Snapshots in History: November 7: Remembering Marie Curie, Double Nobel Prize Winner
November 8, 2013 | John P. | Comments (0)
(Credit: The Genius of Marie Curie (BBC))
On November 7 and beyond, take a moment to remember and acknowledge the contribution of an exceptional scientist named Marie Curie (also known as Marie Sklowdowska-Curie) (Born: November 7, 1867 at Warsaw, Poland; Died: July 4, 1934 at Passy, Haute-Savoie, France). Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win a Nobel Prize in two fields (physics in 1903 (one half of the prize shared with her husband Pierre Curie with the other half going to Antoine Henri Becquerel – all for work on radioactivity and radiation); and, chemistry in 1911 (singularly awarded for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium and the isolation of the element radium)), and the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. Ultimately, her work contributed to her death from aplastic anemia likely due to long-term radiation exposure, including storing unshielded test tubes with radioactive content on her person and in her desk drawers as well as her work during World War One developing mobile X-Ray (radiography) units known as the “petites Curies”. Consider the following titles for loan from Toronto Public Library collections:
Marie Curie and her daughters: the private lives of science’s first family / Shelley Emling, 2012. Book. Adult Non-Fiction. 540.9252 CUR EML
Polish-born Marie Curie’s wins of both the Nobel Prizes in Physics (with husband Pierre) and Chemistry speak for themselves as indicators of an accomplished scientist. However, her daughters were also accomplished individuals with Irene also a Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry (whose work contributed to the development of the atomic bomb) and Eve, a well-regarded humanitarian and journalist.
(This title was also reviewed in Salute to International Women’s Day! Selected Biographies and Memoirs of Women.)
Radioactive : Marie & Pierre Curie, a tale of love & fallout [1st ed.] / Lauren Redniss, 2010. Book. Adult Non-Fiction. 540.92 CUR RED
Read the dual romantic and scientific biography of scientists Marie and Pierre Curie that stressed the importance of their work in radiation and radioactivity for the modern world as well as their personal relationship.
Marie Curie: a biography / Marilyn Bailey Ogilvy, 2010. Book. Adult Non-Fiction. 540.092 CUR OGI
Follow the story of bright, young Maria Sklowdowska trying to get an education in Poland under the domination of Czarist Russia as well as her move to France where she meets and collaborates with fellow scientist Pierre Curie whom she marries as they were kindred spirits in both religion and science. Marie Curie becomes the first female professor at the Sorbonne following her husband’s untimely death due to a traffic accident in 1906. Science historian Ogilvy discusses the controversy amongst some scientists about Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize awards; they charged that Pierre Curie performed the work. Learn more about Marie Curie’s initiative to establish radium institutes as well as mobile X-ray units for the French army during the First World War. Friend and admirer (of her accomplishments) Albert Einstein paid tribute to Marie Curie a year following her death in 1934.
