Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Ada Lovelace Day: Celebrating women in technology and science - EC#1

There are countless women around the world that deserve recognition for their contributions and achievements in both technology and science. One woman who stands out in my mind is Marie Curie (1867-1934).

Marie Curie stands out for a couple of reasons. Marie Curie was a woman in science in a time when it was still very highly dominated by men. In spite of this she made some significant contributions to science and was recognized for it. She was the first woman that was given a position of Professor at the University of Paris (also known as Sorbonne). She was the first to receive two Nobel Prizes, and more than that, they were in two different areas of science. The first Nobel Prize was in the area of physics and the second in chemistry. She was also given the honor of being the first female Nobel Prize winner to have a daughter also win a Nobel Prize (in 1935, after Marie Curie’s death).

During her years of work, Curie coined the term radioactivity, and named Polonium. (She named Polonium after Poland, the country of her parents and her home country even though she was a French citizen.) Curie was honored with several honorary degrees science, medicine and law. She made major advancements in the area of radioactivity, which eventually lead to her cancer and death in 1934, at the age of 67.

Marie Curie was considered by some to be an icon in the scientific realm, and it’s not hard to see why.

To Marie Curie and all the other women who have made contributions to science and technology, are currently making contributions, or will someday contribute to science and technology… This is for you!

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t achieve great things!

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