Marie Curie

Marie Curie was born in France in 1867. She obtained her university degrees in Maths and Physics at the relatively mature age of 26.

She had been studying the metal uranium and realised that it had some very different properties to normal metals. Amongst other things, it caused a photographic plate to behave in the same way as if it had been exposed to light. She discovered some other substances behaved in a similar fashion. These included thorium, radium and polonium.

We now know that what she was looking at in these metals is called radiation. Radiation particles are very dangerous. They can pass through skin and tissue and can damage us internally.

There is always a very low level of radiation all around us, and it only becomes really dangerous at a much higher level than normal. Our most dangerous source of radiation is the sun, which is why we are always told to cover our skins when the sun is really strong.
Marie Curie died of leukaemia, which we now know is often caused by a large exposure of radiation. All her brilliant discoveries probably brought on her death.

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