Marie Curie

This paper is a biography of Marie Curie's life, as well as her work and impact in the fields of physics and chemistry. It also pays particular notice to radioactivity. The paper is based on the strong theme that "nothing in life is to be feared, only understood," a quote attributed to Marie Curie herself.

From the Paper:

"Marie's childhood was not a perfect one by any means. She was the fifth child in her family, and soon after she was born, both of her parents lost their jobs as teachers. Despite losing their jobs, Marie's parents still managed to instill into their daughter the value of education, and had taught her to read by age 4. Her parents also instilled in Marie a sense of duty. This, combined with the family's economic circumstances lead Marie to lead "the most Spartan of lives." ["Marie Curie", Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres de la Republique Fran?aise, 1.] Marie's childhood continued to be harsh, as she had to deal with the deaths of both her mother, and one of her sisters by age 11. This only served to create a sense of "agnosticism that would later bolster her faith in science," ["Marie Curie", Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres de la Republique Fran?aise, 1.] however. Despite the many setbacks that seemed to litter her childhood, Marie persevered. In spite of the long hours she spent helping cook meals for the boarders that her family had taken in, at age 15, Marie won a medal for excellence at her high school, where the examinations where administered in Russian. She dreamed of someday becoming a scientist-something that was not socially-acceptable for women to do in Poland in the 1880's."