If you ask the public, "the most famous woman scientist Which one?" Most people answer might be Mary. Marie Curie (Marie Curie). Indeed, Marie Curie obtained the Nobel Prize twice, which is an unprecedented record. But few people know that she is also a World War I battlefield medical heroes: the invention of X-rays touring car, a gunshot wound to restore many soldiers dying life.

Shimisenni Institute report (smithsonian) reported, 100 years ago - that is, in October 1917, Madame Curie would design her tour of the X-ray vehicle named "little Curie" (Little Curie), and trained 150 women become the operator, to check the position of the bullet wounded body, a move that could affect the battle of the Marne (second battle of the Marne) the victory the second time.

The story begins New Year's Day 1914 when the outbreak of the war to begin with, Madame Curie was living in Paris, she is studying radioactive elements radium, but after the outbreak of the war, Madame Curie research was interrupted, so she will be on hand to send the element radium 375 miles from Paris to Bordeaux (France wartime capital), housed in a local bank safe deposit box. Then she returned to Paris flames of war, wanted to do something for the war: She decided she would develop science and technology, but not the weapons, but save lives.

X-rays are William. Roentgen (Wilhelm Roentgen) discovered in 1895, and found this to be the first session of the Nobel Prize winner, after X-rays on rapid application in medical, doctors use X-rays to identify foreign objects on the patient, such as bullets.

A light ray X x just invention, the bullet can be seen near the heart of the card. (FIG / Shimisenni Society)

But when World War I began, X-ray machine is still very great, only placed in the major hospitals of the city, away from the big cities and very distant battlefield, the wounded is difficult to timely evacuation. So Marie Curie began to design the X-ray motor vehicles, the first of which is a power supply problem, but fortunately this time internal combustion engine car has just come out, so Marie Curie design a set of diesel generators to solve this problem, the design of the X-ray touring car.

Then, through the power of Marie Curie French Women's Union, get a tour of the production of X-rays required for car financing, which is the first one of the "little Curie", but "little Curie" There must be enough the number can be played on the battlefield, she began to persuade the Paris of the rich donate money, then recruiting enough operators. In order not to delay the male members of the military, so choose Marie Curie training women volunteers, which also includes her daughter Irene (Irene is the future Nobel Prize winner).

X-ray training courses include theoretical physics, as well as practical steps, as well as the way of interpretation of X-rays. Even including the maintenance of the vehicle itself, such as how to replace the tires, clean the carburetor, and overturned in the future, how to operate the jack to lift the car move. In other words, these men originally belonged to menial jobs, women now must study. The final total of 150 women underwent X-ray machine Marie Curie training. During the war, about 200 "little Curie" field hospital near the front line, many women operator is listening to the gunfire, the smell and smoke in the judgment of the injury. Nevertheless, few women X-ray staff by fighting injured. But while the operator does not hurt because of the war, but because the X-ray itself injured. At that time, the damage to the X-ray dose insufficient knowledge, many female operator suffered burns excessive exposure to radiation of X-rays. Marie Curie was later found health risks of X-rays, so she later lessons, wrote a book off the X-ray security.

Marie Curie in poor physical condition after the war, because of suffering from aplastic anemia, apparently radiation damage. The cause of morbidity opinions vary, many people believe that the result of her illness from her decades of research element radium. But Marie Curie said this dismissive. She felt the time in the study of radium, radium has been careful to protect themselves from harm; relative, she thought her illness was the result of long-term operation of high-energy X-ray machine during the war.

We may never know whether wartime X-ray machine operation undermined her health, but in 1995 the remains of her re-sample survey showed that radium content in her body is indeed very low, that is to say, Madame Curie seems to say Yes, she not died of radium poisoning, but X-ray overexposure.

During the war, estimated the total number of wounded receiving X-rays more than a million people, showing "little Curie" aid contribution. Marie Curie was a great scientist famous annals, so we can not say she is "unsung heroes", but we can say that she invented the X-ray touring car, is a "little-known contribution."