MARIE CURIE — A LIFE DEVOTED TO SCIENCE
Isn’t it true that there are people in everyone’s life who inspire them or whom they admire? One of the names that comes to my mind is “Madame Curie.” Are you ready to enter the world of this woman who pursued her passion relentlessly?
Hold tight! Your journey full of science and passion is about to begin.
HER FAMILY, CHILDHOOD AND POLAND
“Maria Salomea Sklodowska,” the 5th child of an educator family, was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1867. Her father, who constantly talked about science, the mysteries of nature, geography, and mathematics, engaged his children with playful teaching games.
Maria, at a very young age, taught herself to read and write and was always a standout student with her intelligence, graduating from high school with top honors.
In Russian-occupied Poland, girls were not allowed to attend university. Therefore, Maria made a pact with her sister Bronia. Maria would stay in Warsaw to earn money and send Bronia to study medicine in Paris. Once Bronia graduated, she would bring Maria to join her.
Her only dream was to attend Sorbonne University, and she worked tirelessly for it. Finally, the letter she had been waiting for from her sister arrived. During a period of hesitation about going to Paris, she encountered a teacher who allowed her to use the physics laboratory, further fueling her passion for science and experimentation.
At the age of 23, she found herself on a train bound for Paris, following her passion.
PARIS, SORBONNE UNIVERSITY AND PIERRE CURIE
For Maria, the most beautiful and significant aspect of Paris was its university. She was now freer than ever; she could attend any class she desired and join lectures at her convenience. She felt a sense of control over her destiny during this period and believed she had the strength to overcome any obstacle. In fact, she did something that many women of her time dared not do — she started living on her own.
Her residence was always filled with male students, and even her classmates were mostly male. In an era dominated by men, she was one of the two hundred girls among nine thousand students. When she graduated from the science department in 1893, there was only one other female student who received a diploma alongside her.
Contrary to what everyone expected, Maria did not return to Poland. Instead, she continued her studies and completed her degree in Mathematics. It was rare for anyone to graduate from two different departments at that time, but she achieved it. She wanted to conduct experiments, but who would entrust their laboratory to a woman? Except for the occasional use of her own laboratory by a supportive professor, NO ONE.
It was precisely during this time that she met Pierre Curie, the head of the School of Physics and Chemistry laboratory, who had discovered piezoelectricity. Their shared interest in science, common goals and pleasures, and shared dreams brought Pierre and Maria closer together. In 1895, they got married, and Maria Salomea Sklodowska became Madame Marie Curie.
THE HISTORICAL JOURNEY TO NOBEL PRIZE
In 1896, about a year after obtaining her teaching diploma, Marie, who aspired to do a physics doctorate on the subject of steel, changed her doctoral thesis topic to uranium. This decision came after she came across reports of German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen’s discovery of X-rays and French physicist Henri Becquerel’s discovery of spontaneous radiation from uranium.
In 1897, with the birth of their first daughter Irene, Marie took a break from her work. However, she soon returned to her laboratory. Upon her return, they decided to measure how much radiation uranium minerals emitted. Since pure uranium was difficult to find, they went through great efforts to obtain uranium from a special mineral called “pechblende.”
The couple conducted numerous experiments and found that the energy emitted by pechblende was higher than what uranium alone could produce.
After concluding that pechblende contained two different hidden elements, in July 1898, the couple announced the discovery of a new radioactive element, which they named “Polonium,” inspired by Marie’s homeland, Poland.
In September 1898, they isolated a second radioactive element, which they named “Radium,” derived from the Latin word “radius,” with the help of French chemist Eugene Demarçay’s spectroscopy method.
It took the Curie couple four years of hard work to obtain only 100 milligrams of radium salt. In 1902, they announced their success in purifying radium.
