居里夫人（1867-1934）出身于波蘭一個(gè)教師家庭，盡管天資聰穎，但由于受到華沙大學(xué)只收男生的限制而被迫到秘密組織的地方學(xué)習(xí)。當(dāng)她有機(jī)會(huì)到外國(guó)深造的時(shí)候，又因?yàn)樨毟F而不得不推遲計(jì)劃。功夫不負(fù)有心人，這位偉大的女科學(xué)家以自己的勤奮和天賦，在物理和化學(xué)領(lǐng)域都作出了杰出的貢獻(xiàn)，并成為唯一一位在兩個(gè)不同學(xué)科領(lǐng)域、兩次獲得諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的科學(xué)家。

今年是居里夫人誕辰146周年，就讓我們一起來(lái)回顧這位偉大科學(xué)家的光輝人生！

Marie Curie grew up in Warsaw， Poland where she was born on November 7th， 1867. Her birth name was Maria Sklodowska， but her family called her Manya. Her parents were both teachers. Her dad taught math and physics[物理學(xué)] and her mom was headmistress[女校長(zhǎng)] at a girls school. Marie was the youngest of five children.

Growing up the child of two teachers， Marie was taught to read and write early. She was a very bright child and did well in school. She had a sharp memory and worked hard on her studies.

Tough Times in Poland

As Marie grew older， her family came upon tough times. Poland was under the control of Russia at the time. People were not even allowed to read or write anything in the Polish language. Her father lost his job because he was in favor of Polish rule. Then， when Marie was ten， her oldest sister Zofia became sick and died from the disease typhus[斑疹傷寒癥]. Two years later， her mother died from tuberculosis[肺結(jié)核]. This was a difficult time for the young Marie.

A top student in her secondary school， Marie could not attend the men-only University of Warsaw. She instead continued her education in Warsaws “floating university，” a set of underground， informal classes held in secret. Both Marie and her sister Bronya dreamed of going abroad to earn an official degree， but they didnt have the money to pay for more schooling. Undeterred[未被嚇住的]， Marie worked out a deal with her sister. She would work to support Bronya while she was in school， and Bronya would return the favor after she completed her studies.

School in France

For about five years， Marie worked as a governess[女家庭教師]. She used her spare time to study， reading about physics， chemistry and math. In 1891， she finally made her way to Paris where she enrolled[注冊(cè)] at the Sorbonne in Paris. In order to fit in， she changed her name from Maria to Marie. She threw herself into her studies， but this dedication[奉獻(xiàn)] had a personal cost. With little money， Marie survived on buttered bread and tea， and her health sometimes suffered because of her poor diet.

Marie completed her masters degree[碩士學(xué)位] in physic in 1893 and earned another degree in mathematics the following year. Around this time， she received a commission[委托] to do a study on different types of steel and their magnetic properties[磁性]. Marie needed a lab to work in， and a colleague[同僚] introduced her to French physicist Pierre Curie. A romance developed between the brilliant pair. They married a year later and soon had their first child， a daughter named Irène.

Scientific Discoveries

Marie became fascinated by rays that had been recently discovered by scientists Wilhelm Roentgen and Henri Becquere. Roentgen discovered X-rays and Becquerel had found rays given off by an element called uranium[鈾]. Marie began to do experiments.

One day Marie was examining a material called pitchblende[瀝青油礦]. She expected there to be some rays given off by the uranium in pitchblende， but she found many more rays than expected. She soon realized that there must be a new， undiscovered element in pitchblende.

New Elements

Marie and her husband spent many hours in the science lab investigating pitchblende and the new element. They eventually figured out that there were two new elements in pitchblende. They had discovered two new elements for the periodic table[（元素）周期表]！

Marie named one of the elements polonium[釙] after her homeland Poland. She named the other radium[鐳]， because it gave off such strong rays. The Curies came up with the term “radioactivity[放射性，放射現(xiàn)象]” to describe elements that emitted[發(fā)出] strong rays.

Nobel Prizes

In 1903， the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Marie and Pierre Curie as well as Henri Becquerel for their work in radiation. Marie Curie became the first woman to be awarded the prize.

In 1911， Marie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the two elements， polonium and radium. She was the first person to be awarded two Nobel Prizes. Marie became very famous， and scientists came from around the world to study radioactivity with her. Soon doctors found that radiology[放射學(xué)] could help with curing cancer.

