Marie Curie: Physics and Chemistry Nobel Prize Winner
- cca.womeninstem
- Jan 15, 2021
- 2 min read
A pioneer in the research for the cure for cancer with her experiments in radioactivity, Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. On top of her initial Nobel Prize in Physics, Curie later won another Nobel Prize in Chemistry, making her also the first person to ever win two Nobel Prizes. Marie Curie met the scientist and her future husband, Pierre Curie, in 1984, marrying him a year later. The couple became researchers at the School of Chemistry and Physics in Paris, looking into a new phenomenon that had been discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel on invisible rays given off by uranium. Becquerel had shown that these rays were able to pass through solid matter, fog, and photographic film, and caused air to conduct electricity. Marie noticed that the samples of a mineral containing uranium ore called pitchblende were more radioactive than pure uranium. Pierre and Marie ground these samples up, dissolved them in acid, and eventually extracted a black powder (and a new chemical element) called polonium. Through a similar method, the Curies also isolated radium. In 1903, they shared the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of radioactivity with Henri Becquerel.

Pierre’s sudden death in 1906 drove Marie Curie to focus heavily on her work, and she became the first woman to teach at the college Maison de Sorbonne (becoming a Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences). With her continued work in radioactivity, Marie Curie went on to win another Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. During WWI, Marie also worked with her daughter Irene on developing the use of x-radiography, which later became important in nuclear physics and chemistry. Curie’s death in 1934 was caused by leukemia, likely due to her excess exposure to radiation, but her contributions to physics are still celebrated today. Through her significant research, signified by her two Nobel Prize awards, Marie Curie paved the way in both the physics and chemistry fields. Her work in discovering radium and polonium also contributed greatly to the advance in finding cancer treatments. Curie faced many battles against sexism in her time, with her male counterparts not seeing her as equal despite her vast intelligence, and her perseverance in spite of this shows her great tenacity. Her impact in chemistry and physics is still apparent, and her success in a male-dominated field provides a vital historical role model for young women today.
Works Cited
Marie Curie - Notable Women in History Series, www.arcadiapublishing.com/Navigation/Community/Arcadia-and-THP-Blog/March-2017/Marie-Curie-Notable-Women-in-History-Series.
“Marie Curie.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 3 Nov. 2020, www.britannica.com/biography/Marie-Curie.
“Marie Curie the Scientist: Biog, Facts & Quotes.” Marie Curie, www.mariecurie.org.uk/who/our-history/marie-curie-the-scientist.
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