图书在版编目（CIP）数据

居里夫人自传/(法)居里(Curie,M.)著；谢明贤译.—北京：新世界出版社，2012.8

（名人传记系列）

ISBN 978-7-5104-3268-2

Ⅰ. ①居…　Ⅱ. ①居…　②谢…　Ⅲ. ①居里夫人，M.（1867～1934）－自传②居里，P.（1859～1906）－传记　Ⅳ. ①K835.656.13

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字(2012)第205177号

居里夫人自传

作　　者：(法)居里

责任编辑：杨　磊　张宏娇

封面设计：孙丽莉

责任印制：李一鸣　黄厚清

出版发行：新世界出版社

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开　　本：787×1092　1/16

字　　数：240千字　印张：20

版　　次：2012年9月第1版　2012年9月第1次印刷

书　　号：ISBN 978-7-5104-3268-2

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目　录

译者序

序：我的信念

第一篇　居里夫人自传

第一章　我的家庭

第二章　婚后生活

第三章　战争中的我

第四章　美国之行

第二篇　皮埃尔·居里传

第一章　居里家族

第二章　青年时期的梦想

第三章　最初的研究

第四章　生活与品德

第五章　镭的发现

第六章　缺乏关怀下的奋斗

第七章　民族的悲痛

附　录　居里夫人生平大事年表

译者序

毫无疑问，居里夫人是世界上最著名、最传奇的女科学家。从某种意义上来讲，居里夫人的影响，早已经超越了她所在的科学领域，她俨然成为了一种精神象征。正因为如此，关于居里夫人生平的各种传记书籍数目惊人。这是科学界的奇迹，也是出版界的奇迹。

然而，人们如此关注居里夫人本人，却忽略了她的家人。所有的传记都将她描述成了一位圣人，或是一位励志大师。近百年来，居里夫人的名字更是激励了一代又一代的年轻人，她的形象已渐渐成为一种符号化的象征。

诚然，玛丽·居里具备种种值得世人尊重并学习的优秀品质，但这并不能让所有爱戴她的人全面充分地了解她。

真正的玛丽·居里是个感情热烈而真挚的女人。不论对工作还是对生活，她都充满了激情。她很坚强，不仅对金钱和名誉毫不在意，而且还能够抵挡住舆论对她不怀好意的攻击。她是严厉的母亲，是正直的科学家，是温柔的妻子，是有血性的知识分子。居里夫人的形象，本就应该如此多面、生动且丰满。

“传记文学的生命在于真实”，再也没有比居里夫人本人更能真实讲述她一生经历的作者了。尽管她的名字光耀着整个物理学界，但她在简陋的棚屋中奋力工作的纤弱身影，才是她一生中最应该被纪念的影像。

译　者

序：我的信念

生活对于任何一个男女都非易事，我们必要有坚韧不拔的精神；最要紧的，还是我们自己要有信心。我们必须相信，我们对一件事情是有天赋的才能，并且，无论付出任何代价，都要把这件事情完成。当事情结束的时候，你要能够问心无愧地说：“我已经尽我所能了。”

有一年的春天里，我因病被迫在家里休息数周，我注视着我的女儿们所养的蚕，结着茧子。这使我极感兴趣，望着这些蚕固执地、勤奋地工作着，我感到我和它们非常相似，像它们一样，我总是耐心地集中在一个目标。我之所以如此，或许是因为有某种力量在鞭策着我──正如蚕被鞭策着去结它的茧子一般。

在近五十年来，我致力于科学的研究，而研究基本上是对真理的探讨。我有许多美好快乐的回忆。少女时期我在巴黎大学孤独地过着求学的岁月；在那整个时期中，我丈夫和我专心致志地，像在梦幻之中一般，艰辛地在简陋的书房里研究，后来我们就在那儿发现了镭。 我在生活中，永远是追求安静的工作和简单的家庭生活。为了实现这个理想，我一直竭力保持宁静的环境，以免受人事的侵扰和盛名的喧嚣。

我深信在科学方面，我们是有对事而不是对人的兴趣。当皮埃尔·居里和我决定是否应在我们的发现上取得经济上的利益时，我们都认为这违反我们的纯粹研究观念。因而我们没有申请镭的专利，也就抛弃了一笔财富。我坚信我们是对的。诚然，人类需要寻求现实的人——他们在工作中，获得最大的报酬。但是，人类也需要梦想家──他们在一件忘我事业的进展中，受到了强烈的吸引，使他们没有闲暇，也无热情地去谋求物质上的利益。我的唯一奢望，是在一个自由国家中，以一个自由学者的身份从事研究工作，我从没有视这种权益为理所当然的，因为在24岁以前，我一直居住在被占领和蹂躏的波兰，我估量过法国自由的代价。

我并非生来就是一个性情温和的人。我很早就知道，许多像我一样的人，哪怕只是受了一言半语的呵责，便会过分懊恼，他们会尽量隐藏自己的敏感。从我丈夫温和沉静的性格中，我获益匪浅。当他猝然长逝以后，我便学会了逆来顺受。我年纪愈渐老了，也愈会欣赏生活中的种种琐事，如栽花、植树、建筑；对诵诗和眺望星辰，我也有一点儿兴趣。

我一直沉醉于世界的优美之中，我所热爱的科学，也不断展示给我更新的远景。

我认定科学本身就具有伟大的美。一位从事研究工作的科学家，不仅是一个技术人员，也是一个小孩，他好像沉醉于神话故事中那样，沉醉在大自然的景色当中。这种魅力，就是使我终生能够在实验室里埋头工作的主要原因了。

玛丽·居里

第一篇　居里夫人自传

Chapter I　My Family

I have been asked by my American friends to write the story of my life. At first,the idea seemed alien to me, but I yielded to persuasion. However, I could not conceive my biography as a complete expression of personal feelings or a detailed description of all incidents I would remember. Many of our feelings change with the years, and,when faded away, may seem altogether strange; incidents lose their momentary interest and may be remembered as if they have occurred to some other person. But there may be in a life some general direction, some continuous thread, due to a few dominant ideas and a few strong feelings, that explain the life and are characteristic of a human personality. Of my life, which has not been easy on the whole, I have described the general course and the essential features, and I trust that my story gives an understanding of the state of mind in which I have lived and worked.

My family is of Polish origin, and my name is Marie Sklodowska. My father and my mother both came from among the small Polish landed proprietors. In my country this class is composed of a large number of families, owners of small and medium-sized estates, frequently interrelated. It has been, until recently, chiefly from this group that Poland has drawn her intellectual recruits.

第一章　我的家庭

美国的朋友们让我把自己的生活经历写出来。开始的时候，我觉得这个建议对我来说真的是难以接受，但是最后，我还是被友人们说服了，勉强地写了这个简短的生平传记。但我不可能凭借这本简略的传记写出我一生中的全部感受，也没办法对我所经历过的全部事情进行详述。时过境迁，许多关于当时感受的记忆已经模糊，时间越久，就越加模糊不清，竟至有时还认为有些事情与自己无关，像是别人所经历的。无疑，人的一生总会受一些主要思想以及某些深刻感受的影响与支配，从而使生活能够沿着一条主线往前走。有了这一主线，就会明白当时为什么这么做而不是那么做，就可以看出当事人的性格等各方面的特点。我会把自己并不算一帆风顺的一生作一个概述，将其中的要点记叙下来。相信我的故事能够将我从工作和生活中得到的启示展示给大家。

我祖籍波兰，名叫玛丽·斯可罗多夫斯卡。我的父母都出生于波兰的小地主家庭。在我的祖国，像我父母那样拥有一份不大产业的中产阶级的人数颇多。他们成为了社会上的一个阶层，彼此之间通常有着千丝万缕的联系。直到现在，波兰的知识分子大部分都还来自于这一阶层。

While my paternal grandfather had divided his time between agriculture and directing a provincial college, my father, more strongly drawn to study, followed the course of the University of Petrograd, and later definitely established himself at Warsaw as Professor of Physics and Mathematics in one of the lyceums of that city. He married a young woman whose mode of life was congenial to his; for, although very young, she had, what was, for that time, a very serious education, and was the, director of one of the best Warsaw schools for young girls.

My father and mother worshiped their profession in the highest degree and have left, all over their country, a lasting remembrance with their pupils. I cannot, even today, go into Polish society without meeting persons who have tender memories of my parents.

Although my parents adopted a university career, they continued to keep in close touch with their numerous family in the country. It was with their relatives that I frequently spent my vacation, living in all freedom and finding opportunities to know the field life by which I was deeply attracted. To these conditions, so different from the usual villegiature, I believe, I owe my love for the country and nature.

Born at Warsaw, on the 7th of November, 1867, I was the last of five children, but my oldest sister died at the early age of fourteen, and we were left, three sisters and a brother. Cruelly struck by the loss of her daughter and worn away by a grave illness, my mother died at forty-two, leaving her husband in the deepest sorrow with his children. I was then only nine years old, and my eldest brother was hardly thirteen.

我的祖父对一所省立中学进行管理，闲暇时也干一些农活。我的父亲热爱学习，曾在俄国圣彼得堡大学读书，毕业后回到波兰，在华沙的一所预科大学里教授物理和数学。他娶了一位和他情投意合、志趣相同的女子为妻。母亲很年轻时，就已经在华沙一所女子学校担任校长了。那时候，她所从事的教育事业是极其崇高而又庄严的。

我的父母对自己所从事的教育事业兢兢业业、恪尽职守。他们的学生遍及波兰，可谓桃李满天下。这些学生直到现在仍对我的父母十分感激，并且怀念着他们。即便在今天，每当我回到波兰，遇见以前父母教过的学生，他们还总要向我倾诉对我父母的怀念。

我的父母尽管在城市从事教育事业，但他们与农村的亲戚们也都保持着往来。每到放假，我都会到农村亲戚家去住上一段日子，这使我对波兰的农村了解很深，并因此喜欢上了它。在那里，我很自然地就会感到无拘无束、散淡惬意。我想这段难忘的生活经历也正是我终生喜爱田野乡村，热爱大自然的原因吧！

1867年11月7日，我出生于华沙，是家中五个孩子里最小的一个，但是我的大姐于14岁时不幸病逝，所以留下了我们姐妹三个和一个兄弟。我的母亲因为大女儿的不幸病逝而悲恸欲绝，并因此患上了不治之症，在她年仅42岁的时候便撒手人寰。母亲去世时，我仅9岁，哥哥也只有13岁，全家人都沉浸在无以言表的悲痛之中。

This catastrophe was the first great sorrow of my life and threw me into a profound depression. My mother had an exceptional personality. With all her intellectuality she had a big heart and a very high sense of duty. And, though possessing infinite indulgence and good nature, she still held in the family a remarkable moral authority. She had an ardent piety (my parents were both Catholics), but she was never intolerant; differences in religious belief did not trouble her; she was equally kind to any one not sharing her opinions. Her influence over me was extraordinary, for in me the natural love of the little girl for her mother was united with a passionate admiration.

Very much affected by the death of my mother, my father devoted himself entirely to his work and to the care of our education. His professional obligations were heavy and left him little leisure time. For many years we all felt weighing on us the loss of the one who had been the soul of the house.

We all started our studies very young. I was only six years old, and, because I was the youngest and smallest in the class, was frequently brought forward to recite when there were visitors. This was a great trial to me, because of my timidity; I wanted always to run away and hide. My father, an excellent educator, was interested in our work and knew how to direct it, but the conditions of our education were difficult. We began our studies in private schools and finished them in those of the government.

