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Science 1 March 2002:
Vol. 295. no. 5560, pp. 1647 - 1648
DOI: 10.1126/science.1069943
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Essays on Science and Society

Also see the archival list of the Essays on Science and Society.

PORTRAITS OF SCIENCE:
Scientist, Technologist, Proto-Feminist, Superstar

Roger M. Macklis

Although Marie Curie is known primarily for her discovery of radium, her true gift to science was her realization that radioactivity is an intrinsic atomic property of matter rather than the result of chemical processes. She was one of the few Nobel laureates to win the prize twice (physics and chemistry). During her career and as one of the first prominent women scientists, she became increasingly aware of the need for funding for research and of the scientific freedom that money can bring. By nature shy and reserved, Marie's fame, as both a scientist and as an exemplar of a liberated professional woman of the roaring twenties, grew to superstar proportions.

The author is in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA. E-mail: macklis{at}radonc.ccf.org

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)