NOBEL PHYSICS PRIZE
Based on the results of her research, Marie defended her doctoral thesis titled “Recherches sur les Substances Radioactives” (Research on Radioactive Substances) in June 1903, becoming the first woman in France to receive a doctoral degree in the field of advanced science. Her thesis had 17 editions published in 5 different languages within a year.
In November of the same year, she received news that Antoine Henri Becquerel and Pierre Curie had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on radioactivity. However, Marie Curie’s name was not included in the official document solely because she was a woman.
Pierre Curie took action and wrote a letter to the Swedish Academy. He emphasized that his wife conducted her research autonomously and independently, urging the Academy to correct their mistake and grant her the award as well. He stated that he would not accept the award if they did not acknowledge Marie’s contribution to the research.
Thus, Marie Curie became the first woman in history to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics. Unfortunately, at the award ceremony held in Sweden, Marie Curie was not allowed to speak, and her husband, Pierre Curie, delivered the speech on her behalf.
In 1904, Pierre Curie started teaching at Sorbonne University, while Marie began working as a physics teacher at a girls’ school in Sèvres. Towards the end of the same year, their second daughter, Eve, was born. Similar to their father’s approach, the Curie couple educated their two children with educational games on various scientific subjects.
During this time, both Marie and Pierre started experiencing health issues related to radiation exposure. Pierre Curie was weakening, and he complained of pains. In April 1906, on a rainy day, Pierre Curie decided to walk to the university. However, due to his illness and difficulty in walking, he couldn’t evade an oncoming horse-drawn carriage, which a healthy person might have avoided with reflexes, resulting in an accident from which he couldn’t escape.
AFTER PIERRE
After becoming a widow with two children, Marie accepted the offer to take over her late husband’s teaching position at Sorbonne. In doing so, she became the first female faculty member in France and, in 1908, the first female professor at Sorbonne.
On the day of Marie’s first lecture, the amphitheater was packed. Everyone wanted to witness the historic moment of a woman delivering a lecture at Sorbonne. When Marie finished her lecture, the amphitheater erupted in applause after a brief silence.
Having determined the atomic weight of radium after isolating it, Marie published an investigation on radioactivity. Her work also demonstrated that one element could transform into another after undergoing radioactive processes, opening up an entirely new chapter in the field of chemistry.
Starting from 1910, recognizing the healing effects of radium in medicine, an initiative was taken to establish international standards for measuring radium. During the meeting of an international expert committee held in Brussels, Marie Curie’s name was proposed to take charge of the task.
1911 SOLVAY CONFERENCE
In 1911, Marie became the first woman to attend the prestigious Solvay Conference, a gathering of the world’s leading physicists and chemists, held in Belgium. The topics of the first conference were radiation and quantum physics.
However, in a male-dominated society, it was not easy for her to establish herself, no matter what she did. Many people claimed that Marie only recounted Pierre’s work and had no influence of her own.
Marie applied to become a member of the French Academy of Sciences, of which Pierre had been a member at one point. Physicist Emile Amagat, a member of the academy, firmly stated that women could not be part of the French Academy of Sciences and defended this position vehemently. His argument influenced some members, and Marie lost the vote by a margin of two votes.
NOBEL CHEMISTRY PRIZE
The conservative and reactionary circles in France had been grinding their teeth against this powerful woman, branding her as “Polish,” “foreigner,” and even “Jewish” for a long time, sparing no effort to undermine her. The news of Marie’s scientific achievements and her newly received award was overshadowed by a love story.
The news about Marie Curie and Paul Langevin, who was a former student of Pierre Curie and a close friend of Albert Einstein, made headlines on the front pages of newspapers with the title “Love in the Laboratory.” All of this happened just a few days before Marie was to receive her second Nobel Prize. Due to this sensational situation, the Nobel Prize Committee requested that Marie not come to Stockholm to personally receive her award. Marie’s response, as always, was courageous;
“This award was given for the discovery of radium and polonium. I do not believe there is any connection between my scientific life and my private life. The fact that recognition for scientific work is being rejected based on rumors and allegations about my personal life is something I cannot accept.”