亲人的突然离去，是我人生中第一次遭遇的最悲惨、最痛苦的事情。在这之后，我就陷入了忧伤悲戚之中，我的母亲品格高尚、温柔敦厚、心地善良，而且她知识广博、心胸坦荡且又严于律己，在家中很有威望，大家都信服她。她对自己的信仰非常虔诚(我的父母亲都是天主教徒)，但又能够包容一切，对有关宗教的不同看法，她向来都是求同存异，不将自己的观点强加于人。这对我是有很大影响的。就我个人而言，一方面，身为小女儿备受呵护与关切，从而使我深爱着我的母亲；另一方面，那种崇拜之情也将我和母亲紧密地联系在一起。

母亲去世之后，父亲非常悲痛，但他并没有因此而消沉，而是全身心地投入到了自己的工作当中，投入到对自己孩子们的教育上来，从而使自己没有多少空闲再去伤心难过。母亲过世多年后，我们仍然感到很不习惯，总是觉得家中少了灵魂和主宰。

我们兄弟姐妹很早就开始学习了。我在6岁的时候就入了学，在班里年龄最小、个子最矮。每当有人听课或是参观时，老师总是把我叫上讲台朗读课文。我性格内向，一叫我上台就会吓得不行，恨不能跑出教室躲起来。我的父亲是一位优秀的教师，十分关心我们的学习，并懂得如何对我们进行指导，但是由于家里的经济条件不是很好，一开始我们上的是私立学校，后来就不得不转到公立学校了。

Warsaw was then under Russian domination, and one of the worst aspects of this control was the oppression exerted on the school and the child. The private schools directed by Poles were closely watched by the police and overburdened with the necessity of teaching the Russian language even to children so young that they could scarcely speak their native Polish. Nevertheless, since the teachers were nearly all of Polish nationality, they endeavored in every possible way to mitigate the difficulties resulting from the national persecution. These schools, however, could not legally give diplomas, which were obtainable only in those of the government.

The latter, entirely Russian, were directly opposed to the Polish national spirit. All instruction was given in Russian, by Russian professors, who, being hostile to the Polish nation, treated their pupils as enemies. Men of moral and intellectual distinction could scarcely agree to teach in schools where an alien attitude was forced upon them. So what the pupils were taught was of questionable value, and the moral atmosphere was altogether unbearable. Constantly held in suspicion and spied upon, the children knew that a single conversation in Polish, or an imprudent word, might seriously harm, not only themselves, but also their families. Amidst these hostilities, they lost all the joy of life, and precocious feelings of distrust and indignation weighed upon their childhood. On the other side, this abnormal situation resulted in exciting the patriotic feeling of Polish youths to the highest degree.

华沙当时正处在俄国的统治之下，而他们的统治中最残酷的一面就是对学校和学生进行严格的控制与迫害，波兰人经营的私立学校都被警方监视，并且全部使用俄语教学。这样学生们在很小的时候就开始学习俄语，以至于对自己的母语波兰语反而说不利索了。幸亏这些学校的老师全是波兰人，他们不想受此迫害，想尽一切办法让学生们多掌握一些波兰语。这些私立学校都不准许授予正式文凭，仅有公立学校才有这个权力。

俄国人领导着所有的公立学校，他们一味地对波兰人的民族意识觉醒进行压制。学校里所有的课程全由俄国人用俄语讲授。由于仇视波兰民族，那些俄国教师对待学生就好像对待敌人似的。品德高尚、知识渊博的老师都不愿意到这种学校去教书，因为他们忍受不了这种敌视。处于这种校园环境中，孩子们学习的知识是否有用是很让人怀疑的。尤其严重的是，这样的环境对孩子们道德品质的影响是着实令人担忧的。在这种监视之下，孩子们不小心说了一句波兰话，或是用词稍不留神，就要受到严厉的处罚，不但自己倒霉，还会殃及家人。在这种严酷的环境里，孩子们天真烂漫的本性丧失殆尽，也无法感受到生命的乐趣。但是，另一方面，这种恐怖的氛围也将青少年内心极大的爱国热情激发起来了。

Yet of this period of my early youth, darkened though it was by mourning and the sorrow of oppression, I still keep more than one pleasant remembrance. In our quiet but occupied life, reunions of relatives and friends of our family brought some joy. My father was very interested in literature and well acquainted with Polish and foreign poetry; he even composed poetry himself and was able to translate it from foreign languages into Polish in a very successful way. His little poems on family events were our delight. On Saturday evenings he used to recite or read to us the masterpieces of Polish prose and poetry. These evenings were for us a great pleasure and a source of renewed patriotic feelings.

Since my childhood I have had a strong taste for poetry, and I willingly learned by heart long passages from our great poets, the favorite ones being Mickiewecz, Krasinski and Slowacki. This taste was even more developed when I became acquainted with foreign literatures; my early studies included the knowledge of French, German, and Russian, and I soon became familiar with the fine works written in these languages. Later I felt the need of knowing English and succeeded in acquiring the knowledge of that language and its literature.

My musical studies have been very scarce. My mother was a musician and had a beautiful voice. She wanted us to have musical training. After her death, having no more encouragement from her, I soon abandoned this effort, which I often regretted afterwards.

在异族蹂躏和丧母之痛的双重影响下，我少年时期的日子过得郁郁寡欢、了无生趣。不过，仍旧有着一些愉快的事情，保留在我的记忆当中。亲朋好友的欢聚令人兴奋愉快，使我们原本郁闷的生活出现了慰藉与希望。除此之外，我父亲特别喜欢文学，对于波兰和外国诗人们的诗歌都能够熟记，并且自己也能作诗赋词，他还经常将外国的优秀诗篇翻译成波兰文。他以家庭琐事为题材所写的短诗常使我们赞叹不已、佩服至极。每个周末的夜晚，我们都围在他旁边，听他为我们朗诵波兰的著名诗歌和散文。这样的夜晚其乐融融，并且在不知不觉中使我们的爱国主义情愫日益增强。

我从少年时起就对诗歌十分喜爱，并且能够将波兰著名诗人们的大段诗篇背诵下来，在这些诗人中，我最欣赏的就是密茨凯维奇、克拉西茨基和斯沃瓦茨基。当我日后开始学习外国文学时，这种爱好就更加明显了。我很早就开始学习法语、德语和俄语，并且能够对这些语言的外文书籍进行阅读。后来，我觉得英语很有用，便又开始学习英语，不久就可以阅读英文书籍了。

对于音乐，我研究的很少。我母亲是个音乐家，具有很美的嗓音，她希望我们都能跟她学点音乐，但我却因为对音乐不怎么感兴趣而没能开窍。自从她去世之后，没有了她的鼓励与督促，我曾经跟她学到的那仅有的一点音乐知识，也都荒废了。每当我想到这些的时候，总是免不了要后悔。

I learned easily mathematics and physics, as far as these sciences were taken in consideration in the school. I found in this ready help from my father, who loved science and had to teach it himself. He enjoyed any explanation he could give us about Nature and her ways. Unhappily, he had no laboratory and could not perform experiments.

The periods of vacations were particularly comforting, when, escaping the strict watch of the police in the city, we took refuge with relatives or friends in the country. There we found the free life of the old-fashioned family estate; races in the woods and joyous participation in work in the far-stretching, level grain-fields. At other times we passed the border of our Russian-ruled division and went southwards into the mountain country of Galicia, where the Austrian political control was less oppressive than that which we suffered. There we could speak Polish in all freedom and sing patriotic songs without going to prison.

My first impression of the mountains was very vivid, because I had been brought up in the plains. So I enjoyed immensely our life in the Carpathian villages, the view of the pikes, the excursions to the valleys and to the high mountain lakes with picturesque names such as: "The Eye of the Sea."However, I never lost my attachment to the open horizon and the gentle views of a plain hill country.

Later I had the opportunity to spend a vacation with my father far more south in Podolia, and to have the first view of the sea at Odessa, and afterwards at the Baltic shore. This was a thrilling experience. But it was in France that I become acquainted with the big waves of the ocean and the ever-changing tide. All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.

中学时期很受重视的数学和物理我都学得毫不费力，并且成绩很好。每当遇到问题，我便会向父亲求教。父亲热爱科学，并且在学校也进行这类课程的教学。他喜欢尽自己所能向我们解说大自然的奥秘和他对科学的研究。可惜的是，他没有自己的实验室，所以无法进行实验研究。

假期是尤其令人感到欣慰的。我们住到乡下的亲友家中，避开了警探的监视，可以自由自在、无忧无虑地生活。我们在林中奔跑喊叫，还在广阔的田地间劳作，乐得心花怒放，自在极了。有些时候，我们甚至越过俄国边境进入加里西亚山中，那儿不是俄国的领土，而是由奥地利人统治。奥地利人要比俄国人好一些。在那里，我们可以尽情地讲波兰语，高声唱爱国歌曲，而不必担心被捕入狱。

因为从小生活在平原地区，所以我对山峦的第一印象很好，也非常喜欢住在喀尔巴阡山的小村子里，喜欢那巍峨突兀的山峰，喜欢在山谷里和高山之间那被诗意地称为“海之眼”的湖泊旁流连忘返。但是，在我心中，对那一望无垠的平原的眷念却从未消逝，那开阔的视野，那柔和的色调，永远使我的心灵感到震颤。

后来，父亲带我到更南边的波多尼亚度假，并且在敖德萨第一次看到了大海，后来又北上到了波罗的海。这次经历对我来说是美好的。但是，直到去了法国，我才算是真正地领略到了海洋的波涛澎湃和潮汐涌退的壮丽景象。在一生之中，每当看到大自然的新景象，我就总会像个孩子似的欢呼雀跃。

Thus passed the period of our school life. We all had much facility for intellectual work. My brother, Doctor Sklodowski, having finished his medical studies, became later the chief physician in one of the principal Warsaw hospitals. My sisters and I intended to take up teaching as our parents had done. However, my elder sister, when grown up, changed her mind and decided to study medicine. She took the degree of doctor at the Paris University, married Doctor Dluski, a Polish physician, and together they established an important sanatorium in a wonderfully beautiful Carpathian mountain place of Austrian Poland. My second sister, married in Warsaw, Mrs. Szalay, was for many years a teacher in the schools, where she rendered great service. Later she was appointed in one of the lyceums of free Poland.

I was but fifteen when I finished my high-school studies, always having held first rank in my class. The fatigue of growth and study compelled me to take almost a year's rest in the country. I then returned to my father in Warsaw, hoping to teach in the free schools. But family circumstances obliged me to change my decision. My father, now aged and tired, needed rest; his fortune was very modest. So I resolved to accept a position as governess for several children. Thus, when scarcely seventeen, I left my father's house to begin an independent life.

That going away remains one of the most vivid memories of my youth. My heart was heavy as I climbed into the railway car. It was to carry me for several hours, away from those I loved. And after the railway journey I must drive for five hours longer. What experience was awaiting me? So I questioned as I sat close to the car window looking out across the wide plains.

