Looking for a Lab, Finding Love header
Looking for a Lab, Finding Love header
Looking for a Lab, Finding Love header
From Poland to ParisLooking for a Laboratory, Finding LoveThe Discovery of RadiumHonors, Disasters, & RenewalRadium Campaigns

The Eiffel Tower in 1900
(Move mouse over photos to read captions)

Ayoung Polish woman traveled economy-class from Warsaw to Paris in autumn 1891. She had enough money to cover university tuition, a small room and the cheapest food, but little else. Maria Sklodowska left behind not only her beloved father and country but her very name. She registered at the famous Sorbonne university as Marie, the French form of Maria.

Marie was not as well prepared as her fellow students. Nevertheless, through hard work she completed master’s degrees in physics and math in only three years. Living on her own for the first time, she focused so hard on her studies that she sometimes forgot to eat.
Read what Marie wrote here.quotes image

Gustave Caillebotte Painting
M
arie's superior work in physics won her a scholarship. And a group of industrialists, the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry, paid her to investigate the magnetic properties of different steels. To carry out the work she needed a lab.
Looking for a Lab, Finding Love footer
BACK
HOME
NEXT
Looking for a Lab, Finding Love footerLooking for a Lab, Finding Love footer