Recipient of 2 Nobel Prizes, discoverer of 2 new elements, saviour of countless lives; Marie Curie is perhaps the most famous of all female scientists. Her scientific successes are interesting in themselves, but a look into the life and times of Marie Curie provides a fascinating lens through which to view them. Her personal life involves courage, tragedy and even a duel—more fitting for a Hollywood romance film than a scientist.
But as wonderful as Marie Curie was, she didn't work alone. In one of the great scientific partnerships, her husband, Pierre Curie, did research alongside her. Together they shared, alongside Antoine Henri Becquerel, the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Today (26 July 2014) is the 119th anniversary of Pierre Curie and Maria Sklodowska's (Marie Curie) marriage. So, to celebrate this special day let's be curious and find out who the Curies were.
Early Life and Education
Pierre Curie
Pierre Curie was born in Paris, 15 May 1859. His father, Eugène, was a physician and home schooled Pierre who showed impressive intelligence from an early age with clear strengths in maths and geometry. He had completed a maths degree by just 16 and a higher degree by 18! Pierre wanted to go on to complete his doctorate, but financial limitations prevented him. Instead he had to get a job as a laboratory instructor to raise funds first.
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| Maria Sklodowska (16) |
Maria Sklodowska (Marie Curie)
Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland on 7 November 1867 as the youngest of five. Both parents were involved with education, her father being a Physics and Maths teacher and her mother the headmistress of a private girls' school. Sadly this ideal state didn't last. Her mother died of TB in 1878 when Maria was just 10 and her father fired. Despite being incredibly gifted at 15 her education ended. In Poland at the time there was no further education for girls.
She moved in with her uncles, and there found happiness. Along with her cousins she would play music and read in French and Polish. When she did move back to Warsaw, her father was in poverty. She worked as a teacher to help bring in much needed funds. In a bid to continue her education she joined the (illegal) Free University which kept moving so as to avoid capture. To 'pay' for this education she read to women workers in Polish. Again, her skill in languages is evident when she reads also in German, Russian and French.
The university enlightened her to science and she lost her religious beliefs, instead turning to the beauty of science and embracing a curious nature. Paris became her next target. Maria wanted to further her education formally. In order to do this she needed money. Her sister, Bronia, wanted to study medicine and a deal was struck - Maria would fund Bronia's education, then once she graduated Bronia would fund Maria's.
To fund her sister's education, Maria got a job teaching two girls. This led to her setting up a class to teach the local children Polish. But it wasn't just teaching other children that she was doing, her spare time was filled with self-learning, teaching herself Physics, Anatomy and Sociology as well as algebra and geometry. During this time she even managed to find the time to fall in love with Kazimierz Zorawski (her employer's eldest son). His parents forbade this and the romance was short-lived. Three years on, and Bronia was to marry and Maria could finally have her turn at university a further two years on.
Whilst at university Marie (she 'frenchified' her name) studied hard day and night, surviving on a diet that makes that of modern students look positively healthy! In her final exams she scored to in Physics and second in Maths. One of her lecturers, Professor Lippmann invited her to work in his laboratory as an assistant. Eventually she started her own research into magnetism.
Whilst at university Marie (she 'frenchified' her name) studied hard day and night, surviving on a diet that makes that of modern students look positively healthy! In her final exams she scored to in Physics and second in Maths. One of her lecturers, Professor Lippmann invited her to work in his laboratory as an assistant. Eventually she started her own research into magnetism.
Separate Research
Pierre Curie
Pierre developed many theories and was a highly successful physicist before he met Marie Curie. One theory describes how the magnetisation of a paramagnetic material (attracted to a magnet) is inversely proportional to (decreases as something increases) temperature. This means as a magnet or magnetic material is heated, it loses its magnetism (at high temperatures). This is known as Curie's law and is given by an equation including Curie's constant (individual for each material).
Pierre also developed the Curie Dissymmetry Principle. This states that the symmetry of an effect on a system must match the symmetry of the cause of that effect. For example a mixture of small and large stones in space will look the same no matter which direction you look at it from (roughly) as the large and small stones are mixed. Once a gravitational field is applied (cause) the large stones separate from the small stones. The mixture of stones now has a direction that matches the direction the gravity acts. The direction of the gravity determines the direction of the system.
Maria Sklodowska (Marie Curie)
Marie was visiting a Polish scientist when she met Pierre Curie, someone who shared her passion for science and loved (as she did) to discuss the goings-on in the fast-paced world of science. What is so curious about their early relationship is that both were intensely passionate about the same things and both cared deeply about their relationship. However it was their joint desire for independence and deep thought that held them back from furthering the relationship. Eventually Pierre asked Marie to rent an apartment with him and she agreed.
