Philip Steele

World History Biographies: Marie Curie: The Woman Who Changed the Course of Science - National Geographic World History Biographies Philip Steele

Marie Curie was the first person to receive two Nobel Prizes for science, and her work still influences our understanding of physics, medicine, and chemistry.


Born Marja Skodowska in Poland in 1867, she studied in Paris, France, where she changed her name to Marie. In 1895, she married Pierre Curie, and the couple's pioneering work on the invisible radiation given off by uranium lead to the discovery of radioactivity. Marie Curie later discovered the elements radium and polonium. She died in 1934, following extensive exposure to radioactivity.


This lively and engaging biography brings the reader into Marie Curie's world through personal diaries, school reports, family photos, and revealing quotations.

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