When the University of Utah set out on a mission to pay tribute to all of the women who have either studied or taught chemistry in its hallowed halls they invoked the spirit and likeness of one of the most famous scientists and chemists of her time in the most awesomely inspired way.
Called The Curie Poster, this photo mosaic is made up of almost 2,000 small photos of Utah women in chemistry that when strategically laid out create an image of Marie Curie (1867–1934), the Polish-born/naturalized-French physicist and chemist, whose discovery of radium, a new radioactive element, was critical to the development of x-rays in surgery and the field of radiology. Her pioneering work on radioactivity earned her the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 (the first woman to ever do so) and again in 1911 (Chemistry), making her the first scientist to win two Nobel Prizes.
According to Continuum, the magazine of The University of Utah, “The 1,807 small photos in the poster were collected in February 2013 and depict women who have either studied or taught chemistry at the U.” The Curie Poster is now displayed for all to admire and be inspired by in the University’s Thatcher Building for Biological and Biophysical Chemistry.
Our WYSKy hats off to the University of Utah trio who assembled this truly awesome visual homage: Tomi Carr BS’06 MS’13, then an administrative assistant in the Chemistry Department; Dave Titensor BFA’91, art director for U Marketing and Communications; and Marla Kennedy BS’05, then an account executive for Marketing and Communications.
Click here to view a larger version of the poster.