Woman in Science / With an Introductory Chapter on Woman's Long Struggle for Things of the Mind

by J. A. Zahm

Considering the herculean task in which they were engaged for so many years, we scarcely know which to admire most, their clearness of vision, which made them divine success; their profound knowledge, which guided them in the choice of reagents; or the indomitable perseverance which characterized them in their laborious task and in the countless sacrifices which they were obliged to make before their efforts were crowned with success.

During this long search into the inner heart of nature, Pierre Curie was often so discouraged and depressed that, had he not been sustained by his more sanguine wife, he would time and again have given up his investigations in despair. But Marie Curie never faltered. She never lost faith in their theories or confidence in the outcome of their great undertaking. Before her deft hands and fertile brain difficulties vanished as if under the magic wand of Prospero.

At length, after countless experiments of the most delicate character, after bringing to bear on the solution of the problem before them the most refined methods of chemical analysis, they were rewarded by one of the most extraordinary discoveries recorded in the annals of science. With the announcement of the discovery of radium, the Curies sprang into world-wide fame, and the name of the wonderful woman who had been the prime mover in the supreme achievement was on every lip. Pierre Curie himself declared that more than half of the epochal discovery belonged to his wife. It was she who began the work. It was she who, after her marriage, enlisted in it the coöperation of her husband. It was she whose invincible patience and persistence—typical of the noblest representatives of her race—supported him during periods of doubt and despondency and fanned his flagging spirits to new endeavor. It can indeed be truthfully asserted that had it not been for her penetrating intelligence, her tenacity of purpose and her keenness of vision, which were never at fault, the great victory which crowned their efforts would never have been achieved.[160]

Compare their work with that which was accomplished by their illustrious predecessors, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, and his wife, a century earlier. The latter, by their discovery of and experiments with oxygen, were able to explain the until then mysterious phenomena of combustion and respiration and to coördinate numberless facts which had before stood isolated and enigmatic. But the reverse was the case in the discovery of that extraordinary and uncanny element, radium. It completely subverted many long-established theories and necessitated an entirely new view of the nature of energy and of the constitution of matter. A substance that seemed capable of emitting light and heat indefinitely, with little or no appreciable change or transformation, appeared to sap the very foundations of the fundamental principle of the conservation of energy.

Subsequent investigations seemed only to render "confusion worse confounded." They appeared to justify the dreams of the alchemists of old, not only regarding the transmutation of metals but also respecting the elixir of life. For was not this apparently absurd idea vindicated by the observed curative properties—bordering almost on the miraculous—this marvelous element was reputed to possess! Its virtues, it was averred, transcended the fabled properties of the famous red tincture and the philosopher's stone combined, and many were prepared to find in it a panacea for the most distressing of human ailments, from lupus and rodent ulcer to cancer and other frightful forms of morbid degeneration.[161]

And the end is not yet. Continued investigations, made in all parts of the world since the discovery of radium by the Curies, have but emphasized its mysterious properties, and compelled a revision of many of our most cherished theories in chemistry, physics and astronomy. No one single discovery, not even Pasteur's far-reaching discovery of microbic life, it may safely be asserted, has ever been more subversive of long-accepted views in certain domains of science, or given rise to more perplexing problems regarding matters which were previously thought to be thoroughly understood.

Never in the entire history of science have the results of a woman's scientific researches been so stupendous or so revolutionary. And never has any one achievement in science reflected more glory on womankind than that which is so largely due to the genius and the perseverance of Mme. Curie.

After their startling discovery, honors and tributes to their genius came in rapid succession to the gifted couple. On the recommendation of the venerable British savant, Lord Kelvin, they were awarded the Davy gold medal by the Royal Society. Shortly after this they shared with M. H. Becquerel in the Nobel prize for physics bestowed on them by Sweden. Then came laggard France with its decoration of the Legion of Honor. But it was offered only to the man. There was nothing for the woman. Pierre Curie showed his spirit and chivalry by declining to accept the proffered honor unless his wife could share it with him. His answer was simple, but its meaning could not be mistaken. "This decoration," he said, "has no bearing on my work."[162]

Shortly after her husband's death Mme. Curie was appointed as his successor as special lecturer in the Sorbonne. This was the first time that this conservative old university ever invited a woman to a full professorship. But she soon showed that she was thoroughly competent to fill the position with honor and éclat. She has the élite of society and the world's most noted men of science among her auditors. The crowned heads of the Old World eagerly seek an opportunity to witness her experiments and hear her discourse on what is by all odds the most marvelous element in nature.