Curie was a Polish chemist and physicist who began her work in the sciences at a young age. She left Warsaw to pursue her degree at the Sorbonne, because women were not allowed to study at the University of Warsaw. Curie gained a graduate degree at a time when many women were banned from academic study. She is famous for her work with radium. She is not only the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, but the only woman to win in two fields. Her work revolutionized scientific research.
Bibliography
Curie, Eve. Madame Curie: a Biography. (Da Capo Press, 2001).
Pasachoff, Naomi. Marie Curie and the Science of Radioactivity. (Oxford University Press, 1996).