In December 1911, she traveled to Stockholm with her daughter Irene to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In her speech there, she emphasized that she never underestimated the assistance of Pierre Curie and announced that the hypothesis of radioactivity being an inherent property of atoms was her own work. Thus, Marie Curie became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize and also the first scientist to be honored with two Nobel Prizes.
ALBERT EINSTEIN and MARIE CURIE
After first meeting in 1911, Albert Einstein and Marie Curie became business partners for nearly 25 years. Einstein was also one of Marie’s greatest supporters. In the face of challenging times due to the news circulating about her, Einstein wrote her a letter to show his support.
“Highly esteemed Mrs. Curie,
Do not laugh at me for writing you without having anything sensible to say. But I am so enraged by the base manner in which the public is presently daring to concern itself with you that I absolutely must give vent to this feeling. However, I am convinced that you consistently despise this rabble, whether it obsequiously lavishes respect on you or whether it attempts to satiate its lust for sensationalism!
I am impelled to tell you how much I have come to admire your intellect, your drive, and your honesty, and that I consider myself lucky to have made your personal acquaintance in Brussels. Anyone who does not number among these reptiles is certainly happy, now as before, that we have such personages among us as you, and Langevin too, real people with whom one feels privileged to be in contact. If the rabble continues to occupy itself with you, then simply don’t read that hogwash, but rather leave it to the reptile for whom it has been fabricated.
With most amicable regards to you, Langevin, and Perrin, yours very truly,
A. Einstein
P.S. I have determined the statistical law of motion of the diatomic molecule in Planck’s radiation field by means of a comical witticism, naturally under the constraint that the structure’s motion follows the laws of standard mechanics. My hope that this law is valid in reality is very small, though.”
This letter from a good friend like Einstein was enough to lift Marie out of the depression she was experiencing, at least to some extent.
PETITES CURIES
In 1914, the Radium Institute (now known as the Curie Institute) was established at the University of Paris, and Marie Curie was appointed as its first director. Throughout her life, she emphasized the importance of radium in medicine.
During World War I, Marie Curie designed 18 portable mobile X-ray machines that could be used to treat wounded soldiers in the front lines. These machines allowed doctors to detect broken bones, bullets, and shrapnel more easily.
Marie, along with her daughter Irene, taught young women about X-ray technology and demonstrated how to use radiology equipment to physiotherapists in a war setting. She operated and repaired these machines herself. During the war, she also set up 200 permanent X-ray stations.
AFTER WORLD WAR I and THE RADIUM INSTITUTE
During the war, Marie Curie made the most of her knowledge, both technically and practically, to be of great use. She even managed to utilize the radon gas emitted by radium in a beneficial manner. Like an exemplary French citizen during World War I, she fought passionately and unhesitatingly spent all her wealth on materials, as she did not receive any support from the government.
Her daughter, Irene, was awarded a military medal by the French government for her work in hospitals during the war. However, Marie herself did not receive any official award or recognition.
In 1918, all preparations for the Radium Institute were completed, and under Marie Curie’s leadership, a strong team was formed, including Irene. Marie believed that radiology equipment would be of no use unless qualified individuals were trained to operate them. Therefore, she decided to educate women in radiological techniques at the Radium Institute, and as a result, 150 female radiology technicians were trained through the joint efforts of mother and daughter. The institute quickly became an internationally renowned center for nuclear physics and chemistry.
Reaching the pinnacle of her fame, Marie was elected as a member of the Academy of Medicine in 1922. From then on, she focused her research on investigating the chemical structures of radioactive materials and their applications in medicine.
TRIP TO AMERICA
With the emergence of the possibility of applying radioactivity in medicine, radium gained significant commercial value. However, the Curies constantly rejected suggestions to patent the process of obtaining radium. Pierre and Marie Curie could have amassed immense wealth from this opportunity, but they chose to turn it away and never patented it.
