PIERRE CURIE: BIOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS AND WORKS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

Pierre Curie (1859-1906) was a physicist of French nationality known for his great dexterity in the field of science and research. However, it can be established that, despite his great contributions, he was a modest and simple man. This brought as a consequence that it was little named in scientific history.

To understand the work of Pierre Curie and its impact, it is necessary to know his life, the first works he published and the passion he showed for research. In general terms, many researchers affirm that molecular physics and the atomic discipline reached a great development thanks to the work carried out by this scientist.

Pierre Curie (1903). Source: nobelprize.org. Via Wikimedia Commons

In fact, it has been proven that his research allowed the growth of very varied disciplines such as chemistry, biology, agriculture, medicine, metallurgy and even history.

Biography

Pierre Curie was born on May 15, 1859 in Paris, France. Both his paternal grandfather Paul Curie (1799-1853) and his father Eugéne Curie (1827-1910) were doctors; his grandfather Paul worked in London, England and later in a military hospital in Paris, while his father did research work at the Natural History Museum in France.

In his studies, Pierre received a lot of support from the family, in addition to a liberal training. He earned a Bachelor of Science at age 17. Then it was the Sorbonne University and in 1877 he graduated in Physical Sciences. Quickly, at the Sorbonne he worked as an assistant in a physics laboratory.

Pierre had an older brother, Jacques (1856-1941) who also worked at the Sorbonne as a laboratory assistant, specifically in the mineralogy unit. Pierre and Jacques had a very good relationship and shared equal interests in research.

Pierre Curie died on April 19, 1906 in Paris, the product of an accident with a horse-drawn carriage; it is believed that he died instantly.

Marriage to Marie Skłodowska

Pierre Curie and Marie Skłodowska met in 1894 thanks to a mutual friend. Marie was of Polish origin and had just obtained her degree in physics from the Sorbonne. After a time of friendship, Pierre and Marie got married in July 1895.

The Curie spouses, after their marriage, continued their research and studies; Pierre was working on the properties of crystals and Marie began her doctorate with the support of her husband.

Pierre and Marie had two daughters: Eva and Irene. Eva Curie was a great writer, in fact in 1937 she wrote the biography of her mother. While, Irene Curie was an important researcher in the areas of physics and chemistry; her work led her to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935.

The Curies followed a life focused on scientific work and maintained social relationships restricted to family and a small group of close friends. They did everything together; theoretical work, laboratory research and academic activities.

The first investigations and works were carried out in arduous situations, since they had difficulty obtaining the laboratory equipment. Both had to dedicate themselves to teaching classes at the university to obtain the necessary financial means.

Pierre Curie and Marie Sklodowska Curie. 1903. Source: Smithsonian Institution of the United States. Via Wikimedia Commons

Contributions from Pierre Curie

Piezoelectricity

In 1880, the brothers Pierre and Jacques Curie described the phenomenon of piezoelectricity: the property of some crystals to generate electricity when they are subjected to mechanical stress. Of these investigations the Curie brothers published several articles.

In addition, as a result of his research in piezoelectricity, Pierre developed an instrument known as the Curie electrometer. With this tool he was able to measure the electricity emitted by piezoelectric materials. The Curie electrometer was used by Marie in her work on uranium salt emissions.

One of Pierre's students, Paul Langevin (1872-1946), developed a system that applied the foundations of piezoelectricity. The method used sound waves produced by the vibration of quartz crystals and made it possible to detect underwater vessels.

The phenomenon of radioactivity

In 1896, Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) discovered the phenomenon of radioactivity by observing that uranium and its salts exposed radiation capable of passing through bodies and of impressing a metal plate. Marie Curie was intrigued by these works and tried to examine a wide variety of materials.

Pierre assisted his wife in this process and through his contacts with researchers in the area of ​​chemistry, he acquired a variety of samples for Marie to analyze. Part of the analysis process involved the use of the Curie electrometer, with which they detected minimal emissions in the substances.

Enthusiastic about the work on radioactivity, Pierre gave up his studies in crystals to help Marie in the purification of chemical compounds. In their laboratory, Pierre and Marie discovered that uraninite (a mineral rich in uranium) quadrupled in radiation intensity to metallic uranium.

In 1898, the Curies showed that they had discovered a new substance with greater radioactive power. The find was called polonium, after Marie's birthplace. They then documented the discovery of a second radioactive element that they called radium.