我们的学生生涯很快就结束了。那些需要动脑筋的课程我们都可以得心应手，学习起来毫不费力。我的哥哥从医学院毕业之后，走上了从医的道路，后来成为华沙一家著名医院的主任医师。我和我的姐姐们原打算像父母那样去当教师。但是后来，随着年龄的增长，我的大姐改变了主意，决定也去学医，她在巴黎大学取得医学博士学位后，嫁给了一位波兰内科医生德鲁斯基。他们夫妇两人前往奥属波兰喀尔巴阡山区一个风景秀丽的地方创办了一家大型疗养院。我的二姐在华沙嫁给了斯查莱先生，她在学校从事教育工作多年，一直兢兢业业，波兰独立后，担任了一所中学的校长。

上中学的时候，我的成绩一直名列前茅，毕业时，才刚刚15岁。由于读书用功，身体劳累，我不得不在毕业之后到农村生活了将近一年的时间。在那之后，我又回到了华沙，回到了父亲的身边。开始我希望去一所免费中学任教，但因家境不佳，我不得已改变了自己的决定。当时父亲已经年迈，心力交瘁，需要休息，但是他的收入却很微薄。所以，我决定找一份待遇更好的工作来减轻他的压力。因此，17岁那年，我接受了一份家庭教师的工作，从那时起，我就离开了父亲的家，开始了一个人在外地的生活。

离家时的情景我至今历历在目，记忆犹新。当上了火车的时候，我的心情十分沉重。我将被火车带到要行驶几个小时才能到达的远方，并且下了火车后，我还需要乘坐马车再走5个小时的路程。车窗外广袤的平原飞一样地向后退去，我的心里却像是坠了铅一样：等待我的将会是什么呢？

The father of the family to which I went was an agriculturist. His oldest daughter was about my age, and although working with me, was my companion rather than my pupil. There were two younger children, a boy and a girl. My relations with my pupils were friendly; after our lessons we went together for daily walks. Loving the country, I did not feel lonesome, and although this particular country was not especially picturesque, I was satisfied with it in all seasons. I took the greatest interest in the agricultural development of the estate where the methods were considered as models for the region. I knew the progressive details of the work, the distribution of crops in the fields; I eagerly followed the growth of the plants, and in the stables of the farm I knew the horses.

In winter the vast plains, covered with snow, were not lacking in charm, and we went for long sleigh rides. Sometimes we could hardly see the road."Look out for the ditch! "I would call to the driver. "You are going straight into it, "and "Never fear! " he would answer, as over we went! But these tumbles only added to the gayety of our excursions.

I remember the marvelous snow house we made one winter when the snow was very high in the fields; we could sit in it and look out across the rose-tinted snow plains. We also used to skate on the ice of the river and to watch the weather anxiously, to make sure that the ice was not going to give way, depriving us of our pleasure.

我前去任教的那家的男主人是位农场主。他的大女儿和我年龄相仿，在跟我学习的过程中，渐渐成了我的伙伴。除了她，主人家还有一个男孩和一个女孩。我和他们相处得很好。每天课程结束之后，我们便一起出去散步。因为非常热爱农村生活，所以在这里我并不觉得寂寞。虽然这里的景色并不算美，但却四季各异，仍然能够使我感到欢快和满足。这个庄园先进的种植技术被公认为是这个地区的典型，对于它，我有着很浓厚的兴趣。渐渐地，我懂得了种植技术，并且一直关注着谷物种植后的生长情况。在农庄的马厩里，我还熟识了马匹的脾性。

冬季到来的时候，一望无际的大地上白雪皑皑，显得分外妖娆。有时候，我们驾着雪橇在雪地上飞驰，竟至连路都看不清楚，吓得我冲着驾雪橇的人大喊：“小心河沟！”驾雪橇的人却毫不在意地回答我：“您这是正往河沟冲去，别害怕！”话音刚落，雪橇就翻倒了。不过，在雪野上翻倒不但不可怕，反而还给我们的远足增添了乐趣。

我记得有一年冬天，大雪纷飞，地面上覆盖着厚厚的积雪，我们用雪堆成了一座形状怪异的雪屋，并且坐在里面观赏远处被映成玫瑰色的茫茫雪原。我们还经常到封冻的河上去溜冰，这一切都使我们感到欣喜若狂，欢快的同时我们最担心的就是天气转暖，那样我们的这份快乐就会被夺走。

Since my duties with my pupils did not take up all my time, I organized a small class for the children of the village who could not be educated under the Russian government. In this the oldest daughter of the house aided me. We taught the little children and the girls who wished to come how to read and write, and we put in circulation Polish books which were appreciated, too, by the parents. Even this innocent work presented danger, as all initiative of this kind was forbidden by the government and might bring imprisonment or deportation to Siberia.

My evenings I generally devoted to study. I had heard that a few women had succeeded in following certain courses in Petrograd or in foreign countries, and I was determined to prepare myself by preliminary work to follow their example.

I had not yet decided what path I would choose. I was as much interested in literature and sociology as in science. However, during three years of isolated work, trying little by little to find my real preferences, I finally turned towards mathematics and physics, and resolutely undertook a serious preparation for future work. This work I proposed doing in Paris, and I hoped to save enough money to be able to live and work in that city for some time.

My solitary study was beset with difficulties. The scientific education I had received at the lyceum was very incomplete; it was well under the bachelorship program of a French lyceum; I tried to add to it in my own way, with the help of books picked up at random. This method could not be greatly productive, yet it was not without results. I acquired the habit of independent work, and learned a few things which were to be of use later on.

因为在农庄的工作没有占用我所有的时间，所以在教课之余我便把村子里许多因为被俄国人统治而没法求学的儿童，以及那些想要加入我们学习读写的女孩子编成一个班，用波兰语的课本教她们读书写字。在这个过程中，主人家的大女儿就成了我的助手。孩子们的父母对我非常感激，但是说实话，我需要承担一定的风险：虽然我的这种义务教学有利无弊，但却是政府所禁止的，因为它被认为不利于社会稳定，所以，一旦被察觉，我就很有可能被捕入狱或是被流放到西伯利亚。

晚上的空余时间，我一般都用来学习。我曾经听说过彼得格勒或者其他国家的女性在某些领域取得成功的事迹，于是我决定以她们为榜样开始努力，争取取得和她们同样的成绩。

当时我并没有决定选择什么方向进行发展。开始我对文学和社会学有着很浓厚的兴趣，但是通过长达三年的学习，我却逐渐发现自己真正喜欢的还是数学与物理，因此也就一步一步地朝着这个方向发展，并暗下决心日后要到巴黎求学，并为此认真地作了学习上的准备。并且我还计划着积攒点钱，用来负担自己今后在巴黎的学习与生活。

自学的过程中充满了困难。我在中学时期所学的东西非常不完整，与法国的中学相比是有很大差距的。为了缩小差距，我便通过自己选择的一些书籍来自学。这种方法虽然不很理想，却也收到了一些成效。我不但学到了一些对日后有所裨益的知识，还养成了独立思考的习惯。

I had to modify my plans for the future when my eldest sister decided to go to Paris to study medicine. We had promised each other mutual aid, but our means did not permit of our leaving together. So I kept my position for three and a half years, and, having finished my work with my pupils, I returned to Warsaw, where a position, similar to the one I had left, was awaiting me.

I kept this new place for only a year and then went back to my father, who had retired some time before and was living alone. Together we passed an excellent year, he occupying himself with some literary work, while I increased our funds by giving private lessons. Meantime I continued my efforts to educate myself. This was no easy task under the Russian government of Warsaw; yet I found more opportunities than in the country. To my great joy, I was able, for the first time in my life, to find access to a laboratory: a small municipal physical laboratory directed by one of my cousins. I found little time to work there, except in the evenings and on Sundays, and was generally left to myself. I tried out various experiments described in treatises on physics and chemistry, and the results were sometimes unexpected. At times I would be encouraged by a little unhopedfor success, at others I would be in the deepest despair because of accidents and failures resulting from my inexperience. But on the whole, though I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy, this first trial confirmed in me the taste for experimental research in the fields of physics and chemistry.

在我大姐决定到巴黎学医时，我被迫更改了自己的学习计划。因为我家的经济状况不允许我们俩同时赴巴黎留学，所以我们两个许诺互相帮助，先后完成学业。这样，我便一直待在这位农庄主家，直到三年半后把我三个学生的课程教完。然后，我回到华沙，那儿有一个类似的工作在等着我。

这个新的工作我干了一年。然后，我就回到已经退休并且独自生活的父亲身边，与他共同度过了一年的美好时光。在这一年中，他写了一些作品，我则通过做家教获得一些酬劳用以补贴家用。与此同时，我仍旧抓紧时间自学。在俄国人统治下的华沙，想要实现自己的梦想并不容易，但比起在农村时，成功的概率则更大一些。最使我兴奋的是，我生平第一次可以进入一间实验室去做实验：这是属于市政府的一个小实验室，我的一个堂哥是这个实验室的主任。除去晚上和星期天，我没有时间进实验室做实验，而且通常都是我自己在做。按照课本上所讲的方法，我做了各种各样的物理与化学实验，经常会获得一些预料之外的结果。这时候，我会因为这些成功而兴奋，并且大受鼓舞；不过有的时候，我也会由于缺乏经验导致失败而感到非常沮丧。这些经历使我更加懂得，成功的道路非常坎坷。不过，这也让我更加坚信，我的天性的确适合对物理与化学进行研究。

Other means of instruction came to me through my being one of an enthusiastic group of young men and women of Warsaw, who united in a common desire to study, and whose activities were at the same time social and patriotic. It was one of those groups of Polish youths who believed that the hope of their country lay in a great effort to develop the intellectual and moral strength of the nation, and that such an effort would lead to a better national situation. The nearest purpose was to work at one's own instruction and to provide means of instruction for workmen and peasants. In accordance with this program we agreed among ourselves to give evening courses, each one teaching what he knew best. There is no need to say that this was a secret organization, which made everything extremely difficult. There were in our group very devoted young people who, as I still believe today, could do truly useful work.

I have a bright remembrance of the sympathetic intellectual and social companionship which I enjoyed at that time. Truly the means of action were poor and the results obtained could not be considerable; yet I still believe that the ideas which inspired us then are the only way to real social progress. You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.

后来，我又找到了一个教学职务。我加入了华沙的一个学习团体，这个团体是由热心于教育事业并且具有共同学习愿望的波兰年轻人所组成的，他们有着一套自己独特的学习方式。这个团体带有一定的政治色彩，它要求自己的成员将服务社会、报效祖国作为自己的任务。在一次聚会时，有一位青年说道：“祖国的希望寄予于人民知识水平的提高和道德观念的加强之上，只有如此，才能使我们的祖国在世界上的地位得到提高。当前我们首要的任务就是努力自学，并竭尽所能地在工人和农民之间普及知识。”为此，大家商量决定：晚间每个人向广大群众讲授自己所精通的内容，用以普及知识。毋庸置疑，这个团体具有秘密结社的性质，每件事情的进展都充满了艰难险阻。直到如今，我依然深信，这个团体的参与者必将为祖国、为社会作出有益的贡献。

我至今仍对那曾经让我欣喜的团体有着深刻的印象。当时那互助互励的情景，至今回想起来还会令我感到欣慰、激动。由于活动经费不足，这个团体并没有取得很大的成效，但是，直到现在，我仍然坚信，当时激励我们的那种精神是推动波兰社会进步的唯一途径。如果不是社会中的每一个人都得到很好的教育，具备良好的素质，一个美好的社会是不可能建立起来的。为了实现这一美好的目的，所有人都必须完善自己，并且共同分担社会责任，竭尽全力投入到本职工作中去，并有效地去帮助别人，这样，我们才觉得自己生活得更有价值。

All the experiences of this period intensified my longing for further study. And, in his affection for me, my father, in spite of limited resources, helped me to hasten the execution of my early project. My sister had just married at Paris, and it was decided that I should go there to live with her. My father and I hoped that, once my studies were finished, we would again live happily together. Fate was to decide otherwise, since my marriage was to hold me in France. My father, who in his own youth had wished to do scientific work, was consoled in our separation by the progressive success of my work. I keep a tender memory of his kindness and disinterestedness. He lived with the family of my married brother, and, like an excellent grandfather, brought up the children. We had the sorrow of losing him in 1902, when he had just passed seventy.

