User:Kbonneville/sandbox

Early Life and Education
Original Text

Irène was born in Paris, France. After a year of traditional education, which began when she was 10 years old, her mother Marie Curie realised her obvious mathematical talent and decided that Irène's academic abilities needed a more challenging environment. Marie joined forces with a number of eminent French scholars, including the prominent French physicist Paul Langevin to form "The Cooperative", a private gathering of some of the most distinguished academics in France. Each contributed to educating one another's children in their respective homes. The curriculum of The Cooperative was varied and included not only the principles of science and scientific research but such diverse subjects as Chinese and sculpture and with great emphasis placed on self-expression and play.[3]

This arrangement lasted for two years after which Irène re-entered a more orthodox learning environment at the Collège Sévigné in central Paris from 1912 to 1914 and then onto the Faculty of Science at the Sorbonne, to complete her baccalaureate. Her studies at the Faculty of Science were interrupted by World War I. -Kbonneville (talk) 15:10, 22 March 2019 (UTC)

My Edit

Irène was born in Paris, France in 1897 and was the first of Marie and Pierre's two daughters. They lost their father early on in 1906 due to a horse-drawn wagon incident and Marie was left to raise them. Education was important to Marie and Irène's education began at a school near the Observatory. This school was chosen because it had more challenging curriculum than the school nearby the Curie's home. In 1906, it was obvious Irène was talented in mathematics and Marie chose to focus on that instead of public school. Marie joined forces with a number of eminent French scholars, including the prominent French physicist Paul Langevin to form "The Cooperative", which included a private gathering of nine students that were children of the most distinguished academics in France. Each contributed to educating one another's children in their respective homes. The curriculum of The Cooperative was varied and included not only the principles of science and scientific research but such diverse subjects as Chinese and sculpture and with great emphasis placed on self-expression and play. Irène studied in this environment for about two years.

Irène and her sister Ève were sent to Poland to spend the summer with their Aunt Bronya (Marie's sister) when Irène was thirteen. Irène's education was so rigorous that she still had a German and trigonometry lesson every day of that break. Irène re-entered a more orthodox learning environment by going back to high school at the Collège Sévigné in central Paris until 1914. She then went onto the Faculty of Science at the Sorbonne to complete her baccalaureate until 1916 where her studies were interrupted by World War I. -Kbonneville (talk) 21:10, 16 March 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review by Isaiah Cody
-- Early Life and Education

- My immediate thought is that there is more content than the original edit which is obviously good. Often is the case, the more information the better.

- I like how there are sentences that provide an implicit timeline, though, as a person who likes everything clear and cut, which not everyone does, I would suggest adding dates to accompany those implicit statements which would provide a definitive timeline.

- Just in terms of writing style, I would suggest meshing some sentences together. Right now there are a lot of short sentences. The paragraph may flow a bit better if some of those shorter and similar ideas were combined.

- I like the transition from Early Life and Education to World War I.

World War I
Original Text

Initially, Irène was taken to the countryside, but a year later, when she turned 18, she was reunited with her mother, Marie Curie, who was running the twenty mobile field hospitals that she had established. The hospitals were equipped with primitive X-ray equipment made possible by the Curies' radiochemical research. This technology greatly assisted doctors to locate shrapnel in wounded soldiers, but it was crude and led to both Marie and Irène, who were serving as nurse radiographers, suffering large doses of radiation exposure. Both would eventually die from the consequences of accumulated radiation exposure over their professional life.

After the war, Irène returned to Paris to study at the Radium Institute, which had been built by her parents. The institute was completed in 1914 but remained empty during the war. Her doctoral thesis was concerned with the alpha decay of polonium, the element discovered by her parents (along with radium) and named after Marie's country of birth, Poland. Irène became Doctor of Science in 1925.

My Edit

Irène took a nursing course during college to assist her mother, Marie Curie, in the field as her assistant. She began her work as a nurse radiographer on the battlefield aside her mother, but after a few months she was left alone at a radiological facility in Belgium. She taught doctors how to locate shrapnel in bodies using radiology and taught herself how to repair the equipment. She moved throughout facilities and battlegrounds including two bombsites, Furnes and Ypres, and Amiens. She received a military medal for her assistance in x-rays facilities in France and Belgium.

After the war, Irène returned to the Sorbonne in Paris to complete her degree in mathematics and physics in 1918. Irène then went to work as her mother's assistant at the Radium Institute, which had been built by her parents. Her doctoral thesis was concerned with the alpha decay of polonium, the element discovered by her parents (along with radium) and named after Marie's country of birth, Poland. Irène became Doctor of Science in 1925.

