X-Ray Scanning
Light, Sound and Waves

Curie’s X-ray ambulances

Stories from Physics for 11-14 14-16 IOP RESOURCES

Marie Curie responded rapidly to the outbreak of the First World War: within 10 days of the mobilisation of French troops, she had received a document from the Minister of War authorising her to organise radiological workers into mobile units. She raised funds for a team of medics in cars equipped with X-ray equipment, working with a surgeon to control the apparatus to image bones and detect foreign bodies in tissues. The X-ray vehicles became known as ‘les petites Curies’

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