Marie Curie

Marie Curie is the most famous woman in the history of science. Together with her husband, Pierre, she conducted important research on radioactivity, which directly led to the couple's discovery of the elements radium and polonium. This groundbreaking work laid the foundation for nearly all of the later developments of twentieth-century physics. Born in Poland in 1867, Marie moved to France to receive her education, becoming one of the first women in Europe to earn a doctorate degree. She was also the very first woman to win the Nobel prize -- an award she shared with both her husband, Pierre, and physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel -- for her work on radioactive elements in 1903. Eight years later, Marie Curie became the first person to win a second Nobel prize in a field of science when she was awarded the 1911 prize for her continuing work on isolating radioactive substances. Book jacket.

Judy L. Hasday, a native of Pennsylvania, received her B.A. in communications and her Ed.M. in instructional technologies from Temple University. Ms. Hasday has written several books for Young Adults