21 Sep Irène Joliot-Curie
Bonjour and welcome back to your Science Tuition. We are back again for our chemistry admirers to feed them with more chemistry lessons.
In this Science Tuition lesson, we are going to explore and learn more about our famous chemist Irène Joliot-Curie.
Irène was born on 12 September 1897 and was a French scientist as well a Nobel Laureate in physics and chemistry. She is the daughter of Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, and her husband was Frédéric Joliot-Curie. She even worked with her mother to provide mobile x-ray units during the World War I. She is popular in the chemistry world for her invention of the synthesis of new radioactive elements. She and her husband bombarded a thin piece of aluminum with alpha particles and discovered that the radiation from the aluminum continued even after the source of radiation was removed. That is when for the first in the history a radioactive element was created artificially.
Let us have a look at some extraordinary facts about her remarkable life –
She was born to and for greatness. Irene’s birth in 1897 launched a world-changing scientific dynasty. Over the next 10 years, Curies discovered radium and polonium, founded the science of radioactivity, welcomed their second daughter EVE and won a Nobel Prize in Physics. The Curie daughters were also exceptional geniuses and by 1925 Irene had a doctorate in Chemistry and was working in her mother’s laboratory.
Like her parents, Irene also fell in love in the lab with her work and with another scientist Frederic Joliot. He and Irene quickly bonded over shared interests and the two began collaborating on research and soon married.
Irene and her husband was an unstoppable pair. They together discovered ways to coax radioactive isotopes from ordinarily non-radioactive materials which eventually enabled both nuclear power and atomic weaponry and earned them the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935.
Irene and Frederic fought for justice and peace. They took great pains to keep atomic research out of Nazi hands, sealing and hiding their research as Germany occupied their country.
Irene was a very strong and brave personality. She never dissuaded from her work even after watching her own mother getting affected by radiation poising and cancer.
That is all for today on Science Tuition. Stay tuned to learn more.
Wasn’t this story amazing? It is thrilling yet motivational to know about the hardships, struggles, and road to success which these immense Scientists had to go through to achieve their glory.
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