Marie Curie is the topic of the Google doodle for Monday, November 7, 2011. The scientist was born on this date in 1867. The picture shows a woman dressed in an old-fashioned green dress sitting at a table with beakers.
"Radioactivity" is the term that Marie Curie coined, and her contributions to science were incredibly important. She discovered the elements polonium and radium which helped fill out the periodic table.
Unfortunately, since she did some of the original research on radioactivity, she died from exposure because the substances' effect on human health was not known then. Can you imagine people going to outer space without her important research? Also, the research obviously had great contributions to medical science as well.
A pioneer, Marie Curie was the first woman ever to be awarded the Nobel prize, and she ended up being the first person to ever win the prestigious prize two times. She won Nobel prizes in both physics and chemistry.
The fact that she had such success during a time period when women were not afforded the same opportunities as men is an incredible inspiration to girls and young women everywhere. Obviously, things have changed much over the past nearly century and a half since Marie Curie was born, and remembering her huge contributions to science is a wonderful way to honor her memory and pass on knowledge of her extraordinary achievements to women everywhere. Where you ever inspired by Marie Curie's story?
Like this article? See more by Kate James at Gather.com
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