Marie, with Pierre, returned to Poland. Despite caring greatly for each other, they both feared that without commitment the relationship wouldn't work. So they married. In keeping with their 'no frivolities' mind-set, this was done in plain clothes at the town hall.
Marie furthered her education, studying for the French higher teacher's certificate. They both furthered their relationship, discussing everything together from difficulties with their work and general science. Marie was now pregnant with their first child, Irène.
Marie finished her work on magnetism and moved onto a new topic for her doctoral thesis, following on from the work of the Becquerel. Becquerel had identified that certain material radiated energy. This appeared to break a fundamental law of physics - energy can be neither created nor destroyed. What was this energy? Marie simply had to find out. During this research Marie coined a new term: 'radioactive'.
She confirmed a finding of Becquerel's: as the radioactivity (though Becquerel didn't use the term) intensity increases, the surrounding air became more ionised (charged). This is where Marie's relationship with Pierre started to become a partnership. Marie could use Pierre's piezoelectric crystals to measure the magnitude of the ionisation of the air due to radiation. This allowed her to investigate with great precision.
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| "Pitchblende schlema-alberoda" by Geomartin - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. |
!Good Science Practice! In order to investigate radioactivity, Marie used a variety of different uranium compounds from uranium salts to pitchblende (mineral form of uranium oxide) under a variety of conditions. Because Marie used more than one type of uranium compound in different environments she was able to deduce a key fact, that is now fundamental to our understanding of radioactivity. The radioactive properties of these compounds are dependent only on the amount of uranium present, and in no way affected by the structure or compound itself. This could mean only one thing: Radioactivity is an atomic property.
As any good scientist will do, Marie didn't stop with just that finding. She asked another question. As this blog encourages, she was curious. Was uranium the only radioactive atom? To find out she investigated compounds that included atoms similar in atomic weight (average sum of neutrons and protons in an atom; uranium is around 238). She discovered thorium oxide (thorium is in the same period (row) of the periodic table as uranium) also ionised the air around it slightly. Again she used Pierre's piezoelectric crystal to measure this. So uranium wasn't the only radioactive atom.
But, Marie realised that two of the uranium compounds investigated were more radioactive than they should be, if uranium was the only thing making the compound radioactive. The logical explanation for this is that there are other radioactive elements in the compounds other than uranium. Pitchblende was 4 times more radioactive than it ought to be. But nobody had identified another element in pitchblende. That meant the element was present in minute quantities and must, therefore, be very radioactive.
As any good scientist will do, Marie didn't stop with just that finding. She asked another question. As this blog encourages, she was curious. Was uranium the only radioactive atom? To find out she investigated compounds that included atoms similar in atomic weight (average sum of neutrons and protons in an atom; uranium is around 238). She discovered thorium oxide (thorium is in the same period (row) of the periodic table as uranium) also ionised the air around it slightly. Again she used Pierre's piezoelectric crystal to measure this. So uranium wasn't the only radioactive atom.
But, Marie realised that two of the uranium compounds investigated were more radioactive than they should be, if uranium was the only thing making the compound radioactive. The logical explanation for this is that there are other radioactive elements in the compounds other than uranium. Pitchblende was 4 times more radioactive than it ought to be. But nobody had identified another element in pitchblende. That meant the element was present in minute quantities and must, therefore, be very radioactive.
Marie and Pierre Partnership
Marie and Pierre regularly conversed about their work, and Pierre quickly realised his wife was onto something game-changing. Pierre already had a successful science career, but he dropped his current research to join Marie on the hunt for this mystery element.
Together they managed to extract from pitchblende some specks of bismuth alongside this mystery element (turns out bismuth is right next to this element in the periodic table) in July 1898 by distillations and chemical treatment. They called this element polonium, after Marie's home country, Poland. Pierre and Marie published a joint paper announcing the discovery entitled 'On a new radio-active substance contained in pitchblende'.
However, despite polonium being around 400 times more radioactive than uranium there was a problem. Pitchblende was still more radioactive than they predicted. That meant a third radioactive element must be present. Together they searched for this new element. They finally found it along with specks of barium. Unfortunately barium was in the same group of the periodic table as this new element. That meant they had similar chemical properties so couldn't be separated. It was only its radioactivity that allowed it to be differentiated. They needed to make sure it was definitely a new element, so they called in Eugene Demarçay, an expert spectroscopist. He identified unique lines in the spectrum of the sample they gave him that were similar to, but ultimately not, barium. The Curies named this element radium.
