International Year of Chemistry 2011: A Test of Courage: Marie Curie and the 1911 Nobel Prize

[摘要] Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize twice: in physics in 1903 and in chemistry in 1911. The 1903 prize, which she shared with her husband Pierre and Henri Becquerel, captivated the world press. The mysterious glowing substance, radium, was endowed in popular commentary with the ability not only to cure cancer but also to improve the complexion and power high-speed travel. Even more sensational than the glowing substance was the idea that a man and a woman had made the discovery together; many were astounded that a couple could have a loving and a working relationship. “An idyll in a physics laboratory,” observed the newspaper les Dimanches, “that's something that's never before been seen.”1By the time she won a second Nobel Prize, eight years later, Marie Curie had lost her “excellent companion” Pierre in a tragic accident in the streets of Paris. She was left alone to pursue the scientific dream they had vowed to realize together. And yet, despite her initial devastation, Marie Curie had managed to succeed, without her husband, in running a well-funded laboratory engaged in internationally recognized research. By the time of the second Nobel Prize, however, Marie Curie had also become the target of a vicious campaign in the French press. In a life filled with struggle, Marie Curie's decision to come to Stockholm to accept the 1911 prize, in spite of the controversy, may have been the bravest and most difficult she ever made.Marie Curie was born Maria Skłodowska in Warsaw in 1867 during a period when the Polish nation was subsumed under of the repressive regime of the Russian czars. The Polish language was strictly prohibited, as was any talk of an independent Poland. Maria's family, however, was deeply committed to the Polish cause. Relatives on both sides had …

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