I previously wrote a blog post about Ada Lovelace, often celebrated as “the world’s first computer programmer.” While I genuinely enjoyed crafting that piece, I wished for the opportunity to write about a scientist who is much closer to my heart: Maria Skłodowska-Curie. She has always been and remains a personal role model.

Curie revolutionized our understanding of the atomic world. Her work had profound, long-lasting effects on medicine, technology, and the course of human history.

Growing up and going to school in Poland, I learned about Curie early on in an elementary school science course. I remember seeing her pictures in every physics and chemistry classroom.

An extraordinary scientist, wife, and mother, Curie paved a path into science for generations of women who came after her. Over time, I’ve come to recognize many parallels between our lives.

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