INTRODUCTION : WHO IS MARIE CURIE?

Maria Sklodowska was born the 7th of November 1867. Her father was a secondary school teacher. She grew up with a general education and was given extra science lessons by her father. In 1891 she moved to Paris to continue her studies, she also changed her name to Marie. In Paris she obtained Licenciateships in Physics and the Mathematical Sciences. At the school of Sorborne in Paris in 1894 Marie met a professor in science named Pierre Curie, they fell in love and got married on the 25th of July ,1895. The newly wed couple bought their own laboritory (it was a very poor and run down place). There Marie together with Pierre discovered radioactivity. Her descoveries were recognized in 1901 with the Nobel Prize in Physics. On April 19, 1906 Pierre Curie died , his skull was crushed by the wheel of a carriage. This was a very hard time for Marie. Soon after this Marie was given Pierre's job, this was so amazing at the time for no female was ever treated as equal to men. With this newly appointed job Marie was able to share her wisdom with many, as well as continue her own studies about radioactivity. In 1911 Marie Curie was awarded with a second Nobel prize, this time in chemistry, to honor her for successfully isolating pure radium and determining radium's atomic weight. Dr. Marie Curie is NOW known to the world as the scientist who discovered radioactive metals ( Radium & Polonium).