Happy Birthday Marie Sk?odowska-Curie!

Happy Birthday Marie Sk?odowska-Curie!

It’s hard to know where to begin when talking about such an stunning woman. A trailblazer, a lifesaver, someone who sacrificed greatly and whose passions drove her to amazing discoveries. Here are just a few of the reasons this woman and her research have profoundly impacted our work: 

• She coined the term “radioactivity.”

• She created techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes (isotopes are integral to some of our imaging processes and some treatments).

• She discovered two elements, polonium (which she named for her beloved homeland, Poland) and radium.

• She was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize.

• She is the only person to receive 2 Nobel Prizes in different sciences – physics AND chemistry. 

• She drove mobile x-ray units (which she designed) on the front lines during WWI to help surgeons tend to wounded soldiers. (Awesome, right?)

• And instead of wedding rings, she and her husband exchanged bicycles. (We just thought that was adorable.)

Oh, and she could hang with the best of them.

So bonne anniversaire Madame Curie! Thank you for your brilliance, leadership and discoveries. We wouldn’t live such rich lives without you. 

PS If you want to read a cool book about her, try this one: Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, a tale of love and fallout by Lauren Redniss.

PPS If Youtube/video is more your style, try here.

Image credit: Marie Curies Nobel Prize Photograph, 1911, published in 1912 in Sweden in Les Prix Nobel via Wikimedia Commons; Copyright Public Domain

Originally published 11/7/13 on mammographykc.com.