In 1903, Pierre Curie, Madame Curie, and Henri Becquerel won the Nobel Prize in physics for discovering the elements radium and polonium and their work with radioactivity. This made her the first woman in history to be included in winning a Nobel Prize. However, she almost wasn't included in the prize at all. She was seen as an assistant and was almost included for her gender. Some did not think that a woman could or should win a Nobel Prize. Because she was a woman, she was not believed to have been able to make a significant contribution to discovering radium and polonium. Her discovery of radium helped put female scientists on the map, and put her and Pierre in a place where they could win awards and expand on their discoveries.
When it was time for them to make a lecture regarding their Prize, Marie was asked not to go on stage because she was a woman. It was not seen as fit for a woman to be on stage making a speech about physics with a man. This displays the role that women scientists were perceived as playing in that time period. It did not matter how much work she did when working towards the prize, or that the man was her husband. The Nobel committee still did not let her share the stage with a man.
"Pierre's greatest discovery was Marie Sklodowska. Her greatest discovery was... radioactivity." (Goldmith 88)
If Marie had not been married, it would have been much harder for her to get recognized as a scientist. People did not think that women could have significant roles in society, so she needed Pierre to be as successful as she was. Even though people gave him most of the credit, it was still very important that Marie had been working with Pierre. This also shows what type of role women played in the early 1900s scientific community.
Sources for this tab:
-Goldsmith
-Goldsmith 88
-AP Images
-Goldsmith
-Goldsmith 88
-AP Images