Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-08-07
IDOL Of SCIENCE
ROBUST IN LIFE
Dr.. Perrin, Discoverer of
Chemical Element, Is
Lover of Song.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
NEW YORK. Aug. GA grand old
man of Paris is being hailed by the
world of science today for the discovery
of a hitherto unknown chemical ele-
ment.
1t was another triumph for DR.. Jean
Perrin in a lifetime devoted to re-
search in physics at the famous Sor-
bonnie University when he announced
that his laboratory workers had found
an element even heavier than uranium.
heaviest of the 81 elements previously
known.
Far from being a frigid, studious
professor detached from society. DR..
Perrin is pictured by his closest friends
as the type of man who bursts into
song at parties and is handy as any
sailor in rough sea.
This is recorded in the life story Of
Nine. Marie Curie, written by her
daughter Eve.
PERKINS, wife was Marie's best wom-
an friend" wrote her daughter.
Frequently Consulted.
The close association of the CURES
and Perrins goes back to discoveries
by Pierre and Marie Curie of polonium
in 1898 and of radium in 1902. Perrin
was often summoned for consultations
to their laboratory. During this period
until the death of Pierre Curie in a
street accident in 1906 the two fam
lilies were next door neighbors In q
remote section of Paris.
It was at the grown-ups' parties in
the gardens that DR.. Perrin f"aban-
doning atoms, lifted his enthusiastic
face to the sky. and. like fervent
Wagnerian, hurled forth themes from
the 'Rheingold' and the Meister-
singer" wrote Eve Curie.
It was DR.. Perrin who broke the news
Of her husbands death to Marie Curie.
For many summers after that tragic
event, the Perrins and Nine. Curie
end her daughters had nearby cot
tages on the Brittany seacoast At Lar
couest, France.
Fine Swimmer.
DR.. PERKINS, fine performance" as
a swimmer is noted in the Curie
biography and when parties went
rowing, Eve wrote:
Jean Perrin pulled on his oar with
such force that he made the boat swirl
around"
During the World War Marie Curie,
by then the Nobel Prize winner in
both physics and chemistry, was aided
by DR.. Perrin in the important work
Of establishing fixed and mobile
Pathological posts on the battlefronts.
They worked tirelessly In bringing the
new X-ray and rAdium treatment to
the aid Of more than a million
wounded soldiers. In one Of her let
tiers describing their travels in radio
logical cars" Marie wrote:
Arrived at Abbeville. Jean Perrin,
with his car, ran into tree. Luckily,
no great harm done. Continuing to
Boulogne."
Aided With Institute.
When after the war, Marie Curie
launched her radium institute in
Paris, to teach scientists from all over
the world the uses of radium, it was
DR.. Perrin who again was her chief
supporter.
From year to year she enriched
her laboratory" wrote Eve. She could
be seen haunting the ministries with
Jean Perrin, demanding subsidies,
scholarships"
DR.. Perrin has discovered his new
element from pitchblende, the same
substance which yielded polonium and
then radium to the Curies. 1t will
remain to be seen whether his element,
as yet unnamed, proves to be 30 SEN
sationally beneficial to mankind.