The Early Life of Marie Curie - Research Paper Example

? Research Paper on Marie Curie al Affiliation Marie Curie is a lifelong legend, who left a great legacy for the benefit of the generations after her. Her life story was marked with sadness and triumphs in what she devoted her time and energy. Born at a time of political struggle in her home, which was in Warsaw, Poland, her family’s economic situation was affected by the Russian rule, that Marie and her sister had seek alternative means to access science education, away from home and their family. Marie spent most of her entire life in France, married scientist Pierre Curie, got two kids (Irene and Eve), and devoted her life to scientific research that led to her discovery, and two Nobel prize awards in physics and chemistry. She was a woman subjected to humiliation and discredit because of her affair after the death of her husband. This was associated to her scientific work and was an effort to bring her reputation down. Today, most of her work and discoveries are subjects to reference in medical fields, and have contributed a lot to the evolution of cancer treatment, X rays, and development of nuclear weapons. Keywords: Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, Discoveries, Radium and Polonium, Russian Government, Warsaw, Paris, Sorbonne, Nobel Prize, Radium Institute, Science, Research , Laboratory, X Ray, Nuclear Introduction Marie Curie is one of the greatest role models for women in the contemporary world. She was confronted by numerous plights that continue to impede women’s success in workplace domains to this day. Her life, character, actions, and decisions were shaped up by her experiences as she grew up, the people she interacted with in her early life, and the motivations she had to change people’s ideologies, and prove capable of contributing into the scientific revolution. Women have for a long time been left out in important factors of development. Their perceptions are still ignored to certain extents in the society, which makes them feel that they can only accomplish with the help of great men by their side. Marie broke off from that stereotypical ideology and demonstrated her great intuition and tenacity to succeed in scientific evolution, even in the trying times and circumstances that linked her personal life with her work. Marie Curie passed through difficult and tempting moments, ranging from loosing some her family members at a young age, rejection in studies based on the existing law in her country, catering for her education and her family when she moved to Paris, not to mention the hard decisions she had to make to strike a balance between her work, desires, and family. She confronted her situations with determination and perseverance, despite lack of recognition to her efforts in scientific discoveries, but tactically used any available opportunity to defend her course till she convincingly earned it. The Early life of Marie Curie Marie Curie was originally born in Poland at a time of political difficulties in a place called Warsaw. Marie was the last among five children in her family, and lived between 7th November 1867 and 4th July 1934 (“Polish Girlhood,” n.d.). Her original name was Maria Sklodowska and her childhood nickname was Manya. Numerous wars between the existing European monarchs and the local Poland’s revolts, the resulting treaties, political issues and instabilities had led to disintegration of Poland, which ended up affecting Warsaw’s economic and social structures. The communities and reds of Poland at the time had made numerous attempts for revolution against the dictatorship monarchs, who had deprived them for a long period. Marie was born when Poland was under the Russian government. Russian governors had been placed in charge of different regions of the land, and continued to execute their repressive rule on the people. Warsaw, Lithuania, and Ruthenia were the major active locations in former Poland, whose populations exhibited political demonstrations and uprisings to challenge the Russians. Russian rule gained strength through the support of its allies, who were the Austrian and Prussian monarchs that had divided Poland between themselves in order to exercise their authority, especially in the last half of the 1800s (“Poland Genealogy,” n.d.). Normally, the local Polish people would take any opportunity, whether in holiday gatherings, historic anniversaries, funerals, religious parades among others, to express their solidarity and patriotism to their homeland Poland. The uprisings in places like Warsaw and Lithuania caused more harsh treatment from the Russian government. In Warsaw and for the rest of the country, Russian was made the official language, while Polish autonomy was abolished, Russian governors appointed in charge of the 10 set provinces with central governance in Warsaw (“The Uprising,” n.d.). A large number of people had been forced out of Poland, and others executed, and laid off due to their pro-polish activities; this interfered with the Warsaw’s cultural and economic practices for the population. Early life difficulties Educating a girl child to the higher levels, especially in scientific courses was a taboo under the Russian government. Although Marie finished her high school studies at the age of 15, and graduated with impressive marks, attending a university and accessing the laboratory sciences studies for women was prohibited by the Russian imposed laws (“Marie,” n.d.). Because Russian was already the official language, having classes and examinations being