A twentieth-century womanMarya Skodowska was born on November 7, 1867, in Poland. Marya’s father wanted his five children to go to college, but the family was poor. In fact, Marya worked for six years to make money so her elder sister Bronya could study medicine in Paris. When Bronya finished medical school in 1891, 23-year-old Marya went to Paris to begin her own study.In July 1893, Marie passed her physics exam first in her class. At this time, she met Pierre curie, a young scientist. Marie and Pierre found that they had much in common. They both believed that science was the most important part of their lives. They didn’t care about money or about being comfortable. They fell in love, and were married on July 26, 1895. Marie and Pierre were very happy. They discussed their work as well as the most recent scientific events, such as the discovery of X rays. Marie was interested in this research and began to look for unknown elements that had such rays. Pierre stopped his own research in order to help Marie in her work. He realized that she was about to make an important discovery.In 1898, they discovered two new elements that gave off X rays. In those days, no one knew that such materials were dangerous. They did not know that working with these materials caused their illness, and they kept working. Finally, in 1902, they proved that radium (镭) is real.On June 25, 1903, Madame became the first woman to receive a doctor of science degree from the Sorbonne. Then she received an even greater award. In 1903, Marie and Pierre and Henri were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics.
10 Marie and Pierre won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1903.