nPostednon September 12, 2014
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Like mother, like daughter: Irene (standing) and Marie Curie |
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nDidnyou know that Marie and Pierre Curie, famous for winning Nobel Prizesnfor their pioneering work in radioactivity, had a daughter—who alsonwon a Nobel Prize for her work in radioactivity?!
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nIrenenCurie was born on this date in 1897, in Paris. She started her formalneducation at age 10, but her parents soon decided that she needed anmore challenging environment than the traditional school. So Irene’snmother, Marie Curie, created what we today might call a homeschoolingnco-op. She enlisted the help of a number of eminent French scholarsnwho also had children, and each parent took a turn educating all ofnthe children in his or her own home. As you might imagine, with thenCuries and another physicist, Paul Langevin, being part of “ThenCooperative,” scientific principles and methodologies were part ofnthe curriculum, but a variety of topics were explored in this co-op,nincluding Chinese and sculpture. Apparently there was a lot ofnemphasis on self-expression, and a lot of time for play.
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nLike her parents, she marriednanother scientist, and they each took on the other’s last name,nbecoming Irene Joliot-Curie and Frederic Joliet-Curie.
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nLike Irene’snparents, the Joliot-Curies worked with radioactivity.
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nAnd like her parents, thentwo won a Nobel Prize for their work!
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nTheynwere the first to discover how to create artificial radioactivity andnhow to turn one element into another. The Joliet-Curies creatednradioactive nitrogen from boron. Later they created radioactivenphosphorous from aluminum, and radioactive silicon from magnesium.
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Radioactive atoms emit (give off) either particles or energy. |
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nUnfortunately, also like her mother, Joliet-Curie died from working so long with ndangerous radioactive materials.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nUnited Nations Day for South-South Cooperation
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nNationalnVideo Games Day
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nAnniversarynof JFK’s “space speech” and other space stuff
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nCapenVerde’s National Day
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nSeptembern holidays
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nSeptembern birthdays
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- Historicaln anniversaries in September
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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