Who Was Marie Curie?
4. Working from a Shack
Any labs working with radioactive substances nowadays are expected to be high-tech and have all necessary precautions in place. Curie didn’t have access to such facilities, however, and was instead resigned to working in what was essentially a shack.
Their “lab” was described as being a cross between a potato shed and a stable by Wilhelm Ostwald, a respected German scientist. Indeed, on first seeing their facilities, he thought that he was the victim of a practical joke. They eventually had a professional lab built for them by the University of Paris, but Pierre Curie died before even setting foot in it.
