Glowing With Excitement (And Radiation)

Excitement followed by existential dread! Marie Curie's journey from "I discovered radium!" to "Why are my fingertips glowing and my hair falling out?" is the original scientific cautionary tale. The pioneers of radiation research had no idea they were basically microwaving themselves from the inside out. Curie carried radioactive isotopes in her pocket and stored them in desk drawers—because nothing says "groundbreaking scientist" like keeping deadly elements next to your sandwich. She eventually died of aplastic anemia from radiation exposure, which is possibly the most ironic scientific death since the guy who invented the guillotine got guillotined. (That's not actually true, but it should be.)