Marie Curie

Curie discovered two new radioactive elements: polonium (named after her native Poland) and radium, while working with pitchblende ore. She isolated radium chloride and determined the atomic weight of radium, proving its existence as a distinct element.

Curie, along with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their joint research on radioactivity. She became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. The award recognized her pioneering work in the field of radiation.

Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of radium and polonium, and for isolating pure radium. She became the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields. The award solidified her status as a leading scientist.

Curie helped establish the Radium Institute in Paris (now the Curie Institute), a research center dedicated to studying radioactivity and its medical applications. The institute became a world-leading center for cancer research and radiation therapy.

During World War I, Curie developed mobile X-ray units equipped with radium-powered X-ray machines. She trained women as radiographers and personally drove these 'Petites Curies' to field hospitals, enabling battlefield surgeons to locate shrapnel and fractures in wounded soldiers.