Radium is an alkaline earth metal element denoted by the atomic symbol Ra. The atomic weight of its most stable isotope is 226, and its atomic number is 88. It is a brilliant, white metal that is radioactive. It has a melting point of 1292°F (700°C) and a boiling point of 2084°F (1140°C).

The discovery and eventual refining of radium marked the culmination of the scientific community's acute interest in radioactivity, which began with the discovery of uranium's radioactive properties by French physicist Henri Becquerel. Marie Curie, a young Polish student who often observed Becquerel's research, chose this new field as the subject of her doctoral dissertation--which she had begun about the time she married the physicist Pierre Curie. The Curies combined their efforts in order to find other elements that possessed radioactive properties.

They began by refining a large quantity of pitchblende, a waste ore...