Famous People • Science

Nicolaus Copernicus

(1473 – 1543) in Polish - Mikołaj Kopernik was the first astronomer to formulate a scientifically-based heliocentric cosmology that displaced the earth from the center of the universe. He studied at the University of Krakow (canon law), later at the University of Bologna (canon and civil law), the University of Padua (medicine) and the University of Ferrara (doctorate in canon law). He also worked as an professor of mathematics and astrology. In his thirties he returned to Poland. He made many detailed astronomical observations. His book “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres” (1530) began the Scientific Revolution stimulating further scientific investigations and became a landmark in the history of modern science. Before nearly everyone thought that the earth was flat and that wheels drove the sun, stars and the moon. Moreover it was thought that the earth was the center of all stars. Nicolas Copernicus suddenly became sick with a brain hemorrhage during the year of printing his manuscript. He received a copy of his book on his deathbed.

Maria Sklodowska–Curie

(1867 – 1934) was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity and one of only two people who has been awarded a Nobel Prize in two different fields, the other was- Linus Pauling. She was born in Warsaw. When she was 24 she went to study chemistry and physics at the Sorbonne in Paris. Later she became the first woman to teach there. Together with Pierre Curie (her husband) and Henri Becquerel, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. She was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize! Eight years later, she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie was also a Nobel laureate, as were her son-in-law Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Maria Sklodowska was working on techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes and discovered two new elements. The first one was named polonium after Marie's native country, and the other - radium from its intense radioactivity. In 1932 she founded Radium Institute in her home town Warsaw, where they treated neoplasm using radioactive isotopes. In her later years, she was disappointed by physicians and makers of cosmetics who often used radioactive material without precautions. She died from leukemia almost certainly due to her massive exposure to radiation in her work.

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