Marie Curie Accomplishments

Marie Curie

Marie Curie was a medical physicist from Warsaw, Poland. (Schley) She earned her doctoral degree in Paris, France at Sorbonne University, being the first woman in Europe to earn a doctorate. During her career, Marie earned two Nobel Prizes, her first was awarded to her in 1903 along with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel for physics. Marie’s second Nobel Prize was awarded to her in 1911 for her work in chemistry. (Aronson) She received honorary doctorates from Yale University and Columbia University. (Cullen) Marie paved the way for women to enter the field of science because of her countless outstanding deeds. (Aronson) There were social, economic, and cultural influences on Marie Curie which affected her lifetime achievements.
During the time of Marie’s childhood, Russia dominated Poland. The Russians attempted to do away with all Polish culture, but Marie’s parents insisted on teaching their children about their Polish culture and heritage. Marie gained life long self identity and confidence from knowing her roots. (Cullen) Due to the fact that Marie’s parents were deeply patriotic, they lost a large sum of money supporting their countries fight to gain independence from the Russian, Austrian, and Prussian regimes. (Schley) Although Marie’s heritage was an obstacle for her, her gender was more of an issue. During this time period, Marie “advanced the credibility of women scientists in an era when gender equality did not exist.” In Poland, Marie was not allowed to acquire higher education after graduating secondary school at age fifteen due to the fact that she was a woman. Marie was not taught any pre-requisite courses because she was female, as a result, Marie taught other women methods to educate themselves in courses that were traditionally only for men. (Aronson) Women could not get further education in Poland, therefore, Marie joined a Flying University. Flying Universities were “revolutionary organizations that held clandestine meetings during which Polish patriots taught each other subjects such as mathematics, history, and science.” Marie decided to better herself and go to France with her sister to obtain an
During her childhood, Marie was forced out of her own bedroom because her father had lost his job, and the family took in boarders to increase their income. Marie and her sister traveled to France to receive an education at Sorbonne University. Marie worked to pay for her sister’s schooling, and her sister returned the favor. Once she was enrolled in college, Marie rented her first very cold, dark apartment due to the fact that the two hour commute each day was taking too much time away from her studies. Her apartment was far from nice, but it gave her schooling advantages, which Marie was in favor of. She needed to save as much money as possible, therefore, Marie was on a frugal diet and walked to avoid transportation fees. She went to the library at night to study because her apartment was very cold and dark. When Marie was finally able to decide on her doctoral thesis, she had an unfair advantage because she had limited supplies to work with, although, she did not let this affect her choice. Marie worked with Pierre for four years attempting to isolate radium in a shed outside of Sorbonne University. (Cullen) The shed was leaking, drafty, old, and was poorly ventilated. (Aronson) “Marie set up a pine table with her limited supply of scientific equipment and spent many years performing world-class research under these barely tolerable conditions.” Marie and Pierre’s work was