Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-02
NOTED FRENCH WOMAN
Nine. Curie, Partner in the Dis
covery of Radium,
WAS RECENTLY REWARDED
Elected to Important Professorship in
the Sorbenne.
FAMOUS SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL
Place Was Formerly Held-by Her Dis
tinguished Husband - Pushing
Forward Her Experiments.
WAS RECENTLY REWARDED
FAMOUS SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL
Written for The Star.

Fitting reward has come to Nine.
Curie. This noted French woman. part
ner in the discovery Of that wonderful
new agent, radium, has recently been
elected professor at the noted French acad-
| envy. Sorbonne. being the first woman to
whom the honor has ever fallen.
Recently Nine. Curie delivered her in
| augurai lecture before one Of the most dis
tinguished audiences 1t would be possible to
muster even in Paris. that city Of savants.
Peculiar pathos attended the occasion. and
had its principal been anything less than
q woman Of extraordinary capacity. she
might not have been able to carry through
her part.
on the same platform her husband deliv-
cred his celebrated address on radium and
told the. world that a new epoch had been
benefit of mankind.
In this address he went to most pains
taking extremes to give full credit to his
| wife for her share in the discovery OF this
mysterious concentrated salt that repre-
sents a power hitherto undreamed OF.
Some Of his auditors felt at that time
that his husbandly affection carried away
his Judgment. that he went too Tar IN
tributed, but events since the tragic death
of Mr.. Curie have shown that he did but
simple justice to the wife.
Sustained Her Reputation.
In the death of Mr.. Curie the woman lost
husband, but the scientist gained a
rating that is secure from any suspicion
that her reputation was based entirely on
the discoveries Of her associate. In seek
ing some one to take his place the Sor-
bonnie did not without suspicion violate
tradition and hand the place to a woman,
but there was no one else IN the WIDE
world who ranked with her In this special
study. Now the most profound professor
of them all congratuates himself On having
Nine. Curie for colleague.
The lecture of the late M. Curie at the
Sorbonne was the official announcement Of
radium. Those Of his widow Will deal with
the development Of Its applications, for
since the discovery of radium and her hus-
bands death she has been constantly push
ing forward her Investigations regarding
the wonderful mineral.
She to whom this responsibility Is In
trusted was a pupil at the Sorbonne only
few years ago, SO was that husband, OF
whom all speak now as one OF the fore
most French students Of the generation.
Madame Curie is Polish by birth; her
name before marriage was Mile. Skadowska
Even in those days she ranked as a notable
student, for in her pupil stage she discov-
cred thorium, a metal much resembling ra-
dunn in its radioactive qualities Prof.
Curie was then teaching at the SCHOOL lie
of radium, but not to such an extent that
the man in him was stnled. The similarity
of their studies drew Prof Curie and Mile.
Skadowska together, and soon in the scien-
tific atmosphere of the foremost French
place of learning romance was brewing
Romance of Professor and Pupil.
The professor and the Polish pupil mar
rled; he was many years her senior Then
they hid themselves away in tumbledown
afb in nf he
streets in what remains of the old Latin
quarter.
But material discomforts mattered little
to this pair. Their surroundings might be
squalid, but they knew nothing Of it. for
their minds were soaring in that serene
realm that is open only to science and art.
Here Madame Curie did serious work, and
there was nothing dainty or attractive
about it. Enveloped in huge apron she
sat for hours watching by her ret0rts over
that had to be kept at a certain fxed tenn
perature. What she was experimenting
with was the boiled down residuum of tons
of a dark kind of earth imported from Bo-
hemia.
One day there emerged from this stuff
spark, speck, so small that micro
scope was needed to inspect it. The quest
was over. Radium was discovered. and
the fame of Curie had been made for all
time Not only his, put that of his help
full, able wife. Curie put himself on record
at once as insisting that She be given tull-
est credit for her part
The reward came quickly, and Prof Curie
was at once offered the chair at the Sor-
bonnie. Most men of his moderate means
would have accepted eagerly, but Curie
imposed two conditions, first that his wife
should be officially named as his coadjutor,
and second that a properly equipped labo-
ratory be supplied in which they could go
still further In their researches. among
some of the Sorbonne savants there was at
first a tendency to bubble, but Curie had
his way. After his death when the propo-
sition was presented to elevate his widow
to the chair not dissenting vote was re-
corded.
Life Devoted to Science.
Thus France, not credited with being a
home for the new woman. has one in the
highest scientific posts ever veuchsafed to
one ef her sex.
1t is the purpose Of Nine Curie TO follow
out even to the smallest details the life Of
her husband. Like him. she will refuse all
decorations and rewards that are purely
personal. Thus, when recently number
Of women admirers sought to give her a
Golden Book" containing the names Of
>the donors, she politely but firmly refused
vice rector of the university.
One of the stanchest adherents Of Nine.
Curie is NJ. Aristide BRAND. present min
lister of public instruction and public wor-
ship. He has guaranteed that Nine Curie
shall have the laboratory. which she still
lacks, and for want OF which she now car
ries on her experiments in the Rue Cuvier,
hard by the Sorbonne. The position which
her promotion gives Nine. Curie in France
can hardly be understood in the United
States, where little attention Is paid to
scientific discoveries until they are per-
fected and assume a definite financial
value.
All france is interested In radIum. this
wonderful concentrated salt. The difficult
ties Of getting the pitch blend with which
to make 1t are well known, and the cost SO
tremendous that an American millionaire
is credited with having offered half q mil
lion dollars for the first piece that Prof
Curie and his wife obtained
Radinm continually emanates rays that