conducted in the language obstructed her great performance, yet she still managed to excel. Prohibition of higher education for women made Marie miss an opportunity for admission in Warsaw university; though their brother Joseph was admitted for a medical course, Marie and her sister (Bronya) joined a group of friends and opted for ‘Floating’ University (an illegal night school that changed its venue classes to different locations to prevent being caught by the Russian government and its czarist authorities) in the pursuit of scientific knowledge, which women were prevented from accessing (“Polish Girlhood,” n.d.). The least she acquired in the night studies introduced her to the science world, and though what they had could never be compared to what Europeans’ higher education offered, she had to get ways of gathering money to further her education in science. That is how she ended up as a governess until at age of 24, during which she raised money to support Bronya in completing her medical degree and later Marie enrolled in Sorbonne University (“Marie”n.d.). Marie’s family lost two dear ones at a very tender age. Apart from the foreign tyranny in her home country, she first lost her elder sister (Zosia) to Typhus and later her mother after a five year battle with Tuberculosis when she was only ten (“Polish Girlhood,” n.d). Although they were catholic faithful’s as a family, Marie felt misplaced and resentful because of the heartbreaks she incurred during the deaths in her family. Before her mother’s death, as a little girl, she could not understand why her mother distanced herself from the rest from family as they grew. She knew her mother was not well and prayed for her consistently, but her behaviors any time she came close to her mother made her feel misplaced. Marie’s mother has refrained from kissing and hugging her own children for fear of spreading TB to them (Pasachoff, 1996). Later on, the feeling of alienation and successive deaths affected her activities and relations. She may have hidden this from her friends and family, but the grief pulled her closer to her books as she distanced herself from others in solitude. Despite the losses, the remaining family even came closer to support each other. Marie learnt a lot from her father, his scientific apparatus that motivated her into laboratory science studies, and the manner in which they interacted to acquire life teachings. For them, playing was part of learning and their father often joined them. Marie’s parents had both worked as school teachers in different schools and earned good salaries to sustain their family. When Marie was born, her mother had to leave her job and ended up entirely depending on her husband as the bread winner. Although her father never participated in armed revolts, he engaged in passive resistance convinced along with his polish intellectuals that polish positivism, which stressed on science education, was one way of creating a social revolution in Poland for a better future and liberation (“The triumphs,” n.d.). He not only lost his job in one of the best paying schools because of pro-polish sentiments, but had to settle for a lesser paying job to cater for his troubled family. The economic situation deteriorated that Marie’s and her siblings’ education was affected and they had to take in borders to minimize costs. The family deeply supported polish autonomy from a distance, and even while working as a governess, Marie conducted private classes to educate the illiterate peasant’s children, without the Russian authorities’ knowledge. Major Parts of Marie’s Life Achievement of her science degrees Around Europe, there was a great desire for engaging in scientific work and discoveries to replace the traditional thoughts with scientific knowledge. By the 1800s, several research centers had been established in the European region, and numerous scientists were dedicating most of their time in universities laboratories, or seeking further knowledge. Various works by Newton, Vasalius, Kepler, Copernicus and Bacon among others, in physics, anatomy, and astronomy led to the societies thought that all knowledge about nature had been gathered for the public. However, the scientific thinking and experiments that spread fast in European universities led to new discoveries and improvements of the former scientists’ work. Despite the scientific field in the universities being dominated by males, the 1800s period saw an increase in the number of women venturing in the fields, with Marie Curie being one of the few who succeeded in taking part in the scientific revolution. Marie followed her sister to Paris, when Bronya had completed her studies; this way; Bronya would be able to return the favor for the support she had received from Marie. She moved to Paris in 1891 at an age of 24; she struggled to learn French within a short period, which improved her communication and performances in her mathematics, chemistry, and physics studies she had enrolled to learn in Sorbonne University (Srinivasan, 2006). At first, her already married sister supported Marie to get started with her studies in Paris, but as the time progressed, the Spartan life she led and the depletion of money she had saved for tuition increased; Marie had to look for a job to maintain her. She was commissioned to study magnetic properties in one of the electricity generating industries in Paris, which required her access to laboratory facilities; she was directed by a friend to Pierre Curie, a laboratory chief in a school of industrial physics and chemistry, who offered