Marie Curie: Relentless Pioneer of Radioactivity

Marie Curie arrived in Paris with almost no money, studying by candlelight and often fainting

from hunger. As a woman in science at the turn of the 20th century, she was excluded,

dismissed, and underestimated. Yet her curiosity was relentless. She discovered two

new elements — polonium and radium — and pioneered the science of radioactivity, a term she herself

coined. When she won her first Nobel Prize, some tried to deny her credit.

She kept working. She won a second Nobel in a different field — an achievement still unmatched.

During World War I, Curie didn’t stay in laboratories. She developed mobile

X-ray units and trained nurses, helping save thousands of soldiers’ lives. She never patented