Marie Curie
had a radiant life in her discovery of radium. She
brought forth an important discovery.
Manya Sklodowska
was born in 1867 in Poland. She, being the youngest of
six, had a hard childhood when her mother died of
tuberculosis. Manya and her sister Bronya grew up
together. With a little help, Bronya and Manya
finished their education.
She married a
French scientist named Pierre Curie and changed her
name to Marie Curie. Together the two scientists made
a great discovery before tragedy happened.
Marie and Pierre,
in their little wooden shed in France, isolated
something called pitch blend. They found one element
that would be the key to their success. This element
is called radium. Now they wanted to try to take a bit
of radium out of the pitch blend to study on its own.
To complete the task of isolation, Marie stirred pitch
blend in a large pot while Pierre analyzed the
element.
In 1902 Marie and
Pierre decided to go to the shed, not to work but just
to check to see if the isolation was going okay. They
reached the shed at the perfect time. On arrival they
saw a beautiful blue light shining through the
door...
RADIUM!
Radium was used
some years ago and now. It was used for a variety of
purposes; treating cancer, an ingredient for
fluorescent paint used for dials on things like
watches, now radium has been replaced for better,
safer medical uses.
That goes to show
you that two people, such as yourself and a friend,
could work for a few years, and discover something
amazing. Try your luck!
