Who Is Marie Curie A Hero

A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Marie Curie exemplifies all of these qualities. Growing up in the late 1800’s Curie outshined all expectations. She became famous for discovering Radium and Polonium and helped pioneer the beginnings of modern science. Marie Curie is a true hero because of how she handled her early struggles in life, her scientific discoveries, her determination in a time when women weren’t appreciated, and her selflessness. Without Marie Curie science wouldn’t be the same. Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland November 7, 1867. Her father, Władysław Sklodowska and her mother, Bronisława Sklodowska were both teachers and emphasized how important
“Science was viewed as a ‘man’s world,’ in part because science was heavily based on math, and women were stereotyped as being poor mathematicians...Dr. Flexner payed a tribute to Mme. Curie, and said that now the doors of opportunity have been thrown open to women one may expect many more will pass through its portals and enter upon a career of science.” (482-483). Even though Marie was under all of these stereotypes about women, she helped change some of these stereotypes and took a huge step in the history of women. Marie was the first woman to win a Nobel prize, and the only woman to win two nobel prizes in two different fields: chemistry and physics. Being such a good influence, Marie taught her daughters, Irene and Eve, to be determined. Her oldest Daughter Irene followed in her mother's footsteps and won a nobel prize. Ongoing with Marie’s achievements, she also was the first women to teach at the Sorbonne University, and the first women in France to earn a Doctor in Science. Marie was and still is a great example of determination to go and follow your dreams no matter the
Curie donated many of her newly developed x-ray units to help soldiers in World War I. She also donated herself and worked directly on site helping wounded soldiers. “The French were especially proud of their ‘Petites Curies’- a fleet of radiology vehicles organized by a physicist-chemist Marie Curie, which brought X-ray technology to the battlefield.” (Toronto Star). Also when the French government asked the public to donate any valuable metals to help fund the war effort, Marie tried to donate her nobel prize medals. Marie was willing to do anything for her country. Furthermore, since Marie wanted to help more women pursue careers in science, she personally trained women to be radiological assistants who worked at the X-ray stations that Marie had established during the war. By the end of World War I, about 1,000,000 soldiers had passed through her units. Not only during the war was Currie selfless, she had been giving since her younger years. When Currie sacrificed herself to work and pay for Bronya’s college tuition, she gave up her dream temporarily to make sure Bronya would get a good education. Currie put others before herself to make sure everything turned out