So it was in November, 1891, at the age of twenty-four, that I was able to realize the dream that had been always present in my mind for several years.

When I arrived in Paris I was affectionately welcomed by my sister and brother-in-law, but I stayed with them only for a few months, for they lived in one of the outside quarters of Paris where my brother-in-law was beginning a medical practice, and I needed to get nearer to the schools. I was finally installed, like many other students of my country, in a modest little room for which I gathered some furniture. I kept to this way of living during the four years of my student life.

这段时期的经历更加坚定了我日后学习、深造的决心。尽管我父亲的经济并不宽裕，但爱女之心使他愿意帮助我早日实现自己的梦想。我的姐姐刚刚在巴黎结婚，我便决定前往巴黎学习，同她住在一起。父亲同我都希望我学成回国后，能够再开开心心地生活在一起，但是，后来因为在巴黎结了婚，我便留在了那里，没有再回到华沙，回到父亲身边。做科学研究工作是父亲年轻时就一直有的梦想，后来我在法国取得的成功，令远在波兰的父亲深感欣慰，因为我实现了他的梦想。父亲无私的爱，令我终生难忘。后来，父亲同我已婚的哥哥住在一起，并且作为一个慈祥的爷爷，抚养着几个孙子。1902年，他在年逾古稀时离我们而去，给我们留下了深深的遗憾。

1891年11月，在24岁的时候，我终于实现了多年以来魂牵梦萦的愿望。

当到了巴黎的时候，我受到了姐姐和姐夫的热情欢迎，但是我只在他们家里住了几个月，便另外寻找住处了。这是因为他们为了方便行医住在巴黎郊外，距离我上学的学校很远，而我需要就近住宿，以便省下时间学习。像许多波兰学生一样，我租住了一间只有很少家具的小房间。就这样我艰难地度过了四年留学生活。

It would be impossible to tell of all the good these years brought to me. Undistracted by any outside occupation, I was entirely absorbed in the joy of learning and understanding. Yet, all the while, my living conditions were far from easy, my own funds being small and my family not having the means to aid me as they would have liked to do. However, my situation was not exceptional; it was the familiar experience of many of the Polish students whom I knew. The room I lived in was in a garret, very cold in winter, for it was insufficiently heated by a small stove which often lacked coal. During a particularly rigorous winter, it was not unusual for the water to freeze in the basin in the night; to be able to sleep I was obliged to pile all my clothes on the blankets. In the same room I prepared my meals with the aid of an alcohol lamp and a few kitchen utensils. These meals were often reduced to bread with a cup of chocolate, eggs or fruit. I had no help in housekeeping and I myself carried the little coal I used up the six flights.

This life, painful from certain points of view, had, for all that, a real charm for me. It gave me a very precious sense of liberty and independence. Unknown in Paris, I was lost in the great city, but the feeling of living there alone, taking care of myself without any aid, did not at all depress me. If sometimes I felt lonesome, my usual state of mind was one of calm and great moral satisfaction.

四年中，我在学习上所取得的进步，不可能一一讲述出来。我只身一人，没有任何纷扰，得以全身心地投入到学习中去，学业上的进步又令我心满意足，欢快不已。至于我的日常生活，可以说是非常的艰难，因为我自己本身积蓄就不多，亲人们也没有多大能力对我进行帮助。但并不是我一个人这样，据我所知，许多波兰来的留学生的境况都是大同小异的。我住在位于顶层的阁楼里，冬天很冷，取暖炉又小，屋子里根本烧不暖和，而且煤还经常短缺，所以在夜晚，屋子里脸盆中的水经常结冰。为了能够入睡，我把全部的衣服都压在被子上。就在这样一间小屋子里，我用一盏酒精灯和有限的几件炊具做饭。为了节省金钱和时间，我常常用一点点面包加一杯巧克力茶、几个鸡蛋或一点水果充饥。我一个人处理家务，连取暖用的煤，也是由我亲自弄上七楼的。

在别人看来，我的日子未免过于艰苦，但是我却能够自得其乐，每天都心情愉悦地埋头于学习之中。这份生活经历也使我充分体会到了自由与独立精神的弥足珍贵。在偌大的巴黎，我默默无闻地独自生活在自己的狭小天地里。尽管单寒羁旅，无依无靠，但是我并不沮丧消沉，也不觉得凄惨。当然，有的时候，孤独之感也会突然涌上心头，但由于我的情绪一般比较平静，精神上又非常满足，孤独情绪总是转瞬即逝。

All my mind was centered on my studies, which, especially at the beginning, were difficult. In fact, I was insufficiently prepared to follow the physical science course at the Sorbonne, for, despite all my efforts, I had not succeeded in acquiring in Poland a preparation as complete as that of the French students following the same course. So I was obliged to supply this deficiency, especially in mathematics. I divided my time between courses, experimental work, and study in the library. In the evening I worked in my room, sometimes very late into the night. All that I saw and learned that was new delighted me. It was like a new world opened to me, the world of science, which I was at last permitted to know in all liberty.

I have pleasant memories of my relations with my student companions. Reserved and shy at the beginning, it was not long before I noticed that the students, nearly all of whom worked seriously, were disposed to be friendly. Our conversations about our studies deepened our interest in the problems we discussed.

Among the Polish students I did not have any companions in my studies. Nevertheless, my relations with their small colony had a certain intimacy. From time to time we would gather in one another's bare rooms, where we could talk over national questions and feel less isolated. We would also go for walks together, or attend public reunions, for we were all interested in politics. By the end of the first year, however, I was forced to give up these relationships, for I found that all my energy had to be concentrated on my studies, in order to achieve them as soon as possible. I was even obliged to devote most of my vacation time to mathematics.

我在学习上有着一定的困难，特别是在开始的时候，因此，我把精力全部集中到学习上。确实，我从前的基础知识非常薄弱，虽然到这之前作了一些准备，但却很不充分，与法国同学的差距很大，尤其是数学的差距更大，所以我必须付出巨大的努力去弥补自己的不足。白天我在课堂、实验室和图书馆之间忙碌，晚上我就一个人躲在阁楼陋室里刻苦学习，常常学到深夜。每当学到新的东西，我便会激动兴奋起来。科学奥秘就像一个新的世界一样逐渐地展现在我的面前，我因此也就能够自由地学习它们并且掌握它们了，这真的使我很高兴。

与同学们的和睦相处同样也给我留下了愉快的印象。初到巴黎时，我不爱说话，腼腆羞涩，但是不久我便发现同学们全都学习认真、待人亲切，因此我便开始同他们一起探讨学习上的问题，这使我对学习的兴趣更浓厚了。

在我所就读的那个系里，并没有波兰学生，但是我同一个波兰侨民小团体的关系却非常密切。我经常参与他们在一个简陋的小屋中举行的聚会，和他们一起对祖国波兰的各种问题进行讨论，我那怀念祖国的情感在此得以尽情地抒发。我们有时会一起外出散步，有时还会参与公众集会，对政治始终保持着一种极大的热情。但是第一学年临近结束时，我却不得不离开了这个小团体，因为我认为自己应该把全部精力放在学习上面，这样才能够尽快地完成学业。即使是在假期里，我也仍在抓紧时间复习我的数学。

My persistent efforts were not in vain. I was able to make up for the deficiency of my training and to pass examinations at the same time with the other students. I even had the satisfaction of graduating in first rank as"licenciée es sciences physiques" in 1893, and in second rank as "licenciée es sciences mathématiques" in 1894.

My brother-in-law, recalling later these years of work under the conditions I have just described, jokingly referred to them as "the heroic period of my sister-in-law's life." For myself, I shall always consider one of the best memories of my life that period of solitary years exclusively devoted to the studies, finally within my reach, for which I had waited so long.

It was in 1894 that I first met Pierre Curie. One of my compatriots, a professor at the University of Fribourg, having called upon me, invited me to his home, with a young physicist of Paris, whom he knew and esteemed highly. Upon entering the room I perceived, standing framed by the French window opening on the balcony, a tall young man with auburn hair and large, limpid eyes. I noticed the grave and gentle expression of his face, as well as a certain abandon in his attitude, suggesting the dreamer absorbed in his reflections. He showed me a simple cordiality and seemed to me very sympathetic. After that first interview he expressed the desire to see me again and to continue our conversation of that evening on scientific and social subjects in which he and I were both interested, and on which we seemed to have similar opinions.

天道酬勤，我的努力没有白费。我成功地弥补了先前在知识方面的各种不足，从而能够和同学们一起通过考试。1893年，我以优异的成绩完成了物理学的结业考试；1894年，数学结业考试时，我的成绩位于乙等，这些成绩使我感到非常满意。

我的姐夫后来在谈到我那几年的艰难学习情况时，曾戏谑地说那是“我妻妹一生当中英勇顽强的时期”，我自身也始终将这段时期的艰苦奋斗看做是我一生之中最值得回忆的美好时期。在这期间，我孤身奋斗，废寝忘食地埋头钻研，终于能够进行科学研究了，这是我长久以来所期盼的。

那是在1894年，我与皮埃尔·居里第一次相遇了。我的同胞，弗利堡大学的一位教授打电话邀请我到他家去玩，同时也邀请了巴黎的一位年轻物理学家，他对这位物理学家非常熟悉，也十分赞赏。当我走进这位教授家的客厅时，我看见了这个年轻人。他正好站在一扇朝向阳台的法式窗户的凹入处，宛如镶嵌在玻璃窗上的一幅画一样。他身材修长，头发是赤褐色的，一双大眼睛清澈明亮。他的神态飘逸，表情深沉而又温柔。第一眼看到他时，你会认为他是一个沉浸在自己的思绪之中的梦幻者。他表现出一种质朴而又真诚的态度，仿佛对我很有好感。并且在第一次见面之后，他还希望以后能够再见到我，继续对科学和社会等各种问题进行讨论。对于这些问题，我俩看法相似，很有共同语言。

Some time later, he came to me in my student room and we became good friends. He described to me his days, filled with work, and his dream of an existence entirely devoted to science. He was not long in asking me to share that existence, but I could not decide at once; I hesitated before a decision that meant abandoning my country and my family.

I went back to Poland for my vacation, without knowing whether or not I was to return to Paris. But circumstances permitted me again to take up my work there in the autumn of that year. I entered one of the physics laboratories at the Sorbonne, to begin experimental research in preparation for my doctor's thesis.

Again I saw Pierre Curie. Our work drew us closer and closer, until we were both convinced that neither of us could find a better life companion. So our marriage was decided upon and took place a little later, in July, 1895.

Pierre Curie had just received his doctor's degree and had been made professor in the School of Physics and Chemistry of the City of Paris. He was thirty-six years old, and already a physicist known and appreciated in France and abroad. Solely preoccupied with scientific investigation, he had paid little attention to his career, and his material resources were very modest. He lived at Sceaux, in the suburbs of Paris, with his old parents, whom he loved tenderly, and whom he described as "exquisite" the first time he spoke to me about them. In fact, they were so: the father was an elderly physician of high intellect and strong character, and the mother the most excellent of women, entirely devoted to her husband and her sons. Pierre's elder brother, who was then professor at the University of Montpellier, was always his best friend. So I had the privilege of entering into a family worthy of affection and esteem, and where I found the warmest welcome.