Research
As she neared the end of her doctorate in 1924, Irène Curie was asked to teach the precise laboratory techniques required for radiochemical research to the young chemical engineer Frédéric Joliot, whom she would later wed. From 1928 Joliot-Curie and her husband Frédéric combined their research efforts on the study of atomic nuclei. In 1932, Joliot-Curie and her husband Frédéric had full access to Marie's polonium. Experiments were done with the use of gamma rays to identify the positron. Though their experiments identified both the positron and the neutron, they failed to interpret the significance of the results and the discoveries were later claimed by Carl David Anderson and James Chadwick respectively. These discoveries would have secured greatness indeed, as together with J. J. Thomson's discovery of the electron in 1897, they finally replaced John Dalton's model of atoms as solid spherical particles.

Added portion:

In 1932, Joliot-Curie and her husband Frédéric had full access to Marie's polonium. Experiments were done with the use of gamma rays to identify the positron. -Rm738 (talk) 15:38, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

However in 1933, Joliot-Curie and her husband were first to discover the accurate weight measurement of the neutron. The Joliot-Curie's continued trying to get their name into the scientific community, in doing so they developed a new theory from a interesting experiment they conducted. During one of their experiments of using alpha rays against aluminum, they discovered only protons were detected. Based off the undetectable electron and positron pair they proposed the protons changed into neutrons and positrons. Later in October 1933, this new theory was taken to the Seventh Solvay Conference. The Solvay Conference consisted of highly intelligent scientists in the physics and chemistry community. Irene and her husband presented their theory and results to the fellow scientists, but they received criticism from their finding from most of the 46 scientist attending. However they were able to build on the controversial theory later on. -Rm738 (talk) 15:32, 19 April 2019 (UTC)

In 1934, the Joliot-Curie's finally made the discovery that sealed their place in scientific history. Building on the work of Marie and Pierre Curie, who had isolated naturally occurring radioactive elements, the Joliot-Curie's realized the alchemist's dream of turning one element into another: creating radioactive nitrogen from boron, radioactive isotopes of phosphorus from aluminium, and silicon from magnesium. Irradiating the natural stable isotope of aluminium with alpha particles (i.e. helium nuclei) results in an unstable isotope of phosphorus: 27Al + 4He → 30P + 1n. This first discover is formally known as positron emission or beta decay, where a proton in the radioactive nucleus changes to a neutron and releases positrons and electron neutrino. By then, the application of radioactive materials for use in medicine was growing and this discovery allowed radioactive materials to be created quickly, cheaply, and plentifully. The Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 brought with it fame and recognition from the scientific community and Irene was awarded a professorship at the Faculty of Science.

Added portion: This first discover is formally known as positron emission or beta decay, where a proton in the radioactive nucleus changes to a neutron and releases positrons and electron neutrino. -Rm738 (talk) 15:38, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

In 1948, using the works of nuclear fission, Irène worked with her husband along with other scientist to create the first French nuclear reactor. Irène's husband, Frédéric was the director of the Atomic Energy Commission, Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA), the organization in charge of the project. The reactor, Zoé (French for "heavy water") used nuclear fusion to generate five kilowatts of energy. This was just the beginning of nuclear energy as a power source for France. Because of the work of the Joliot-Curie's, France in now run on approximately 80% of nuclear energy to present day. Also France exports additional energy to other European countries. -Rm738 (talk) 22:40, 5 May 2019 (UTC)

Original Text
Irène and Frédéric hyphenated their surnames to Joliot-Curie after they married in 1926. Eleven months later, their daughter Hélène was born; she would also become a noted physicist. Their son, Pierre, a biologist, was born in 1932.

During World War II, Joliot-Curie contracted tuberculosis and was forced to spend several years convalescing in Switzerland. Concern for her own health together with the anguish of leaving her husband and children in occupied France was hard to bear and she did make several dangerous visits back to France, enduring detention by German troops at the Swiss border on more than one occasion. Finally, in 1944, Joliot-Curie judged it too dangerous for her family to remain in France and she took her children back to Switzerland.

In 1956, after a final convalescent period in the French Alps, Joliot-Curie was admitted to the Curie hospital in Paris, where she died on 17 March at the age of 58 from leukemia, possibly due to radiation from polonium-210.

Frédéric's health was also declining and died in 1958 from liver disease. It was said to be from overexposure to radiation.

Joliot-Curie was an atheist.

Joliot-Curie's daughter, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, is a nuclear physicist and professor at the University of Paris; her son, Pierre Joliot, is a biochemist at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Edited Text
Irène and Frédéric hyphenated their surnames to Joliot-Curie after they married in 1926. The Joliot-Curie's had two children, Hélène born eleven months after they were married and Pierre, born in 1932.

