“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to who”
It was one of those groups of Polish youths who
believed that the hope of their country lay in a great effort to develop
the intellectual and moral strength of the nation, and that such an
effort would lead to a better national situation. The nearest purpose
was to work at one's own instruction and to provide means of instruction
for workmen and peasants. In accordance with this program we agreed
among ourselves to give evening courses, each one teaching what he knew
best. There is no need to say that this was a secret organization, which
made everything extremely difficult. There were in our group very
devoted young people who, as I still believe today, could do truly
useful work.
I have a bright remembrance of the sympathetic intellectual and social
companionship which I enjoyed at that time. Truly the means of action
were poor and the results obtained could not be considerable; yet I
still believe that the ideas which inspired us then are the only way to
real social progress. You cannot hope to build a better world without
improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own
improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all
humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can
be most useful.
All the experiences of this period intensified my longing for further
study. And, in his affection for me, my father, in spite of limited
resources, helped me to hasten the execution of my early project. My
sister had just married at Paris, and it was decided that I should go
there to live with her. My father and I hoped that, once my studies were
finished, we would again live happily together. Fate was to decide
otherwise, since my marriage was to hold me in France. My father, who in
his own youth had wished to do scientific work, was consoled in our
separation by the progressive success of my work. I keep a tender memory
of his kindness and disinterestedness. He lived with the family of my
married brother, and, like an excellent grandfather, brought up the
children. We had the sorrow of losing him in 1902, when he had just
passed seventy.
So it was in November, 1891, at the age of twenty-four, that I was able
to realize the dream that had been always present in my mind for several
years.
“Scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium, a benefit”
And the
effects of the rays make the radium so important. If we take a practical
point of view, then the most important property of the rays is the
production of physiological effects on the cells of the human organism.
These effects may be used for the cure of several diseases. Good results
have been obtained in many cases. What is considered particularly
important is the treatment of cancer. The medical utilization of radium
makes it necessary to get that element in sufficient quantities. And so
a factory of radium was started to begin with in France, and later in
America where a big quantity of ore named carnotite is available.
America does produce many grams of radium every year but the price is
still very high because the quantity of radium contained in the ore is
so small. The radium is more than a hundred thousand times dearer than
gold.
But we must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that
it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science.
And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the
point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for
itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance
that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for
humanity.
But science is not rich, it does not dispose of important means, it does
not generally meet recognition before the material usefulness of it has
been proved. The factories produce many grams of radium every year, but
the laboratories have very small quantities. It is the same for my
laboratory and I am very grateful to the American women who wish me to
have more of radium and give me the opportunity of doing more work with
it.
The scientific history of radium is beautiful. The properties of the
rays have been studied very closely. We know that particles are expelled
from radium with a very great velocity near to that of the light. We
know that the atoms of radium are destroyed by expulsion of these
particles, some of which are atoms of helium. And in that way it has
been proved that the radioactive elements are constantly disintegrating
and that they produce at the end ordinary elements, principally helium
and lead. That is, as you see, a theory of transformation of atoms which
are not stable, as was believed before, but may undergo spontaneous
changes.
“I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.”
I kept this new place for only a year and then went back to my father,
who had retired some time before and was living alone. Together we
passed an excellent year, he occupying himself with some literary work,
while I increased our funds by giving private lessons. Meantime I
continued my efforts to educate myself. This was no easy task under the
Russian government of Warsaw; yet I found more opportunities than in the
country. To my great joy, I was able, for the first time in my life, to
find access to a laboratory: a small municipal physical laboratory
directed by one of my cousins. I found little time to work there, except
in the evenings and on Sundays, and was generally left to myself. I
tried out various experiments described in treatises on physics and
chemistry, and the results were sometimes unexpected. At times I would
be encouraged by a little unhoped-for success, at others I would be in
the deepest despair because of accidents and failures resulting from my
inexperience. But on the whole, though I was taught that the way of
progress is neither swift nor easy, this first trial confirmed in me the
taste for experimental research in the fields of physics and chemistry.
Other means of instruction came to me through my being one of an
enthusiastic group of young men and women of Warsaw, who united in a
common desire to study, and whose activities were at the same time
social and patriotic. It was one of those groups of Polish youths who
believed that the hope of their country lay in a great effort to develop
the intellectual and moral strength of the nation, and that such an
effort would lead to a better national situation. The nearest purpose
was to work at one's own instruction and to provide means of instruction
for workmen and peasants. In accordance with this program we agreed
among ourselves to give evening courses, each one teaching what he knew
best. There is no need to say that this was a secret organization, which
made everything extremely difficult. There were in our group very
devoted young people who, as I still believe today, could do truly
useful work.
