Marie Curie Dies: Radiation Pioneer Claimed by Her Discovery
Her notebooks are still radioactive. Marie Curie died on July 4, 1934 of aplastic anemia caused by decades of radiation exposure — carrying test tubes in her coat pockets, storing radium on her nightstand because she liked the way it glowed in the dark. She had no idea it was killing her. Nobody did. She discovered two elements — polonium and radium — won Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry, and remains the only person to win in two different sciences. Her lab notebooks require protective equipment to handle. You have to sign a waiver to view them at the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris.
July 4, 1934
92 years ago
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