Although they were able to identify radium as a new element, they couldn't study its properties beyond that it was radioactive. In order to do this they needed a much bigger sample. And to do that they needed a lot of pitchblende. A Bohemian mine for silver and uranium was their answer. The mine's waste included piles and piles of pitchblende slag. The Curies used their small earnings to pay for it to be transported to Paris.
Pierre got permission to use a disused dissecting room shed, large enough for them to process the vast quantities of pitchblende (dissolve in chlorine solution, filter, repeatedly crystallise). Between 1899 and 1903 Marie (Pierre mainly did theoretical work) processed the pitchblende 20kg at a time. In 1902 Marie had finally produced enough radium (1/10 of a gram) for Demarçay to produce an accurate spectrum for analysis of radium's properties. Marie continued to process 10 tonnes of pitchblende to produce an astonishing 1 gram of radium.
At the same time of this extraction, Pierre was carrying out experiments about radioactivity. One such experiment investigated the effect of a magnetic field on radiation. It was discovered that it splits into three distinct rays: alpha, beta, and gamma. However Pierre was not the only researcher doing this. Becquerel and Rutherford also were working in the field. In fact Pierre worked out beta rays were negative, and Rutherford that alpha rays were positive and gamma neutral (Rutherford also named the rays).
Pierre also discovered that radioactive substances leave non-radioactive substances they come into contact with slightly radioactive. He called this 'induced radioactivity'. Inspired by Becqueral, Pierre decided to put sum radium in his pocket. He discovered it burnt the skin! This led him to investigate further. After experiments and calculations Pierre discovered that 1 gram of radium emitted enough energy to boil water (140 calories per hour). This was the start of nuclear energy.
Together they managed to extract from pitchblende some specks of bismuth alongside this mystery element (turns out bismuth is right next to this element in the periodic table) in July 1898 by distillations and chemical treatment. They called this element polonium, after Marie's home country, Poland. Pierre and Marie published a joint paper announcing the discovery entitled 'On a new radio-active substance contained in pitchblende'.
However, despite polonium being around 400 times more radioactive than uranium there was a problem. Pitchblende was still more radioactive than they predicted. That meant a third radioactive element must be present. Together they searched for this new element. They finally found it along with specks of barium. Unfortunately barium was in the same group of the periodic table as this new element. That meant they had similar chemical properties so couldn't be separated. It was only its radioactivity that allowed it to be differentiated. They needed to make sure it was definitely a new element, so they called in Eugene Demarçay, an expert spectroscopist. He identified unique lines in the spectrum of the sample they gave him that were similar to, but ultimately not, barium. The Curies named this element radium.
Although they were able to identify radium as a new element, they couldn't study its properties beyond that it was radioactive. In order to do this they needed a much bigger sample. And to do that they needed a lot of pitchblende. A Bohemian mine for silver and uranium was their answer. The mine's waste included piles and piles of pitchblende slag. The Curies used their small earnings to pay for it to be transported to Paris.
Pierre got permission to use a disused dissecting room shed, large enough for them to process the vast quantities of pitchblende (dissolve in chlorine solution, filter, repeatedly crystallise). Between 1899 and 1903 Marie (Pierre mainly did theoretical work) processed the pitchblende 20kg at a time. In 1902 Marie had finally produced enough radium (1/10 of a gram) for Demarçay to produce an accurate spectrum for analysis of radium's properties. Marie continued to process 10 tonnes of pitchblende to produce an astonishing 1 gram of radium.
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| "Radium 2" by Mauswiesel - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. |
Pierre also discovered that radioactive substances leave non-radioactive substances they come into contact with slightly radioactive. He called this 'induced radioactivity'. Inspired by Becqueral, Pierre decided to put sum radium in his pocket. He discovered it burnt the skin! This led him to investigate further. After experiments and calculations Pierre discovered that 1 gram of radium emitted enough energy to boil water (140 calories per hour). This was the start of nuclear energy.
In 1903 Marie and Pierre Curie, along with Becquerel received the Nobel Prize in physics "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel". (NobelPrize.org) Neither attended the presentation. Pierre was working, and Marie was ill (though she didn't know it was due to exposure to radiation).
Pierre secured a professorship at the Sorbonne (a university in Paris) off the back of the Nobel. Marie had her second child (following a miscarriage), Eve, aged 38 on 6 December 1905. Marie could have been raking in money as the method she used to extract radium was no in commercial use. However she refused to patent it for the greater good.
Sadly, on 19 April 1906, Pierre Curie was killed when a horse-drawn carriage knocked him down and crushed his skull. He was just 46 years old. Irène was 9 years and Eve 4 months old.