“I have frequently been questioned, especially by women, of how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy.”
Following this preparation, she was able to enter a higher class in one
of the _collèges_ of Paris, and had no difficulty in passing her
bachelor's examination before the usual age, after which she continued
her scientific studies in the Sorbonne.
My second daughter, although not benefiting by a similar arrangement for
her earlier studies, at first followed the classes of a _collège_ only
partially, and later completely. She showed herself a good pupil, doing
satisfactory work in all directions.
I wanted very much to assure for my children a rational physical
education. Next to outdoor walks, I attach a great importance to
gymnastics and sports. This side of a girl's education is still rather
neglected in France. I took care that my children did gymnastics
regularly. I was also careful to have them spend vacations either in the
mountains or at the seashore. They can canoe and swim very well and are
not afraid of a long walk or a bicycle ride.
But of course the care of my children's education was only a part of my
duties, my professional occupations taking most of my time. I have been
frequently questioned, especially by women, how I could reconcile family
life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy; it required a
great deal of decision and of self-sacrifice. However, the family bond
has been preserved between me and my now grown-up daughters, and life is
made brighter by the mutual affection and understanding in our home,
where I could not suffer a harsh word or selfish behavior.
In 1906, when I succeeded my husband at the Sorbonne, I had only a
provisional laboratory with little space and most limited equipment. A
few scientists and students had already been admitted to work there with
my husband and me. With their help, I was able to continue the course of
research with good success.
In 1907, I received a precious mark of sympathy from Mr. Andrew
Carnegie, who donated to my laboratory an annual income for research
fellowships which enabled some advanced students or scientists to devote
their whole time to investigation. Such foundations are very encouraging
to those whose inclinations and talents are such as to warrant their
entire devotion to research work. They ought to be multiplied in the
interest of science.
“All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.”
At other times we
passed the border of our Russian-ruled division (Congress Poland) and
went southwards into the mountain country of Galicia, where the Austrian
political control was less oppressive than that which we suffered. There
we could speak Polish in all freedom and sing patriotic songs without
going to prison.
My first impression of the mountains was very vivid, because I had been
brought up in the plains. So I enjoyed immensely our life in the
Carpathian villages, the view of the pikes, the excursions to the
valleys and to the high mountain lakes with picturesque names such as:
"The Eye of the Sea." However, I never lost my attachment to the open
horizon and the gentle views of a plain hill country.
Later I had the opportunity to spend a vacation with my father far more
south in Podolia, and to have the first view of the sea at Odessa, and
afterwards at the Baltic shore. This was a thrilling experience. But it
was in France that I become acquainted with the big waves of the ocean
and the ever-changing tide. All my life through, the new sights of
Nature made me rejoice like a child.
Thus passed the period of our school life. We all had much facility for
intellectual work. My brother, Doctor Sklodowski, having finished his
medical studies, became later the chief physician in one of the
principal Warsaw hospitals. My sisters and I intended to take up
teaching as our parents had done. However, my elder sister, when grown
up, changed her mind and decided to study medicine. She took the degree
of doctor at the Paris University, married Doctor Dluski, a Polish
physician, and together they established an important sanatorium in a
wonderfully beautiful Carpathian mountain place of Austrian Poland. My
second sister, married in Warsaw, Mrs. Szalay, was for many years a
teacher in the schools, where she rendered great service. Later she was
appointed in one of the lyceums of free Poland.
I was but fifteen when I finished my high-school studies, always having
held first rank in my class. The fatigue of growth and study compelled
me to take almost a year's rest in the country.
“Let fear be a counselor and not a jailer”
“Humanity needs practical men, who get the most out of their work, and, without forgetting the general good, safeguard their own interests. But humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them to devote their care to their own material profit.”
“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”
“I have no dress except the one I wear every day. If you are going to be kind enough to give me one, please let it be practical and dark so that I can put it on afterwards to go to the laboratory.”
“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”
“When one studies strongly radioactive substances special precautions must be taken. Dust, the air of the room, and ones clothes, all become radioactive.”
“There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead of establishing the truth.”
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
“I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”
“we must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained”
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
Certein bodies... become luminous when heated. Their luminosity disappears after some time, but the capacity of becoming luminous afresh through heat is restored to them by the action of a spark, and also by the action of radium.
I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.
Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.
