactive radiation arises from the decay of atomic nuclei. During decay, radioactive elements undergo transmutation - transformation into other elements. Curie did not accept this theory without hesitation, since the decay of uranium, thorium and radium occurs so slowly that she did not have to observe it in her experiments. (True, there was evidence of the decay of polonium, but Curie considered the behavior of this element to be atypical). Yet in 1906 she agreed to accept the Rutherford–Soddy theory as the most plausible explanation of radioactivity. It was Curie who introduced the terms decay and transmutation.

The Curies noted the effect of radium on the human body (like Henri Becquerel, they received burns before realizing the dangers of handling radioactive substances) and suggested that radium could be used to treat tumors. The therapeutic value of radium was recognized almost immediately, and prices for radium sources rose sharply. However, the Curies refused to patent the extraction process or use the results of their research for any commercial purposes. In their opinion, extracting commercial benefits did not correspond to the spirit of science, the idea of ​​free access to knowledge. Despite this, the Curie couple's financial situation improved as Nobel Prize and other awards brought them a certain amount of wealth. In October 1904, Pierre was appointed professor of physics at the Sorbonne, and a month later, Maria became officially named the head of his laboratory. In December, their second daughter, Eva, was born, who later became a concert pianist and biographer of her mother.

Marie drew strength from recognition of her scientific achievements, her favorite work, and Pierre's love and support. As she herself admitted: “I found in marriage everything I could have dreamed of at the time of our union, and even more.” But in April 1906, Pierre died in a street accident. Having lost her closest friend and workmate, Marie withdrew into herself. However, she found the strength to continue working. In May, after Marie refused the pension assigned by the ministry public education, the faculty council of the Sorbonne appointed her to the department of physics, which was previously headed by her husband. When Curie gave her first lecture six months later, she became the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne.

In the laboratory, Curie concentrated her efforts on isolating pure radium metal rather than its compounds. In 1910, she managed, in collaboration with Andre Debierne, to obtain this substance and thereby complete the cycle of research that began 12 years earlier. She convincingly proved that radium is a chemical element. Curie developed a method for measuring radioactive emanations and prepared for the International Bureau of Weights and Measures the first international standard of radium - a pure sample of radium chloride, with which all other sources were to be compared.

At the end of 1910, at the insistence of many scientists, Curie was nominated for elections to one of the most prestigious scientific societies - the French Academy of Sciences. Pierre Curie was elected to it only a year before his death. In the entire history of the French Academy of Sciences, no woman had been a member, so the nomination of Curie led to a fierce battle between supporters and opponents of this step. After several months of offensive controversy, in January 1911, Curie's candidacy was rejected by a majority of one vote.

A few months later, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Curie the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for outstanding services in the development of chemistry: the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element." Curie became the first two-time Nobel Prize winner. Introducing the new laureate, E.V. Dahlgren noted that “radium research has led to last years to the birth of a new field of science - radiology, which has already taken possession of its own institutes and journals."

Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, the University of Paris and the Pasteur Institute established the Radium Institute for radioactivity research. Curie was appointed director of the department of basic research and medical applications of radioactivity. During the war, she trained military medics in the applications of radiology, such as detecting shrapnel in the body of a wounded person using X-rays. In the front-line zone, Curie helped create radiological installations and supply first aid stations with portable X-ray machines. She summarized her accumulated experience in the monograph “Radiology and War” in 1920.

After the war, Curie returned to the Radium Institute. In the last years of her life, she supervised the work of students and actively promoted the application of radiology in medicine. She wrote a biography of Pierre Curie, which was published in 1923. Curie periodically made trips to Poland, which gained independence at the end of the war. There she advised Polish researchers. In 1921, together with her daughters, Curie visited the United States to accept a gift of 1 gram of radium to continue her experiments. During her second visit to the USA (1929), she received a donation, with which she purchased another gram of radium for therapeutic use in one of the Warsaw hospitals. But as a result of many years of working with radium, her health began to deteriorate noticeably.

Curie died on July 4, 1934 from leukemia in a small hospital in the town of Sancellemose in the French Alps.

Curie's greatest strength as a scientist was her unbending tenacity in overcoming difficulties: once she had posed a problem, she would not rest until she had found a solution. A quiet, modest woman who was chastened by her fame, Curie remained unwaveringly loyal to the ideals she believed in and the people she cared about. After her husband's death, she remained a tender and devoted mother to her two daughters.