Post-Pierre Years
As one would expect Pierre's death was hard for Marie. He had been not only her husband, but her partner in research and they would while away the hours with long, deep conversations about science and other intellectual pursuits. They would ride their bikes in the country at weekends. They were, in essence, deeply in love.
However, Marie's notable achievements didn't stop coming. In fact some of her most important work was completed after Pierre's death. For a start, Marie was given the professorship Pierre had previously held at the Sorbonne.
Marie began working with one of Pierre's colleagues, Paul Langevin. In 1908 this became more than just a working relationship despite Paul being an (unhappily) married man with four children. Paul's wife threatened to kill Marie. The press eventually got wind of this scandal by intercepting letters between Marie and Paul. The editor of L'Oeuvre, Gustave Téry, was particully harsh. In fact Paul Langevin challenged Gustave to a pistol duel. In a park in east Paris the two turned to face each other, pistols drawn. In perhaps the most anti-climactic way possible, neither fired their pistol. However, it was the end of Paul Langevin and Marie Curie's affair, as Paul broke off the relationship to go back to his abusive family.
Though 1911 wasn't all bad for Marie Curie. She received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discoveries of polonium and radium. This made her the first person to get two Nobel Prizes (to go with the honour of being the first woman to get a Nobel Prize the first time!) In fact this was such a magnificent achievement, that it wasn't until 1972 when John Barden also collected a second Nobel Prize for physics (to date only 4 people have multiple Nobel Prizes). Just to add to her list of Nobel achievements she is also one of only two people to receive two Nobel Prizes in two categories (the other person is Linus Pauling who has two Nobel Prizes in Physics and Peace).
By this time, Marie was suffering from radiation sickness (though it still wasn't identified as such being that radiation had really only just been discovered!) World War I broke out in 1914 and it is here Marie Curie racks up a few more notable achievements.
Marie Curie designed a portable X-Ray machine, raised funds for an ambulance, and went to the front lines with her machine. In 1916 Marie had a fleet of ambulances and a driving license (rare for women in those days). Irène Curie, 18, joined Marie, helping train military personnel to use the new machine (nicknamed Petites Curies. Marie Curie also pioneered the use of radioactive gas as a way of treating diseased tissue.
The Radium Institute in Paris was opened by Marie after the war, for the purpose of research into the uses of radium. Irène was her assistant. The centre became world-leading in research and in 1921 the president of the USA invited Marie to the states. Marie was presented with (she could pick practically anything she wanted) a gram of radium. However, she was presented with a replica. By this time, with the help of the Institute, the hazards of radiation were starting to be understood - hence the replica. The Institute pioneered radium as a method of treating cancers in a method known as curietherapy (now radiotherapy).
Marie Curie (now known as Madame Curie due to her publicity) developed (with the help of Rutherford) a standard for radium. In 1932 she opened a second Radium Institute in Warsaw, Poland with her sister, Bronia, as the director. Marie continued to work at the Institute in Paris with Irène in one of the most successful mother-daughter partnerships in science.
In 1926, Irène married Marie's assistant, Frédéric Joliot making her Irène Joliot-Curie. Like her parents, Irène formed a close working bond with Frédéric as well as a romantic one.
Together, they furthered Pierre's work on induced radioactivity with their discovery of artificial radioactivity. This is almost like the alchemical dreams of old as it can be used to transform one element into another (with strict rules and and the laws of nature to abide by). Their experiment showed that when aluminium was bombarded with alpha particles (two protons and two neutrons) in the form of alpha rays, a neutron would be emitted. This produced an unstable isotope of phosphorous which can decay to form stable silicon.
However, Marie's notable achievements didn't stop coming. In fact some of her most important work was completed after Pierre's death. For a start, Marie was given the professorship Pierre had previously held at the Sorbonne.
Marie began working with one of Pierre's colleagues, Paul Langevin. In 1908 this became more than just a working relationship despite Paul being an (unhappily) married man with four children. Paul's wife threatened to kill Marie. The press eventually got wind of this scandal by intercepting letters between Marie and Paul. The editor of L'Oeuvre, Gustave Téry, was particully harsh. In fact Paul Langevin challenged Gustave to a pistol duel. In a park in east Paris the two turned to face each other, pistols drawn. In perhaps the most anti-climactic way possible, neither fired their pistol. However, it was the end of Paul Langevin and Marie Curie's affair, as Paul broke off the relationship to go back to his abusive family.
