Marie Curie

When she arrived in Paris and enrolled at the Sorbonne, Maria Sklodowska was already twenty-four years old. In Poland, she had worked as a governess to save the money needed to begin her physics studies. The surname by which she became famous was actually that of her husband, Pierre Curie, who assisted her in her research on an unknown substance with rather curious properties: it emitted energy, light, and heat. This was at the dawn of nuclear physics, as well as the beginning of women's involvement in the world of science. After Pierre's unexpected death, Marie continued her brilliant and independent career, but to do so she had to confront the conservative mindset of early 20th-century Europe.