Radioactive
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Dimensions: 18” H X 24” W X 1.5” D. Landscape orientation.
Acrylic paint, open-sourced printed materials overlaid with high gloss varnish.
Original Artwork $750 + shipping.
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Marie Sklodowska Curie
This collage spotlights the discoveries and works of Marie Sklodowska Curie. Born on November 7, 1867, she was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, Physics (1903) and Chemistry (1911). She was the first woman to receive a doctorate
and become a full professor at the University of Paris. She established radioactivity theory, extracted and isolated the elements radium and polonium, discovered radiation therapy for the treatment cancer, contributed money, time, and considerable influence to help the French soldiers during World War 1. Using her scientific expertise, she created, designed, staffed, and fundraised to bring her fleet of portable radiology labs called “Petites Curies” to the World War 1 front, where over 1,000,000 lifesaving X-rays were administered in the field. Marie Sklodowska Curie was admired by Einstein and many others in the male-dominated scientific community. She was a true trailblazer and led the way for women in science. On July 4, 1934, she died at the age of 66, of aplastic anemia from radiation exposure during her scientific research. To find out more about the elements used in this collage, please see an explanation below.
Elements of Art
International radioactive symbol
Signature
11071867
07041934
Nobel Prize in Physics (1903)
Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1911)
Marie Sklodowska Curie’s Ph.D. thesis
Pages out of one of Curie’s scientific notebooks
X-ray
A photo of Marie Sklodowska Curie at the Fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Photons
Le Journal De Physique & Le Radium
Radium
Physics
Polonium
Chemistry
Radioactivity
WW1
Hero
Petites curies
Diagram of radium (Ra) enhanced Bohr model
Stamp
Pictures of Curie
L’Isotopie et les Elements Isotopes
Diagram of electron shell (084) polonium
Explanation of Elements
The international radiation sign, known as a trefoil, first appeared in 1946, at the University of California, Berkeley Radiation Laboratory.
Signature of Marie Sklodowska Curie.
11071867= Curie was born
07041934= Curie died
Nobel Prize in Physics: In1903, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science awarded Marie Curie the Nobel Prize in Physics. She shared the prize with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel. The prize was awarded “in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry: In 1911, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Marie Curie the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This award was “in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element.”
Madame Curie’s Ph.D. thesis was entitled “Research on Radioactive Substances,” the Ph.D. thesis was defended in Paris on June 12, 1903.
Pages out of one of her scientific notebooks showing experiments on radioactive materials.
The pictured X-ray represents the incredible impact Curie had on the survival of hundreds of thousands of soldiers by bringing portable X-ray machines to the WWI front.
The Fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Photons was held in October 1927. Prominent physicists from all over the world met to discuss the newly formulated quantum theory. 17 of the 29 participants were or became Nobel Laureates. Back row, left to right: Auguste Piccard, Émile Henriot, Paul Ehrenfest, Édouard Herzen, Théophile de Donder, Erwin Schrödinger, Jules-Émile Verschaffelt, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Ralph Howard Fowler, Léon Brillouin. Middle row, left to right: Peter Debye, Martin Knudsen, William Lawrence Bragg, Hendrik Anthony Kramers, Paul Dirac, Arthur Compton, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Niels Bohr. Front row, left to right: Irving Langmuir, Max Planck, Marie Skłodowska Curie, Hendrik Lorentz, Albert Einstein, Paul Langevin, Charles-Eugène Guye, Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Owen Willans Richardson.
Le Journal De Physique & Le Radium was a French periodical.
Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. The atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it reacts with nitrogen on exposure to air, forming a black surface layer of radium nitride.
Physics is the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy.
Polonium is a chemical element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84. It is a rare and highly radioactive metal.
Chemistry is the science that deals with identifying the substances of which matter is composed; the investigation of their properties, and how they interact, combine, and change.
Radioactivity is the emission of ionizing radiation or particles caused by the spontaneous disintegration of atomic nuclei.
WW1 was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from July 28, 1914, to November 11, 1918.
A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
Petites curies were the first portable radiology labs. Curie designed, staffed, and fundraised to bring her fleet of “Petites Curies” to the WWI front, where over 1,000,000 lifesaving X-rays were administered in the field.
Radium (Ra) enhanced Bohr model. In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford-Bohr model, presented by Niels Bohr and Ernest Rutherford in 1913, is a system consisting of a small, dense nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons.
Stamp of Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie, France 1938.
Pictures of Curie from Wikipedia.
L’Isotopie et les Elements Isotopes is a book written by Madame Pierre Curie. It was written in French and published in Paris in 1924.
Diagram of electron shell (084) Polonium. This model illustrates how many electrons are in each shell surrounding the nucleus of Polonium.
References:
“Category:Marie Curie.” Category:Marie Curie - Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Marie_Curie.
“Physics: Definition of Physics by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com Also Meaning of Physics.” Lexico Dictionaries | English, Lexico Dictionaries, www.lexico.com/definition/physics.
“Polonium.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium.
“The Home of Language Data.” Oxford Languages, languages.oup.com/.
“World War I.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I.