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In a 1903 letter to Swedish
mathematician Magnus Goesta Mittag-Leffler, Pierre wrote,
“If it is true that one is seriously thinking about me
[for the Nobel Prize], I very much wish to be considered together
with Madame Curie with respect to our research on radioactive
bodies.” |
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The
Nobel Prize and Its Aftermath
ARIE
WAS NOT REALLY NOMINATED for her first Nobel Prize. From the
inception of the award in 1901, the Nobel Prizes have been made
after a lengthy evaluation of the merits of nominees. In 1903 the
French Academy of Sciences nominated Henri Becquerel and Pierre
-- but not Marie -- Curie as candidates for the physics prize. If
not for the intervention of a member of the nominating committee,
Swedish mathematician Magnus Goesta Mittag-Leffler, Marie might
have been denied recognition for her work. But Mittag-Leffler, an
advocate of women scientists, wrote Pierre advising him of the situation.
In his reply Pierre made clear that a Nobel Prize for research in
radioactivity that failed to acknowledge Marie's pivotal role would
be a travesty. Some strings were pulled, and a nomination of Marie
Curie in 1902 was validated for 1903.
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In December
1903, Becquerel and both Curies were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
The Curies' citation was carefully worded to avoid specific mention
of their discovery of polonium and radium. Chemists on the nominating
committee had insisted that the Curies might in the future deserve
a Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their discovery of those elements.
And there remained some doubts about the elements, which had been
isolated only in invisibly small amounts. Thus their physics prize
mentioned only their collaborative work on Becquerel rays. |
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The certificate for the Curies' 1903 Nobel Prize
for Physics cited “their joint researches on the radiation
phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel.” (Photo
ACJC) |
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By the time Pierre took up his duties as
a professor at the Sorbonne, where he is shown here teaching,
he complained of having only “a very feeble capacity
for work.” (Photo ACJC)
READ
Curie's words
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HE
CURIES FELT TOO ILL AND TOO BUSY to travel to Stockholm for the
awards ceremony that December (besides, Pierre depised ceremonies
and publicity). Nobel laureates, however, were required to present
a lecture describing their work's importance. In June 1905 the Curies
finally made the trip. Custom dictated that Pierre deliver the lecture,
but he was careful to distinguish between Marie's independent work
and their joint efforts. After surveying the science of radioactivity,
he added a cautionary note. Radium, like other scientific and technological
discoveries (such as Nobel's explosives), might prove very dangerous
in the wrong hands, “and here we must ask ourselves if humanity
can benefit by knowing the secrets of nature...or if this knowledge
will not be harmful to the world.” But he ended his talk optimistically.
“I
am one of those who believe with Nobel that mankind will derive
more good than harm from the new discoveries.”--Pierre
Curie, Award Address for 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics
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Not surprisingly,
the award brought changes in the Curies' lives. The prize money was
very useful. They used some of it to cover the expenses of treating
pitchblende, and they could hire a paid lab assistant for the first
time. Pierre's scientific achievement was finally acknowledged in
his native country with an appointment to a professorship at the Sorbonne.
Yet it was only after Pierre rejected the first offer, which came
without provisions for a lab, that the university dug up the necessary
funds. Marie, for the first time in her career, would have both a
title--chief of laboratory--and a university salary. “It was
not without regret that we left the School of Physics,” she recalled,
“where we had known such happy work days, despite their attendant
difficulties.” Although Pierre began his new position in the
fall of 1904, the lab was not actually completed until 1906. Marie
remained sensitive to these slights against Pierre's dignity. |
UBLICITY
TOOK A HEAVY TOLL on the Curies in the wake of their new international
acclaim. Accustomed to working quietly and without distraction in
their lab, they were now prey to journalists and photographers, who
pursued them both at work and at home. Not even six-year-old Ir�ne
was safe from their prying eyes. Pierre found that the unwanted intrusions
destroyed his productivity. Although he had published 25 papers between
July 1898 and June 1904, he published nothing in the following two
years. Even his election in July 1905 to the French Academy of Sciences,
which had rejected his candidacy earlier, did little to improve his
frame of mind. |
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The expectant mother with
Irène and Pierre in their garden, 1904 (Photo ACJC) |
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“A whole year has passed since
I was able to do any work, and I have not one moment to
myself.”
--letter from Pierre Curie to physicist friend Georges
Gouy, July 1905
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Marie, too, complained
about the loss of privacy. But having too much to do seemed to energize,
not enervate, her. In December 1904, a month after their move to
the Sorbonne, the Curies' younger daughter, Eve, was born. Although
Marie took some time off from her professional commitments, she
soon resumed both her research and her teaching at the teachers'
training institute for women at S�vres. While carefully rationing
the time she would spend with journalists, she attempted to explain
to the public what the new discoveries meant. She even found time
for museums and concerts, where Pierre joined her without enthusiasm.
� 2000 -
American Institute of Physics
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