Radium

                  A major discovery was made in 1898, which was to change the course of science and transform medicine. French physicist Pierre Curie (1859 - 1906) and his polish wife Marie (1867 - 1934) discovered, in the course of thir experiments, the radiactive elements radium and polonium.
                   

                  Their discovery of these elements was the birth of modern nuclear physics and led to the whole science of radiotherapy. The couple were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903, which they shared with French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852 - 1908) who had first discovered the rays emitted by uranium slats.
                  

               Pierre curie was killed in an accident, but Marie became Professor of Physics at Sorbonne in his place and went on to isolate the new elements in 1910. Her achievements were recognized by a Nobel Prize and an honorary professorship in radiology at Warsaw.