December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 10 days remaining until the end of the year. In 1898 Marie and Pierre Curie discover radium which will eventually revolutionize medical science via the x-ray machine, radiation treatments and much more. Marie pioneered radium research and helped countless people through these less invasive diagnostic treatments. Mme. Curie throughout her life actively promoted the use of radium to alleviate suffering and during World War I, assisted by her daughter, Irene, she personally devoted herself to this remedial work. She retained her enthusiasm for science throughout her life and did much to establish a radioactivity laboratory in her native city - in 1929 President Hoover of the United States presented her with a gift of $ 50,000, donated by American friends of science, to purchase radium for use in the laboratory in Warsaw. Sadly, on July 4, 1934, Marie Curie died in Paris, of radiation poisoning and may have been the first person to do so. Her hard work resulted in two Nobel Prizes - the first woman to win even one.
Great knowledge, however, is often a double-edged sword. Without the work she did we might not have many modern cancer treatments, or atomic clocks, or even the computer you're viewing this on. Regrettably, the atomic bomb was the result of such scientific work as well. She had noble ideals and wished only to help the suffering through her tireless work, which she did admirably.
No comments:
Post a Comment