随后，他来到我的学生公寓拜访我，我们逐渐成了好朋友。他将他每天的工作情况、他的研究和他献身科学的梦想与决心向我作了介绍。没过多久，他便向我吐露心声，希望能够和我共同生活，共同对科学的梦想进行追求。但开始时，我还不能立刻下定决心，我犹豫着，因为这样的话，我就不得不永远离开自己的祖国与家人。

假期到了，我回到波兰，并且当时也没有作出决定是否返回巴黎。但是，那年秋天，我又回到了巴黎，进入巴黎大学的一个物理实验室，着手进行实验研究，为我的博士论文作准备。

我又见到了皮埃尔·居里。出于科研的缘故，我同他的接触日益增多，关系也更加密切。等到我们彼此都认为除了对方，谁都不会找到更合适的生活伴侣的时候，我们便决定结婚了，并于1895年7月举行了婚礼。

那个时候，皮埃尔·居里刚刚荣获博士学位，并受聘任教于巴黎物理和化学学校。那一年，他36岁，已经成为国内外颇具名气的物理学家了。他全心全意地投入科学研究当中，而很少留意自己的职位、待遇等问题，所以他的经济状况非常一般。结婚前，他与年迈的父母在一起生活，住在巴黎郊区的苏城。他特别孝顺，我记得他第一次跟我提到他的父母的时候，用了“慈父慈母”一词。事实上，他并没有夸大其词。他的父亲是一位很有资历的物理学家，为人慷慨大度、性格刚强；他母亲是一位典型的贤妻良母，一生相夫教子，从无怨言。他的哥哥是蒙彼利埃大学的教授，兄弟二人情深意笃，皮埃尔对他的哥哥十分敬重。进入这样的一个家庭，我感到十分荣幸，而且我确实也受到这家人最热忱的欢迎。

We were married in the simplest way. I wore no unusual dress on my marriage day, and only a few friends were present at the ceremony, but I had the joy of having my father and my second sister come from Poland.

We did not care for more than a quiet place in which to live and to work, and were happy to find a little apartment of three rooms with a beautiful view of a garden. A few pieces of furniture came to us from our parents. With a money gift from a relative we acquired two bicycles to take us out into the country.

我们举行了一个十分简单的婚礼，也没有专门购置结婚礼服。参加婚礼的只有为数不多的亲朋好友。令我感到高兴的是，我的父亲和二姐也从波兰赶来了。

除了想要一个安静的地方用来居住和工作以外，我和皮埃尔并无其他什么奢望。我们非常高兴地找到了一套三居室的小房子，从窗口看出去，眼前出现的是一座美丽的花园。老人们给我们购置了一些家具。我们还用一个亲戚给我们的喜钱买了两辆自行车，用来出去远游。

Chapter II　Married Life

With my marriage there began for me a new existence entirely different from the solitary life that I had known during the preceding years. My husband and I were so closely united by our affection and our common work that we passed nearly all of our time together. I have only a few letters from him, for we were so little apart. My husband spent all the time he could spare from his teaching at his research work in the laboratory of the school in which he was professor and I obtained authorization to work with him.

Our living apartment was near the school, so we lost little time in going and coming. As our material resources were limited, I was obliged to attend to most of the housekeeping myself, particularly the preparation of meals. It was not easy to reconcile these household duties with my scientific work, yet, with good will, I managed it. The great thing was that we were alone together in the little home which gave us a peace and intimacy that were very enjoyable for us.

At the same time that I was working in the laboratory, I still had to take a few study courses, for I had decided to take part in the examination for a certificate that would allow me to teach young girls. If I succeeded in this, I would be entitled to be named professor. In August, 1896, after having devoted several months to preparation, I came out first in the examination.

第二章　婚后生活

婚后的生活对我来说，是全新的，这与前些年那单寒羁旅的生活是有着天壤之别的。我同丈夫情意相投，相同的志趣爱好和共同的工作将我们密切地联系在一起，几乎形影不离，因此我只收藏着皮埃尔写给我的为数不多的几封信。我的丈夫在教学之余，几乎把时间全都用在了他所教学的学校的实验室里了，我也获准同他一起在实验室里工作。

我们就住在学校附近，所以来去不用花多少时间。由于收入微薄，我不得不花许多时间来料理家务，特别是得自己动手做饭。这就与我的学习和研究产生了冲突，要处理好这一矛盾并非易事。幸亏我还算坚强，勉强地能够把这种矛盾处理好。令我尤为高兴的是，我们小家庭的生活并没有被这些家务事所搅乱，我们仍旧能够过上温馨平静的日子。

在实验室工作的同时，我还不得不学习一些课程，因为我下定决心要参加师资合格证书考试，这样日后便可以在女子中学任教，也可以被授予教授的头衔了。经过几个月的努力，1896年8月，我凭借第一名的优异成绩很顺利地通过了考试。

Our principal distraction from the close work of the laboratory consisted in walks or bicycle rides in the country. My husband greatly enjoyed the out-of-doors and took great interest in the plants and animals of woods and meadows. Hardly a corner in the vicinity of Paris was unknown to him. I also loved the country and these excursions were a great joy for me as well as to him, relieving our mind from the tension of the scientific work. We used to bring home bunches of flowers. Sometimes we forgot all about the time and got back late at night. We visited regularly my husband's parents where our room was always ready. In the vacation we went on longer outings by means of our bicycles. In this way we covered much ground in Auvergne and in the Cevennes and visited several regions at the seashore. We took a great delight in these long all-day excursions, arriving at night always in a new place. If we stayed in one place too long, my husband began to wish to get back to the laboratory. It is also in vacation time that we visited once my family in the Carpathian mountains. My husband learned some Polish in view of this journey to Poland.

But first of all in our life was our scientific work. My husband gave much care to the preparation of his courses, and I gave him some assistance in this, which, at the time, helped me in my education. However, most of our time was devoted to our laboratory researches.

除了在实验室工作，我们主要的休闲方式就是散步或者骑自行车去郊游。皮埃尔十分喜欢户外活动，对森林里的动植物有着很大的兴趣。他的足迹遍布了巴黎附近的所有森林。我向来也喜爱农村，所以经常同皮埃尔饶有兴致地骑车郊游。这种郊游于我于他都有很大的好处，可以使我们的大脑在紧张的科研之后得到充分的放松，令紧张的心情得以缓解。郊游回来的时候，我们还经常会带几束香气扑鼻的花草回家。有时候，因为玩儿得高兴，我们竟然会忘了时间，直到深夜才想起回家。除此之外，我们还会定期地去看望皮埃尔的父母，他们给我们留着专用的房间。假期的时候，我们可以骑着自行车，跑到更远的地方去。我们的足迹遍布奥弗涅、塞樊纳山区和海边的许多地方。我俩都很喜欢全天的长距离远游，每天晚上都要找到一个新的地方休息。如果在同一个地方停留得太久，皮埃尔就老会想着回实验室去干活儿。有一个假期，我们一块儿去喀尔巴阡山区看望了我的家人，而且，因为这次远行，皮埃尔还学会了几句波兰话。

但是，在我们的生活之中，最重要的自然还是科学研究。皮埃尔对他所教授的课程特别认真，备课也很仔细。我有时也帮助他收集一些资料。在这一过程中，我同样也有所收获。不过，我们还是将大部分时间用于在实验室里进行科学研究。

My husband did not then have a private laboratory. He could, to some extent, use the laboratory of the school for his own work, but found more freedom by installing himself in some unused corner of the Physics School building. I thus learned from his example that one could work happily even in very insufficient quarters. At this time my husband was occupied with researches on crystals, while I undertook an investigation of the magnetic properties of steel. This work was completed and published in 1897.

In that same year the birth of our first daughter brought a great change in our life. A few weeks later my husband's mother died and his father came to live with us. We took a small house with a garden at the border of Paris and continued to occupy this house as long as my husband lived.

It became a serious problem how to take care of our little Irene and of our home without giving up my scientific work. Such a renunciation would have been very painful to me, and my husband would not even think of it; he used to say that he had got a wife made expressly for him to share all his preoccupations. Neither of us would contemplate abandoning what was so precious to both.

Of course we had to have a servant, but I personally saw to all the details of the child's care. While I was in the laboratory, she was in the care of her grandfather, who loved her tenderly and whose own life was made brighter by her. So the close union of our family enabled me to meet my obligations. Things were particularly difficult only in case of more exceptional events, such as a child's illness, when sleepless nights interrupted the normal course of life.

在那时候，皮埃尔还不曾拥有自己的实验室。学校的实验室虽然在某种程度上能够使用，但却满足不了他的研究需要。考虑到这点，他就将学校大楼中一些没有什么用的角落辟作“实验角”。那些地方虽然狭小，但却能够想用就用，不受约束。这件事使我悟出了一个道理：人可以在条件不甚满意的情况下，想办法改善条件，从而心情愉快地工作。那一时期，皮埃尔忙于晶体研究，我则在研究钢的磁性。1897年，我结束了这一研究，并于当年发表了研究报告。

同一年，我们的第一个孩子——女儿艾莱娜出生了，这使我们的生活发生了很大变化。几个星期后，皮埃尔的母亲去世了。于是我们便在巴黎郊区租了一个附带花园的小房子，把他父亲接过来和我们同住。皮埃尔生前，我们一直住在那里。

女儿的出生令一个严重的问题出现在了我们面前：怎样才能做到既可以哺育照料女儿又不至于放弃科学研究呢？放弃科学研究，对我来说，无疑是一种巨大的痛苦，皮埃尔同样认为我不应该放弃研究，并且他从来就没有这么想过。因为他经常在说，上帝特意为他造就了我这样一个好妻子，就是为了让我与他分享一切的。我们两个都没有考虑过要放弃我们如此珍爱的科研工作。

这样一来，我们就必须要雇一个女佣了，但我仍然亲自照料女儿。当我去实验室干活儿时，就把女儿交给她的爷爷照看。爷爷十分疼爱自己的孙女，他的生活也因为小孙女的出生而增添了无尽的乐趣。家人之间相互的关怀、体谅，使我能够既安心地从事研究，又没有耽误对女儿的照料。只有当遇到特殊情况时，比如女儿生病什么的，我才因需要整宿整宿地照看她而打乱生活规律。

It can be easily understood that there was no place in our life for worldly relations. We saw but a few friends, scientific workers, like ourselves, with whom we talked in our home or in our garden, while I did some sewing for my little girl. We also maintained affectionate relations with my husband's brother and his family. But I was separated from all my relatives, as my sister had left Paris with her husband to live in Poland.

It was under this mode of quiet living, organized according to our desires, that we achieved the great work of our lives, work begun about the end of 1897 and lasting for many years.

I had decided on a theme for my doctorate. My attention had been drawn to the interesting experiments of Henri Becquerel on the salts of the rare metal uranium. Becquerel had shown that by placing some uranium salt on a photographic plate, covered with black paper, the plate would be affected as if light had fallen on it. The effect is produced by special rays which are emitted by the uranium salt and are different from ordinary luminous rays as they can pass through black paper. Becquerel also showed that these rays can discharge an electroscope. He at first thought that the uranium rays were produced as a result of exposing the uranium salt to light, but experiment showed that salts kept for several months in the dark continued the peculiar rays.

