A Failed Reaction That Revolutionized Healthcare

A series of failed experiments in radiation that brought some of the greatest medical discoveries 

In 1896, Henri Becquerel was studying uranium’s fluorescence when he unexpectedly  discovered radioactivity. An apparent failure in his experiment—uranium salts did not react as expected—led to a revolutionary discovery in physics. This began a new era of research, later advanced by Marie and Pierre Curie and leading to a Nobel Prize shared by Becquerel and the Curies.

Becquerel found that uranium salts emitted penetrating rays that fogged photographic plates even in the absence of sunlight. He initially thought the radiation was X-rays, but he later observed that it could be deflected by a magnetic field. Since X-rays are not affected by magnetic fields, this observation demonstrated that the radiation was a different phenomenon consisting of charged particles (1). Although Becquerel’s primary focus was on uranium’s properties rather than the concept of spontaneous nuclear decay, his work paved the way for the future research by Ernest Rutherford, Marie Curie, and Pierre Curie (2). 

Several failures, setbacks, and hazardous, poorly regulated working conditions during the Curies’ research into radioactivity led to foundational discoveries in physics and medicine. Marie and Pierre’s persistence in the face of these challenges, particularly in isolating new elements like polonium and radium, established the field of nuclear chemistry (4).  

While testing pitchblende, a uranium-rich ore, Marie Curie expected the material’s radioactivity to correspond to its uranium content (5). Instead, she found that the raw ore was significantly more radioactive than the pure uranium extracted from it. This apparent failure led her to conclude that unknown, highly active, elements must be present in tiny amounts. This reasoning ultimately resulted in their combined discovery of polonium and radium in 1898 (6).

Marie Curie also worked for years attempting to isolate polonium, but was unable to do so because it has a short half-life of 138 days. This meant the polonium decayed into lead almost as quickly as she attempted to purify it, leaving her with minuscule and continually diminishing amounts. However, though she couldn’t isolate it, this difficulty contributed to the development of the theory of radioactive decay and half-lives by Rutherford and Frederick Soddy in 1903(7).

Both Curies suffered from severe exhaustion, skin lesions, and burns from working with radioactive materials without proper protection. Pierre Curie deliberately exposed his arm to radium to study its effect, causing severe burns. Pierre Curie observed that the radiation damaged healthy skin tissue in a predictable way. He realized that radium’s destructive effect could be harnessed to kill diseased, tumor-forming, cells faster than healthy ones. This insight pioneered radium therapy (curiethérapie) for cancer treatment (7). 

These scientists’ unexpected results formed a new path toward curing cancer. Had these mistakes and experimental failures never occurred, and had these scientists not persevered, many foundational discoveries in physics and medicine would not exist. 

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1. https://www.ua-magazine.com/2017/03/01/discovery-radioactivity-time-sun-didnt-shine-paris/ 
2. https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_Chemistry/Introductory_Chemistry_%28CK-12%29/24%3A_Nuclear_Chemistry/24.01%3A_Discovery_of_Radioactivity 

Bibliography 

1. “The Discovery of Radioactivity.” 2026. Lbl.gov. 2026. https://www2.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/03/4.html#:~:text=In%201896%20Henri%20Becquerel%20was,%2C%20positive%2C%20and%20electrically%20neutral.. 
2. Fröman, N. (2025)  “Marie and Pierre Curie and the Discovery of Polonium and Radium.” NobelPrize.org. 2025. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/themes/marie-and-pierre-curie-and-the-discovery-of-polonium-and-radium/#:~:text=When%20Henri%20Becquerel%20was%20exposing,where%20Marie%20and%20Pierre%20Curie.. 
3. Radvanyi, P. and Villain J. (2017)  “The Discovery of Radioactivity.” Comptes Rendus. Physique 18 (9-10): 544–50. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crhy.2017.10.008. 
4. Pasachoff, N. (2021) “Marie Curie.” Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society. March 22, 2021. https://cen.acs.org/articles/89/i26/Marie-Curie.html#:~:text=When%20Marie’s%20research%20revealed%20that,for%20cancer%20and%20other%20ailments.. 
5. Excellence Reporter (2025) “Marie Curie’s Rules for Life: Wisdom from a Nobel Legend” https://excellencereporter.com/2025/05/14/marie-curies-rules-for-life-wisdom-from-a-nobel-legend/
6. (2026) “Marie Curie and the Science of Radioactivity” https://history.aip.org/exhibits/curie/resbr2.htm#:~:text=(The%20Austrians%20hoped%20she%20would,for%20medical%20and%20other%20uses.&text=Despite%20the%20industrial%20assistance%20the,life%20of%20only%20138%20days. 
7. Mould , R.F. (2007) “Pierre Curie, 1859–1906”  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1891197/