Today in Science

November

7th: Marie Salomea CURIE nee Maria Salomea Skłodowska, born 1867. Died 14 July, 1934, aged 66.

What: Polish born chemist; moved to Paris in 1891.

Famous for: her work with radioactivity. First woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first and only woman to have won two Nobel Prizes.

Awards: Nobel Prize for Physics 1903 (with Pierre Curie) "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel". (Becquerel was joint recipient for his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity).

Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1911 "in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element."

After studying science in Warsaw (which was under Russian rule at the time) Marie Curie followed her elder sister to Paris. She continued her studies (Physics and Maths) at the Sorbonne where she met her future husband, Pierre Curie. They married in 1895 (and she changed the spelling of her name to Marie). Inspired by Henri Becquerel's discovery of radioactivity in 1896, their own research led to the isolation of polonium (named after Poland) and radium. Marie Curie developed methods to separate radium from radioactive residues and obtained enough to study its properties, in particular, its therapeutic applications i.e. to treat cancer.

Sadly, Pierre died in 1906 after being struck by a horse and cart.

During the First World War, Curie developed small, mobile X-ray units called "Petit Curies" to help diagnose injuries near the battlefront. She managed to raise funds for 20 vehicles and trained the women that operated them. She also worked with her 17 year old daughter on the front line X-raying wounded men to locate fractures, bullets and shrapnel.

Working with radioactive materials is dangerous and she developed aplastic anaemia in later life.

The radioactive element curium was named after her.

The Curie's daughter, Irene, also became a scientist and married Frederic Joliot. They jointly won a Nobel Prize for chemistry.

A "Petit Curie" used during WWI

7th: Lise MEITNER, born 1878. Died 27 October 1968, aged 90 .

What: Austrian born physicist

Famous for: her work with nuclear fission with Otto Hahn.

Meitner studied in Vienna, gaining her doctorate in 1906 then moved to Berlin to work with Max Planck and Otto Hanh. She worked with Hanh for over 30 years and they discovered the element protactinium in 1918. She also discovered the radiationless transition in 1923 (known as the Auger effect, named after the French scientist who discovered it two years later).

When Austria was annexed from Germany in 1938, she fled to Sweden (Meitner was Jewish). She still met Hanh in secret to continue their work.

In 1944, Hanh was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry but Meitner was ignored. She was, however, recognised in 1966, when Hahn, Meitner, and Strassman were awarded the Enrico Fermi Award.

In 1992, element 109, the heaviest known element in the universe, was named Meitnerium (Mt) in her honour. While she was not recognised significantly for her work, many consider Lise Meitner the "most significant woman scientist of the 20th Century."

Lise Meitner in 1946

20th: Edwin Powell HUBBLE born 1889. Died 28 Sept 1953, aged 63.

What: American astronomer

Famous for: discovery of galaxies beyond our own Milky Way.

Hubble studied maths and astronomy at the University of Chicago and graduated with a science degree in 1910. He went on to study law at Oxford University before returning to the University of Chicago and earned a PhD in 1917. His entire career was with the Mount Wilson Observatory.

The Milky Way was once thought to be our universe. But Hubble discovered the fuzzy nebulae astronomers saw were actually distant galaxies. He studied the spectra of 46 galaxies and helped determine the rate of expansion of the universe. This is defined as the Hubble Constant and scientists are still refining it.

In 1990, NASA launched the Hubble telescope. It has helped scientists discover that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. The force causing this expansion is called dark energy.

Hubble telescope

The Hubble telescope is orbiting just above Earth's atmosphere (altitude of about 574km). Travelling at speeds of 27,000km per hour, Hubble can orbit the Earth in 95 minutes.

Hubble can get clear images because it is above the hazy of our atmosphere (which distorts and blurs light. Our atmosphere also absorbs certain wavelength too). Hubble has observed the GN-z11 galaxy located about 13.4 billion light-years away.

Hubble has been serviced 5 times since its launch and originally only expected to last 15 years. As it's altitude slowly decreases, it is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere in the late 2030s. NASA is due to launch another telescope called the James Webb telescope later this year. This looks at infrared wavelengths only, will work in conjunction with Hubble and can look further than the Hubble telescope.