WOMEN AND SCIENCE

Women and Science

Women and Science

Rationale of the Study

Being a student of psychology, I need to focus on the strengths and achievements of women. It will suggest us to identify the psychological requirements a women need to become an achiever in a science study.

Marie Curie

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Her name was Maria Sklodowska was the fourth daughter of a family of Polish teachers in Warsaw. Born in 1867, she lost her mother early on. In one subject politically dismembered Poland, the gifted girl, resolutely turned towards the reading and study. At 24, she left her father and Warsaw, his hometown, which denies access to the University girls. She follows her sister Bronia in Paris, a symbol of their common dream of emancipation professional (Linley, 2007).

In 1893, Mary received the first degree in physics. At a party at a friend's polish physicist, she met Pierre Curie. His life will now take a new dimension. With him, she will begin an exchange of equals, both in scientific and humanistic, which will continue throughout their life together.

One woman, two Nobel laureates

In 1898, following the discovery of uranium rays by Henri Becquerel (March 1896), Pierre and Marie discovered polonium and radium radiation which is millions of times more intense than that of uranium. The phenomenon of spontaneous emission, called radioactivity by Curie raises, therefore, great interest. The official recognition comes in 1903 with the Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded jointly to Henri Becquerel and Curie.

However, April 19, 1906, Pierre died after being run over by a team of horses. Despite her grief, Mary will continue their joint work (Linley, 2007). She takes her husband's chair at the Sorbonne and continues with André Debierne, its work of purification of radium, challenging considerations of Lord Kelvin, Scottish physicist who believes that radium is not an element. ...