The genius of Marie Curie - Shohini Ghose

譯者: Szu-Wen Kung 審譯者: Ann Chen

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

若你想要閱讀瑪麗·居禮夫人的手稿

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

你須簽署切結書並戴上防護衣具

to shield yourself from radiation contamination.

以避免受到放射線的感染

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

居禮夫人的遺體也葬於鉛襯棺材裡

keeping the radiation that was the heart of her research,

以阻止放射線外洩

放射線是她的研究重心 有可能也是她喪命主因

and likely the cause of her death, well contained.

Growing up in Warsaw in Russian-occupied Poland,

居禮夫人生長於 被俄羅斯佔據的波蘭首都華沙

the young Marie, originally named Maria Sklodowska,

年少時的瑪麗原名為 瑪麗亞·斯克沃多夫斯卡

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

她是名頂尖的學生，卻遇到不少阻礙

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

身為女性的她不能接受高等教育

so in an act of defiance,

所以，她作了件挑戰之舉

Marie enrolled in the Floating University,

瑪麗申請就讀飛行大學

a secret institution that provided clandestine education to Polish youth.

是所暗中為波蘭青年 提供教育機會的地下學校

By saving money and working as a governess and tutor,

一邊存錢，一邊擔任家庭教師

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

她總算能搬到巴黎 就讀富盛名的索邦大學

There, Marie earned both a physics and mathematics degree

瑪麗之後取得物理學與數學學位

surviving largely on bread and tea,

求學期間，多靠麵包和茶果腹

and sometimes fainting from near starvation.

有時還因飢餓而暈倒

In Paris, Marie met the physicist Pierre Curie,

瑪麗在巴黎遇到物理學家 ──皮埃爾·居禮

who shared his lab and his heart with her.

他讓瑪麗共用實驗室 也與瑪麗惺惺相惜

But she longed to be back in Poland.

不過瑪麗渴望返回波蘭

Upon her return to Warsaw, though,

儘管如此，在她回到華沙後

she found that securing an academic position as a woman

她發現女人想覓得一份學術工作

remained a challenge.

仍舊困難重重

All was not lost.

塞翁失馬，焉知非福

Back in Paris, the lovelorn Pierre was waiting,

回巴黎後，皮埃爾仍痴情等待瑪麗

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

兩個人很快結為連理 成為出色的科學夫妻檔

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

另位物理學家的研究 激發居禮夫人的興趣

In 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium spontaneously emitted

亨利·貝克勒在 1896 年 發現鈾能自發的放射出一種

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

像 X 射線的神祕放射線 能與感光底片相互作用

Curie soon found that the element thorium emitted similar radiation.

沒多久居禮發現釷 也放射出類似的放射線

Most importantly, the strength of the radiation

重點是放射線的強度

depended solely on the element's quantity,

全取決於放射元素的數量

and was not affected by physical or chemical changes.

且不會受到物理或化學變化的影響

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

此發現，讓居禮推斷放射線是源自於

within the atoms of each element.

每種元素的原子本身

The idea was radical

這個顛覆的想法

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

否定了自古流傳的原子不可分割論

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

居禮接著把研究重心放在 「瀝青鈾礦」的放射性礦石

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

居禮夫婦發現鈾本身 無法製造出所有的放射線

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

因此是不是有 其他放射性元素存在的可能？

In 1898, they reported two new elements,

1898 年，居禮夫婦發表兩種新元素

polonium, named for Marie's native Poland,

一個命名為「釙」 茲以紀念瑪麗的祖國波蘭

and radium, the Latin word for ray.

另一個則是「鐳」 拉丁文意為射線

They also coined the term radioactivity along the way.

兩人也同時創造「放射性」一詞

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

在 1902 年之前 居禮夫婦已從好幾噸的瀝青鈾礦

from several tons of pitchblende,

萃取出十分之一克的純氯化鐳

an incredible feat at the time.

在當時是非凡的成就

Later that year, Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel

同年，皮埃爾·居禮與亨利·貝克勒

were nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics,

獲諾貝爾物理獎提名

but Marie was overlooked.

但卻忽略了瑪麗

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

皮埃爾極力爭取 支持他太太獲得提名認可

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

居禮夫婦與亨利·貝克勒 共同獲頒 1903 年的諾貝爾獎

making Marie Curie the first female Nobel Laureate.

也讓居禮夫人成為 首位授予獎項的女性

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

居禮夫婦備受尊崇且研究資金豐厚

可說是一帆風順

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

但 1906 年悲劇發生 當皮埃爾穿越繁忙的十字路口時

as he crossed a busy intersection.

被一輛馬車撞上身亡

Marie, devastated, immersed herself in her research

悲痛至極的瑪麗埋首研究

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

接手皮埃爾在索邦大學的教職

becoming the school's first female professor.

成為學校首位女教授

Her solo work was fruitful.

居禮夫人的個人研究成果豐厚

In 1911, she won yet another Nobel,

1911 年，她獲頒另一個諾貝爾獎

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

這次是化學獎 表彰她早期發現釙與鐳

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

與她萃取分析鐳與鐳化合物的貢獻

This made her the first, and to this date,

這次獲獎讓她成為至今

only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.

唯一一位贏得兩次 不同學科的諾貝爾獎得主

Professor Curie put her discoveries to work,

居禮教授實際應用她的發現

changing the landscape of medical research and treatments.

革新醫學研究與治療領域

She opened mobile radiology units during World War I,

她在第一次世界大戰期間 設置流動式 X 光機

and investigated radiation's effects on tumors.

並研究放射線對腫瘤的影響

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

不過，對人類的貢獻 卻讓她的健康付出極大代價

Curie died in 1934 of a bone marrow disease,

居禮夫人於 1934 年 死於骨髓相關的疾病

which many today think was caused by her radiation exposure.

如今看來應是她長期 暴露於輻射下所造成

Marie Curie's revolutionary research

瑪麗·居禮革新的研究

laid the groundwork for our understanding of physics and chemistry,

為人類對物理與化學的了解奠定基礎

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

在腫瘤學、科技、醫學 與核子物理學等領域

to name a few.

開創新局

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

無論好壞

她對放射線的發現 迎接新時代的來臨

unearthing some of science's greatest secrets.

挖掘出一些科學最大的秘密