Marie laboratory space to conduct her experiments (Mahanti, n.d.). During this time in Paris, she switched her name from Maria/Marya into a French version, Marie. Following a period of intense studies and struggles, she attained a license or degree in physics in 1893, and another license for mathematics in 1894, clinching a first and second position in her class respectively (Mahanti, n.d.). Her second degree was enabled by a polish scholarship awarded to top students. Marriage to Pierre Curie Pierre, the laboratory chief had great experiences in the area Marie had been sent to research on. They both shared similar factors and ideologies, especially the great desires for science and discoveries, spreading the knowledge and helping others. Fortunately, their shared disciplines, space, and working together spurred emotional feelings towards each other, and they fell in love. Marie had moved back to Warsaw after her degree in mathematics following her earlier desire to work as a teacher in Poland, because she had no intention of staying in Paris permanently. However, Pierre never let the bond between them die; he sent her letters in Warsaw convincing her that her decision to leave Paris was abandonment to her promising science career and shared idealist dreams, their friendship, and love; Pierre persuaded her to come back promising a stronger friendship and support in her science work, even if they came together in marriage (Rollyson, 2005). Marie came back towards the end of 1894 and got married to Pierre in a civil ceremony on 26th July of 1895, then settled down in France at Paris (Rollyson, 2005). This marked the beginning of her family and work close to her husband. She was blessed with two daughters in her marriage, Eve and Irene, one of whom followed her mother’s quest in sciences, while the other opted for literature. When Marie became pregnant, despite being weak, she continued with her laboratory assignments until Irene was born in 1897; however, she took care of her baby in the mornings and allowed their servant to be in charge of the baby in the evenings as she got to work on her doctorate degree in science (Rollyson, 2005). She was not able to sustain her next pregnancy due to her work and miscarried. However, it never interrupted her work and she managed to deliver her second child, Eve in 1904; Eve grew to be a great writer who actually recorded her mother’s biography (Wilson, 2011). When Marie lost her husband, her father in law was the family’s next comfort and after a short period of mourning, she devoted her life back to research work in Sorbonne as he left curie’s father to take care of the children. Irene and her husband, who were great pioneers in scientific research that proved the possibility of nuclear fusion, won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in1935, after Marie’s death (Wilson, 2011). Death of Pierre Apparently, the radioactivity rays that Marie and her husband got exposed to while working in the laboratory ripped them off their health. Pierre curie had worked in a laboratory and got exposed to radioactive rays more than Marie. However, its not his illness that had taken away his life, but a horse drawn wagon carrying a six tone load of military uniform that ran over his top skull killing him instantly on 19th April 1906, as he tried to hurryingly cross the slippery street on a rainy day (Mahanti, n.d.). The very day he died, he had a tight schedule to keep, moving from laboratory work in morning to a luncheon meeting in Paris, and a medical care before he met his death. Maria, a professor in Sorbonne Initially, Marie’s husband had worked as a professor in Sorbonne University. The position had been left unoccupied after Pierre’s death; Marie was offered the same position as a professor in physics to replace her husband (becoming the first woman to hold such a position in the university) (Srinivasan, 2006). She accepted the position and graduated from a chief assistant in Pierre’s laboratory. Her first lecture was expected with eagerness by the students, press, and audience, who would witness the first woman conducting her lecture on science in the university. She not only overcame the tragedy of losing her husband, but proved capable of lecturing. Accomplishments with her husband After her earlier degrees, Marie opted to further her studies through a doctorate study in physics, choosing her thesis topic to dwell on radioactive substances of the uranium rays, which were very new in the time, after contribution by Roentgen and Becquerel in their discoveries. By the time Pierre joined her in the research, Marie had already established that uranium was not the only radioactive element. They both went further to study the natural ores that contained uranium and thorium and concentrated on chalcocite and pitchblend (uranium minerals), from which they discovered polonium and radium. Working together, they used procedures of analytical chemistry, radioactivity measurement and with the assistance of a chemist expert (Gustave Bemont), managed to separate polonium from the heated black compound on 18th July of 1898, and few months later on 26th December, radium as the ‘other substance’ left; these were 330 and 900 times radioactive than uranium itself respectively (Steinke, 1987). Most of the activities of purifying the radioactive element were conducted by Marie while Pierre observed the properties of the radiation (Mahanti, n.d.). She was determined and obsessed to find the atomic mass of the radium to prove to the scientists of its existence. She not only managed