Marie Curie
Born
Marie Curie sits at her measuring apparatus around 1900, one hand on the instrument and her eyes on the reading. The setup was devised by Pierre Curie to detect very small electric charges, and measuring how strongly uranium and other materials made the air around them conduct electricity was how she studied radioactivity and went on to find polonium and radium. It is a quiet picture of the most demanding part of the job: getting a steady, repeatable number from an instrument that rewarded patience and a light touch.
More about Marie Curie