Final answer:
Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to be awarded Nobel Prizes in both Physics and Chemistry. Her work alongside Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel on radioactivity led to their shared 1903 Nobel Prize. Despite personal tragedies and health issues from radiation exposure, Marie Curie's discoveries of radium and polonium earned her a second Nobel Prize in 1911.
Step-by-step explanation:
When Marie Curie shared the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel, she had been the first woman to win the prize. This award was in recognition of their collective work on the new phenomenon of radioactivity and the discovery of new elements that exhibited natural radioactivity.
Marie Curie's groundbreaking research did not cease despite the tragic death of her husband in a horse-drawn cart accident in 1906. She persevered, identifying a new element called Polonium and winning a second Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 for her discoveries of radium and polonium, becoming the only person ever to be awarded Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields.
The impact of radioactivity was profound, not only on scientific understanding but also on the health of the researchers, as Marie Curie suffered from radiation-induced ailments and ultimately died of leukemia likely caused by her extensive exposure to radiation.