Marie Curie

Familylife

The first child and the first salary

Marie studies her cookbook as thoroughly as if it was the book of physics. She is doing everything to be a good housewife. Little by little she is making progress and finds dishes that she can cook at the same time as working at the laboratory to save some time. She is constantly working on her scientific project for the "Society for promotion of national industry". Pierre´s mother has become ill in cancer in her breast and at the same time Marie gets pregnant. On the 12:th of september in 1896 Irène, "Reine", is born and only a couple of days later Marie´s mother in law dies. A few months later the Curie family have to hire a wet-nurse, because Marie´s health is failing. Pierre´s father, doctor Curie, becomes an invaluable help, babysitting Irène. Marie is now done with her work about magnetizing of hardened steel and receives 600 rubles from the "Society for promotion of national industry". These money she sends to the secretary of the Alexandowitch-fund with a letter where one can read: " ... I have never consider the sum as my own property but I have always regarded them as a debt of honor. Today I can repay the sixhundred rubles from my first earned money and I hope, that someone young student girl may get as much aid from them as I once did "

Beginning to work with her doctor´s thesis

Marie now wanted to try and study for her doctor´s degree. She chose the subject how uranium can emit energy. Henri Becquerel had discovered this in 1896 , but no one had made any furhter research on it. Marie contacted Mr Becquerel and she got his approval to do research on his unknown beams. She needed another premises and finally she could borrow a cellar storage room on the "School for physics and chemistry". It was a damp "junkroom" without current or possibilities for heating, but it was also the only alternative Marie got. Marie spent the whole days in the cold laboratory, she only went home to cook some food and eat together with the family. Irène was together with her nanny and her grandfather and was healthy and growing, the only thing that bothered Marie was that Irène did not see so much of her mother, but the research had to proceed. After a while Marie came to the conclusion that thorium had the same characteristics as uranium. They both emitted beams. This emittation she called radioactivity. Marie began to understand that she was on to a new element.

Pierre and Marie researches together

Pierre gave up his own research work to try and solve the riddle together with Marie. On april 12 in 1898 Marie Curie announce to the Academy of Sciences that there is a new strongly radioactive element in the ore of  pitchblende (waste material from the uranium producing plant in Bohemia). This new element is called polonium by Marie, from Poland. On december 26 the same year the Academy of Sciences announce that the married couple Curie in polonium also have discovered another radioactive element with an enormous considerable emittance and that the married couple Curie has decided to call this element radium. No one had yet seen radium with their own eyes. The chemists demanded that the married couple Curie should state the atomic weight for radium for them to beleive its existence. Therefore they now had to produce radium and polonium in pure form to prove their theory.

One ton of waste + four years = one gram of radium

Marie and Pierre bought one ton of waste from the pichblende mine in Joachimstal in Bohemia. They were forced to fire the nursemaid and instead Pierres father moved in to them. The married couple worked hard to boil the waste in a cauldron. The vapour stank so much they had to make a cross draught in the shed around the year. For four years they struggled with carrying ore, boil and stir. In 1902 they managed to produce one gram of radium. In the evening Marie and Pierre went to the shed to admire the blue light that came from the substance. Marie wrote to her father and wanted him to come to Paris to see the new element. He replied that he was unfortunately not that healthy, but he was very proud of his Manya. Shortly thereafter Wladyslaw Sklodowski died and it was hard on Marie that she had not spoken with her father in a very long time.

Doctorated with highest grades in physics

Marie got pregnant but had a miscarriage. Pierre became ill. Bronya and Casimir had moved to Poland and opened a sanitarium for those suffering from lung diseases. The finances were bad, Marie was feeling very worn out. Still Marie continued to work with her radium. The fingers were burned from the radiation, Pierre and Marie started to treat animals suffering from cancer with radium. They kept contacts with Henri Becquerel all the time about the discoveries and he came to see them from time to time. Marie got the advice to apply for patent on her radium, but she was of the opinion that scientists shall serve the humanity. Therefore the married couple Curie wrote to the USA and told them how to produce radium, without a thought about financial compensation. In june 1903 Marie was done with her Doctor´s thesis and the university in Paris gave her the titel doctor in physics with the highest grades. Now the whole world started to give the married couple Curie a lot of attention. They got invitations to lecture everywhere and they received medals. At the dinners after the lectures they got so much attention that Marie thought it was far too strenuous. Pierre and Marie was still working hard in their shed and they used to amuse themselves by calculating how many laboratories one could build for the value of the jewelry and clothes that the other people at the dinner parties were wearing.

Nobel Prize in Physics and the second child

On december 10, 1903 , Marie and Pierre Curie together with Henri Becquerel got the Nobel Prize in Physics. They did neither have the energy nor time to go fetch the prize, but the money were put in a bank account in Paris. It was nice to be able to do research without the concern about money. They hired a laboratory assistent and gave away some of the money to their siblings. The worse about it was the publicity. Pierre and Marie wanted to continue with their research in peace and quiet. Marie inaddition got pregnant again, but she went to the laboratory each day. Eve was born at december 6 in 1904 . Marie was by then so tired that she was apathetic. Bronya came and looked after her little sister until her lust for life returned. After a couple of months Marie was her own self again.

Family happiness

Marie finally got a permanent job and a solid salary as a leader for a new laboratory at Sorbonne. Pierre was elected to the French Academy of Science and became a professor of physics. Everything was getting alright for them. In the summer of 1905 they went to Stockholm to hold their delayed Nobel Prize lecture. They were happily surprised that they were not as attended to by the people and the trip turned into a vacation in a  country of great natural beauty. Pierre and Marie felt more alert and healthy than they have done in a long time when they returns home from Sweden. They start taking some time to listen for concerts and see theatre performances sometimes. Pierre was enjoying his work, which in addition gives him some time to do researches in new areas. In the Easter holiday 1906 the family Curie rented a house on the countryside and enjoyed the nature and the calmness for a whole week.

The inconceivable accident

In 1906 on Thursday the 19:th of april it is a very rainy and dark day. In the morning it is stressful at the Curie family and the couple don´t have time to talk much to each other. Pierre is late for a meeting and Marie has to go to her laboratory. When Pierre hurried back home from the meeting the streets were full of people and  lots of traffic. In order to get home faster he walked out in the carriageway behind a cab As he was slatting across the street, the cab was in the way of his sight and Pierre bummped into a heavy load wagon  hauled by two horses. He slipped on the very slippery street stones, but grabbed around one of the horses neck. The horse reared and Pierre lost his grip and got under the wagon. The coachman held the horses, but the wagon went on by its on weight and one of the wheels crushed his head. When Marie got home she was in a good mood, but her father in law had company by two strange men and everyone was looking very sad. Marie understood nothing.

Author: Katrin Nilsson