1920 One morning in May, an American journalist named Madame Meron finally met Madame Curie, the discoverer of radium, in the Paris laboratory after many twists and turns. The dignified and elegant Madame Curie and the extremely simple laboratory left a deep impression on the American journalist.

At this time, radium has been 18 years, and its original value is as high as 750,000 gold francs per gram! The American journalist concluded that Madame Curie should have become rich because of this patented technology.

In fact, the Curies gave up their patents as early as 18 years ago and published the purification method of radium without reservation. Madame Curie's explanation is very simple: "No one should get rich from radium, it belongs to all mankind."

Mrs. Malone was puzzled and asked, "Is there nothing you want most in this world?"

"Yes, one gram of radium, for the convenience of my research. But eighteen years later, I can't afford it. Its price is too expensive. "

This unexpected answer surprised Mrs Malone very much. The purification technology of radium has made businessmen all over the world rich, but the discoverer of radium is so difficult! She immediately flew back to the United States and found that the market price of one gram of radium in the United States at that time was100000 dollars. She found ten female millionaires first, thinking that they were all women and rich, and they would definitely give their money to help. Unexpectedly, they all hit a wall.

Mrs. maloney realized that this is not only a demand for money, but also a kind of social education, calling on the public to understand science and carry forward the character of scientists. As a result, she ran around among women in the United States and finally succeeded. 1921On May 20th, the President of the United States presented Madame Curie with a gram of radium donated by the public.

A few years later, when Madame Curie wanted to establish a radium research institute in her native Warsaw, Poland, to carry out the work of treating cancer, the American public donated one gram of radium to her again.

Some people think that Madame Curie's stubbornness in dealing with radium is incomprehensible. As long as you sign the patent book, won't all the difficulties be solved?

Madame Curie later answered this question in her autobiography: "What they said is not unreasonable, but I still believe that my husband and wife are right. Humans need people who are brave in practice. They can get great gains from their work. They can not forget the public welfare, but also protect their own interests. But human beings also need dreamers and need to be obsessed with the selflessness of their careers. "

Madame Curie had three grams of radium in her life. These three grams of radium show the great personality of a scientist.

Extended data:

Brief introduction of Madame Curie:

Marie Curie (1867165438+1October 7th-1July 4th, 934), born in Warsaw, is called "Madame Curie" and her full name is Marie Sklodowska Curie (Maria Sk? Odowska Curie), a famous Polish scientist, physicist and chemist in France.

1903 Mr. and Mrs. Curie and becquerel won the Nobel Prize in physics for their research on radioactivity.191kloc-0/won the Nobel Prize in chemistry again in, becoming the first person in the world to win the Nobel Prize twice. Madame Curie's achievements include initiating the theory of radioactivity, inventing the technology of separating radioactive isotopes, and discovering two new elements: polonium and radium.

Under her guidance, people used radioisotopes to treat cancer for the first time. Due to long-term exposure to radioactive substances, Madame Curie died of malignant leukemia on July 3, 1934.

Second, Madame Curie's social evaluation

Einstein said: "among all the world celebrities, Marie Curie is the only one who has not been spoiled by fame."

Chauffard, President of the Academy of Sciences: Marie Curie, you are a great scholar, a great woman who devoted herself to work and sacrifice for science, and a patriot who always worked for extra responsibilities in war and peace. We salute you.

You are here, we can get spiritual benefits from you, and we thank you; We are proud to have you among us. You are the first French woman to enter the Academy of Sciences, and you deserve it.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-Madame Curie three grams of radium Baidu encyclopedia-Madame Curie