World War I

When World War I started， Marie learned that doctors could use X-rays to help determine what was wrong with an injured soldier. However， there werent enough X-ray machines for every hospital to have one. She came up with the idea that the X-ray machines could move from hospital to hospital in a truck. Marie even helped to train people to run the machines. The trucks became known as “l(fā)ittle Curies” and are thought to have helped over one million soldiers during the war.

Final Days

Marie died on July 4th， 1934. She died from over exposure[過(guò)度曝露于……中] to radiation， both from her experiments and from her work with X-ray machines.

Marie Curie made many breakthroughs[突破] in her lifetime. She is the most famous female scientist of all time， and has received numerous[無(wú)數(shù)的] honors. In 1995， her and her husbands remains were interred[埋葬] in the Panthéon in Paris. Marie Curie became the first and only woman to be laid to rest there.

瑪麗·居里于1867年11月7日出生于波蘭的華沙，并在那里成長(zhǎng)。她出生時(shí)的名字是瑪麗亞·斯克沃多夫斯卡，但家里人都叫她馬妮亞。她的父母都是教師，父親教數(shù)學(xué)和物理，母親則是一間女子學(xué)校的校長(zhǎng)?，旣愂俏鍌€(gè)孩子中最小的一個(gè)。

由于雙親都是教師，瑪麗很早就接受讀寫(xiě)教育。她很聰明，在校成績(jī)不錯(cuò)，并有著驚人的記憶力，學(xué)習(xí)也很用功。

波蘭的艱苦歲月

隨著瑪麗慢慢長(zhǎng)大，一家人的日子變得不那么好過(guò)了。當(dāng)時(shí)的波蘭被俄國(guó)統(tǒng)治，人們不得以波蘭語(yǔ)進(jìn)行閱讀或書(shū)寫(xiě)。她的父親因?yàn)閾碜o(hù)波蘭而丟掉了工作?，旣?0歲的時(shí)候，年紀(jì)最大的姐姐索菲婭染上了斑疹傷寒癥，最終死去。兩年后，她的母親也死于肺結(jié)核。這對(duì)于年輕的瑪麗來(lái)說(shuō)是一段艱苦的日子。

盡管在中學(xué)是優(yōu)等生，瑪麗不能入讀只招收男生的華沙大學(xué)。于是她在華沙的“流動(dòng)大學(xué)”繼續(xù)深造。這種“大學(xué)”是秘密舉辦的地下非正規(guī)課程?，旣惡徒憬悴剂_尼婭都?jí)粝氲酵鈬?guó)獲得正規(guī)的學(xué)位，但她們沒(méi)有錢(qián)付學(xué)費(fèi)了。毫不畏懼的瑪麗和姐姐達(dá)成了一個(gè)協(xié)議——瑪麗先去工作，賺錢(qián)供布羅尼婭讀書(shū)，布羅尼婭完成學(xué)業(yè)后則以同樣的方式回報(bào)瑪麗。

留學(xué)法國(guó)

瑪麗當(dāng)了差不多五年的家庭教師。她利用空余時(shí)間學(xué)習(xí)，閱讀物理、化學(xué)和數(shù)學(xué)方面的資料。1891年，她終于來(lái)到巴黎，入讀巴黎的索邦大學(xué)。為了更好地融入當(dāng)?shù)丨h(huán)境，她把自己的名字“瑪麗亞”改成“瑪麗”。她全身心地投入到學(xué)習(xí)當(dāng)中，然而她本人也為此付出了代價(jià)。捉襟見(jiàn)肘的她只能靠奶油面包和茶度日，這種不良的飲食有時(shí)候會(huì)影響她的健康。

1893年，瑪麗完成了物理學(xué)的碩士學(xué)位，并在第二年獲得了數(shù)學(xué)學(xué)位。大約在這個(gè)時(shí)候，她接受了一項(xiàng)委托，研究各種鋼鐵及其磁性?，旣愋枰婚g實(shí)驗(yàn)室工作，一位同僚把她介紹給法國(guó)物理學(xué)家皮埃爾·居里。兩位才華橫溢的人發(fā)展出一段戀情。他們?cè)谝荒旰蠼Y(jié)婚，不久后有了第一個(gè)女兒，取名伊雷娜。

