marie curie
Storyboard Text
- Marie and Pierre Curie discovered two new elements, polonium, and radium, in 1898. It took them years to fully prove that these were actually elements and many people actually tried to give all of the credit to Pierre instead of both of them.
- “Neither of us could foresee that in beginning this work we were to enter the path of a new science which we should follow for all our future.”
- Henri Becquerel and Pierre Curie were both nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics because of their work onBecquerel raysbut Marie was not. It wasn't until a member of the nominating committee wrote to Pierre and told him about the situation that she was nominated. All three of them were awarded the prize, however, the Curies' citation completely avoided mentioning their discovery of polonium and radium. They still only let Pierre deliver a lecture about their work when they got their awards but he made sure to distinguish between his work and Marie's.
- “I am one of those who believe with Nobel that mankind will derive more good than harm from the new discoveries.”
- OnApril 19, 1906, Pierre Curie, tragically passed away after getting run over by a horse-drawn wagon. Marie was offered a state pension from the French Government. Marie adamantly refused to accept this support as she was perfectly capable of supporting her family on her own and she returned to work only a few days after Pierre's funeral. Sorbonne University offered Marie to take up Pierre's academic post which she accepted and became the first female professor at the university. During her first lecture, many people showed up to hear how she would fare after becoming widowed. Marie, however, did not speak about anything but the developments of physics in the past decade.
- “When one considers the progress that has been made in physics in the past ten years, one is surprised at the advance that has taken place in our ideas concerning electricity and matter....”
Over 30 Million Storyboards Created