In addition to two Nobel Prizes, Curie was awarded the Berthelot Medal of the French Academy of Sciences (1902), the Davy Medal of the Royal Society of London (1903), and the Elliott Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute (1909). She was a member of 85 scientific societies around the world, including the French medical academy, received 20 honorary degrees. From 1911 until her death, Curie took part in the prestigious Solvay congresses in physics, and for 12 years she was a member of the International Commission on intellectual cooperation of the League of Nations.

Date of death: A place of death: Scientific field: Alma mater: Known as:

Discovery of the elements radium and polonium, isolation of radium

Awards and prizes

Together with her husband, she discovered the elements radium (from Lat. radium- radiating) and polonium (from lat. polonium(Polonia - Latin for “Poland”) - a tribute to the homeland of Maria Skłodowska).

Biography and scientific achievements

Maria Skłodowska was born in Warsaw. Her childhood years were darkened by the early loss of one of her sisters and soon - her mother. Even as a schoolgirl, she was distinguished by her extraordinary diligence and hard work. Maria strived to do the work in the most thorough manner, without allowing any inaccuracies, often at the expense of sleep and regular nutrition. She studied so intensively that, after graduating from school, she was forced to take a break to improve her health.

Maria sought to continue her education, however, in the Russian Empire, which at that time included Poland, the opportunities for women to obtain higher education science education were limited. The Skłodowski sisters, Maria and Bronislava, agreed to take turns working as governesses for several years in order to receive an education one by one. Maria worked for several years as a teacher-governess while Bronislava studied at medical institute in Paris. Then Maria, at the age of 24, was able to go to the Sorbonne, in Paris, where she studied chemistry and physics while Bronislava earned money for her sister's education.

Maria Sklodowska became the first female teacher in the history of the Sorbonne. At the Sorbonne she met Pierre Curie, also a teacher, whom she later married. Together they began to study the anomalous rays (X-rays) that were emitted by uranium salts. Without any laboratory, and working in a barn on the Rue Laumont in Paris, from 1898 to 1902 they processed 8 tons of uranium ore and isolated one hundredth of a gram of a new substance - radium. Polonium was later discovered, an element named after Marie Curie's homeland. In 1903, Marie and Pierre Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics "for outstanding services in joint research into the phenomena of radiation." While at the award ceremony, the couple think about creating their own laboratory and even an institute of radioactivity. Their idea was brought to life, but much later.

After tragic death husband Pierre Curie in 1906, Marie Skłodowska-Curie inherited his chair at the University of Paris.

In addition to two Nobel Prizes, Skłodowska-Curie was awarded:

• Berthelot medal of the French Academy of Sciences (1902),
• Davy Medal of the Royal Society of London (1903)
• Elliot Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute (1909).

She was a member of 85 scientific societies around the world, including the French Academy of Medicine, and received 20 honorary degrees. From 1911 until her death, Sklodowska-Curie took part in the prestigious Solvay Congresses on Physics, and for 12 years she was an employee of the International Commission for Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations.

Children

• Irene Joliot-Curie (-) - Nobel laureate in chemistry.
• Eva Curie (-) - journalist, author of a book about her mother, was married to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Henry Richardson Labouisse, Jr.

Links

• Eve Curie. "Marie Curie"

Laureates

Marie Curie, a woman who did an incredible amount to discover new factors in the field of physics and chemistry. She was born in the capital of Poland, Warsaw. Her family was poor; besides her, Maria’s parents had four more children. Her father worked as a teacher, and her mother suffered from tuberculosis and died when the girl was still in school. The girl even then showed great interest in physics and chemistry. She studied diligently and only at the age of 24, having saved up the remaining funds while working as a governess, she was able to go to Paris, where she graduated from the Sorbonne.


In Paris, the girl met her future husband, and together with him they made a long journey into research in the field of physics and chemistry, thereby discovering two new radioactive elements and receiving the Nobel Prize. Maria's life from beginning to end was devoted to research, and after her death it was she who was called the “mother of modern physics.”

Twice Nobel laureate

Maria is the only woman who has been awarded the Nobel Prize twice. She received the first prize, together with her husband Pierre Curie, in 1903 in physics. The second prize was awarded to her alone, after the death of her husband, in 1911, but in the field of chemistry.

Mother of modern physics

Marie Curie was called the mother of modern physics because she was the only person in history to be buried in a coffin that was sealed with a lead lid. So, the woman’s body was so radioactive that they had to stuff a 2.5 centimeter sheet of lead onto the lid.