However, in 1898 the French Academy of Sciences informed the Curie spouses that their find would not be admitted unless they could confirm the purity of the discovered element.

The husbands did not have sufficient amounts of radio to be analyzed and obtaining them was very expensive. Pierre was not discouraged by this problem and sought donations. Surprisingly, an unknown benefactor awarded them the money necessary to purchase several tons of the material.

The Curies worked for several years in purification and obtained the necessary amount of radium chloride. The sample was sent to Eugène Demarçay, a French specialist in mass spectrometry. Demarçay determined the purity of the material and estimated its atomic mass value.

Other contributions

In 1880, Pierre Curie published his first article where he documented a novel method for measuring infrared waves; For this he used electricity produced by heat (thermoelectricity) and a small metal frame.

Likewise, in 1885 he described the Curie temperature and defined it as the level above which ferromagnetic materials lose their properties and become paramagnetic.

The Nobel Prize

For their contributions to the field of radioactivity, Pierre Curie, Henri Becquerel and Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903.

Then, in June 1905, Pierre gave the Nobel lecture on his and Marie's work in radioactivity. Being aware of the significance of her discovery, she made clear the scope of her findings for both the good and the bad of humanity.

Applications of your findings

Cancer treatment

Pierre's findings were readily applied in the medical field, as is the case with researchers Danlos and Bloch, who conducted experiments using radium in the treatment of skin disorders such as lupus erythematosus.

In the same way, the first studies for the treatment of brain tumors (gliomas) were decisive. Thus, in 1930 the researcher Harvey Cushing developed elements that were introduced into the skull of patients (radio pumps) for the treatment of gliomas.

The initial trials served as the basis for the achievement of techniques that use sources of radiation other than radium, such as iodine-124. These techniques are used to kill cancer cells or reduce recurrent malignant gliomas.

Gamma radiation

The Curie spouses donated radio samples to their colleagues in physics. In this way, in 1900, Paul Villard received a radio donation that allowed him to conduct research on the radioactive emissions of the element, discovering the phenomenon of gamma radiation.

Gamma rays are now known to consist of electromagnetic photons. Today they are widely used in fields such as medicine, bacteriological control and food preparation.

Piezoelectricity

Studies on piezoelectricity led to the creation of the precursor to sonar. This device called a hydrophone used piezoelectric quartz and was a revolutionary invention, since it determined the principle of the operation of the sonars used by submarines in World War II.

These sonars drove the development of ultrasound technology, which began with the first rudimentary scanners in 1937. Starting this year, a series of achievements and discoveries occurred in humanity based on the research and contributions of Pierre Curie.

Piezoelectric sensors and equipment have greatly impacted the fields of electronics and engineering, supporting the development of advanced technologies with high precision.

Currently, ultrasound is applied for the observation of the blood-brain barrier and for the introduction of therapeutic elements in the brain. Furthermore, piezoelectric sensors and actuators have facilitated the development of medical technologies such as laparoscopic surgery.

Main works

- Sur l'électricité polaire dans les cristaux hémièdres à faces inclinées (1880).

- Recherches sur la determination des longueurs d'where des rayons calorificas à basse temperature (1880).

- Contractions and dilatations produites par des tensions dans les cristaux hemièdres à faces inclinées (1880).

- Développement, par pression, de l'électricité polaire dans les cristaux hémièdres à faces inclinées (1880).

- Experimental lois du magnetisme. Propriétés magétiques des corps at various temperatures (1895).

- Sur une nouvelle substance fortement radioactive contenue dans la pechblende (1898).

- Action physiologique des rayons du radium (1901).

- Action physique de l'émanation du radium (1904).

References

1. Pierre Curie, radioactive substances, especially radium (2018). Retrieved on January 14, 2020 from: nobelprize.org
2. Mold, R. (2007). Pierre Curie, 1859–1906. Retrieved on January 14, 2020 from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
3. Marie Curie. Biographical. Retrieved on January 15, 2020 from: nobelprize.org
4. Muñoz- Páez, A. (2013). Marie Sklodowska-Curie and radioactivity. Retrieved on January 15, 2020 from: org.mx
5. Manbachi, A., Cobbold R (2011). Development and application of piezoelectric materials for ultrasound generation and detection. Retrieved on January 15, 2020 from: net
6. Martínez, R., González A. (2013). History and didactics of Chemistry through postage stamps: an example with Marie Curie. Retrieved on January 14, 2020 from: scielo.org.mx