Which scientist is credited with discovering radium and contributing to the foundation for radioactivity in disease treatment?

Which scientist is credited with discovering radium and contributing to the foundation for radioactivity in disease treatment?

• A. Louis Pasteur
• B. Isaac Newton
• C. Marie Curie
• D. Albert Einstein

Answer: (C)

Marie Curie is the scientist who discovered radium and helped establish the use of radioactivity in medicine. She and Pierre Curie isolated radium from pitchblende and showed that certain elements emit radiation on their own, not because of external energy inputs. This work introduced the term radioactivity and demonstrated how radioactive materials could be used to treat disease, especially cancer, laying the foundation for radiation therapy. The other scientists listed made major contributions in different areas—Pasteur in microbiology and vaccines, Newton in classical physics, and Einstein in relativity and quantum theory—but none of them identified radium or spearheaded medical uses of radioactivity.

Marie Curie is the scientist who discovered radium and helped establish the use of radioactivity in medicine. She and Pierre Curie isolated radium from pitchblende and showed that certain elements emit radiation on their own, not because of external energy inputs. This work introduced the term radioactivity and demonstrated how radioactive materials could be used to treat disease, especially cancer, laying the foundation for radiation therapy. The other scientists listed made major contributions in different areas—Pasteur in microbiology and vaccines, Newton in classical physics, and Einstein in relativity and quantum theory—but none of them identified radium or spearheaded medical uses of radioactivity.