Irène Joliot-Curie

Did you know a scientist learned how to make atoms 'light up' like tiny beacons? Imagine a tiny light inside an atom that doctors can use like a flashlight. That scientist was Irène Joliot-Curie.

Irène Joliot-Curie (1897–1956) was a French scientist in the early 1900s. She worked in Paris at the Radium Institute and grew up surrounded by science—her mother was the famous Marie Curie. The single most important thing she did was co-discover artificial radioactivity: making stable atoms radioactive on purpose.

In 1934 Irène and her husband Frédéric performed experiments where they 'shot' tiny particles at elements like aluminum and watched those atoms become radioactive. This was the first time scientists had created radioactive atoms on purpose. For that discovery they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935. Their work made radioisotopes that doctors and scientists use today to see inside the body, find illnesses, and study how things change.

Irène Joliot-Curie's discovery changed medicine and science and helped millions. She showed how curiosity, careful experiments, and teamwork can turn tiny ideas into powerful tools that help people. Her life also continues a family story of women in science. If you like asking questions and trying experiments, you might follow footsteps like hers.