They firmly believed that “Radium belongs to all of humanity” and considered patenting to be entirely contrary to scientific principles. For the Curies, scientists had no right to profit from their discoveries. Marie Curie, after years of effort, donated the 1 gram of radium they managed to obtain to the Radium Institute.
“Those who have dreams should not possess material wealth because they should not desire material things. In a well-organized society, after providing everyone with the opportunities they desire, what use is there for money?” Marie said.
Other scientists and American chemical companies seized this opportunity. They began processing radium and then selling it for $100,000 per gram for cancer treatments and military research. Curie could no longer afford the element she had discovered.
Despite her great fame, throughout her entire life, Marie Curie never agreed to be interviewed by any journalists. After losing all her material wealth after the war and with the goal of being able to possess the 1 gram of radium that was the basis of her research, in May 1920, she agreed to an interview for the women’s magazine “The Delineator,” edited by American female journalist Missy Meloney.
Meloney: “If they were to ask you, what is it that you most desire in this world, what answer would you give?”
Marie Curie: “I would wish to have 1 gram of radium to continue my research. But I cannot have it. Radium is not within my means; it’s too expensive.”
Affected by the challenging conditions Marie was facing, Meloney initiated a campaign to secure 1 gram of radium from the 50 grams the United States possessed for the Radium Institute. She worked tirelessly for months, meeting with numerous businessmen and the wealthy. Despite only convincing three businessmen, Meloney didn’t give up. She established the “Marie Curie Radium Fund,” introduced Marie Curie to the public, and called on all American women to contribute to the cause.
And Meloney’s efforts proved successful: within months, over $100,000 was raised in Marie Curie’s name, enough to purchase 1 gram of radium for the Radium Institute in Paris.
Meloney invited Curie to the United States. Despite Marie’s aversion to travel and public attention, she agreed to visit America to express her gratitude to Meloney and the contributors to the fund.
In 1921, for a few weeks, she toured America with her daughters, giving speeches. Everywhere she went, she was greeted with enthusiasm and attention like a star. However, these events were quite demanding for Marie’s tired and frail body. Nevertheless, she completed her tour, and as a result of all the efforts, the most beautiful thing was gifted to her.
On May 20, 1921, in a ceremony held at the White House, 1 gram of radium was presented to Marie by President Warren G. Harding. Marie Curie returned to France with a lead-lined box containing the radium.
According to some sources, on the night before the ceremony, the donation deed is read to Marie, and the moments when the radium donation is made in her name are witnessed. She strongly objects to this, leading to the hasty involvement of a lawyer to amend the deed. A sentence is added to the deed stating that the donation is made on behalf of the Radium Institute in Paris, not directly to Marie.
LAST YEARS OF MARIE CURIE
Marie continued her scientific work at the Radium Institute alongside her elder daughter Irène. Irene, like her parents, had a curiosity for scientific research, and she too found her life’s love in a laboratory. This person was Frédéric Joliot, one of Marie’s students. After marrying, they changed their surnames to Joliot-Curie and collaborated on numerous projects at the institute.
One of Marie Curie’s most significant contributions was demonstrating the necessity of accumulating radioactive elements not only for the treatment of diseases but also to provide resources for nuclear physics research. As a result of her efforts, the gathered radioactive materials became the sole source utilized for research until the emergence of particle accelerators developed in the 1930s.
The Paris Radium Institute’s accumulation of 1.5 grams of radium D and polonium through the years played a significant role in the success of experiments and research conducted in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The Radium Institute nurtured numerous young scientists, including Marie’s daughter and son-in-law. Over time, some of the most significant discoveries of its era were made by scientists emerging from this institute. In fact, the institute also played a pivotal role in providing scientific evidence for the newly proposed theory of Quantum Mechanics during that time.
