Science Hero—Madame Curie
科学英雄——居里夫人
Born Manya Sklowdowska in 1867 into a family of impoverished educators， the woman whom the world would know as Marie Curie grew up in Warsaw at a time when Poland was dominated by Tsarist Russia and school instruction in the native language was outlawed. Determined and defiant， Marie excelled at her studies (both the “official” courses conducted in Russian and the secret classes in Polish) and， after working eight years as a governess， was able to follow her elder sister Bronya to Paris to study at the Sorbonne， where she ranked first in science and second in mathematics in a class of 2000 students when received her master degree in both subjects.
Despite her academic success， scientific careers were almost entirely closed to women. Thanks to the intervention of one of her professors， Marie found a job studying the magnetic properties of various steels. To perform this work， she needed instruction in a device—the quadrant electrometer—that had been perfected by a young physicist named Pierre Curie. As their attachment grew， their love deepened， culminating in their marriage in 1895. Two years later， Marie gave birth to their first child， Irene.
Marie then began to work on her doctoral thesis， in which she explored the newly discovered science of radioactivity (a word she coined)， measuring the energy released by different radioactive substances. Until then scientists thought of the atom as a solid ball， with nothing inside that could escape. Marie's astounding discovery， that radioactivity was an atomic property， allowed scientists to explore the atom and threw the door open to twentieth-century science. Continuing her research， Marie， assisted by Pierre， isolated two new elements： polonium and radium. For their investigations into the workings of radioactive substances， Pierre and Marie were awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in physics.
As radium became known as a miracle substance， the Curies' fame spread far and wide. In 1904， Marie gave birth to another daughter， Eve. But two years later， Pierre， whose body wracked by exposure to radiation， slipped before the wheels of a horse-drawn cart and was killed. Marie assumed Pierre's professorship at the Sorbonne and threw herself even more ardently into her research. In 1911， she was awarded a second Nobel Prize， in chemistry， for her discovery of polonium and radium.
During the first World War， Marie Curie went to work for the French building and designing X-ray machines. Knowing that moving soldiers to a hospital before they needed surgery was not always possible， she designed the first mobile X-ray machine and traveled with it along the front lines during the war.
She requisitioned the automobiles of rich French women and organized a fleet of mobile X-ray units (which became known as “Les Petites Curies”) to assist front line doctors. In the early 1920s， she came to the United States on a tour to raise money for research； the resultant publicity helped create the myth of Madame Curie.
The self-sacrificing scientist found radium and provided a panacea for man's ills， especially cancer. She helped guide her daughter Irene's budding scientific career， thus establishing a Curie dynasty in radioactive science that continues to this day. Irene， with her husband， Frederic Joliot， would themselves win the Nobel Prize in 1935 for creating artificial radioactivity， but Marie would not live to see the results of their accomplishment. Succumbing to the long-term effects of radiation exposure， she died in the summer of 1934.
Marie Curie had brought herself up from poverty， struggling to get her education and succeeding brilliantly. The work she did， she did with patience， often getting results only after years of careful experimentation， while struggling for money to support her work. For her struggles， she received two Nobel Prizes—the first woman to win even one.
