The rhythmic clamour of clapping palms filled the auditorium. Shaking hands and reaching out to receive her award, the winner compared it to the last time she’d been awarded the prize - that time she’d been standing alongside her husband. This was another momentous occasion. Another record-breaker, shaking up the chauvinistic world of science.

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Only one person in history has received two Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields. That person is Marie Curie. Outwardly shy and retiring, this obsessive genius was not only the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, but the only woman to win twice. But she was to pay a heavy price for her ground-breaking work.

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