Marie Curie (1867- 1934), a French and Polish scientist, studied radioactive phenomena and found two radioactive elements, radium and polonium, and won the Nobel Prize twice in her life. Marie Curie (1867- 1934), a French and Polish scientist, studied radioactive phenomena and found two radioactive elements, radium and polonium, and won the Nobel Prize twice in her life. As an outstanding scientist, Madame Curie has social influence that ordinary scientists do not have. Especially because she is a pioneer of successful women, her model has inspired many people. Many people heard her story when they were young, but they got a simplified and incomplete impression. The world's understanding of Madame Curie. It was greatly influenced by the biography Madame Curie published by her second daughter 1937. This book beautifies Madame Curie's life and deals with all the twists and turns she encountered in her life. American biographer susan quinn spent seven years collecting unpublished diaries and biographical materials, including Madame Curie's family members and friends. Last year, a new book, Maria Curie: A Life, was published, which described her hard, bitter and struggling life in more detail.
Madame Curie: a great scientist who won the Nobel Prize twice.
Marie Curie is an immortal name in the history of world science. This great female scientist, with her diligence and talent, has made outstanding contributions in the fields of physics and chemistry, so she became the only famous scientist who won the Nobel Prize twice in two different disciplines.
First, I entered the University of Paris through self-study.
Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland on 1867. She is the youngest of five children. Her father is a middle school math and science teacher with limited income, and her mother is also a middle school teacher. Mary's childhood was unhappy. Her mother has a serious infectious disease and is taken care of by her sister. Later, my mother and elder sister died when she was less than 10 years old. Her life is full of difficulties. Such a living environment not only cultivated her ability to live independently, but also tempered her very strong character since she was a child.
Mary has been studying very hard since she was a child. She has a strong interest in learning and special hobbies. She never misses any learning opportunities easily, and shows tenacious enterprising spirit everywhere. Since primary school, she has been the first in every subject. 15 years old, graduated from high school with a gold medal. Her father studied physics at St. Petersburg University earlier, and his thirst for scientific knowledge and strong enterprising spirit also deeply nurtured little Mary. She likes all kinds of instruments in her father's laboratory since she was a child. When she grew up, she read many books on natural science, which filled her with fantasies. She is eager to explore the scientific world. But her family at that time did not allow her to go to college. /kloc-started to be a tutor for a long time at the age of 0/9, and taught himself various subjects at the same time. In this way, until the age of 24, she finally came to study at the Faculty of Science of Paris University. With a strong thirst for knowledge, she listened carefully to every class. Hard work has made her worse and worse, but her academic performance has always been among the best, which not only envied her classmates, but also surprised her professors. Two years after entering school, she confidently took the Bachelor of Physics exam, ranking first among 30 candidates. The next year, she won a bachelor's degree in mathematics with the second place.
At the beginning of 1894, Mary accepted the magnetic research project of various steels proposed by the French National Association for the Promotion of Industry. In the process of completing this scientific research project, she met pierre curie, a teacher of Physical Chemistry School, who is a very successful young scientist. The agreement to use science for the benefit of mankind is willing to combine them. After Mary got married, people addressed her as Madame Curie. 1896, Madame Curie finished the post examination for college graduates with the first place. In the second year, she completed the research on the magnetism of various steels. However, she is not satisfied with her achievements, and she is determined to take the PhD exam and determine her own research direction. Stand at a new starting line.
Second, the light of radium.
1896, French physicist becquerel published a work report, which introduced in detail the uranium element he discovered through many experiments. Uranium and its compounds have a special ability to automatically and continuously emit a kind of invisible ray. This kind of ray is different from ordinary light, it can make photographic film sensitive through black paper, and it is also different from X-ray discovered by Roentgen. Without high vacuum gas discharge and high voltage, uranium and its compounds constantly emit rays and radiate energy outward. This aroused the great interest of Madame Curie. Where does this energy come from? What is the nature of this unusual ray? Madame Curie was determined to uncover its secret. From 65438 to 0897, Madame Curie chose her own research topic-the study of radioactive substances. This research project has brought her into a new scientific world. She worked hard to open up a virgin land, and finally completed the discovery of radioactive element radium, one of the most important discoveries in the history of modern science, which laid the foundation of modern radiochemistry and made great contributions to mankind.
In the experimental research, Madame Curie designed a measuring instrument, which can not only measure whether a substance has radiation, but also measure the intensity of radiation. After repeated experiments, she found that the intensity of uranium rays is directly proportional to the uranium content in the material, but has nothing to do with the existing state of uranium and external conditions.
Madame Curie made a comprehensive investigation of known chemical elements and all compounds, and made an important discovery: an element called thorium can automatically emit invisible rays, which shows that the phenomenon that an element can emit rays is not only the characteristics of uranium, but also the same characteristics of some elements. She called this phenomenon radioactivity, and called elements with this property radioactive elements. The radiation they emit is called "radiation". According to the experimental results, she also predicted that minerals containing uranium and thorium must be radioactive; Minerals that do not contain uranium and thorium must not be radioactive. The instrument inspection completely verified her prediction. She excluded those minerals that did not contain radioactive elements, concentrated on those that were radioactive, and accurately measured the radioactive intensity of elements. In the experiment, she found that the radioactive intensity of a pitchblende is much higher than expected, which shows that the mineral in the experiment contains a new unknown radioactive element, and the content of this element must be very small, because this mineral has already been accurately analyzed by many chemists. She resolutely published her findings in the experimental report and tried to prove it through experiments. At this critical moment, her husband, pierre curie, also realized the importance of his wife's discovery, and stopped studying crystals to study this new element with her. After several months' efforts, they separated a substance mixed with bismuth from the ore, which was far more radioactive than uranium, and was later listed as polonium No.84 in the periodic table of elements. A few months later, they discovered another new element and named it radium. However, the Curies did not immediately get the joy of success. When they got a little compound of new elements, they found that the initial estimate was too optimistic. In fact, the content of radium in ore is less than one millionth. Because this mixture is extremely radioactive, substances containing trace radium salts are hundreds of times more radioactive than uranium.
