The genius of Marie Curie - Shohini Ghose

Prevoditelj: Petra Lauš Recezent: Sanda L

Ako želite zaviriti u rukopise Marie Curie,

If you want a glimpse of Marie Curie's manuscripts,

you'll have to sign a waiver and put on protective gear

morat ćete potpisati odricanje od tužbe i staviti zaštitnu opremu

to shield yourself from radiation contamination.

kako biste se zaštitili od radijacije.

Madame Curie's remains, too, were interred in a lead-lined coffin,

Ostaci madam Curie također su pokopani u lijesu obloženom olovom

keeping the radiation that was the heart of her research,

koji zadržava radijaciju, središte njena istraživanja,

and likely the cause of her death, well contained.

a vjerojatno i uzrok njene smrti.

Growing up in Warsaw in Russian-occupied Poland,

Kada je odrastala u Varšavi, u Poljskoj koja je tada bila pod ruskom okupacijom,

the young Marie, originally named Maria Sklodowska,

mlada Marie, koja se tada zvala Maria Skłodowska,

was a brilliant student, but she faced some challenging barriers.

bila je sjajna učenica, ali suočila se s izazovnim preprekama.

As a woman, she was barred from pursuing higher education,

Kao ženi, visoko obrazovanje bilo joj je zabranjeno

so in an act of defiance,

pa se u znak prkosa upisala na Leteće sveučilište,

Marie enrolled in the Floating University,

a secret institution that provided clandestine education to Polish youth.

skrovitu instituciju koja je pružala tajno obrazovanje mladima u Poljskoj.

By saving money and working as a governess and tutor,

Štedeći i radeći kao guvernanta i učiteljica,

she eventually was able to move to Paris to study at the reputed Sorbonne.

nakon nekog vremena mogla se preseliti u Pariz zbog studija na čuvenoj Sorbonnei.

There, Marie earned both a physics and mathematics degree

Ondje je Marie diplomirala fiziku i matematiku

surviving largely on bread and tea,

preživljavajući uglavnom na kruhu i čaju i ponekad gubeći svijest od gladovanja.

and sometimes fainting from near starvation.

In Paris, Marie met the physicist Pierre Curie,

Marie je u Parizu upoznala fizičara Pierrea Curie

who shared his lab and his heart with her.

koji je s njome dijelio svoj laboratorij i srce.

But she longed to be back in Poland.

Ali ona je čeznula da se vrati u Poljsku.

Upon her return to Warsaw, though,

Kada se vratila u Varšavu,

she found that securing an academic position as a woman

vidjela je da je dobivanje položaja na sveučilištu ostalo izazov za ženu.

remained a challenge.

All was not lost.

Nije sve bilo izgubljeno.

Zaljubljeni je Pierre čekao u Parizu,

Back in Paris, the lovelorn Pierre was waiting,

and the pair quickly married and became a formidable scientific team.

par se ubrzo vjenčao i postali su moćan, znanstveni tim.

Another physicist's work sparked Marie Curie's interest.

Rad još jednog fizičara pobudio je interes Marie Curie.

In 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium spontaneously emitted

Godine 1896., Henri Becquerel otkrio je da uranij spontano emitira

a mysterious X-ray-like radiation that could interact with photographic film.

misterioznu radijaciju poput X-zraka koja može djelovati na fotografski film.

Curie soon found that the element thorium emitted similar radiation.

Curie je ubrzo otkrila da torij emitira sličnu radijaciju.

Most importantly, the strength of the radiation

Što je najvažnije, snaga radijacije

ovisila je samo o količini kemijskog elementa

depended solely on the element's quantity,

and was not affected by physical or chemical changes.

i na nju nisu utjecale fizičke ili kemijske promjene.

This led her to conclude that radiation was coming from something fundamental

To ju je dovelo do zaključka da radijacija dolazi iz nečeg temeljnog

within the atoms of each element.

unutar atoma svakog elementa.

The idea was radical

To je bila radikalna ideja

and helped to disprove the long-standing model of atoms as indivisible objects.

i pomogla je opovrgnuti dugogodišnji model nedjeljivih atoma.

Next, by focusing on a super radioactive ore called pitchblende,

Fokusirajući se na vrlo radioaktivnu rudu pod nazivom uraninit,

the Curies realized that uranium alone couldn't be creating all the radiation.

supružnici Curie shvatili su da uranij sam nije mogao stvoriti svo to zračenje.

