We are excited to introduce a new series on STEM Like a Girl called Wednesday’s Women in STEM! Each Wednesday we will feature a different woman who has or is making a difference in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Our goal is to showcase the amazing accomplishments of women, both past and present. We encourage you to share these with your daughter so she can learn about all the ways women help shape STEM and be inspired to discover her own STEM identity and interests!
Our first Wednesday’s Woman in STEM needs to be the famous Marie Curie. Born in 1867, Marie Curie was a pioneer for women in science during a time when very few women were going to college let alone studying science. She was the first woman to ever win a Nobel Prize in 1903 and the first person and only woman to win two Nobel Prizes in 1911. Her work in chemistry and physics introduced the theory of radioactivity and she developed methods to isolate radioactive particles (known as isotopes). She also helped to discover two new elements to be added to the Periodic Table (polonium and radium). Radium specifically has been very important in cancer research and treatment. Marie Curie first published that when exposed to radium, tumor cells died faster than healthy cells breaking ground for modern day cancer radiation treatments. During World War I, she helped to set up and operate mobile X-ray equipment to help wounded soldiers on the front lines. She later worked to train other women as aids to operate this equipment. She became the first woman professor at the University of Paris and helped train several women graduate students in chemistry and physics.
Not only did her work in radioactivity have a huge impact on the fields of science and medicine, especially in the treatment of tumors, she showed that women could make amazing contributions to science in ways no one imagined. She opened the door for all women and girls interested in STEM and supported other women to pursue their own careers in science. Because of this, we are proud to have Marie Curie as the first STEM Like a Girl Wednesday’s Woman in STEM!