to produce a tenth of pure radium, but eventually calculated its atomic weight to be 225 in 1902 (Steinke, 1987). In honor to their work and contribution to radiation phenomena, they were awarded a Nobel Prize in physics the following year, in which she also earned her doctorate. Nobel Prize in Chemistry Discovery of radium was not the end of her work on the element, and despite being a professor she further isolated radium and increased knowledge, through the study of its compound and nature for the benefit of science and the public. Although discoveries of polonium and radium were a collaboration of Marie and Pierre, separation of radium into a pure salt for it to be defined as a new element in the Periodic table was performed specially by Marie, though a extension of their earlier work that lead to her great Nobel Prize in 1911 (“Nobel,” 1911). She had earned two honors despite the challenges she faced making her the first individual and to the surprise of most, the first woman to acquire two such prizes in different sciences. Assistance of the French armies in WWI When the war broke out, the manner in which injuries and wounds for fighting soldiers were treated required more civilization and science to save lives. The X- ray machineries in the hospitals were lacking and the few available were very far from the war zones. Marie devised mobile X ray units, put together X ray facilities for Military hospitals in Paris, and equipped the French ambulances with necessary tools to access the wounded within a short time, treat their injuries, and perform surgeries to remove bullets effectively (Runko & Pritzker, 1999). Irene accompanied her mother to the battle front and assisted in radiological work. She followed her mother’s examples in creating X ray machines and using them to treat many wounded men; a period in which she put her studies on hold, but led to her award of a military medal for her support in the course of war (Nies, 2001). It was a period of learning from which numerous women technicians received training on the use of X ray treatments. According to MacGrayne the X ray units had been used to examine more than a million military men, by the time the war ended (1998). The X ray treatment and the assistance of Curie had helped in saving thousands of lives. Completion of her own radium institute Before the war began, a research centre had been built but never began functioning. However, the numerous X ray stations Marie had opened in various locations close to War zones and number of people she had trained became a stepping stone of her future fame and success. She managed to mobilize finances and support in Europe and especially from U.S.A’s wealthy people, female scientists, and New York’s newspaper reports and editors, to an extent that she managed to equip her Radium institute with necessary tools and radium elements to further her research (MacGrayne, 1998). Out of this, numerous scientists came to develop through the institute and even founded other research centers in Poland, Belgium, France, the United States and other locations in Europe. She continued with her research in the radium institute after the war, but due to ill health, left her work to be pioneered by younger scientists. Challenges she faced Marie Curie had developed as a scientist in a time when scientific discoveries and knowledge was viewed as a male dominated field. In spite of her efforts through the choice of radioactive dissertation, establishment of more radioactive elements in Uranium minerals than Uranium itself, and the collaborate work she later undertook with Pierre, she was left out of the nominations for the Nobel Prize physic awards. Pierre had concentrated on the physics part, but Marie had established the facts which they together built on, least to mention that she had dedicated much of her time since she began her dissertation, on the major parts of calculations and purifications of the elements of what was to be recognized as Polonium and Radium elements. Because of sexism, Marie was not recognized as an equal to Pierre and Becquerel. It was discrimination on her part after all her analytical chemistry methods and knowledge she offered, not to mention that Pierre joined her almost halfway into the discovery. Were it not for the honesty and integrity of Pierre, who refused to accept the prize unless Marie was recognized as a woman, she was due to be unfairly ineligible to share the prize with the two men (Ogilvie, 2004). It was a struggle for the acceptance of a woman’s success, which the society had embraced, especially in a field associated with male’s excellence. Einstein, a friend to Marie wrote that she had led to the discovery of the two radioactive elements, and greater scientific understanding of the radioactivity through her ingenuity, but also persistence and energetic perseverance, despite the many challenges she faced (Ogilvie, 2004). After the death of her husband, Marie developed an affair with a married man. This not only led to a scandal which the press gained interest in, but became the reason for her rebuke and negative fame, especially in France. She faced public criticism in Paris and beyond France in accusations of snatching a married man, which was a humiliating challenge that threatened her integrity. This is one area of social life that they never agreed with Einstein, and led to critics over her credibility and her work by other scientists and the public. However, despite the humiliations, she pulled out of the darkest period in her life, appeared in Stockholm to accept the