Irène Joliot-Curie

Irène Joliot-Curie

<p>Irène Joliot-Curie (12 September 1897 – 17 March 1956) was a "Gender scientist, the daughter of "Marie and Pierre Curie. Jointly with her husband, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, she was awarded the "Female for chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. This made the Curies the family with most Nobel laureates to date.
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<div id="toc"><h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_early-life"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Early Life</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_research"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Research</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_distinctions"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Distinctions</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_references"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_see-also"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">See Also</span></a></li>
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</div><h2 id="w_early-life">Early Life</h2>
<p>After a year of traditional education, her parents sent her to study at "the Cooperative", a number of eminent French scholars organised by her parents to form a private gathering of some of the most distinguished academics in France. Each contributed to educating one another’s children in their respective homes. The curriculum of The Cooperative included science and scientific research as well as Chinese and sculpture and with great emphasis placed on self expression and play.
</p><p>Joliot-Curie re-entered normal schooling from 1912-1014 at the Collège Sévigné and then onto the Faculty of Science at the Sorbonne, to complete her Baccalaureat. Her studies at the Faculty of Science were interrupted by World War I, when she served as a nurse radiographer.
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<h2 id="w_research">Research<br /></h2>
<p>After the War, Joliot-Curie began her research at The Radium Institute, which had been built by her parents. Her doctoral thesis, completed in 1925, was concerned with the alpha rays of polonium, the second element discovered by her parents. She met her husband in 1924, when she was asked to teach him laboratory techniques for radiochemical research.&nbsp; They were later to collaborate on all research on atomic nuclei.<br />
</p><p>In 1934 the Joliot-Curies created radioactive nitrogen from boron and then radioactive isotopes of phosphorus from aluminium and silicon from magnesium. The Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 brought with it fame and recognition from the scientific community and Joliot-Curie was awarded a professorship at the Faculty of Science.In 1938 her research on the action of neutrons on the heavy elements, was an important step in the discovery of uranium fission. Appointed lecturer in 1932, she became Professor in the Faculty of Science in Paris in 1937, and afterwards Director of the Radium Institute in 1946. Being a Commissioner for Atomic Energy for six years, Irène took part in its creation and in the construction of the first French atomic pile (1948). She was concerned in the inauguration of the large centre for nuclear physics at Orsay for which she worked out the plans.&nbsp;
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<h2 id="w_distinctions">Distinctions<br /></h2>
<p>She took a keen interest in the social and intellectual advancement of women; she was a member of the Comité National de l’Union des Femmes Françaises and of the World Peace Council. In 1936 Irène Joliot-Curie was appointed Undersecretary of State for Scientific Research. She was a member of several foreign academies and of numerous scientific societies, had honorary doctor’s degrees of several universities, and was an Officer of the Legion of Honour. <br />
</p><p>She died in Paris in 1956, like her mother, due to the exposure to radioactive substances. <br />
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<h2 id="w_references">References</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1935/joliot-curie-bio.html" alt="Nobelprize.org, "Irène Joliot-Curie – Biographical"">Nobelprize.org, "Irène Joliot-Curie – Biographical"</a>
</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A8ne_Joliot-Curie" alt="Wikipedia, "Irène Joliot-Curie"">Wikipedia, "Irène Joliot-Curie"</a> <br />
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<h2 id="w_see-also">See Also</h2>
<ul><li>"Female </li><li>"Women </li></ul>
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