Today being International Women's Day, it is a good time to remember Marie Curie, the Polish/French scientist from whose discoveries on radiation and X-rays we all still benefit today.

Born in 1867, she was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize and she went on to gain another, shattering the glass ceiling that had prevented women from working in science.

She was also, in 1906, the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.

It was she who coined the term radioactivity.

She discovered the elements polonium and radium, and invented techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes.

She founded the Curie Institute in Paris in 1920, and the Curie Institute in Warsaw in 1932; both still major medical research centres today.

During the First World War, she developed mobile radiography units to provide X-ray services to field hospitals.

Unfortunately her constant research also led in 1934 to her own early death, from her frequent exposure to radiation.

Marie Curie is the subject of a new play, The Radiant, by Shirley Lauro, which is to be performed at the Oast Theatre in Tonbridge next month.

You can find details here.

The play runs from April 22 to April 29, with tickets at £11. It charts not only her scientific achievements, but also her scandalous affair with her young married assistant.