Thread by @GeniusGTX

Everyone talks about the same geniuses like:

Einstein, Tesla, or Hawking.

But for me, there's one woman who stands head and shoulder above all.

Sadly, her legacy was a heartbreaking tragedy. Here's her story... (thread) 🧵

In 1927, Marie Curie was the ONLY woman among 29 top physicists at the prestigious Solvay Conference.

She was the:

• first woman to win a Nobel Prize
• first person to win Nobel Prizes in 2 fields
• pioneer of radioactivity, which saved millions of lives in WW1

But the tragic-devil was following her...

Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1867. Her parents were teachers, but financial hardships struck the family due to her father's patriotism.

Tragedy hit early as her sister Zofia died of typhus, and her mother died of tuberculosis when Marie was 10.

Regardless, Curie was a brilliant student who finished top of her class.

But in the late 1880s, the University of Warsaw banned women. Determined to learn, she attended the secret "Flying University."

She worked as a governess, supporting her sister Bronya's medical studies in Paris.

If you want to learn to write a thread like this, I've made a free guide for you.

Maybe you want to:

• Go viral with threads
• Make your first $1 online
• Attract your first 1000s fans

ONE viral thread is all you need.

Grab a free copy here:

geniusgtx.gumroad.com/l/viral

At 26, Curie met physicist Pierre Curie, who offered her lab space.

She planned to return to Poland and declined his marriage proposal. However, in 1894, the University of Krakow denied her a professorship because she was a woman.

Pierre convinced her to pursue a PhD in Paris instead. They wed in 1895.

Curie's breakthrough moment.

Curie's doctoral thesis in 1903 focused on uranium radiation. She found the uranium ore pitchblende was more radioactive than pure uranium.

This helped them discover 2 new elements:

• Polonium (named after Poland): 400x more radioactive than uranium
• Radium: 900x more radioactive than polonium

In 1903, Marie Curie became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics, which she shared with Pierre and Becquerel.

The committee tried to omit her, but Pierre insisted on her inclusion.

Curie was also the first female professor at the Sorbonne after Pierre's tragic death in 1906.

Despite her groundbreaking work, the French Academy of Sciences rejected Curie's membership in 1911.

Months later, she won her 2nd Nobel Prize in Chemistry for isolating radium.

But an affair scandal made headlines worldwide. Einstein wrote to her: "...simply don't read that hogwash..."

During WW1, Curie developed mobile X-ray units called "Little Curies."

She trained 150 women to operate them, helping surgeons locate bullets & shrapnel. Her efforts saved an estimated 1 million soldiers' lives.

Curie knew the risks of radiation exposure but put soldiers' needs first.

The Curies chose not to patent radium, which could have made her extremely wealthy.

Her discoveries laid the foundation for:

• X-rays
• Modern cancer treatments
• Radioisotopes used in medical research

For her, it was "a property of all humans."

Post-war, Curie founded the Radium Institute in Paris and Warsaw, which remain major research centers today.

She died in 1934 at 66 from aplastic anemia, likely due to prolonged radiation exposure.

Curie became the first woman honored on her own merits in the Panthéon in Paris.

The ultimate lessons I learned from Marie Curie:

If you're good enough, every door will open for you. For every problem, there is a solution, and yes, you can solve them.

What was your biggest takeaway? Comment below and let me know.

GeniusGTX.

If you want to learn to write a thread like this, I've made a free guide for you.

Maybe you want to:

• Go viral with threads
• Make your first $1 online
• Attract your first 1000s fans

ONE viral thread is all you need.

Grab a free copy here:

geniusgtx.gumroad.com/l/viral

To everyone who mentioned it, yes.

Her name is Maria Skłodowska-Curie.

The one and only.