"Marie Curie was a pioneering physicist and chemist who made groundbreaking discoveries in radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remains the only person to have won in two different scientific fields—Physics in 1903 (shared with her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel) and Chemistry in 1911 for her discovery of radium and polonium. Her research on radioactive elements revolutionized medicine and physics, laying the foundation for advancements in cancer treatment and nuclear energy. However, her extensive work with radioactive materials, often without proper protection, ultimately led to her death from aplastic anemia in 1934, a condition linked to prolonged radiation exposure. Curie’s research materials, including her notebooks, are still highly radioactive due to prolonged exposure to radium. These documents, housed at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, are stored in lead-lined boxes to protect against radiation, and anyone wishing to handle them must wear protective gear and sign a waiver. The radiation levels are expected to remain dangerous for another 1,500 years, as radium-226, one of the primary contaminants, has a half-life of 1,600 years. Despite this, Curie’s legacy endures in modern science, and her discoveries continue to influence medicine, physics, and nuclear research today"