If he disliked soliciting an advancement in position, he was even less inclined to hope for honors. He had, in fact, a very decided opinion on the subject of honorary distinctions. Not only did he believe that they were not helpful, but he considered them frankly harmful. He felt that the desire to obtain them is a cause of trouble, and that it can degrade the worthiest aim of man, which is, work for the pure love of it.
Since he possessed great moral probity, he did not hesitate to make his acts conform to his opinions. When Schützenberger, in order to offer him a mark of esteem, wished to propose him for the Palmes académiques he refused this distinction, despite the advantages which, according to general belief, it would confer. And he wrote to his director:
"I have been informed that you intend to propose me again to the prefet for the decoration. I pray you do not do so. If you procure for me this honor, you will place me under the necessity of refusing it, for I have firmly decided not to accept a decoration of any kind. I hope that you will be good enough to avoid taking a step that will make me appear a little ridiculous in the eyes of many people. If your aim is to offer me a testimony of your interest, you have already done that, and in a very much more effective manner which touched me greatly, for you have made it possible for me to work without worry."
Faithful to this firm opinion, he later declined the decoration of the Légion d'Honneur, which was offered him in 1903.
But even though Pierre Curie refused to take steps to change his situation it was at last improved. In 1895 the well-known physicist, Mascart, professor in the Collège de France, impressed with his ability, and with Lord Kelvin's opinion of him, insisted that Schützenberger create a new Chair of Physics at the School of Physics and Chemistry. Pierre Curie was then named professor under conditions in which his talents were duly recognized. However, nothing was done at this time to ameliorate the inadequate material conditions under which, as we have already seen, he was carrying on his personal investigations.
[3]In this very brief memoir is presented, for the first time, a theory which explains why crystals develop certain faces simultaneously, in a particular direction, and consequently why crystals possess a determined form.
[4]Paramagnetic bodies are those which are magnetized in the same manner as iron, either strongly (ferro-magnetic) or feebly. Diamagnetic bodies are those whose very feeble magnetization is opposed to that which iron takes in the same magnetic field.
[5]The following is the text of a letter from this distinguished savant to Pierre Curie, written during one of his visits to Paris:
October, 1893.
"DEAR MR. CURIE:
"I am much obliged to you for your letter of Saturday and the information contained in it, which is exceedingly interesting to me.
"If I call at your laboratory between 10 and 11 tomorrow morning should I find you there? There are two or three things I would like to speak to you about; and I would like also to see more of your curves representing the magnetization of iron at different temperatures.
"Yours truly,
"KELVIN."