extras
march 2015
21
The scientist of this month is IRÈNE JOLIOT-CURIE! You may not have heard of her, but she is renowned for her work in nuclear science. She and her husband, Frédéric Joliot, received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their synthesis of new radioactive elements. She is actually the daughter of the famous Pierre and Marie Curie, extending the family’s legacy in its deep involvement with radioactive elements. She was born on September 12, 1897 in Paris and studied at the Faculty of Science in her home city. During the First World War, she served as a nurse radiographer and experienced the war front firsthand. In 1925, Irène Joliot-Curie became a Doctor of Science with her thesis about polonium alpha rays. She soon rose to become a professor in the Faculty of Science in Paris in 1937, then the Director of the Radium Institute in 1946. In 1938, she began her research on the actions of neutrons in heavy elements, paving the way for the development of uranium fission. Irène also participated in the building of the first French atomic pile, which utilized materials such as heavy water as a moderator instead of graphite and uranium as a fissionable element. The French atomic pile is still very significant in the nuclear progress of France.
While deeply concerned in the nuclear sciences, Irène Joliot-Curie was passionate about intellectual and social development of women. She was a member of the World Peace Council and of the Comité National de I’Union des Femmes Françaises. By the end of her lifetime, she accumulated numerous degrees from several universities and was a member of important scientific societies. She passed away in Paris in 1956, leaving her 1934 paper Production artificielle d’éléments radioactifs. Prueve chimique de la transmutation des elements as her lasting work.
Scientist of the Month