Scientific research was ongoing in various laboratories of the Radium Institute, and there was a constant sense of competition. They aimed to be the first with their research and to make their names known to everyone. Another radiation researcher, Ernest Rutherford, once said, “I, too, must continue on my way like my competitors; I must publish my current work as quickly as possible to stay in the race. My best competitors in this race are Becquerel and the Curies.”
The Joliot-Curie couple, in 1934, discovered that by bombarding the nuclei of certain elements with alpha particles, radioactive isotopes could be artificially created. As a result, the Joliot-Curie couple became the first to transform stable atoms into radioactive atoms.
Thanks to their discovery, artificial radioactive isotopes could now be obtained through less expensive methods, and the costly and challenging efforts to extract natural radioactive elements from ores would no longer hinder the advancement of nuclear physics.
With their work, the duo won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935. Irene Joliot-Curie became the second woman to receive a Nobel Prize after her mother.
Despite all the work she had done throughout her life, Marie Curie, at times, realized the potential harm that continuous exposure to radiation could cause to human health. However, she couldn’t fully grasp how dangerous it could be, leading to premature death, despite the growing evidence.
When deaths began to occur at the Institute, Marie attributed it to the carelessness of the staff and their exhaustion due to intense work. The only method of protection used at the Institute was metal screens. All Institute staff members were required to undergo periodic blood tests. Even if Marie felt that there was an abnormality in her blood, she rarely conducted complete blood count analyses.
Her health deteriorates further, and the burns caused by working with radium compounds have caused her prolonged suffering. It all began with burns on her fingers from working with radium compounds and these “Green Fairies,” an integral part of Curie’s life, ultimately led her to her final days. Marie Curie, suffering from leukemia due to excessive exposure to radiation, passed away in the town of Savoy, France, in 1934, without seeing her daughter receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Marie Curie left a legacy that spans from foundational discoveries in nuclear physics to the field of Radiology, shaping the progress of modern science.
Her contributions to physics and chemistry were not only through the work that earned her two Nobel Prizes, but also through her lasting impact on the subsequent generations of nuclear physicists and chemists. Marie Curie believed in the principle that scientific discoveries should be offered to humanity without any expectation of personal gain, and she staunchly defended this belief until her passing. This enduring commitment secured her place in the history of science.
The notebooks she kept had been exposed to radiation to such an extent that any researcher examining these notebooks, which are now preserved in lead-lined boxes, would need to wear protective clothing. It is estimated that these notebooks will remain radioactive until the year 3511.
In 1944, the Curie couple was honored with the discovery of the 96th element on the periodic table and its naming as “Curium.”
France, which initially did not admit Marie Curie to the Academy, showed her the respect she deserved in 1995. Her and her husband’s graves were ceremoniously transferred to the Panthéon, which is France’s national mausoleum. After her death, Marie Curie achieved yet another first by becoming the first and still the only woman to be buried in the Panthéon, an honor she holds to this day.
Marie Curie, a close friend of two of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, Ernest Rutherford and Albert Einstein, left a lasting impression on their memories. Upon Marie Curie’s death, both of these figures published tribute writings in her honor.
The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, and the first Nobel laureate whose child also received a Nobel Prize — Marie Curie’s significance can perhaps be most concretely encapsulated by Albert Einstein’s words:
“Marie, among all the famous personalities, is the only one who has remained unchanged despite the fame she has achieved.”
In a world where women were marginalized, she proved herself not only to the scientific community but to the entire world with her courage, determination, sensitivity, ambition, and achievements.
Marie, who grew up in poverty, lived a life of exile in order to continue her education and prove herself. Even though she was always beneficial to the countries she went to, her constant status as a “foreigner” and “Polish” was portrayed as a crime, and she was often ignored. However, she achieved the impossible and engraved her name in golden letters in a male-dominated world and in the field of science.
It’s difficult to encapsulate Marie Curie’s name in just an article, a film, or a documentary. Marie, who has been an inspiration to many, especially women, has left a profound impact on millions even after her death.