Radioactive things

Marie Curie died more than 80 years ago. But until now, all her personal belongings, including clothes, records, furniture from her house, contain such a level of radioactivity that even now can kill a person. France called all her personal belongings her personal property, and placed them in the National Library of France in Paris.

Safety form

Every visitor to the Paris Library, in the department where Marie Curie’s belongings are provided for inspection, must sign a special document stating that they are aware of the unsafety of the Nobel laureate’s belongings, and that they have read the instructions, which tell that all things are impregnated with radium 226. This element has a very long term decay, it will take more than 1.5 millennia for a woman’s belongings to cease to be hazardous to health. Also, all visitors must wear a protective suit.

Mascot

The woman was not only not afraid to openly work with radioactive elements, but also wore a talisman on her chest chain. The talisman was in the form of a small ampoule, which was filled with radium. Maria was never afraid of radiation, and worked without precautions, without protective equipment.

Social activist

Maria was not only a scientist, a physicist and a chemist. She was also involved in other social areas. During her life, the woman took part in the work of 85 scientific and other communities that were in different countries. During her life, she was awarded 20 scientific scholarships.

Professor of the Sorbonne

In 1902, Maria received her doctorate from the University of Paris. She became the first woman professor to be offered a teaching position at the Sorbonne University.

Effects of radiation on cells

During her life, together with her husband, Maria published more than thirty scientific articles. But the most breakthrough article was about the effect of radiation on cells. They wrote an article that in the process of working with radioactivity, they found that cells that are affected by any tumor are destroyed much faster than ordinary healthy human cells.

Radium and polonium

In the course of long research and work with the element uraninite, Maria and her husband were able to derive a radioactive element, they called it polonium. So, since Maria is a native of Poland, the element was named in honor of her homeland. Just a few months later, the couple manages to discover another new element, radium. It was also radioactive, and it was after the discovery of two elements that the Curies introduced a new term for the elements, “radioactive.”

Radium Institute

From the very beginning of his research and life together, Maria and her husband dreamed of opening a university. When Maria received help from the French government, she managed to build and open the Radium Institute. The institution is aimed only at research in physics and chemistry. A few years later, after the opening of the Institute, Maria decided to also open a wing in which experiments in medicine would be conducted.

Family life

Despite the fact that the woman worked with radioactivity all her life, and she died of aplastic anemia, she managed to give birth to two healthy daughters. Eldest daughter Marie Curie, Irene, followed in the footsteps of her mother and also took up scientific activity. After graduation, she, like her mother, married a chemist, and then she and her husband received the Nobel Prize in the same field as Maria. For work with radioactive elements.

Memory of Marie Curie

Behind huge contribution in research with radioactive elements, the memory of Marie Curie was honored by naming several universities in her honor around the world, Public places and buildings, several streets and two museums. Also, about the life of a double Nobel Laureate, many books, biographies have been written and several films have been made.

Back at the beginning of the 20th century, before the First World War, when time passed calmly and slowly, ladies wore corsets, and women who were already married had to maintain decency (keep house and stay at home), Curie Marie was awarded two Nobel Prizes: in 1908 - in physics, in 1911 - in chemistry. She did a lot of things first, but perhaps the most important thing is that Maria made a real revolution in public consciousness. Women after her boldly went into science, without fear of ridicule from the scientific community, which at that time consisted of men. Amazing man was Marie Curie. The biography below will convince you of this.

Origin

This woman’s maiden name was Sklodowska. Her father, Vladislav Sklodovsky, graduated from St. Petersburg University. He then returned to Warsaw to teach mathematics and physics at the gymnasium. His wife, Bronislava, ran a boarding school where high school girls studied. She helped her husband in everything and was a passionate reader. In total there were five children in the family. Maria Sklodowska-Curie (Manya, as she was called in childhood) is the youngest.

Warsaw childhood

Her entire childhood was spent with her mother coughing. Bronislava suffered from tuberculosis. She died when Maria was only 11 years old. All the Sklodovsky children were distinguished by their curiosity and ability to learn, and Manya simply could not be torn away from the book. The father encouraged a passion for learning in his children as best he could. The only thing that upset the family was the need to study in Russian. In the photo above is the house in which Maria was born and spent her childhood. Now there is a museum here.