My husband and I were much excited by this new phenomenon, and I resolved to undertake the special study of it. It seemed to me that the first thing to do was to measure the phenomenon with precision. In this I decided to use that property of the rays which enabled them to discharge an electroscope. However, instead of the usual electroscope, I used a more perfect apparatus. One of the models of the apparatus used by me for these first measurements is now in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Philadelphia.

由于我们忙于事业，不愿意受到不相干事情的打扰，所以我们联系的朋友不多。偶尔有一两位像我们一样的科学工作者来访，我们通常在屋子或花园里交谈，在这同时我还经常为女儿做些针线活什么的。在亲戚方面，仅有皮埃尔的哥哥以及他的家人同我们一直来往密切，在我的姐姐、姐夫回到波兰之后，我同娘家的亲戚就很少来往了，因为离得太远。

正是这种平静并且完全符合我们心意的生活方式才使我们得以完成一生中的伟大事业。自1897年末开始，这种科学研究事业就从未中断过。

我决定要为我的博士论文准备论题了。当时，亨利·贝克莱尔正进行着稀有金属铀盐的实验。这种非常有意思的实验，吸引了我的注意力。当贝克莱尔将铀盐用不透光的黑纸密封好放在照相底片上时，发现底片会被感光，好像受到过日光照射似的。贝克莱尔认为，底片被感光，是因为铀盐能够放射出一种与日光不同的射线，它可以穿透不透光的黑纸。此外，通过实验，贝克莱尔还证明这种射线可以使得验电器放电。刚开始的时候，贝克莱尔错以为铀盐在日光下的暴晒是铀盐射线得以产生的原因，但他后来发现在黑暗中存放几个月之后，铀盐仍旧可以放出这种射线。

皮埃尔同我都对这种新发现的射线具有极大的兴趣，我更是下定决心要对它的性质加以研究。要想研究这种新射线，首先就得对它作出精确的定量测量。于是我便利用验电器放电的特性开始测量，不过我不是像贝克莱尔那样使用普通的验电器，而是换用了一种能做定量测量的设备。我当初用来进行测量的这些设备的模型，现在已经被陈列在美国费城医学院了。

I was not long in obtaining interesting results. My determinations showed that the emission of the rays is an atomic property of the uranium, whatever the physical or chemical conditions of the salt were. Any substance containing uranium is as much more active in emitting rays, as it contains more of this element.

I then thought to find out if there were other substances possessing this remarkable property of uranium, and soon found that substances containing thorium behaved in a similar way, and that this behavior depended similarly on an atomic property of thorium. I was now about to undertake a detailed study of the uranium and thorium rays when I discovered a new interesting fact.

I had occasion to examine a certain number of minerals. A few of them showed activity; they were those containing either uranium or thorium. The activity of these minerals would have had nothing astonishing about it, if it had been in proportion to the quantities of uranium or thorium contained in them. But it was not so. Some of these minerals revealed an activity three or four times greater than that of uranium. I verified this surprising fact carefully, and could not doubt its truth. Speculating about the reason for this, there seemed to be but one explanation. There must be, I thought, some unknown substance, very active, in these minerals. My husband agreed with me and I urged that we search at once for this hypothetical substance, thinking that, with joined efforts, a result would be quickly obtained. Neither of us could foresee that in beginning this work we were to enter the path of a new science which we should follow for all our future.

没过多久，我便获得了有趣的结果。实验结果表明，这种射线的放射其实是铀元素原子特性的一种，而与铀盐的物理或者化学性质无关。任何铀盐，如果它所含铀元素越多，放出的射线也就越强。

于是我又想进一步地弄清楚，是否还有其他的元素也能够像铀盐一样放射出相同的射线。不久我便发现，钍元素也具有相同的特性。正当准备对铀与钍的放射性作进一步的研究时，我又发现了一个有意思的情况。

我曾经有用放射性方法对一定数量的矿石进行检验的经历。如果这些矿石能够产生同样的射线的话，那就能够确定它们含有铀或钍。假如这些矿石的放射强度和矿石所含的铀或者钍的成分成正比的话，那也就没什么好惊诧的了。但事实上却不是如此，有些矿石的放射性强度为铀的三四倍。对这一新发现我进行了仔细的查核，最后确定这是毋庸置疑的事实。我认真分析了这一现象，得出了唯一的一种解释：这种矿石中含有一种还不为人知的元素，其放射性远远胜过铀和钍。皮埃尔也赞同我的分析，于是我便希望可以尽快发现这一神秘的元素。我坚信，只要我和皮埃尔共同努力，就一定可以获得成功。然而，随着研究的深入，我们却走上了一条通往新科学的道路，这是我们始料不及的，而且，从此我们就再也没离开过这条新的科学之路。

Of course, I did not expect, even at the beginning, to find a new element in any large quantity, as the minerals had already been analyzed with some precision. At least, I thought there might be as much as one percent of the unknown substance in the minerals. But the more we worked, the clearer we realized that the new radioactive element could exist only in quite minute proportion and that, in consequence, its activity must be very great. Would we have insisted, despite the scarcity of our means of research, if we had known the true proportion of what we were searching for, no one can tell; all that can be said now is that the constant progress of our work held us absorbed in a passionate research, while the difficulties were ever increasing. As a matter of fact, it was only after several years of most arduous labor that we finally succeeded in completely separating the new substance, now known to everybody as radium. Here is, briefly, the story of the search and discovery.

As we did not know, at the beginning, any of the chemical properties of the unknown substance, but only that it emits rays, it was by these rays that we had to search. We first undertook the analysis of a pitchblende from St. Joachimsthal. Analyzing this ore by the usual chemical methods, we added an examination of its different parts for radioactivity, by the use of our delicate electrical apparatus. This was the foundation of a new method of chemical analysis which, following our work, has been extended, with the result that a large number of radioactive elements have been discovered.

最初的时候，我并没有指望这种矿石中含有较多数量的新元素，这是因为它早已被人多次研究分析过了。我开始的估计是，这种矿石中的新元素的含量不会超过百分之一。随着研究的不断深入，我们发现其真实的含量要远远地小于百分之一，所以这种新元素的放射性非常强。假如从开始我们就知道这种元素的含量微乎其微的话，那就真不知道自己还能否有决心、有勇气继续下去，因为我们的设备很差且又经费不足。现在回想起来，总是觉得幸亏自己不知道难度会这么大，决心才会很大，虽然真正干起来之后困难重重，但研究成果的不断显现，使我的劲头儿大增，也就不去想那些困难了。经过数年的勤奋努力之后，我们终于将这种新元素分离了出来，它就是今天众人皆知的镭。现在我将我们的研究情况和发现它的情况作一下简略的介绍。

开始进行研究时，我们对这种未知元素的任何化学性质都不了解，仅仅知道它的放射性非常强，于是我们就牢牢抓住这条唯一的线索进行研究。首先就是想办法将铀沥青矿石从圣约阿希姆斯塔尔运过来，并对它进行分析研究。除了利用常见的化学分析方法之外，我们还运用我们发明出来的精密计电器，精确地测量这一元素不同部位的放射性。这种方法后来成为一种全新的化学分析法的基础，并且在我们之后，这一分析法逐渐地改进和完善，被许多人采用，他们也因此发现了另外几种放射性元素。

In a few weeks we could be convinced that our prevision had been right, for the activity was concentrating in a regular way. And, in a few months, we could separate from the pitchblende a substance accompanying the bismuth, much more active than uranium, and having well defined chemical properties. In July, 1898, we announced the existence of this new substance, to which I gave the name of polonium, in memory of my native country.

While engaged in this work on polonium, we had also discovered that, accompanying the barium separated from the pitchblende, there was another new element. After several months more of close work we were able to separate this second new substance, which was afterwards shown to be much more important than polonium. In December, 1898, we could announce the discovery of this new and now famous element, to which we gave the name of radium.

However, the greatest part of the material work had yet to be done. We had, to be sure, discovered the existence of the remarkable new elements, but it was chiefly by their radiant properties that these new substances were distinguished from the bismuth and barium with which they were mixed in minute quantities. We had still to separate them as pure elements. On this work we now started.

We were very poorly equipped with facilities for this purpose. It was necessary to subject large quantities of ore to careful chemical treatment. We had no money, no suitable laboratory, no personal help for our great and difficult undertaking. It was like creating something out of nothing, and if my earlier studying years had once been called by my brother-in-law the heroic period of my life, I can say without exaggeration that the period on which my husband and I now entered was truly the heroic one of our common life.

研究进行了几个星期，我们便坚信了我们的预测是正确的，因为那个未知新元素的放射性在按照一定的规律增强。又过了几个月后，我们便将一种同铋相混合的元素从铀沥青中分离出来，其放射性远远超过铀元素，这种新元素带有明确的化学性质。1898年7月，我们便对外公布了这种新元素的存在，并将它命名为钋(1)，以此来怀念我的祖国波兰。

发现钋的同时，我们又发现从铀沥青里分离出的钡盐中含有另外一种未知的元素。通过几个月的紧张工作，我们终于将第二种新元素分离出来了，并且后来才知道它比钋更重要。1898年12月，我们公布了这一发现，并命名这种新元素为镭。

虽然我们确信已经发现了这两种新元素，但仍旧还有许多实际的工作需要去做，因为我们只是凭借放射性的特性从铋盐与钡盐中发现了微乎其微的新元素，现在还需要以纯元素的形式将它们分离出来。我们很快便投入到了这项工作中去。

但是，这项工作却并不容易，因为我们的设备太差，而且还需要大量的原矿进行化学分析。我们既没有钱来购买原矿，也没有实验室去做分析实验，更没有助手相帮。我们要白手起家，一切从头干起。如果像我的姐夫所说的那样，我在巴黎的早期学习时期是我一生中英勇顽强的时期的话，我则敢不夸张地说，我与皮埃尔共同从事这项研究的时期就是我们共同生活中的最伟大、最英勇的时期。

We knew by our experiments that in the treatment of pitchblende at the uranium plant of St. Joachimsthal, radium must have been left in the residues, and, with the permission of the Austrian government, which owned the plant, we succeeded in securing a certain quantity of these residues, then quite valueless, and used them for extraction of radium. How glad I was when the sacks arrived, with the brown dust mixed with pine needles, and when the activity proved even greater than that of the primitive ore! It was a stroke of luck that the residues had not been thrown far away or disposed of in some way, but left in a heap in the pine wood near the plant. Some time later, the Austrian government, on the proposition of the Academy of Science of Vienna, let us have several tons of similar residues at a low price. With this material was prepared all the radium I had in my laboratory up to the date when I received the precious gift from the American women.

The School of Physics could give us no suitable premises, but for lack of anything better, the Director permitted us to use an abandoned shed which had been in service as a dissecting room of the School of Medicine. Its glass roof did not afford complete shelter against rain; the heat was suffocating in summer, and the bitter cold of winter was only a little lessened by the iron stove, except in its immediate vicinity. There was no question of obtaining the needed proper apparatus in common use by chemists. We simply had some old pine-wood tables with furnaces and gas burners. We had to use the adjoining yard for those of our chemical operations that involved producing irritating gases; even then the gas often filled our shed. With this equipment we entered on our exhausting work.