honor of the Chemistry Nobel prize in 1911, disregarding Arrhenius’ (from the Swedish Academy Science) hateful comment over her affair in connection to her Nobel award (Mahanti, n.d.). It was evident that as a woman, she was perceived more as a sexual being, whose personal life and activities would be linked to her work. The damage to her reputation was more severe than that of her male partner in the affair. However, she defended her work and came out strongly to face the criticism and rebuild her reputation once again. Death of Marie The many years she had worked in the laboratory close to the radioactive elements led to her ill health, and ultimately, death. Like most of the family members (Pierre and Irene) and scientists in the radium institute exposed to the radioactive elements, Marie had no idea of the dangers it posed to her health. Before her death in 1934 as mentioned earlier, she had undergone several cataract operations for her eyesight, and also experienced sores on her hands in the course of her researches, distressed breathing and pain in the arms, before severe Anemia that ended her life. Major Important Scientific applications of Curie’s discoveries Marie Curie’s discoveries and contribution in the body of science plays a major role in cancer treatments. Although she could not think or accept the idea that her quest into radioactive materials led to other negative effects, like cases of cancers to those exposed to the substances, she led to the foundation and investigations of cancer treatment. The discovery of the element radium, not only came with the negative effects, but became the miracle drug that could be used to slow down certain illnesses, cancer been inclusive. Radium contributions are realized in radiotherapy for cancers and medical X rays using radium. Due to its medical application and specifically in treatment of malignant tumors, today there exist numerous Marie Curie Cancer Care Centers around Europe named in her honor. In consideration to the high release of energy upon fussion of radium atoms, they are now used in development of nuclear bombs and missiles. Conclusion Marie Curie’s life and contribution in science is a great inspiration to any modern society, and especially women, who still struggle for acceptance in male dominated fields. She and her radium institutes, and care centers have become the source of reference in medical and scientific knowledge. She was not only remarkable to the society she left behind, but was proud of her achievements in science discoveries, extension of knowledge and its application, especially the X ray units during the course of war, and in hospitals, which she had the chance to experience. Although she passed through difficulties of acceptance, denial, sadness, and humiliations in life, she portrays the outstanding image of a great woman who had to endure life challenges and made difficult decisions, despite the unaccommodating environment, to achieve success. Like any woman, numerous factors attached to sexism were used to corrupt her image, just because she was a woman. However, some of her behavior warns the modern women on how to take conscious decisions when engaging in issues that may defame them later. Her actions show that women can rise above the structurally and institutionally set boundaries that hinder their success. Not just by waiting be awarded on mercy, but perform in excellence using their talents, expertise, and resources to achieve success, get into a desired position, mobilize, and influence people and authority for support in a worthy course. Reference List MacGrayne, S. B. (1998). Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous. Washington DC: Joseph Henry press Marie Curie: The First Woman Nobel Laureate. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/scientists/MCurie.htm Marie Curies. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.nndb.com/people/718/000029631/ Nies, A. (2001). Marie Curie. Retrieved from http://www.hypatiamaze.org/marie/c_bio_p5.html Nobel Lecture: Radium and the New Concepts in Chemistry. (1911, December 11). Retrieved from http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1911/marie-curie-lecture.html Ogilvie, M.B. (2004). Marie Curie: A Biography. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/45224505/Marie-Curie-a-Biography Pasachoff, N. (1996). Marie Curie: And the Science of Radioactivity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Poland Genealogy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.progenealogists.com/poland/. Polish Girlhood (1867-1891). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.aip.org/history/curie/polgirl1.htm. Rollyson, C. (2005). Marie Curie: Honesty in Science. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. Runco, M. A., and Pritzker, S. R. (1999). Encyclopedia of Creativity. London: Academic press. Srinivasan, A. (2006). Nobel Laureates. Chenai: Sura books.  Steinke, A. E. (1987). Marie Curie and the Discovery of Radium. New York: Barron’s Educational series. The Triumphs and Tragedies of a Scientific Career. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.hypatiamaze.org/marie/curie_bio.html The Uprising of 1863 and the Era of Positivism. (n.d,). Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20070623205015/http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~koby/political/chapter_19/19_1863up.html. Wilson, S. L. (2011, April 6). A tale of Two Sisters: Eve and Irene Curie. Retrieved from http://www.pajiba.com/pajiba_storytellers/a-tale-of-two-sisters-eve-and-irene-curie.php Read More