Though 1911 wasn't all bad for Marie Curie. She received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discoveries of polonium and radium. This made her the first person to get two Nobel Prizes (to go with the honour of being the first woman to get a Nobel Prize the first time!) In fact this was such a magnificent achievement, that it wasn't until 1972 when John Barden also collected a second Nobel Prize for physics (to date only 4 people have multiple Nobel Prizes). Just to add to her list of Nobel achievements she is also one of only two people to receive two Nobel Prizes in two categories (the other person is Linus Pauling who has two Nobel Prizes in Physics and Peace).
By this time, Marie was suffering from radiation sickness (though it still wasn't identified as such being that radiation had really only just been discovered!) World War I broke out in 1914 and it is here Marie Curie racks up a few more notable achievements.
Marie Curie designed a portable X-Ray machine, raised funds for an ambulance, and went to the front lines with her machine. In 1916 Marie had a fleet of ambulances and a driving license (rare for women in those days). Irène Curie, 18, joined Marie, helping train military personnel to use the new machine (nicknamed Petites Curies. Marie Curie also pioneered the use of radioactive gas as a way of treating diseased tissue.
The Radium Institute in Paris was opened by Marie after the war, for the purpose of research into the uses of radium. Irène was her assistant. The centre became world-leading in research and in 1921 the president of the USA invited Marie to the states. Marie was presented with (she could pick practically anything she wanted) a gram of radium. However, she was presented with a replica. By this time, with the help of the Institute, the hazards of radiation were starting to be understood - hence the replica. The Institute pioneered radium as a method of treating cancers in a method known as curietherapy (now radiotherapy).
Marie Curie (now known as Madame Curie due to her publicity) developed (with the help of Rutherford) a standard for radium. In 1932 she opened a second Radium Institute in Warsaw, Poland with her sister, Bronia, as the director. Marie continued to work at the Institute in Paris with Irène in one of the most successful mother-daughter partnerships in science.
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| Frédéric Joliot and Irène Joliot-Curie From: chimicamica2011.it |
Together, they furthered Pierre's work on induced radioactivity with their discovery of artificial radioactivity. This is almost like the alchemical dreams of old as it can be used to transform one element into another (with strict rules and and the laws of nature to abide by). Their experiment showed that when aluminium was bombarded with alpha particles (two protons and two neutrons) in the form of alpha rays, a neutron would be emitted. This produced an unstable isotope of phosphorous which can decay to form stable silicon.
Marie lived to see this momentous discovery, but on 4 July 1934 she died of leukaemia, aged 66. Had she lived another year, she would have been able to see Irène and Frédéric receive the joint Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1935, 'in recognition of their synthesis of new radioactive elements'. (NobelPrize.org)
The Curies are a fascinating family, with 3 Nobel Prizes in the family, 2 elements, and a legacy that will last for generations to come. It is easy to say that Marie Curie was one of the greatest female scientists of all time, but that is to do her a disservice. Marie Curie is one of the greatest scientists of all times, regardless of gender. But it should also be remembered that Pierre Curie was also a fantastic scientist both in his own right and when regarded with Marie. The Curies were curious throughout their careers and, as a result, led to the betterment of society.
The Curies are a fascinating family, with 3 Nobel Prizes in the family, 2 elements, and a legacy that will last for generations to come. It is easy to say that Marie Curie was one of the greatest female scientists of all time, but that is to do her a disservice. Marie Curie is one of the greatest scientists of all times, regardless of gender. But it should also be remembered that Pierre Curie was also a fantastic scientist both in his own right and when regarded with Marie. The Curies were curious throughout their careers and, as a result, led to the betterment of society.
Curie-ous Fact!
To this day, Marie Curie's notebooks are too radioactive for us to handle without proper protection!
Recommended Reading
Curie And Radioactivity (Big Idea)
This was the primary book I used for researching this article. At only 84 pages long this is a quick read. It focuses mainly on Marie Curie the person rather than the science. However, there is good background on the science underlying the Curies' research.
Madame Curie - A Biography By Eve Curie
Although I have not read this book, I list it as it is the biography written by Marie Curie's daughter, Eve Curie. I have heard it does miss out a lot and is perhaps better described as a hagiography.What do you think about the Curies? Let me know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this post be sure to share it with all your friends via social media. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ using the links at the top right.
If you have any thoughts or questions you'd like to be featured in a future post please let me know via the comments or social media.
And remember, it is all science. So let's be curious.
I don't have anything interesting to share about the Curies, however if you want to conduct your own radioactive experiments you can, apparently, buy samples of uranium ore from Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM
ReplyDeleteOne customer had this to say about it in their review of the product - Patrick J. McGovern: "I purchased this product 4.47 Billion Years ago and when I opened it today, it was half empty."
:D
The reviews on that item are hilarious! I doubt anybody actually bought any, though! Thanks for sharing.
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