Role_of_Chemistry

A Commitment to Truth The year 2003 is the 100th anniversary of Madame Curie’s first Nobel Prize. In 1903, she, along with her husband, Pierre Curie, and the physicist Henri Becquerel, won the prestigious prize in physics for their joint work in radioactivity. It was only the third year that the prize had been given, and Marie was the first woman to receive it. Eight years later, Marie Curie received an unprecedented second Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry, for her work with radium. The genius of Marie Curie can best be understood from the standpoint of her commitment to truth. Curie was a friend and colleague of the great Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky. Vernadsky spent a great deal of time working in the Paris Radium Institute, which she created in 1914, and ran until her death in 1934. Indeed, our biosphere had been transformed by the creative work of Curie, Vernadsky, Pasteur, and many others—a change imposed upon it via cognition. Madame Curie’s discovery of the radioactive substances radium and polonium, her initial hypothesis on the nature of uranium being a radioactive substance (she was the first to use the term, “radioactivity”), and her correct insight into the power of uranium (and that of all radioactive substances) as derived from the atom itself, was revolutionary. Her hypothesis of the existence of other radioactive substances, and her relentless search for those substances in mountains of discarded pitchblende (a uranium ore), under the most deplorable and hazardous conditions, is the stuff legends are made of— but it is also true. Marie and Pierre Curie’s discovery totally transformed the physical universe in which we live. Although it is true (and often repeated) that Marie and Pierre Curie’s work in radioactive substances took a toll on their physical well-being, they would not want to be remembered as “victims” or “martyrs” to the nuclear age. They were deeply committed scientists, who loved truth and beauty, who made significant discoveries that alleviated human suffering, and left a legacy to mankind to be cherished forever. Marie Sklodowska Curie was not simply a great scientist; she was a magnificent human being, and her love of science and her commitment to truth were reflected in her personal character, which was beyond reproach. To understand her commitment to scientific truth, one must understand the passion behind it. A too often misused word, passion is really the emotional guiding principle behind creative discovery. Creativity without passion, does not exist. Marie and Pierre Curie’s work in radioactivity revolutionized science in the late 19th Century. Marie Curie’s hypothesis that radiation was “an atomic property” transformed forever how man would view the atom. There are some biographers who have said that this, and only this, was Marie Curie’s great discovery, but that is not true. It was only the first step, which she boldly took, in her 36-year odyssey with radioactive substances. In discovering the nature of nuclear power, much of her work was intimately tied to medical research in particular the use of X-rays for diagnosis, and radioisotopes for cancer treatment. The later discoveries in fission, which would prove to be the next step in harnessing the power of the atom for energy production, were later accomplished by her admirer, another woman, Lise Meitner. The attack against nuclear energy, and the fear of nuclear science by the population today, is an attack against all scientific progress. The irony is almost too funny: Nuclear science was created and developed by the fairer sex! The idea behind the discoveries was to better mankind, by creating new cures for disease, and producing cheap energy for the planet. Another irony is the fact that the American population had a love affair with Marie Curie. She was invited to this country twice in the 1920s, and millions of women contributed money to buy her a supply of expensive and rare radium for her research. Radium, one of the most radioactive substances, was discovered by Marie back in 1898. In discovering a new, renewable resource for mankind, progress could be attained. The world’s population could thrive. The zero-population growth movement’s ideology would be the laughingstock of future generations. The world needs this science, and it needs more scientists of the caliber of Marie Sklodowska Curie who said: “Nothing in life is to be feared—it is only to be understood.” Manya Sklodowska: The Story of Marie Curie’s Youth Manya Sklodowska was the youngest of the five children of