The situation in Poland

Poland at that time was part of the Russian Empire. Therefore, all gymnasiums were controlled by Russian officials, who ensured that all subjects were taught in the language of this empire. The children even had to read in Russian, and not in their native language, in which they prayed and spoke at home. Vladislav often got upset because of this. After all, sometimes a student capable of mathematics, who perfectly solved various problems in Polish, suddenly became “stupid” when it was necessary to switch to Russian, which he did not speak well. Having seen all these humiliations since childhood, Maria spent her entire life future life, however, like the rest of the inhabitants of the state, which was being torn apart at that time, she was a fierce patriot, as well as a conscientious member of the Parisian Polish community.

Sisters' Persuasion

It was not easy for the girl to grow up without a mother. Dad, always busy at work, pedantic teachers at the gymnasium... Manya was best friends with Bronya, her sister. They agreed as teenagers that they would definitely study further, after graduating from high school. In Warsaw, higher education was impossible for women at that time, so they dreamed of the Sorbonne. The agreement was as follows: Bronya would be the first to start her studies, since she was older. And Manya will earn money for her education. When she learns to be a doctor, Manya will immediately begin studying, and her sister will help her as best she can. However, it turned out that the dream of Paris had to be postponed for almost 5 years.

Work as a governess

Manya became a governess on the Shchuka estate, to the children of a wealthy local landowner. The owners did not appreciate the bright mind of this girl. At every step they made her understand that she was just a poor servant. Life was not easy for the girl in Shchuki, but she endured for the sake of Bronya. Both sisters graduated from the gymnasium with a gold medal. Brother Jozef (also, by the way, a gold medalist) went to Warsaw, enrolling in the Faculty of Medicine. Elya also received a medal, but her claims were more modest. She decided to stay with her father and run the household. The 4th sister in the family died as a child while her mother was still alive. In general, Vladislav could rightfully be proud of his remaining children.

First lover

Maria's employers had five children. She taught the younger ones, but Kazimierz, the eldest son, often came for the holidays. He noticed such an unusual governess. She was very independent. In addition, which was very unusual for a girl of that time, she ran on skates, handled oars well, skillfully drove a carriage and rode horseback. And, as she later admitted to Kazimierz, she really loved to write poetry, as well as read books on mathematics, which seemed like poetry to her.

After some time, a platonic feeling arose between the young people. Manya was plunged into despair by the fact that his lover’s arrogant parents would never allow him to connect his fate with the governess. Kazimierz came to summer holidays and holidays, and the rest of the time the girl lived in anticipation of the meeting. But now the time has come to quit and go to Paris. Manya left Shchuki with a heavy heart - Kazimierz and the years illuminated by her first love remained in the past.

Then, when Pierre Curie appears in the life of 27-year-old Maria, she will immediately understand that he will become her faithful husband. Everything will be different in his case - without wild dreams and outbursts of feelings. Or maybe Maria will just get older?

Device in Paris

The girl arrived in France in 1891. Bronia and her husband, Kazimierz Dlusski, who also worked as a doctor, began to take care of her. However, the determined Maria (in Paris she began to call herself Marie) opposed this. She rented a room on her own and also enrolled at the Sorbonne, in the Faculty of Science. Marie settled in the Latin Quarter in Paris. Libraries, laboratories and a university were located next to it. Dlussky helped his wife’s sister transport modest belongings on a handcart. Marie resolutely refused to move in with any girl in order to pay less for the room - she wanted to study late and in silence. Its budget in 1892 was 40 rubles, or 100 francs per month, i.e., a little over 3 francs daily. And it was necessary to pay for room, clothes, food, books, notebooks and university tuition... The girl cut down on food. And since she studied very hard, she soon fainted right in class. A classmate ran to ask the Dlusskys for help. And they again took Marie in so that she could pay less for housing and eat normally.

Meet Pierre

One day, Marie’s classmate invited her to visit a famous physicist from Poland. Then the girl first saw the man with whom she was later destined to win world fame. At that time, the girl was 27, and Pierre was 35 years old. When Marie entered the living room, he was standing in the opening of the balcony. The girl tried to look at him, and the sun blinded her. This is how Maria Sklodowska and Pierre Curie met.

Pierre was devoted to science with all his soul. His parents had already tried several times to introduce him to a girl, but always in vain - they all seemed uninteresting, stupid and petty to him. And that evening, after talking with Marie, he realized that he had found an equal interlocutor. At that time, the girl was carrying out work ordered by her from the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry on the magnetic properties of different grades of steel. Marie had just begun research in Lipmann's laboratory. And Pierre, who worked at the School of Physics and Chemistry, already had research on magnetism and even discovered “Curie’s law” behind him. The young people had a lot to talk about. Pierre was so carried away by Marie that early in the morning he went to the fields to pick daisies for his beloved.