1867年，曼娅·斯卡罗多斯卡出生在一个清贫的教师之家。她就是日后享誉四海的玛丽·居里。玛丽在华沙长大，当时波兰处于沙皇俄国的统制之下，禁止学校上波兰语课。坚毅不服输的玛丽，不仅俄语教授的“官方”必修课成绩优异，就连秘密开设的波兰语课程也学得很出色。她连续做了八年的家庭教师才攒够积蓄跟随姐姐波朗妮娅来到巴黎，就读索尔邦神学院。毕业时，在2000多名学生当中，玛丽的自然科学成绩第一，数学第二，并获得科学、数学两个硕士学位。
玛丽虽然学业优异，但科学研究这扇大门对女人来说似乎依然是关得紧紧的。幸好有位教授帮忙，她找到了一份研究不同钢铁磁性特征的工作。在完成这个科研项目的过程中，玛丽需要有人来指导她使用象限静电计。年轻的物理学家皮埃尔·居里改进完善过这种仪器。工作让他们形影不离，爱情的种子也在悄悄地生根发芽。1895年这对志同道合的恋人终于走进了婚姻的殿堂。两年后，他们的第一个孩子——艾琳出生了。
随后，玛丽开始做博士论文，研究领域是对不同放射性物质释放的能量进行测定，这在当时是一门新的学科——“放射学”（这个词是由她首先提出的）。当时，科学家们公认原子是一种球状实体结构，不可再分。玛丽却有一项惊人的发现——放射性是原子的一种特性，引发了科学家对原子结构的探索，并敲开了二十世纪科学的一扇大门。在丈夫的帮助下，玛丽继续攻克这一难题，终于分离出钋和镭两种新元素。因他们对放射性物质探索研究所做出的卓越贡献，1903年，皮埃尔和玛丽被授予诺贝尔物理学奖。
随着人们对镭这种神奇物质的认识，居里夫妇也开始享誉世界。1904年，他们的小女儿夏娃出世了。然而，两年后，身体受到射线侵害的居里先生不幸因车祸去世。玛丽接替居里先生在索尔邦神学院任物理教授，她承受着巨大的痛苦，一心投入到科学研究当中。1911年，因居里夫人在化学领域贡献卓越——也就是钋和镭的发现，她又一次获得了诺贝尔奖——诺贝尔化学奖。
一战时，玛丽在为法国工作期间，设计并制造X光线仪器。玛丽得知，在战场上通常不可能把伤员及时送去医院做手术，于是就设计出第一部移动光线仪器。玛丽把它带在身边，奔走于战争前线。
居里夫人还征用一批法国有钱妇女的汽车，组成一支“移动X射线医疗队”，帮助前线医生。这就是后人所知的“小居里团”。二十世纪二十年代初，居里夫人曾到美国筹集科研经费，这次美国之旅所掀起的热潮足以缔造“居里夫人神话”。
玛丽把她的一生都奉献给了科学事业，成功提炼出镭为医学研究创造了价值，尤其为癌症患者带来了福音。居里夫人还指导女儿艾琳发展她初露头角的科研事业，继而建起一家居氏放射线研究所。今天，这家研究所依然存在。艾琳和丈夫费德瑞克·朱罗特因成功创造出人工放射线，于1935年被授予诺贝尔奖。然而，玛丽却没能等到女儿、女婿取得辉煌成就的那一天。因一直从事镭的研究，居里夫人长期接触放射性物质，严重损害身体健康，于1934年夏天与世长辞。
玛丽·居里生长在贫困之家，辗转艰苦求学，最终取得了卓越成就。她专心从事的这份工作，她所做的贡献，非一种耐力所不能及，只有经过多年严谨细致的实验后才能取得成果。不仅如此，在这期间她还要四处奔走，寻求科研资助。她勤勉努力，赢得了两项诺贝尔奖，是第一位获此殊荣的女性科学家。
译者感言
我国的著名数学家华罗庚曾对高深莫测的科学研究如此形容过：“科学的灵感，绝不是坐等可以等来的。如果说，科学上的发现有什么偶然的机遇的话，那么这种‘偶然的机遇’只能给那些学有素养的人，给那些善于独立思考的人，给那些具有锲而不舍的精神的人，而不会给懒汉。”
居里夫人一生曾经两次被授予诺贝尔奖。她是巴黎大学（前身是索尔邦神学院）的第一位女教授，是法国科学院第一位女院士，同时还被其他15个国家聘为科学院院士。她共接受过7个国家24次奖金和奖章，担任了25个国家的104个荣誉职位。对于巨额的诺贝尔奖金，一向清贫的居里夫人并不稀罕，而是把大量的奖金赠送给波兰的大学生、贫困的女友、实验室的助手、没有钱的女学生、教过她的老师、资助过她的亲属。她还把英国皇家学会刚刚颁发给她的英国皇家学会最高奖——戴维金质奖章，送给6岁的女儿玩，让孩子知道，荣誉是玩具，只能玩玩，绝不能看得太重，否则一事无成。
正如爱因斯坦所说：“在世界上所有的著名人物中，玛丽·居里是惟一一个没有被盛名宠坏的人。”
