Page 17 - index
P. 17
Marie, in turn, convinced Pierre to write up his magnetism
research and get his doctoral degree. Although Pierre was
an internationally known physicist, he was an outsider in
the French scientific community who was uninterested in
fame. He had done important research in multiple
scientific fields over the past 15 years, but had never
bothered to complete a doctorate. At Marie’s urging, he
wrote up his research on the various types of magnetism,
and included a presentation on the connection between
temperature and magnetism that’s now known as Curie’s
Law . In March 1895, he was awarded his doctorate of
4
science. At the Municipal School (ESPCI) , Pierre was
5
promoted to a professorship , and his teaching duties
increased; however, his lab got no better. French physicists Marie Curie (right), Pierre Curie (center), and Gustave Bémont
(left) in the laboratory
A colleague called Marie “Pierre's biggest discovery”; • A few months later, in early 1896, French engineer and
9
though, it was a perfect match for them both. In Pierre, physicist, Henri Becquerel , reported a serendipitous
10
Marie had found a new love, a partner, and a scientific discovery to the French Academy of Sciences: that
collaborator on whom she could depend. They married uranium compounds, even when kept in the dark, emitted
on 26 July 1895 in a simple civil service in the town hall at rays that would expose a photographic plate. Despite this
11
6
Sceaux , where Pierre’s parents lived. Instead of a bridal intriguing discovery and his important observations , the
gown, Marie wore a practical dark blue ensemble that scientific community continued to focus its attention on
would serve her for many years as a laboratory outfit. Röntgen’s X-rays, neglecting the much weaker Becquerel
They used money received as a wedding gift to buy a pair rays (uranium rays), and Becquerel did not pursue his
of bicycles, and for their honeymoon, they took a bicycle observations further after publishing.
excursion along the coast of Brittany and into the French
countryside. These long, adventurous cycle rides would Largely ignored by the scientific community, Becquerel’s
become a favorite pastime and a way to relax after work, however, did catch the attention of the Curies, and
spending long hours in the lab. Marie had found a topic for her doctoral thesis.
Over the next two years, while Pierre continued his work, A new name for a new science: Radioactivity
Marie completed her research on the magnetic properties To begin a systematic investigation of the mysterious
of steels. She submitted her final results shortly before uranium rays, Marie had a secret weapon: a highly
giving birth to their first daughter, Irène, in September sensitive electrometer, based on the piezoelectric effect,
7
1897. Marie began looking for a research topic that built by Pierre and his brother Jacques during their earlier
would earn her a doctorate in science. No woman in the studies on magnetism (see Q1 2019 SCC Quarterly). Able
world had yet completed that degree. to measure weak electrical currents, Marie was able to
measure the strength of radiation emitted from uranium
The discovery of X-rays and “invisible light” compounds. As she checked her results, she unexpectedly
12
Two recent discoveries by other scientists inspired Marie in discovered that uranium pitchblende emitted about
her search for a thesis topic. four times as much radiation as one would expect from its
uranium content. She announced a revolutionary
• In November 1895, German mechanical engineer and
physicist, Wilhelm Röntgen , discovered a ray that could hypothesis: that the emission of these rays was an
8
travel through solid wood or flesh and yield photographs atomic property of uranium (the rays were not dependent
of living people’s bones. He called this wavelength of on the uranium’s form, but on its atomic structure). If true,
electromagnetic radiation ‘X-rays’ (X for ‘unknown’). this would mean that the accepted view of the atom as
This discovery earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics the smallest possible fragment of matter was false. In
in 1901. 1898, she hypothesized that pitchblende contains a small
amount of an unknown radiating element, a revolutionary
conclusion that would change the periodic table of the
elements and open the door to new scientific study.