先前的实验使我们相信，在圣约阿希姆斯塔尔炼铀厂被冶炼出来的铀沥青矿废渣中，肯定含有镭元素。该工厂属于奥地利管辖，我们想办法获准能够得到这些废渣。废渣本身并不值钱，但是如何把它们弄到巴黎却使人大伤脑筋。几经周折，我们成功地将这些混有松针的褐色废渣装在袋子里面，运到我们的实验室门前，那一刻，我高兴得跳了起来。后来，当得知这废渣的放射性竟然比原矿还要强的时候，我们真的是惊诧不已。这些废渣没有经过任何处理，直接堆放在工厂外的松树林里，这真是帮了我们大忙了。后来，应维也纳科学院的要求，奥地利政府又允许我们以极低的价格收购了好几吨这种废渣。我们就是利用这种废渣才从实验室里分离出镭来的。直到后来，美国妇女赠送给我的镭才是从其他矿石中提炼出来的。

皮埃尔的学校不能为我们提供适合的实验场地，但幸运的是校长允许我们使用以前作为解剖教学用房的一处废弃的木棚。在它的顶上有一个挺大的玻璃天窗，但却有多处裂痕，每当下雨就会漏水。棚里面夏天闷热潮湿，冬天阴冷难耐。虽然可以生炉子取暖，但也仅是火炉旁有那么点热气而已。除此之外，我们还需自己掏钱购置所有必备的仪器装置。木棚里仅有一张破旧的松木桌与几个炉台、汽灯。当作化学实验时，经常会产生一种刺激性很强的有毒气体，因此我们只好把这种实验移到院子里去做，就是这样，棚内仍旧有毒气弥漫。在如此恶劣的条件之下，我们拼命地做着实验。

Yet it was in this miserable old shed that we passed the best and happiest years of our life, devoting our entire days to our work. Often I had to prepare our lunch in the shed, so as not to interrupt some particularly important operation. Sometimes I had to spend a whole day mixing a boiling mass with a heavy iron rod nearly as large as myself. I would be broken with fatigue at the day's end. Other days, on the contrary, the work would be a most minute and delicate fractional crystallization, in the effort to concentrate the radium. I was then annoyed by the floating dust of iron and coal from which I could not protect my precious products. But I shall never be able to express the joy of the untroubled quietness of this atmosphere of research and the excitement of actual progress with the confident hope of still better results. The feeling of discouragement that sometimes came after some unsuccessful toil did not last long and gave way to renewed activity. We had happy moments devoted to a quiet discussion of our work, walking around our shed.

One of our joys was to go into our workroom at night; we then perceived on all sides the feebly luminous silhouettes of the bottles or capsules containing our products. It was really a lovely sight and one always new to us. The glowing tubes looked like faint, fairy lights.

虽然如此，我们却认为在这个极其简陋的木棚中度过的时光，是我们一生当中最美好最快乐的。为了不中断一些重要的实验，我经常就在木棚里随便做点吃的当作我们的午餐。有的时候，我不得不一整天都用一根同我身体差不多重的大铁棒去对沸腾着的沥青铀矿进行搅动。等到傍晚工作结束的时候，我就会像散了架似的，连话都不想说了。还有的时候，我又要进行极其精密的结晶、分离工作，这时我又会因为室内四处飘浮着的灰尘，影响到浓缩镭的程序，使我没有办法保护好分离出的“宝贝”而苦恼。唯一令我觉得满意的是，没有人会来打扰，我们可以安静地进行我们的实验。当实验进行得很顺利，可能获得令人满意的结果时，我们就会欢欣鼓舞，激动之情简直无以言表。但有的时候，我们干了很久却仍然见不到成效，这时沮丧失望的心情就会困扰我们。不过，这种情况不会持续太久，不多时我们就会去考虑新的设想和工作了。工作之余，我俩便会一边在木棚中踱来踱去，一边对我们的实验进行冷静的讨论，这个时候，我们的快乐也是难以言表的。

还有一件令我们感到快乐的事情，那就是，夜晚跑到木棚里去。这时我们能够看到那被我们提炼、分离出来的宝贝正在玻璃瓶或者玻璃管里向四周散发出淡淡的光芒，真是美丽极了，令我们感到既新奇又激动，那闪烁着光彩的宝贝，宛如神话中的神灯。

Thus the months passed, and our efforts, hardly interrupted by short vacations, brought forth more and more complete evidence. Our faith grew ever stronger, and our work being more and more known, we found means to get new quantities of raw material and to carry on some of our crude processes in a factory, allowing me to give more time to the delicate finishing treatment.

At this stage I devoted myself especially to the purification of the radium, my husband being absorbed by the study of the physical properties of the rays emitted by the new substances. It was only after treating one ton of pitchblende residues that I could get definite results. Indeed we know today that even in the best minerals there are not more than a few decigrammes of radium in a ton of raw material.

At last the time came when the isolated substances showed all the characters of a pure chemical body. This body, the radium, gives a characteristic spectrum, and I was able to determine for it an atomic weight much higher than that of the barium. This was achieved in 1902. I then possessed one decigramme of very pure radium chloride. It had taken me almost four years to produce the kind of evidence which chemical science demands, that radium is truly a new element. One year would probably have been enough for the same purpose, if reasonable means had been at my disposal. The demonstration that cost so much effort was the basis of the new science of radioactivity.

In later years I was able to prepare several decigrammes of pure radium salt, to make a more accurate determination of the atomic weight and even to isolate the pure radium metal. However, 1902 was the year in which the existence and character of radium were definitely established.

几个月里，除了短暂的假期以外，我们从没有中断过实验研究。研究结果越来越明显地表明，我们正一步一步地走向成功，所以，我们的信心也就越来越坚定了。这时，我们的研究工作也逐渐受到了人们的关注。因此我们不但可以购买到更多的废渣，还可以在工厂里完成初步的提炼，这就极大地方便了我们，令我们有更多的时间去进行精确的分离工作。

到了这个阶段，我就专门从事纯净镭的提炼工作，而皮埃尔则专心对新元素散发出的射线的物理性质进行研究。当我们处理完一吨铀沥青矿渣之后，得出了一个确定的结论：在1吨含镭最丰富的原矿中，镭的含量也不足几分克。

1902年，我们提炼出了一分克特别纯净的氯化镭。这些氯化镭显示出了元素所应具有的性质，而且具有不同于其他元素的特别光谱。我们还确定了它的原子量，其值远远大于钡。就这样，我们得到了确定镭为一种独立元素的全部必要证据。这一工作耗时四年，但是如果资金充足、设备齐全的话，也许只需一年我们就能够完成了。我们呕心沥血求得的结果，为放射性这门新的学科奠定了基础。

几年后，我准备了几分克绝对纯净的镭盐，更加精确地测定出了它的原子量，甚至还提炼出了纯粹的金属镭元素本身。不过，确定镭的存在及其性质的年份仍旧是1902年。

We had been able to live for several years entirely engrossed in the work of research, but gradually circumstances changed. In 1900 my husband was offered a professorship in the University of Geneva, but almost simultaneously he obtained a position of assistant professor at the Sorbonne, and I was made professor at the Normal Superior School for young girls at Sevres. So we remained in Paris.

I became much interested in my work in the Normal School, and endeavored to develop more fully the practical laboratory exercises of the pupils. These pupils were girls of about twenty years who had entered the school after severe examination and had still to work very seriously to meet the requirements that would enable them to be named professors in the lycees. All these young women worked with great eagerness, and it was a pleasure for me to direct their studies in physics.

But a growing notoriety, because of the announcement of our discoveries, began to trouble our quiet work in the laboratory, and, little by little, life became more difficult. In 1903 I finished my doctor's thesis and obtained the degree. At the end of the same year the Nobel prize was awarded jointly to Becquerel, my husband and me for the discovery of radioactivity and new radioactive elements. This event greatly increased the publicity of our work. For some time there was no more peace. Visitors and demands for lectures and articles interrupted every day.

这几年来，我们夫妇两人倾注全部心血进行研究，同时，我们的社会地位也产生了变化。在1900年，日内瓦大学想要聘任皮埃尔为教授，也就在这个时候，他在巴黎大学得到了一个助理教授的职位，而我也出任一所女子高等师范学校的教授，学校位于塞弗尔。因此我们没有去日内瓦，而是留在了巴黎。

在女子高等师范学校，我工作得非常开心，我尽量让学生们到实验室去实际操作，以便使她们的动手能力得到提高。这所学校里全部是20岁左右的女生，都是通过严格的考试才被录取的，在入学之后，她们仍需努力地学习才能通过考试，成为中学的老师。这个学校里的每个学生都勤奋好学，作为老师，我自然也愿意尽自己的全力去教好她们的物理。

但是，自从这一发现公布之日起，我们的知名度便日渐高涨了，以致影响到实验室原有的宁静，我们的研究工作逐渐受到了干扰。1903年，我完成了我的博士论文，并且获得了博士学位。在这一年的年末，贝克莱尔、皮埃尔和我因为发现了放射性与放射性元素而共同获得了诺贝尔物理学奖。在那之后，我们的成就被报纸杂志大加颂扬，使我们在好长一段时间内都没法安心工作，每天登门造访的人都不断，有的请我们去演讲，有的向我们约稿子。

The award of the Nobel prize was a great honor. It is also known that the material means provided by this prize was much greater than is usual in prizes for science. This was a great help in the continuation of our researches. Unhappily, we were overtired and had a succession of failures of health for the one or the other of us, so that it was not until 1905 that we were able to go to Stockholm, where my husband gave his Nobel lecture and where we were well received.

The fatigue resulting from the effort exceeding our forces, imposed by the unsatisfactory conditions of our labor, was augmented by the invasion of publicity. The overturn of our voluntary isolation was a cause of real suffering for us and had all the effect of disaster. It was serious trouble brought into the organization of our life, and I have already explained how indispensable was our freedom from external distraction, in order to maintain our family life and our scientific activity. Of course, people who contribute to that kind of trouble generally mean it kindly. It is only that they do not realize the conditions of the problem.

In 1904 our second daughter, Eve Denise, came to us. I had, of course, to interrupt my work in the laboratory for a while. In the same year, because of the awarding of the Nobel prize and the general public recognition, a new chair of physics was created in Sorbonne, and my husband was named as its occupant. At the same time I was named chief of work in the laboratory that was to be created for him. But in reality the laboratory was not constructed then, and only a few rooms taken from other uses were available to us.

In 1906 just as we were definitely giving up the old shed laboratory where we had been so happy, there came the dreadful catastrophe which took my husband away from me and left me alone to bring up our children and, at the same time, to continue our work of research.

获得诺贝尔奖是一项很大的荣誉，而且，这笔奖金数额要比其他奖金大很多，这对我们今后的研究工作是大有裨益的。可惜的是，此刻我们已是精疲力竭，两个人中经常有一个体力不支，所以当年我们都没能前往斯德哥尔摩领奖和发表演说。直到1905年，我们才到了那里，由皮埃尔作了诺贝尔奖的获奖感言。在那里，我们受到了瑞典人民的热情接待。

以前，极其恶劣的工作条件已经导致我们身心疲惫。现在，获奖后报纸杂志的大加颂扬导致探访者不断，更使我们疲于应付。我们所喜欢的平静、有规律的生活被彻底破坏了，这给我们的工作和生活带来了很大的影响。我前面已经说过，必须在不受外界任何干扰的情况下，我们才能继续正常的家庭生活与科学研究工作。前来拜访的人虽说用心很好，但却不知道这样做会给我们带来什么样的后果。

1904年，我们的二女儿艾娃·德尼斯出生了，我不得不暂时停止了实验研究。就在这一年，因为荣获诺贝尔奖，再加上社会方面的赞扬，巴黎大学聘任皮埃尔担任他们新开设的一个讲座的教授，并且还为他创办了一个实验室，任命我为实验室主任。实际上这个实验室并不是新建的，只是把原先空置的房间收拾出来让我们使用而已。

1906年，正当我们准备告别那已使用多年并带给我们无限欢乐的木棚时，一场可怕的灾难降临了。这场灾难夺走了我的皮埃尔，只留下我一个人抚养孩子并继续我俩的事业。

It is impossible for me to express the profoundness and importance of the crisis brought into my life by the loss of the one who had been my closest companion and best friend. Crushed by the blow, I did not feel able to face the future. I could not forget, however, what my husband used sometimes to say, that, even deprived of him, I ought to continue my work.

