🔮 Polonium
Announced in July 1898. Marie named it after her homeland, Poland.
Accelerating Change, 1875-1905: Ehrlich, Koch and Chemistry » Marie Curie and Radioactivity
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section B, Breadth study B2, Key topic 3
- How Marie Curie discovered polonium and radium in 1898
- How radiation was used to treat cancer
- Why the dangers of radiation were not understood at first
- How science speeded up change in medicine between 1875 and 1905
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Unlock This CourseA new kind of science
By the 1890s, doctors had learned a great deal about germs. Pasteur and Koch had shown that tiny living things cause many diseases. Now a different kind of science began to change medicine: physics. At the centre of it was Marie Curie.
Marie was born in Warsaw, in Poland, in 1867. Women could not study at university there, so in 1891 she moved to Paris, where she studied science. In 1895 she married a French scientist, Pierre Curie, and they worked together.
Key terms:
- Radioactivity: the giving off of invisible rays by some substances. Marie Curie came up with this word.
- Radiation: the invisible rays or energy that radioactive substances give out.
- Radium: a radioactive element discovered by the Curies in 1898.
- Radiotherapy: using radiation to treat disease, especially cancer.
The discovery of polonium and radium
In 1896 a French scientist, Henri Becquerel, found that the metal uranium gave off mysterious rays. Marie Curie decided to study these rays for her research. She tested many materials and found that a mineral called pitchblende gave off far more radiation than the uranium in it could explain. She reasoned that it must contain something else that was even more radioactive.
The Curies worked for months in a poor, cold shed, boiling and separating huge amounts of pitchblende by hand. In 1898 they announced two new elements:
⚡ Radium
Announced in December 1898. It was far more radioactive than uranium.
Marie then spent years separating a pure sample of radium. In 1903 she, Pierre and Becquerel shared the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on radioactivity.
Radiation and cancer
Scientists soon noticed that radiation could harm living cells. A burn on the skin could come from carrying radium in a pocket. This gave doctors an idea. Cancer is a disease in which cells grow out of control. If radiation could destroy cells, perhaps it could destroy the cells of a cancer.
Doctors began to use radium on cancers, especially on the skin and near the surface of the body, in the early 1900s. A small amount of radium was placed on or near the growth. It was the start of radiotherapy, and in some patients it shrank or removed the cancer. Radiotherapy has been used ever since, so this was a change that lasted.
The dangers and the limits
At first nobody understood how dangerous radiation was. Marie Curie handled radioactive materials with bare hands, and she died in 1934 from a blood disease that was probably caused by years of exposure. Treatment was also hard to control, because doctors could not yet aim the radiation exactly or measure the right dose, so healthy cells could be damaged too. Radium was extremely rare and costly, so few patients could be treated.
How science speeded up change, 1875-1905
Marie Curie's work was part of a wider pattern. In these thirty years the pace of change in medicine grew:
- Change: Koch found the germs behind diseases, Ehrlich searched for chemical magic bullets, Landsteiner discovered blood groups and Curie opened up radiation. Medicine now depended on laboratories and trained scientists.
- Continuity: many diseases still had no cure, and radiotherapy helped only some cancers. Government action on public health, such as the Public Health Act of 1875, still mattered a great deal to everyday health.
Common mistakes
- Saying Marie Curie discovered X-rays. She worked on radioactivity, polonium and radium.
- Writing that radium cured cancer. It helped to treat some cancers, and it was risky and limited.
- Forgetting that Pierre Curie worked with her. Marie led the research, and they announced the discoveries together.
Exam-style question
How significant was science in changing medicine in the years c1848-c1905? [16 marks]
You may use the following in your answer:
- Pasteur's germ theory (1861)
- Marie Curie and radium (1898)
You must also use information of your own.
Model answer
Science was very significant in changing medicine between 1848 and 1905, although it was not the only cause of change.
Science changed how doctors understood disease. In 1861 Pasteur put forward the germ theory, showing that microbes cause decay and disease. This replaced the old belief in miasma and began a hunt for the germs behind particular illnesses. It was a turning point because every later advance rested on it.
Science also gave doctors new treatments. In 1898 Marie Curie and Pierre Curie discovered radium. Within a few years doctors were using its radiation on cancers, which started radiotherapy. This was a new kind of treatment that was not based on germs at all, and it is still used today.
Other scientific work from my own knowledge adds to the picture. Koch used stains and pure cultures to link bacteria to diseases such as tuberculosis in 1882. Ehrlich's search for a magic bullet led to Salvarsan 606 in 1910, and Landsteiner's blood groups in 1901 explained why transfusions had failed. Science reached surgery too, because Lister used carbolic acid from 1865 and later surgeons moved to steam-sterilised instruments.
However, science was not the only factor. Government action did as much for ordinary people. The Public Health Act of 1875 forced councils to provide sewers and clean water, and the death rate fell. Nightingale's reforms in nursing and the work of Elizabeth Garrett in opening medicine to women were driven by determined individuals. There was also much continuity. Radium helped only some cancers and was dangerous, and many diseases still could not be cured by 1905.
Overall, science was the most significant cause of change, because it explained disease and produced new treatments, but it worked alongside government and individuals, and the biggest cures came after 1905.
What lifts this to the top level: it covers several aspects over the whole period, weighs science against other factors, and ends with a judgement that is justified.
Exam tip
For a 'how significant' question, cover three or more aspects, include a counter-argument such as government or individuals, and finish by judging the extent of the change.