MARIE CURIE

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less."

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Marie Curie’s relentless resolve and insatiable curiosity made her an icon in the world of modern science. Indefatigable despite a career of physically demanding and ultimately fatal work, she discovered polonium and radium, championed the use of radiation in medicine and fundamentally changed our understanding of radioactivity.For her research in “radiation phenomena,” Curie became, in 1903, the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize. In 1911, for the isolation of radium, she was awarded another Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry. She was and still is the only person to be awarded Nobel Prizes in two scientific categories. Some authorities tried to deprive Marie of her rightful awards because of gender biases. However, she ultimately got what she deserved. Her efforts helped battlefield surgeons to save lives of X-ray wounded soldiers in World War I, too! She is a woman who changed science.