Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1922-01-26
MARIE CURTE
TELLS ABOUT
RADIUM FIND
Scientist GiUes Full Account OF
Discovery of Great
Value.

In the second article on her life, pub
Iished in the February issue of the De-
lineator magazine, Madame Marie Curie,
noted scientist and codiscoverer of
radium, tells how this mysterious element
was given to the world as a result of as
remarkable a bit Of detective work as has
! been recorded in the annals of science.
The discovery was made in Paris, where
the scientist and Pierre Curie, her hus-
band, had been working along research
lines.
ut was under this mode Of quiet liv-
! ing, organized according to our desires,
says Nine Curie, that we achieved the
great work of our lives-the work began
about 1907 and lasted for many years.
81 had to decide on a theme tor my
electorate. My attention had been drawn
to the interesting experiments Of Henri
BecquereI on the salts of the rare metal
uranium. Becquerel had shown that by
placing a little uranium salt on a photo
era phic plate covered with black paper
the plate would be affected as If light
had fallen on it
EFFECT PRODUCED
BY SPECIAL RAYS.
1.-THE effect is produced by special rays
which are emitted by the uranium salt
and are different from ordinary luminous
rays. as they can pass through black
! paper BesQuerel also showed that these
/ rays can discharge an electroscope. lie
/ at first thought that rays were produced
/ as result Of exposing the uranium salt
| to light: but experiment showed that
salts kept for several months in the dark
continued to emit the peculiar rays.
| ''My husband and l were much excited
! by this new phenomenon, and resolved
8 Il ct. II If
/ seemed to me that the first thing to do
was to measure the phenomenon with
precision. One Of the models of the APP
paratus used by me for the first measure
ment of rays is now in the College OF
! Physicians and Surgeons in Philadelphia
L was about to undertake detailed
: study Of the uranium and thorium rays
when I discovered a new Interesting fact
/ Some of these minerals revealed an ac-
I tivfty three or four times greater than
that Of pure uranium. Specializing about
I the reason for this, there seemed to be but
| one explanation.
SENSES SOME
/ UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE.
/ s.There must be, I thought. some IN
known substance, very active, IN these
minerals.
MY husband agreed with me, and l
urged that we search for this unknown
/ substance. thinking that result could be
! quickly obtained.
! Neither of us could forsee that in
beginning this work we were to enter on
( a new path Of science which we should
follow for all cur future.
/ THE more we worked, the clearer We
realized that the io-active element
could exist only in very small uantitleS
! However it also became clearer that this
] cd m
properties and that its activity was very
I great
This realization held us absorbed in a
passionate research, despite the ever-in-
/ creaSing difficulties Of the work. AS a
matter Of fact. it was only after years OF
the most arduous labor that we finally
. succeeded in separating the new substance
now known to everybody as radium-
Here is, briefly, the story Of the search
. and discovery:
Since we did not know at the be
ginning any Of the chemical properties Of
the unknown substance. mt only that It
/ emitted rays il was by these rays that
we mad to search. We first undertook the
! ANALYSIS Of pitchblende from st. JOachi-
msthaL Analysing this ore by the usual
/ chemical methods, we added an examlna-
ton Of its different separated parts for
radioactivitv by the use Of our delicate
. ginning Of a new method Of analysis,
I which. following our work has been
/ greatly extended, with the result that a
/ large number Of radioactive elements
have been discovered. A few months
more work permitted US to understand its
chemical properties.
EXISTENCE FIRST
ANNOUNCED IN 1898.
In July, 1898, we announced the exist
ence Of a new substance, to which
gave the name of polonium, in memory
Of my native country (Poland).
~But in discovering polonium We had
also discovered another new element. We
were able to separate this second new
substance, which was afterward shown
to be more important than polonium.
in December, 1898, we could an
nounce the discovery Of this new and
now famous element, to which we gave
the name radum.
But the greatest part Of the work
had yet to be done We had, to be sure,
discovered the existence of the remark
able new element On this work we now
started.
"We were very poorly equipped with
facilities for this undertaking. It was
necessary to subject large quantities Of