During 1941 through 1943 of World War II, Joliot-Curie contracted tuberculosis and was forced to spend convalescing in Switzerland. Concern for her own health together with the anguish of her husband being in the resistance against the Nazi party and children in occupied France was hard to bear. She did make several dangerous visits back to France, enduring detention by German troops at the Swiss border on more than one occasion. Finally, in 1944, Joliot-Curie judged it too dangerous for her family to remain in France and she took her children back to Switzerland. Later in September of 1944, after not hearing from Frédéric for months, Irene and children were able to rejoin with Frédéric.

Irène fought through her struggles to try and push her own personal interests. She was passionate in the feminist movement especially for sciences, also always pushed for peace. She continuously applied for the Academy of Sciences, a elite scientific organization, knowingly that she would be denied. She did so to draw attention to the fact they did accept women in the organization. Irène was also involved in many speaking functions such as International Women's day conference. She also played a big role for the French contingent at the World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace, which pushed for the World Peace movement. In 1948, during a strike involving coal miners, Joliot-Curie reached out to Paris Newsletters to convince families to temporarily adopt the children of the coal miners during the strike. The Joliot-Curie's adopted two girls during that time.

In 1956, after a final convalescent period in the French Alps, Joliot-Curie was admitted to the Curie hospital in Paris, where she died on 17 March at the age of 58 from leukemia, possibly due to radiation from polonium-210. Frédéric's health was also declining and died in 1958 from liver disease. It was said to be from overexposure to radiation.

Joliot-Curie was an atheist and aniti-war. When the French government held a national funeral in her honor, Irène's family asked to have the religious and military portions of the funeral omitted. Frédéric also had a national funeral held by the French government.

Joliot-Curie's daughter, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, went on to be nuclear physicist and professor at the University of Paris; her son, Pierre Joliot, went on to be biochemist at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

-Rm738 (talk) 22:40, 5 May 2019 (UTC)

-Rm738 (talk) 18:49, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

Adding to a Article
Irène and Frédéric hyphenated their surnames to Joliot-Curie after they married in 1926. Eleven months later, their daughter Hélène was born; she would also become a noted physicist. Their son, Pierre, a biologist, was born in 1932.

During World War II, Joliot-Curie contracted tuberculosis and was forced to spend several years convalescing in Switzerland. Concern for her own health together with the anguish of leaving her husband and children in occupied France was hard to bear and she did make several dangerous visits back to France, enduring detention by German troops at the Swiss border on more than one occasion. Finally, in 1944, Joliot-Curie judged it too dangerous for her family to remain in France and she took her children back to Switzerland.

In 1956, after a final convalescent period in the French Alps, Joliot-Curie was admitted to the Curie hospital in Paris, where she died on 17 March at the age of 58 from leukemia, possibly due to radiation from polonium-210.

Additions: Frédéric's health was also declining and died in 1958 from liver disease. It was said to be from overexposure to radiation.

Joliot-Curie was an atheist.

Joliot-Curie's daughter, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, is a nuclear physicist and professor at the University of Paris; her son, Pierre Joliot, is a biochemist at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Choosing an Article
Irène Joliot-Curie


 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

There was some French titles that weren't translated. Everything seems relevant to her life.


 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

There seems to be a lot of gaps. It explains brief points in her life without going into detail.


 * What else could be improved?

Adding depth to many points and removing a little bias. There are a lot of questions for me like what happened in between or why that happened.


 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

It is mainly neutral. There are a couple statements that seem a little biased. For example, there is a sentence that says "her obvious mathematical talent."


 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

There seems to be a lot of underrepresented information and jumps between.


 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?

I clicked on three links and two out of the three did not work.


 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?

There are several missing links to information. There are whole sections that do not have a single reference.


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

There has been some talk but it hasn't been edited since 2007.


 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

It is rated C-class. It it a part of six Wikiprojects.


 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Many of her achievements are lumped in with her husband. I am curious on how much she actually did or how much her husband got credit for. --~

Article Evaluation: Irene Joliot-Curie
Why did you choose it? What's missing? What do you want to add?


 * We are choosing this article because it is viewed around 600 time a day but there are no active editors in the talk page since 2007. As stated above, there are several gaps in information and barely any citations. The article is also C-class which means in could use some work. I want to add more about her specific achievements and how her personal life was as a women in this field.

Sources

-Kbonneville (talk) 16:45, 1 March 2019 (UTC) -~
 * The Age of Innocence: Nuclear Physics between the First and Second World Wars (2018) [her and her husband were prominent in this period]
 * Marie Curie and Her Daughters: The Private Lives of Science's First Family (2012) [good for her personal life and obviously her parents are a big part]
 * European Women in Chemistry (2011) [speaks specifically about being a women]
 * Nobel Prize women in science [electronic resource] : their lives, struggles, and momentous discoveries
 * The Discovery of Artificial Radioactivity (2012) [this is her and her husband's discovery- important]