Pioneers of Power: Marie Curie

Early Life

Moving to Paris

Eventually, her sister moved to Paris and shortly afterwards offered Maria lodgings. She jumped at the chance and enrolled at Sorbonne University before making the move to the French capital in 1891.

At university, she read physics and mathematics and discovered a love for the subjects as well as an insatiable thirst for learning.

In 1894 she met Pierre Curie- a scientist working in the city and the two fell in love. They married a year later, and this is the time when she adopted the French spelling of her name. Forever onward she would be known as Marie Curie. 

Changing the World

The married couple soon worked together as researchers at the School of Chemistry and Physics in Paris where they carried out pioneering work into the invisible rays produced by Uranium.

Marie discovered that uranium rays caused the air around them to conduct electricity and discovered two elements, radium and polonium. It was Marie that coined the term radioactivity.

For her discoveries and work, Marie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She is also the first person to win two and the only person to win in two different fields of science.

Tragically in 1906, Pierre was killed in a road accident. He was hit by a horse and cart while crossing a busy street and fell under the wheels where he was mortally wounded. Marie was devastated by Pierre’s death and afterwards devoted her life to her work. The University of Paris in tribute of her husband made Marie the first woman professor to ever teach there. 

World War One

In 1914, the dark shadow of war fell over the world. The slaughter on the Western Front spurred Marie to try and help the French war effort.

She developed mobile x-ray units and radon gas syringes to sterilize wounds and assist injured troops. Her inventions helped save many lives.

Over a million soldiers were treated with her X-ray units but despite her contributions, she was never formally recognised for them by the French government. 

Later life

After the war, Marie travelled the world delivering lectures and promoting her research. She was well-received in the United States whilst trying to raise funds to continue her research on Radium.

In her later years, she headed the Radium Institute, now Curie Institute, a radioactivity laboratory created for her by the Pasteur Institute and the University of Paris. Over the next few years, the institute produced more Nobel Prize winners including her daughter Irene and her son in law Joliot-Curie.

In 1925 she returned to Poland where she attended a ceremony for the laying of the foundations of Warsaw’s Radium Institute. She would return in 1929 after equipping it with radium and was there for the opening in 1932. Her sister became its director.

Marie also became a member of the League of Nations group on intellectual cooperation and coordinated with other eminent scientists of the time such as Albert Einstein. 

Death

The harmful effects of radiation were not known at the time of Marie’s work and much of it had been done with none of the safety measures we use today. Marie would often carry test tubes containing radioactive isotopes in her pocket or store them in her desk. She was also exposed to X-rays from her work during the war.

Marie Curie died on July 4^th, 1934 aged 66 as a result of leukaemia caused by the action of radiation.

Marie Curie went on to win numerous awards and accolades and as well as being a pioneer of power she was truly a pioneer for women in education and science. Her scientific achievements undeniably changed the world forever. Without her, likely, we wouldn’t have nuclear energy or many of the innovations that her work helped bring into existence. 

Further Reading

Pioneers of Power – Nikola Tesla

Pioneers of Power – Michael Faraday

Pioneers of Power – Benjamin Franklin

Pioneers of Power – William Gilbert

Dyball Associates are proud to help new supply businesses successfully launch in the UK market.

Through our energy market consultancy services, and the software we've developed, we're supporting new UK electricity and gas suppliers get set up and start supplying.

Follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date with the latest news and updates in the energy industry.