The road to science has never been smooth. For centuries, the discovery of polonium and radium and the characteristics of these new radioactive elements have shaken some basic theories and concepts. Scientists have always believed that atoms of various elements are the smallest unit of matter, and atoms are inseparable and unchangeable. According to the traditional view, the radiation emitted by radioactive elements such as polonium and radium cannot be explained. Therefore, both physicists and chemists are interested in Madame Curie's research work, but they all have doubts in their hearts. Chemists in particular are more rigorous. In order to finally confirm this scientific discovery and further study the properties of radium, the Curies must separate more and purer radium salts from asphalt ore.
All the unknown worlds are mysterious. At the beginning of the study of separating new elements, they didn't know any chemical properties of the new elements. The only clue to find a new element is that it is highly radioactive. Based on this, they created a new chemical analysis method. But they have no money, no real laboratory, only some simple instruments they bought or designed themselves. In order to work efficiently, they conducted research separately. The characteristics of radium are determined by Mr. Curie's experiments; Madame Curie continued to refine pure radium salt.
Where there is a will, there is a way! Any mystery of nature will be revealed by those who stubbornly solve it. At the end of 1902, Madame Curie extracted one tenth of extremely pure radium chloride and accurately determined its atomic weight. Since then, the existence of radium has been confirmed. Radium is a natural radioactive substance, which is extremely difficult to obtain. Its shape is white crystal shining like fine salt. In spectral analysis, it is different from the spectral line of any known element. Radium is not the first radioactive element discovered by human beings, but it is the most radioactive element. Using its powerful radioactivity, we can further discover many new properties of radiation. Therefore, many elements can be further applied to practice. Medical research has found that laser rays have different effects on different cells and tissues, and those rapidly multiplying cells will be destroyed quickly once they are irradiated by radium. This discovery makes radium a powerful means to treat cancer. Cancer is made up of cells that reproduce very quickly, and the damage caused by laser rays is far greater than that caused by surrounding healthy tissues. This new treatment method was quickly developed all over the world. In France, radium therapy is called Curie therapy. The discovery of radium has fundamentally changed the basic principles of physics, which is of great significance for promoting the development of scientific theory and its application in practice.
Third, a heart of gold.
Due to their amazing discovery, the Curies and becquerel won the Nobel Prize in Physics in February 1903. Their scientific achievements are unparalleled, but they are extremely contemptuous of fame and fortune and most tired of those boring social parties. They devoted everything they had to the cause of science, without any selfish interests. After the successful extraction of radium, they were suggested to apply for a patent right from the government to monopolize the manufacture of radium in order to make a fortune. Madame Curie said, "That is against the scientific spirit. Scientists' research results should be published publicly, and others should develop them without any restrictions. "Besides, radium is good for patients, so we should not use it for profit. The Curies also donated their Nobel Prizes to others.
1906, Mr. Curie died in a car accident, and Madame Curie suffered great pain. She is determined to redouble her efforts to realize her scientific ambition. The University of Paris decided that Madame Curie would take over from Mr. Curie to teach physics. Madame Curie became the first female professor in the history of the famous Paris University. When the couple separated the first batch of radium salts, they began to study the various properties of radiation. From 1889 to 1904, they published 32 academic reports and recorded their exploration footprints in the field of radiation science. 19 10, Madame Curie finished the book Radioactivity Monograph. She also cooperated with others to successfully prepare metal radium. 19 1 1 Madame Curie won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. A female scientist, in less than 10 years, won the highest prize in world science twice in two different scientific fields, which is unique in the history of world science!
19 14, the institute of radium science was established in Paris, and Madame Curie served as the research director of the institute. After that, she continued to teach at the university and engaged in the research of radioactive elements. She spread scientific knowledge to all who want to learn without stint. She has been studying and working for 50 years since 16. But she still doesn't change that strict lifestyle. She has a high spirit of self-sacrifice since she was a child. In her early years, in order to provide for her sister's schooling, she was willing to work as a servant in someone else's house. During her study in Paris, she studied in the library every night in order to save fuel and heating costs, until the library closed. The pitchblende needed to extract pure radium was very valuable at that time. They saved money bit by bit from their living expenses and bought 8 or 9 tons successively. After Mr. Curie's death, Madame Curie donated radium, which was painstakingly extracted and valued at more than 654.38+100,000 gold francs, to the laboratory for cancer research and treatment.
1932, 65-year-old Madame Curie returned to China to attend the opening ceremony of Warsaw Radium Institute. Madame Curie has been away from the motherland since her youth and went to study in France. But she never forgot her motherland. When she was a child, her motherland Poland was occupied by Russia, and she hated the invaders. When the couple separated a new element from the mineral, she named it polonium. This is because the roots of polonium are the same as those of Poland. She expressed her deep nostalgia for the motherland enslaved by Russia.
On July 1937, Madame Curie died of illness. She eventually died of pernicious anemia. She created and developed radiation science all her life, studied strongly radioactive materials fearlessly for a long time, and finally contributed her life to this science. In her life, * * * won 10 famous awards including the Nobel Prize, and won 16 medals issued by international advanced academic institutions; Governments and scientific research institutions around the world have awarded more than 100 titles. But she is as modest and prudent as ever. Einstein, a great scientist, commented: "Among all the celebrities I know, Madame Curie is the only one who is not turned upside down by fame and fortune."