The Curie Museum distinguished as EPS Historic Site
The 7th of November 2017 marked Marie Curie’s 150th birthday. She was an extraordinary scientist, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and still the only woman awarded two Nobel Prizes, one in physics and one in chemistry. She discovered two elements with her husband Pierre Curie, Polonium and Radium and the entire concept of radioactivity. The discovery of radioactivity and radiation paved the path to new effective cancer treatments.
During her career, she was always treated differently from her colleagues, not on account of her intelligence but on account of her gender. Even her friends questioned her when she kept doing science after the birth of her first daughter. Only her husband and lab partner’s lobbying on her behalf ensured she wasn’t cut out of the first Nobel Prize that honoured their work. Only taking his professorship after his death earned her that title.
Even 150 years after her birth, Curie is rightfully famous for her achievements. She is likely the most famous female scientist in history.
To celebrate 150 years since the birth of Marie Curie, the Pantheon – in collaboration with the Curie Museum – presents a new exhibition about the first woman to have her remains placed there, the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne, the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize. The Exhibition was inaugurated on November 7th, 2017. There were many speeches, both in the Pantheon and in the Institut Curie, where a remarkable address was given by the French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Frédérique Vidal, to remind us of the inestimable scientific and moral heritage of Marie Curie. The speech can be found at https://www.sfpnet.fr/150-ans-de-marie-curie-mots-de-frederique-vidal
During the ceremony, I had the honour and privilege to unveil a plaque at the Curie Museum (Renaud Huynh, director), with the recognition that this place, which was the Curie Laboratory of the Institut du Radium, now becomes an EPS Historic Site.
Below is the inscription on the plaque:
European Physical Society – EPS Historic Site
The Curie Laboratory of the “Institut du Radium”
In the Curie Laboratory of the “Institut du Radium”, built in 1914, forefront studies on radiation and its applications in physics and chemistry, biology and medicine were performed. Marie Curie was its first director. Specialized in the science of radiation, the Curie Laboratory became after WW1 a bustling center of research, with almost forty researchers.
Major advances in radiation therapy and nuclear physics were made at the “Institut du Radium” from the 1920s. The discovery of the fine structure of alpha-ray spectra by Salomon Rosenblum in 1929, the discovery of artificial radioactivity by Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie in 1934, and the discovery of the francium element by Marguerite Perey in 1939 were all achieved here.
The French Physical Society very much appreciates this gesture and wants to thank the EPS for its recognition of the Curie Museum, which was the Curie laboratory of the “Institut du Radium”, as an historic site, and for being with us all along the ceremony (David Lee, Secretary General). The unveiling of the plaque at the 150th anniversary of Marie Curie’s birth ceremony was very appropriate.
