Grandma continued, "The other was a famous scientist, who is still known as Marie Curie."

By the age of sixteen years, I knew that I wanted to be a scientist like my father. Hello, my name is Marie Sklodowska Curie. I was born Manya Sklodowska in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. I changed my name from Manya to Marie when I went to France in 1890. In those days, women were not allowed to go to university in Poland. My sister Bronya and I made up our minds to go to the famous Sorbonne University in Paris. We were very poor and had to work hard to find the money to go there. I also worked very hard studying science and became the top of my class, earning the higest marks. In 1895 I married a wonderful man, Pierre Curie, who was also a scientist. We were so poor that we could only afford to rent a leaky, old shed to work on our experiments. Our hard work was rewarded when we were given the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903. The Nobel Prize is an award that is given once a year to people whose work helps others around the world. Sadly, Pierre was killed in a road accident in 1906.

That year I was given the position of teacher at the Sorbonne University. I was the first woman to ever teach there. I felt proud. I continued to work very hard on my experiments and was awarded a second Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. I was the first person to have received two Nobel Prizes. I have worked all my life on something called Radioactivity. I discovered an element called radium that doctors use to treat some forms of cancer.

Pierre and I had two daughters, Irene and Eve. Irene also became a scientist and helps me with my work. Many of you may have had x-rays when you have fallen or been injured. An x-ray takes a picture of your bones and the doctor can tell if they are broken. Long ago, from 1914 to 1918 there was a war. I realized that x-rays could help the doctors tend to the wounded soldiers. Irene and I took the x-ray machines to the battle areas. It was very sad to see so many people hurt by the fighting. I know spend much of my time trying to persuade people that fighting in wars does not solve problems.