Wedding

Pierre and Marie got married on July 14, 1895 and went to Ile-de-France in Honeymoon. Here they read, rode bicycles, and discussed scientific topics. Pierre even began to learn Polish to please his young wife...

Fateful acquaintance

By the time Irene, their first daughter, was born, Marie’s husband had already defended his doctoral dissertation, and his wife graduated first in her class from the Sorbonne University. At the end of 1897, the research on magnetism was completed, and Curie Marie began to look for a topic for her dissertation. At this time, the couple met a physicist. He discovered a year ago that uranium compounds emit radiation that penetrates deeply. It was, unlike X-ray, an internal property of uranium. Curie Marie, fascinated by the mysterious phenomenon, decided to study it. Pierre put aside his work in order to help his wife.

First discoveries and Nobel Prize award

Pierre and Marie Curie discovered 2 new elements in 1898. They named the first of them polonium (in honor of Marie's homeland, Poland), and the second - radium. Since they did not isolate either element, they could not provide evidence of their existence to chemists. And for the next 4 years, the couple extracted radium and polonium from Pierre and Marie Curie, working from morning to night in a cracked barn, exposed to radiation. The couple suffered burns before realizing the dangers of the research. However, they decided to continue them! The couple received 1/10 of a gram of radium chloride in September 1902. But they were unable to isolate polonium - as it turned out, it was a decay product of radium. The heat and bluish glow were emitted by the radium salt. This fantastic substance has attracted the attention of the whole world. In December 1903, the couple was awarded, jointly with Becquerel, the Nobel Prize in Physics. Curie Marie became the first woman to receive it!

Losing my husband

Their second daughter, Eva, was born to them in December 1904. By that time, the family's financial situation had improved significantly. Pierre became a professor of physics at the Sorbonne, and his wife worked for her husband as the head of a laboratory. A terrible event occurred in April 1906. Pierre was hit and killed by the crew. Marie Skłodowska-Curie, having lost her husband, colleague and best friend, fell into depression for several months.

Second Nobel Prize

However, life went on. The woman concentrated all her efforts on isolating radium metal in its pure form, rather than its compounds. And she received this substance in 1910 (in collaboration with A. Debirne). Marie Curie discovered it and proved that radium is a chemical element. For this they even wanted to accept her as a member of the French Academy of Sciences on the wave of great success, but debates arose, persecution began in the press, and in the end Marie won. In 1911, Marie was awarded the 2nd. She became the first laureate to be awarded it twice.

Work at the Radium Institute

For radioactivity research, the Radium Institute was established shortly before the First World War began. World War. Curie worked here in the field of basic research into radioactivity and its medical applications. During the war years, she trained military doctors in radiology, for example, to detect shrapnel in the body of a wounded person using X-rays, and supplied portable ones to the front line. Irene, her daughter, was among the doctors she taught.

last years of life

Even in her old age, Marie Curie continued her work. short biography these years are marked by the following: she worked with doctors, students, wrote scientific works, and also released a biography of her husband. Marie traveled to Poland, which had finally gained independence. She also visited the USA, where she was greeted with triumph and where she was given 1 g of radium to continue her experiments (its cost, by the way, is equivalent to the cost of more than 200 kg of gold). However, interaction with radioactive substances made itself felt. Her health deteriorated, and on July 4, 1934, Curie Marie died of leukemia. This happened in the French Alps, in a small hospital located in Sancellemose.

Marie Curie University in Lublin

The chemical element curium (No. 96) was named in honor of the Curies. And the name of the great woman Mary was immortalized in the name of the university in Lublin (Poland). It is one of the largest state-owned higher education institutions in Poland. Marie Curie-Skłodowska University was founded in 1944, and there is a monument in front of it, shown in the photo above. The first rector and organizer of this educational institution became associate professor Heinrich Raabe. Today it includes the following 10 faculties:

Biology and biotechnology.

Art.

Humanities.

Philosophy and sociology.

Pedagogy and psychology.

Geosciences and spatial planning.

Mathematics, physics and computer science.

Rights and management.

Political Science.

Pedagogy and psychology.

More than 23.5 thousand students chose Marie Curie University to study, of which about 500 were foreigners.