Skip to content

Expedition · 6 missions

A Life of Discovery

Complete expedition · Free

From a Warsaw classroom to two Nobel Prizes: follow Marie Curie’s work, the people who shared it and how the world recognised it.

Start mission 1 · free, about 12 minutes

6 missionsA question can change a life.

Warsaw · Paris · 1867–1934

Marie Curie, 1867–1934.

Editorial illustration · not a historical source

  • Named sources

    Real people. Real records.

  • 6 missions

    A complete story, step by step.

  • Evidence over rumour

    Question. Compare. Think.

  • For curious minds

    Go deeper. See more.

The missions

Start with mission 1, then continue at your own pace.

  1. Mission 1 of 6Free

    A student in Warsaw

    Explain how the rules and opportunities of Warsaw shaped Maria Skłodowska’s route to Paris.

  2. Mission 2 of 6Free

    Strange rays

    Distinguish Becquerel’s discovery, the Curie announcements and the later prizes.

  3. Mission 3 of 6Free

    Whose discovery?

    Compare an award record with scientists’ accounts of collaboration.

  4. Mission 4 of 6Free

    From ore to element

    Separate measurements, scientific explanation, a doctorate and a later edition date.

  5. Mission 5 of 6Free

    Prizes, a lost election and no patent

    Explain why discovery, academic appointment and public recognition have different dates.

  6. Mission 6 of 6Free

    A life carefully told

    Connect the scientific work, wartime service and later remembrance without erasing collaborators.