Who Was Marie Curie?
9. She Didn’t Cash In
People that make such groundbreaking discoveries are often able to benefit from the work significantly, mainly through financial reward. It is common for patents to be sought to prevent others from using the work for themselves and patent owners can become very wealthy indeed.
Despite the couple struggling to afford to purchase supplies and equipment for their work, however, they refused to seek a patent. Instead, they wanted to share their work openly so that other people were free to use it as they saw fit. Marie Curie once told a journalist that Radium belongs to the people and was not meant to enrich anybody.