科學(xué)發(fā)現(xiàn)

瑪麗對(duì)科學(xué)家威廉·倫琴和亨利·貝可勒爾新近發(fā)現(xiàn)的射線非常感興趣。倫琴發(fā)現(xiàn)了X射線，貝可勒爾則發(fā)現(xiàn)了由鈾元素放出的各種射線?，旣愰_(kāi)始進(jìn)行各種實(shí)驗(yàn)。

一天，瑪麗在檢查一種叫瀝青鈾礦的物質(zhì)。她本以為瀝青鈾礦里的鈾會(huì)釋放出幾種射線，但她發(fā)現(xiàn)了其他東西。她隨即意識(shí)到瀝青鈾礦中一定有一種未被發(fā)現(xiàn)的新元素。

新元素

瑪麗和丈夫在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里花費(fèi)了大量時(shí)間研究瀝青鈾礦和這種新元素。他們最終發(fā)現(xiàn)瀝青鈾礦里有兩種新元素——他們?yōu)樵刂芷诒碚业搅藘蓚€(gè)新元素呢！

為了紀(jì)念自己的祖國(guó)波蘭，瑪麗把其中一種元素命名為“釙”。她給另一種元素取名為“鐳”，因?yàn)樗鼤?huì)放出強(qiáng)烈的射線。居里夫婦還發(fā)明了“放射能”一詞，用以形容放出強(qiáng)烈射線的元素。

諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)

1903年，瑪麗和皮埃爾·居里及亨利·貝可勒爾因?yàn)閷?duì)放射性現(xiàn)象的研究而被授予諾貝爾物理獎(jiǎng)。瑪麗·居里成為了獲得這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)的第一位女性。

1911年，瑪麗因?yàn)榘l(fā)現(xiàn)了兩種新元素——釙和鐳而獲得諾貝爾化學(xué)獎(jiǎng)。她是第一個(gè)獲得兩項(xiàng)諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的人?，旣惓闪舜竺?，世界各地的科學(xué)家都來(lái)和她研究放射現(xiàn)象。醫(yī)生很快就發(fā)現(xiàn)放射學(xué)可以用于癌癥治療。

第一次世界大戰(zhàn)

一戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)時(shí)，瑪麗得知醫(yī)生可以借助X射線確定受傷士兵的傷處。然而不是每一間醫(yī)院都有X光機(jī)。她想到一個(gè)方法，就是把機(jī)器放在卡車(chē)上，方便在各間醫(yī)院運(yùn)送?，旣惿踔劣H自給人們培訓(xùn)，教他們使用機(jī)器。這些卡車(chē)被稱(chēng)為“小居里”，據(jù)說(shuō)戰(zhàn)時(shí)的受惠士兵超過(guò)一百萬(wàn)人。

最后的日子

瑪麗于1934年7月4日去世。她的去世是過(guò)度暴露在放射性物質(zhì)之下的結(jié)果，因?yàn)樗鰧?shí)驗(yàn)和經(jīng)常接觸X光機(jī)。

瑪麗·居里在世時(shí)實(shí)現(xiàn)了眾多突破。她是有史以來(lái)最有名的女科學(xué)家，一生獲獎(jiǎng)無(wú)數(shù)。1995年，她和丈夫的遺體被安葬在巴黎的先賢祠。瑪麗·居里是安葬在那里的第一位——也是唯一一位女性。

你知道嗎？

1906年4月，瑪麗的丈夫皮埃爾在一場(chǎng)馬車(chē)車(chē)禍中喪生。

丈夫死后，瑪麗當(dāng)上了索邦大學(xué)的物理學(xué)教授。她是出任該職位的第一位女性。

瑪麗后來(lái)和阿爾伯特·愛(ài)因斯坦成了莫逆之交。

她的長(zhǎng)女伊雷娜和長(zhǎng)女婿于1935年共同獲得了諾貝爾化學(xué)獎(jiǎng)。

居里夫人還有一個(gè)小女兒，名叫艾芙（Eve），她為母親寫(xiě)過(guò)一部傳記。

位于巴黎的居里學(xué)院（The Curie Institute）由居里夫人在1921年創(chuàng)立，現(xiàn)在依然是癌癥研究的重要機(jī)構(gòu)。