Radium and Marie Curie

Something Out of Nothing The title of this biography is Something out of Nothing, written by Carla Killough McClafferty. Marie Curie was born on November 7, 1867 and was raised in Warsaw, Poland. Poland was controlled by Russia. When Marie was born, her mother suffered from tuberculosis and died when Marie was only eleven years old. Her mother’s name was Bronsitwa and her father’s name was Ladislas. They were both teachers and Marie was the youngest of five children. Marie went to Warson's Pension Sikorska. After Marie went to high school, she enrolled in the Floating University, a small group of Polish teachers who taught with Polish. Marie was a very determined and devoted woman. She did not care what other people thought and she was amazingly smart. She gave all the money to her older sister, Bronya, so she could pay the tuition for the University of Paris. Bronya did the same for Marie in 1891. Marie studied math and physics. Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre Curie, were scientists. They discovered two elements, polonium and radium, in a little shed where their laboratory was. Their work was important because radium helps destroy cancer cells. Radiation was also used to take away suffering. Marie Curie changed the world by inventing radium. Radium is what helps us use x-rays. Radiation is also used for treating patients with cancer. She concluded that radium destroyed cancerous tissue. Marie died of over radium exposure on July 4, 1934. She had two children named Irene and Eve. Marie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in physics and chemistry. Modern uses of radium are to power electricity plants, navy submarines and ships, and spacecrafts in deep space. The uses for radium are endless. Marie is inspiring because she never gave up on her research on radium, even when everyone was against her because she was a woman. Pierre Curie also died when her children were young, so she had to take care of them herself. I would like to be as determined as her