So, were there other radioactive elements that might be responsible?

Je li bilo drugih radioaktivnih elemenata koji su mogli biti odgovorni za to?

In 1898, they reported two new elements,

Godine 1898., prijavili su dva nova elementa,

polonium, named for Marie's native Poland,

polonij, nazvan po Poljskoj, domovini Marie Curie,

and radium, the Latin word for ray.

i radij prema latinskoj riječi za zraku.

They also coined the term radioactivity along the way.

Također su osmislili termin radioaktivnost.

By 1902, the Curies had extracted a tenth of a gram of pure radium chloride salt

Do 1902., dobili su desetinu grama čiste soli radijevog klorida

from several tons of pitchblende,

iz nekoliko tona uraninita,

an incredible feat at the time.

što je tada bio nevjerojatan pothvat.

Later that year, Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel

Kasnije te godine, Pierre Curie i Henri Becquerel

were nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics,

nominirani su za Nobelovu nagradu za fiziku,

but Marie was overlooked.

ali Marie je bila zanemarena.

Pierre took a stand in support of his wife's well-earned recognition.

Pierre se zauzeo da njegova žena dobije zasluženo priznanje

And so both of the Curies and Becquerel shared the 1903 Nobel Prize,

pa su oboje supružnika Curie i Becquerel podijelili Nobelovu nagradu 1903.,

making Marie Curie the first female Nobel Laureate.

čime je Marie Curie postala prva žena koja je dobila Nobelovu nagradu.

Well funded and well respected, the Curies were on a roll.

Imajući financijsku potporu i poštovanje, supružnicima je krenulo.

But tragedy struck in 1906 when Pierre was crushed by a horse-drawn cart

Ali 1906. dogodila se tragedija kada je Pierre nastradao pod kočijom

as he crossed a busy intersection.

prelazeći prometno raskrižje.

Marie je bila shrvana i zadubila se u svoje istraživanje

Marie, devastated, immersed herself in her research

and took over Pierre's teaching position at the Sorbonne,

te preuzela Pierreovu profesuru na Sorbonnei,

becoming the school's first female professor.

čime je tamo postala prva profesorica.

Her solo work was fruitful.

Njezin samostalan rad bio je plodan.

In 1911, she won yet another Nobel,

Još jednu Nobelovu nagradu dobila je 1911.

this time in chemistry for her earlier discovery of radium and polonium,

Ovaj puta za kemiju za njeno ranije otkriće radija i polonija

and her extraction and analysis of pure radium and its compounds.

i za dobivanje i analizu čistog radija i njegovih spojeva.

This made her the first, and to this date,

Zbog toga je ona bila prva i do današnjeg dana

only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.

jedina osoba koja je Nobelovu nagradu dobila za dva različita polja znanosti.

Professor Curie put her discoveries to work,

Curie je primijenila svoja otkrića

changing the landscape of medical research and treatments.

mijenjajući medicinska istraživanja i liječenje.

She opened mobile radiology units during World War I,

U Prvom svjetskom ratu otvorila je jedinice pokretne radiologije

and investigated radiation's effects on tumors.

i istraživala utjecaj koji radijacija ima na tumore.

However, these benefits to humanity may have come at a high personal cost.

Međutim, te su koristi za čovječanstvo imale visoku cijenu po njeno zdravlje.

Curie died in 1934 of a bone marrow disease,

Curie je 1934. umrla od bolesti koštane srži

which many today think was caused by her radiation exposure.

i mnogi danas misle da je uzrok tome bila izloženost radijaciji.

Marie Curie's revolutionary research

Revolucionarno istraživanje Marie Curie

laid the groundwork for our understanding of physics and chemistry,

postavilo je temelje našem razumijevanju fizike i kemije

blazing trails in oncology, technology, medicine, and nuclear physics,

i utrlo je put onkologiji, tehnologiji, medicini i nuklearnoj fizici,

to name a few.

koje su samo neka od područja.

For good or ill, her discoveries in radiation launched a new era,

Za dobro ili zlo, njezina su nas otkrića u radijaciji uvela u novo doba,

unearthing some of science's greatest secrets.

čime su objelodanjene neke od najvećih tajni znanosti.