1. In 1903, the Curies and Becquerel jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on radioactivity.
2. In 1911, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry again for the discovery of the elements polonium and radium.
Marie Curie’s achievements include pioneering the theory of radioactivity, inventing technology for separating radioactive isotopes, and discovering two new elements, polonium and radium. She was the first person in the world to win two Nobel Prizes.
Under her guidance, radioactive isotopes were used for the first time to treat cancer. Due to long-term exposure to radioactive substances, Marie Curie died of malignant leukemia on July 3, 1934.
Extended information:
Personal honors
Mrs. Curie was the first person in history to win two Nobel Prizes, and they were in two different won the Nobel Prize in the field.
Social evaluation
Einstein said: "Among all the world's celebrities, Marie Curie is the only one who has not been spoiled by fame."
Dean Xiaofaer of the Academy of Sciences: Marie Curie, you are a great scholar, a great woman who dedicates herself to work and sacrifices for science, a woman who always works for special responsibilities whether in war or in peace. Patriots, we salute you. You are here, we can get spiritual benefits from you, we thank you; we are proud to have you among us. You are the first French woman to enter the Academy of Sciences, and you are well deserved.
The Curies and the French Academy of Sciences
The scientific achievements of the Curies are recognized by history. The scientific tradition of the Curie family has continued for four generations: the Curies' eldest daughter Ellene and son-in-law Frédéric Joliot-Curie are both engaged in radiation research, and their grandson Pierre Joliot is a Biophysicist, granddaughter Helen Joliot is also a nuclear physicist (Helen is married to the grandson of Marie Curie’s lover, physicist Langevin). The fourth generation Alain Joliot recently obtained PhD in life sciences.
Among them, the first three generations are known to be major figures in the French scientific community. If the election as a member of the French Academy of Sciences can be used as circumstantial evidence to a certain extent: Pierre Curie was elected in 1905, Frédéric Joliot-Curie was elected in 1942, and Pierre Joliot was Elected in 1982. Although they are both scientists, their situations are different. Especially in the early days, the Curies were slowly accepted and respected by the mainstream of the French scientific community. The relationship between the Curies and the French Academy of Sciences is a side reflection.
Pierre Curie was born in 1859 and Maria in 1867. At the end of 1897, Maria began to work on her doctoral thesis, and her supervisor was Lippmann of the Sorbonne (University of Paris, 1st Department). However, Maria went to Pierre's laboratory to do experiments, and they soon evolved into a cooperation between husband and wife. New radioactive elements were discovered within a month. In 1903 they won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Pierre died in 1906, and Maria won the Chemistry Prize in 1911 and died in 1934. The following year, their daughter and son-in-law won the award. At first glance it looked like everything was going smoothly for them. However, Pierre failed when he first ran for membership of the French Academy of Sciences, while Maria never entered the French Academy of Sciences. Whether to be elected as an academician is naturally a matter of honor and recognition for a scientist.
In addition, in the scientific structure at that time, the French Academy of Sciences was also the main organization in charge of scientific exchanges and research funds. In this way, for French scientists, being elected as an academician has more meaning. For example, because neither Curie nor his wife were academicians, when their groundbreaking discovery came out in 1898, their paper was lectured at the French Academy of Sciences by other scientists who were academicians.
The Curies had different reasons for being rejected from the Academy of Sciences. Pierre has had a tendency to be withdrawn since he was a child. His family was not the "upper class" at that time, he was not a person who was good at socializing, and the school he went to was not the most fashionable. The teaching position he got was in the School of Physics and Chemistry, not The nearby famous brand Sorbonne. In fact, he twice sought a teaching position at the Sorbonne in 1898 and 1902 but was rejected.
In 1902, he was nominated for the first time to run for academician of science, but he was unsuccessful. He was not as indifferent to this as some people described him to be. It was clear from his letters to friends that he was unhappy. In 1905, eight years after they discovered radioactive elements and two years after they won the Nobel Prize, Pierre was elected to the French Academy of Sciences.
At this time, some people in society and the scientific community took Maria for granted as a supporting role. Some newspapers even published a reporter's "interview" about Pierre's election as an academician, calling her a feeling of success for her husband. Very happy, and her only ambition as a woman is to help her husband work. This "interview" was denied by Marie Curie in a letter the next day: I have not spoken to anyone in your newspaper, and I have never expressed those feelings to anyone.
In 1910, Marie Curie was nominated as a candidate for the French Academy of Sciences for the next year. The incident sparked controversy across France over whether women could be accomplished independent figures. There have been two previous examples showing the unfair treatment of women at that time: when Maria Curie won the Nobel Prize, no one thought of asking her to talk about her research work, but only asked Pierre to talk about it.
After winning the prize, Maria still only taught in a women's normal college without her own laboratory. It was not until Pierre's death that Marie Curie took over his laboratory in the Sorbonne, but There was no title of professor for him (Pierre was admitted to the Sorbonne only after winning the prize). These two incidents were "internal operations" in the educational and scientific circles and reflected the "thaw" situation at that time. Marie Curie's candidacy for the French Academy of Sciences has become a larger topic of social discussion.
Tabloids and broadsheets, liberals, conservatives, feminists, churches, etc. all expressed their opinions and debated endlessly. Marie Curie was supported by famous scientists such as the mathematician Poincare, but their voices were also drowned. Normally, members of the Academy of Sciences are elected by vote of the Academy. The Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Liberal Arts, the Academy of Political Science, etc., form a larger institution under the name of a union. This larger body held a meeting in January 1911, attended by a record number of people, before voting at the Academy of Sciences, which ultimately voted against the admission of women as academicians.
Under the general environment of society and the times, as well as the microclimate of "academia" at that time, when the Academy of Sciences voted at the end of January, Marie Curie was defeated with 28 votes to another scientist's 30 votes. . Marie Curie never ran for election again. At the end of the same year, she won her second Nobel Prize. 51 years later, one of Marie Curie's students became the first female academician of the French Academy of Sciences.
On the surface, the Curies were not welcomed by the French authorities at the beginning of the last century for different reasons, but the two examples are essentially the same: neither of them is judged based on science. Standards, the opinions of knowledgeable scientists are ignored by society and the disparate "academic community." In view of this, the 1926 Nobel Prize winner Jean Perrin, a friend and colleague of the Curies, actively participated in the reform of the French scientific system, including the establishment of the famous French National Center for Scientific Research.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Marie Curie
People's Daily Online-The Curies and the French Academy of Sciences