Marie Curie: The Mother Of Science

6 Pages 1592 Words

Marie Curie: The Mother of Science
The River Vistula’s wind whistled through the cobblestone street with such a soothing sound that the city of a newborn rang vibrantly throughout the air. The old apartment near the ancient city walls of Warsaw, Poland, was alive with excitement because today on November 7, 1867, Marya Salomea Sklodowska was born, who was destined to become the one of the greatest scientists ever known.
Gathered around the child was: the father, Wladislaw, sister Sofia, brother Joseph, sister Bronya, and Hela. Yet, the happy moment only provided a brief distraction from the tension that resided in Poland during this time of Russian dominance. The suppressive regime of Alexander II tsar of all the Russians was presently instigating the “Russification” of Poland; which was designed to weed out every trace of Polish consciousness—in education, in government, in intellectual and religious life (Quinn, 17).
In 1876, Marya lost two people very dear to her. Her sister Sofia caught a fever and died at the age of thirteen. Then, her mother caught tuberculosis and tried to fight the disease but died later on. The eleven-year-old Marya took these two deaths very hard. Her faith was shaken and “she felt anger against a pitiless and unjust God (Pflaum, 9) but her love for her mother was timeless. Although gone
early in her life, Mary, remembered her mother’s hard work ethic, advanced ideas about the role of women, and the love she had for her.

If curiosity killed the cat then I would hate to see what it did to Marya Sklodowska. She was always fascinated with her father’s unusual things, and attempted to quietly observe him. “What a collection of tubes and bottles, delicate and shinning glass! Tiny dishes and scales, minute pieces of rock, a mysterious machine—what were they? (Birch, 8) “Little did she know, these would become her tools to discovery. Her curiosity pushed her to be sel...