Marie Sklodowska, a brilliant Polish physicist arrived at the School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry in Paris in 1894. It's where she met Pierre Curie, a pioneering physicist known for work on magnetism and crysallography.

Together, they saw in each other shared values - curiosity, purpose, and a strong work ethic. Pierre wrote, "It would be a beautiful thing to pass through life together, hypontized in our dreams...our dream for humanity, our dream for science." These shared values led them to be married and started a journey of scientific discovery that would last a lifetime.

Discovering the Origins of Radioactivity

Aware of the work of Henri Becquerel, who discovered radioactivity in Uranium, they were curious as to why a sample of natural ore containing uranium was more radioactive than its uranium content would predict.

This curiosity led to the discovery of two new elements: Polonium (named for Marie's birth country, Poland) and Radium. Their work ultimately led to the breakthrough insight that atoms - one of the building blocks of all matter - is neither inert nor indivisible.

Being Different, Being Recognized

Pierre and Marie Curie complemented each other. By all accounts, Pierre's strengths were in measurement and instrumentation while Marie's were in chemical separation and purification.

Pierre and Marie Curie shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Henri Becquerel in 1903 for their work on radiation. The original nomination, however, did not include Marie's name. Pierre wrote to the Academy, "If it is true that one is seriously thinking about me (for the Prize), I very much wish to be considered together with Madame Curie with respect to our research on radioactive bodies." Marie later went on to become the first and to this day the only person to win two Nobel Prizes in scientific categories. Her second Nobel Prize was in Chemistry in 1911 for the discovery or the two new elements, Polonium and Radium.

Changing the World

The story of the Curies is one of world-changing success. Theirs was a professional collaboration based on respect for each other's strengths, and a romantic relationship inspired by shared values.

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[1] https://www.nobelprize.org/stories/women-who-changed-science/marie-curie/

[2] https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/themes/marie-and-pierre-curie-and-the-discovery-of-polonium-and-radium/