Madame Marie Curie

Madame Marie Curie, originally named as Maria Sklodowska, was born November 7, 1867 in Warsaw, the city that had once been the capital of Poland. Her parents were teachers. Her father taught mathematics and physics, which later on, Marie had a keen interest for. Her mother had created a boarding school for girls, but later died of tuberculosis. Her older sister, died two years after from typhus. When she was ten years old, she attended the boarding school that her mother had created. Despite her tribulations in life, she successfully graduated from high school at the age of 15 with honors. "Because her father, a teacher of mathematics and physics, lost his savings through bad investment, she had to take work as a teacher and, at the same time, took part clandestinely in the nationalist "free university," reading in Polish to women workers (Zwolinski)." Because of the family's involvement in the Polish uprisings, they had lost all of their investments. This made it even harder for Maria and her siblings to get ahead in life and make a future for them.

In order for them to get the education that they rightfully deserved, Maria and her sister, Bronya, decided to make a pact. Maria would get a job as a governess to help pay for Bronya's medical school education in Paris in return that Bronya help her with her university training once she has her medical degree and a good job. Maria worked for her father's wealthy relatives, the Zorwaskis. While working, she felt a hot spot for the son, Kazimierz Zorwaski. The parents rejected the idea that their son fall in love with a girl who is destitute and has no future for herself. So she quit that job and worked with the Fuchs family who lived in Sopot, which is on the Baltic Sea, continuing to provide financial assistance for her sister's education.

Years later, after Bronya got married, she invited her sister to join her in Paris to start off her education. Unfortunately, Maria declined the offer because she couldn't afford the tuition at the time. Later on, her father was able to earn a better salary than expected and was able to send money to his daughter, Bronya, every month. For the next two years, Maria continued to work as a governess and save up money to further her education in Paris.

By the time she turned 24, Maria had finally saved up enough money to join her sister in Paris to further her education. In Paris, she stayed with her sister and brother-in-law and was able to study physics, chemistry, and mathematics at the University of Paris (Sorbonne). Because of her work in physics, she was able to win a scholarship. "And a group of industrialists, the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry, paid her to investigate the magnetic properties of different steels (AIP)." To get the scholarship, she needed a lab to work in (Appendix A).

Pierre Curie was a processor of the School of Physics and Chemistry in Paris. Maria was working on an experiment on magnetism. As Maria left for Warsaw in the summer, their feelings for each other deepened. In July of 1895, Pierre and Maria got married. In the next two years, Maria was able to complete her study on magnetism, In September 1897; they had given birth to their first daughter, Irène. Maria's father-in-law decided to move in with the family and help take care of Irène while Maria was on the search for a topic that would assist her in getting her Ph.D. in Science.

In order to get her doctorate, Maria met a man by the name of Henri Becquerel. His latest discovery