Marie Curie by Kathleen Krull
Authors: Kathleen Krull
Tags: Fiction, General, Juvenile Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Science & Technology, Science & Nature
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had some thoughts about unstable elements. According to his calculation (the famous theory of relativity), very small amounts of matter were capable of turning into huge amounts of energy. Radioactivity was an extraordinarily effective means of producing energy.
In 1906, Marie voiced her acceptance of the decay theory. Through the decay theory, she was able to refute another scientist’s claim to have isolated a new element that was suspiciously similar to her polonium. She published a study showing how polonium decayed and became what the other scientist was calling “radiotellurium.” But the two had the same half-life and thus were one and the same. In establishing polonium’s half-life, Marie was shoring up her own discoveries.
Pierre’s contributions were diminishing. discombobulated by the distractions of fame, he wrote, “There are days when we scarcely have time to breathe.” Still, he noted that Marie “does not lose a minute” between teaching, child care, and putting in many more hours than he did at the lab, even finding time for occasional concerts and art exhibits. Of course, Marie as usual pushed herself to the point of overload. One of Ève’s very first memories was of her exhausted mother fainting and falling to the floor.
In 1904, Marie wrote a magazine article detailing her discoveries so far, ending with a very practical plea for more resources to continue their work: “At the present time we possess only about a gram of pure salts of radium. Research in all branches of experimental science—physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine—is impeded, and a whole evolution in science is retarded, by the lack of this precious and unique material, which can now be obtained only at great expense.” Years would pass before her plea was answered, but in the meantime she was always generous in supplying fellow researchers with samples of what she produced, allowing competitors to make further discoveries. Marie even gave free consultation to factories in the United States, who adopted her method for extracting radium to produce commercial products.
Finally finding a moment to take a break, the Curies traveled in 1905 to Sweden to give their Nobel lecture at the Swedish Academy. Pierre was designated to give the speech (Marie had to sit in the audience!), but her husband gave her full credit, mentioning her name ten times and himself only five.
His speech has become famous for its dark prediction. For the first time, someone was prophesying the potential for evil from radium, which unleashed such tremendous energy: “Radium could become very dangerous in criminal hands,” warned Pierre—“a terrible means of destruction in the hands of criminals who are leading the people toward war.”
Still, he remained firmly in the camp of those convinced that radium would do more good than harm, and that discovering the secrets of nature was worth the risk.
But by this time, his leg bones were deteriorating. Some days he could barely stand upright. He was forty-eight years old. Not young. But not old.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Shock
“ W E WERE HAPPY,” Marie wrote about the family’s Easter vacation in April 1906. Everyone frolicked in the countryside, enjoying the signs of spring, both parents watching their girls chasing butterflies, Pierre picking bouquets of marigolds for Marie.
But she was not pleased when he returned to Paris early to do some work. Nor did her mood improve when she and the children arrived home. In a rare instance of role reversal, she and Pierre argued because he was anxious for her to join him in the lab right away. Marie, normally the obsessive workaholic, wanted her break to last a little longer.
“don’t torment me,” she told her husband on his way out the door—a clue that her life was more a precarious balancing act than she publicly let on. On this crucial day, she chose to be with her children instead of in the lab.
The day was chilly and rainy. Pierre went from the lab to
In 1906, Marie voiced her acceptance of the decay theory. Through the decay theory, she was able to refute another scientist’s claim to have isolated a new element that was suspiciously similar to her polonium. She published a study showing how polonium decayed and became what the other scientist was calling “radiotellurium.” But the two had the same half-life and thus were one and the same. In establishing polonium’s half-life, Marie was shoring up her own discoveries.
Pierre’s contributions were diminishing. discombobulated by the distractions of fame, he wrote, “There are days when we scarcely have time to breathe.” Still, he noted that Marie “does not lose a minute” between teaching, child care, and putting in many more hours than he did at the lab, even finding time for occasional concerts and art exhibits. Of course, Marie as usual pushed herself to the point of overload. One of Ève’s very first memories was of her exhausted mother fainting and falling to the floor.
In 1904, Marie wrote a magazine article detailing her discoveries so far, ending with a very practical plea for more resources to continue their work: “At the present time we possess only about a gram of pure salts of radium. Research in all branches of experimental science—physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine—is impeded, and a whole evolution in science is retarded, by the lack of this precious and unique material, which can now be obtained only at great expense.” Years would pass before her plea was answered, but in the meantime she was always generous in supplying fellow researchers with samples of what she produced, allowing competitors to make further discoveries. Marie even gave free consultation to factories in the United States, who adopted her method for extracting radium to produce commercial products.
Finally finding a moment to take a break, the Curies traveled in 1905 to Sweden to give their Nobel lecture at the Swedish Academy. Pierre was designated to give the speech (Marie had to sit in the audience!), but her husband gave her full credit, mentioning her name ten times and himself only five.
His speech has become famous for its dark prediction. For the first time, someone was prophesying the potential for evil from radium, which unleashed such tremendous energy: “Radium could become very dangerous in criminal hands,” warned Pierre—“a terrible means of destruction in the hands of criminals who are leading the people toward war.”
Still, he remained firmly in the camp of those convinced that radium would do more good than harm, and that discovering the secrets of nature was worth the risk.
But by this time, his leg bones were deteriorating. Some days he could barely stand upright. He was forty-eight years old. Not young. But not old.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Shock
“ W E WERE HAPPY,” Marie wrote about the family’s Easter vacation in April 1906. Everyone frolicked in the countryside, enjoying the signs of spring, both parents watching their girls chasing butterflies, Pierre picking bouquets of marigolds for Marie.
But she was not pleased when he returned to Paris early to do some work. Nor did her mood improve when she and the children arrived home. In a rare instance of role reversal, she and Pierre argued because he was anxious for her to join him in the lab right away. Marie, normally the obsessive workaholic, wanted her break to last a little longer.
“don’t torment me,” she told her husband on his way out the door—a clue that her life was more a precarious balancing act than she publicly let on. On this crucial day, she chose to be with her children instead of in the lab.
The day was chilly and rainy. Pierre went from the lab to
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