Karol Andrzejewski
While Poland is a relatively small country it doesn’t mean that its heart isn’t. From the country of Poland many brilliant minds with world changing inventions emerged throughout the years. All of these have discoveries have made a groundbreaking impact around the world. From science and medicine to everyday life, Poland has impacted the world in many ways. Among all of these inventors I want to write about the likes of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Stephanie Kwolek, and Michael Sendivogius. Each of these individuals stand out in their own way showing their dedication and passion through their innovation.
One of the most well-known Polish scientists is Maria Skłodowska-Curie. Born in Warsaw in 1867, she later on in life moved to France where she conducted her own scientific research. Stemming from her scientific research she was able to be the first women ever in history to be award the prestigious Noble prize. While a Nobel prize is already an amazing achievement she went above and beyond to be the ONLY person to ever win multiple Nobel prizes in two different types of scientific fields, Physics and Chemistry. She discovered two different types of elements, Polonium and radium. Her work in radioactivity laid the foundation for X-rays, cancer treatments, and nuclear physics. During the 1800s women did have the same recognition as men, but because of her work she broke the barrier between men and women. While she was a brilliant scientist with extraordinary discoveries she also showed that no matter who you are you can do great things.
Another very significant Polish inventor was Stephanie Kwolek. Born in 1923 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania she was a daughter to two Polish immigrant parents. Kowlek was most known for her discovery of Kevlar. While working at the company DuPont in the 1960s she found a way to develop a light weight, and heat resist fiber while working on cars. While during those times steel was known as being one of the strongest materials, Kowleks discovery put steel in the dirt. By weight Kevlar is 5 times stronger than steel. Its properties showed that it can be applied to a vast number of inventions, not just cars. Now in the present Kevlar is used for in many things, these include bullet proof vests, helmets, protective gloves, spacecrafts and even bridges. Not only that her work also has saved many lives. Kevlar is used in the police force, as well as with first responders.
Lastly there is Michael Sendivogius. Born in 1566, he was a Renaissance-era Polish alchemist, philosopher, and even chemist. Whenever you think of things that the human body needs you think, food, water, and air. While this may seem like a basic thing now, during the 1500s this was unheard of until Michael came along. He discovered that air contains vital substances necessary for life. Even though Joseph Priestly and Antoine Lavoisier were credited for this, it was discovered that a century earlier Michael wrote about a “life-giving gas”. His writing and experiments influenced later chemists, in which it shifted the way people thought. Not only that he contributed to the scientific understanding of combustion and respiration.
These three inventors are proof that Poland has had a large influence on human development over the years, each of them in a different time period. All of their work is a testament to show Poland has a rich history of inventors and philosophers. Now that we live in a time that has the internet and all these resources, we can only thank the people before us. They gave us a world where we have all of this important information at the tips of our fingers.
