Marie Curie

She discovered the mysterious element radium. It opened the door to deep changes In the e way scientists think about matter and energy. She also led the way to a new era for medical Knowles edge and the treatment of diseases-Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only y woman to win the award In two different fields (physics and chemistry).Curie's efforts, with her hush band Pierre Curie, deed to the discovery of polonium and radium and, after Pierce's death, the developed NT of Grays. She was fascinated with the work of Henry Becquerel, a French physicals who discovered t hat uranium casts off rays, weaker rays than the grays found by Wilhelm Roentgen. Curie took Becquerel's work a few steps further, conducting her own experiments on uranium rays. She discovered that the rays remained constant, no matter the condition or form of the our annum.The rays, he theorized, came from the element's atomic structure. This revolutionary idea cream Ted the field of atomic phy sics and Curie herself coined the word radioactivity to describe the phone mean. Working with the mineral pitchblende, the pair discovered a new radioactive element in 1898. They named the element polonium. They also detected the presence of another radioactive material I n the pitchblende, and called that radium.In 1902, the Curies announced that they had produced a decide ram of pure radium, demonstrating its existence as a unique chemical element. With their Nobel Prize win, the Curies developed an international reputation for their scientific efforts, and they used their prize money to continue their research. Curie received another great honor In 1911, winning her sec nod Nobel Prize, this time In chemistry. She was selected for her discovery of radium and polonium, a ND became the first scientist to win two Nobel Prizes.