The death of my husband, coming immediately after the general knowledge of the discoveries with which his name is associated, was felt by the public, and especially by the scientific circles, to be a national misfortune. It was largely under the influence of this emotion that the Faculty of Sciences of Paris decided to offer me the chair, as professor, which my husband had occupied only one year and a half in the Sorbonne. It was an exceptional decision, as up to then no woman had held such a position. The University by doing this offered me a precious mark of esteem and gave me opportunity to pursue the researches which otherwise might have had to be abandoned. I had not expected a gift of this kind; I never had any other ambition than to be able to work freely for science. The honor that now came to me was deeply painful under the cruel circumstances of its coming. Besides I wondered whether I would be able to face such a grave responsibility. After much hesitation, I decided that I ought at least to try to meet the task, and so I began in 1906 my teaching in the Sorbonne, as assistant professor, and two years later I was named titular professor.

这场灾难使我失去了人生旅途上最亲密的伴侣与最要好的朋友，我真的无法用言语来表述它给我带来的严重影响。这沉重的打击使我的精神处于崩溃状态，感觉自己完全无法面对未来，但是，皮埃尔的那句话却始终萦绕在我心中，令我不能忘怀：“即使我不在了，你也必须坚持工作下去。”

皮埃尔去世的时候正是他的名字与成就为公众所认知的时期，所以在社会上，特别是在科学界，大家都很惋惜，普遍认为他的去世是国家的巨大损失。因此，巴黎科学教育界决定由我继承皮埃尔任职一年半的讲座教授的席位。这可以说是破例的决定，因为在过去，没有一个妇女担任过这种职务。巴黎大学的这一决定，确实让我感到无上的荣耀，使我受到激励，得以继续进行原来的研究，否则的话，我可能就不得不放弃了。我本来并没有期盼获得这项殊荣，因为除了一心想为科学事业奋斗终生之外，我没有任何的野心与奢望。这种情况下，授予我这一职务，更使我悲从中来。我担心自己不能承担起这一重任。几经思考，我决定试试看。于是，从1906年秋天开始，我以助理教授的身份开始在巴黎大学授课。两年后，我被聘为名誉教授。

In my new situation the difficulties of my life were considerably augmented, as I alone had now to carry the burden formerly weighing on my husband and me together. The cares of my young children required close vigilance; in this, my husband's father, who continued to live with us, willingly took his share. He was happy to be occupied with the little girls, whose company was his chief consolation after his son's death. By his effort and mine, the children had a bright home, even if we lived with our inner grief, which they were too young to realize. The strong desire of my fatherin-law being to live in the country, we took a house with a garden in Sceaux, a suburb of Paris, from which I could reach the city in half an hour.

This country life had great advantages, not only for my father-in-law, who enjoyed his new surroundings, and especially his garden, but also for my girls, who had the benefit of walks in the open country. But they were more separated from me, and it became necessary to have a governess for them. This position was filled first by one of my cousins, and then by a devoted woman who had already brought up the daughter of one of my sisters. Both of them were Polish, and in this way my daughters learned my native tongue. From time to time, some one of my Polish family came to see me in my grief, and we managed to meet in vacation time, at the seashore in France, and once in the mountains of Poland.

In 1910 we suffered the loss of my very dear father-in-law, after a long illness, which brought me many sorrowful days. I used to spend at his bedside as much time as I could, listening to his remembrances of passed years. His death affected deeply my elder daughter, who, at twelve, knew the value of the cheerful hours spent in his company.

自从皮埃尔离开之后，我生活上的困难就不可避免地大大增加了。以前由我和皮埃尔共同承担的事情，现在只能由我独自承担了。我不得不亲自抚养两个孩子。皮埃尔的父亲仍然和我们共同居住，并且主动提出和我共同承担家庭的重任。他非常高兴能够帮着照料两个孙女。失去儿子之后，两个孙女成了他唯一的慰藉与欢乐。在他和我的共同努力下，孩子们才得以享受到家庭的幸福。我们决不将心中的隐痛在孩子们面前流露出来，因为她们年岁太小，不该让她们过早地品尝人生的痛苦。皮埃尔的父亲喜欢乡村生活，所以我们就在苏城租了一座带花园的屋子，它到巴黎城里只要半个小时。

生活在乡间确实有很多好处，不仅我的公公从那里的环境，特别是那个花园中获得了无限的享受，两个女儿也得以在经常去空旷的田野间玩耍的过程中受益。因为我白天要上班，经常无法照顾女儿，所以只好请了一个保姆。第一个保姆是我的一个表亲，后来又换成了一个很厚道的女子，她曾带大过我一个姐姐的女儿。两位保姆都是波兰人，因此我的两个女儿都会讲波兰话。我的波兰亲属们也不时地来看望我、安慰我。我们一般都是在假期设法在法国海滨相聚，有一次还在波兰山区待了一段日子。

我亲爱的公公久病之后在1910年去世了，这令我伤心悲痛了好长一段时间。在他卧床不起期间，我尽可能地抽出时间在病床边陪护他，听他讲述往事。对于爷爷的逝世，我的大女儿感到尤为悲痛，当时她已经12岁了，已经懂得爷爷的关爱是多么的重要了，她没有办法忘记往日祖孙俩相处的幸福时光。

There were few resources for the education of my daughters in Sceaux. The youngest one, a small child, needed principally a hygienic life, outdoor walks and quite elementary schooling. She had already shown a vivid intelligence and an unusual disposition for music. Her elder sister resembled her father in the form of her intelligence. She was not quick, but one could already see that she had a gift of reasoning power and that she would like science. She had some training in a private school in Paris, but I had not wanted to keep her in a lycee, as I have always found the class hours in these schools too long for the health of the children.

My view is that in the education of children the requirement of their growth and physical evolution should be respected, and that some time should be left for their artistic culture. In most schools, as they exist today, the time spent in various reading and writing exercises is too great, and the study required to be done at home too much. I also find these schools lacking, in general, in practical exercises to accompany the scientific studies.

With a few friends in the university circle who shared these views, we organized, therefore, a cooperative group for the education of our children, each of us taking charge of the teaching of a particular subject to all of the young people. We were all very busy with other things, and the children varied in age. Nevertheless, the little experiment thus made was very interesting. With a small number of classes we yet succeeded in reuniting the scientific and literary elements of a desirable culture. The courses in science were accompanied by practical exercises in which the children took great interest.

苏城没有太好的学校。当时我的小女儿年岁尚小，需要的是于身心健康有利的生活环境，她需要户外游戏、散步、初步的小学教育等。活泼、聪颖的个性特点已经在她的性格中显现，对于音乐，她更是非比寻常地喜爱。她的姐姐有点像她父亲，不太活泼，反应也比较迟钝，但是理解问题和推论的能力却很强，似乎适合搞科学研究。她在巴黎的一所私人学校上过学，但我却并不想让她进中学念书，因为我总觉得中学的课程太多、课时太长，不利于青少年的成长发育。

关于孩子的教育，我认为应该顺应其身心健康发育、成长的需要。除此之外，还应该尽可能多地让孩子们学习文艺知识。但是，现在大多数的学校，都将过多的时间花费在了读写练习上，并且还有大量的家庭作业，令学生喘不过气来。而且，这类学校所设置的大部分理科课程都和实践相脱节。

大学的圈子中有一些朋友和我持同样的观点，所以我们便成立了一个互助合作小组，共同对我们的子女进行一种新式的教育。我们每人各自负责一门指定的课程。即便大家工作都很忙，并且孩子们的年龄大小不一，但是我们的热情丝毫不减，对这项教育改革实验保持着很浓的兴趣。通过不多的课时，我们将理科课程和文科课程有机地结合起来，取得了很好的效果；并且所有理科课程都配有实验，孩子们对此充满了兴趣。

This arrangement, which lasted two years, proved to be very beneficial for most of the children; it was certainly so for my elder daughter. Following this preparation, she was able to enter a higher class in one of the colleges of Paris, and had no difficulty in passing her bachelor's examination before the usual age, after which she continued her scientific studies in the Sorbonne. My second daughter, although not benefiting by a similar arrangement for her earlier studies, at first followed the classes of a college only partially, and later completely. She showed herself a good pupil, doing satisfactory work in all directions.

I wanted very much to assure for my children a rational physical education. Next to outdoor walks, I attach a great importance to gymnastics and sports. This side of a girl's education is still rather neglected in France. I took care that my children did gymnastics regularly. I was also careful to have them spend vacations either in the mountains or at the seashore. They can canoe and swim very well and are not afraid of a long walk or a bicycle ride.

But of course the care of my children's education was only a part of my duties, my professional occupations taking most of my time. I have been frequently questioned, especially by women, how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy; it required a great deal of decision and of selfsacrifice. However, the family bond has been preserved between me and my now grown-up daughters, and life is made brighter by the mutual affection and understanding in our home, where I could not suffer a harsh word or selfish behavior.

通过我们两年的努力，大多数孩子都有所收获，特别是我的艾莱娜。通过这种学习之后，她竟然能够插入巴黎一所中学的高年级班，并且没有遇到太大困难便通过了各门功课的考试，在比一般学生小的年纪便进入了巴黎大学，学习理科专业。小女儿艾娃没有接受我们这种新模式的教育，但是后来也进了一所学院。一开始，她只是选修部分课程，后来才学习全部课程，她是一个好学生，在各方面的表现都不错。

我对两个孩子的体育锻炼也很重视，除了户外散步以外，我认为体操和运动也很重要。在法国，对女孩子在这些方面的教育往往被忽视。我要求两个女儿每天都要做柔软体操，还经常带她们去山里或者海边度假。她们两个游泳和划船的技术都是一流的，对远足或者骑车远游更是无所畏惧。

当然，对女儿的教育只是我职责的一部分而已，我仍将大部分的时间用于科学研究。有些人，尤其是女人，经常会问我是怎样把这两者处理得如此好的。是的，这并不是容易做到的事，它需要有坚忍不拔的精神，而且还要作出一定的牺牲。我和两个已经长大成人的女儿一直感情很好，相处愉快。在我们的家里，相互体谅和彼此尊重使我们的生活充满了阳光，我们母女之间从来没有说过一句伤人的话，也没有做过一件自私自利的事。

In 1906, when I succeeded my husband at the Sorbonne, I had only a provisional laboratory with little space and most limited equipment. A few scientists and students had already been admitted to work there with my husband and me. With their help, I was able to continue the course of research with good success.

In 1907, I received a precious mark of sympathy from Mr. Andrew Carnegie, who donated to my laboratory an annual income for research fellowships which enabled some advanced students or scientists to devote their whole time to investigation. Such foundations are very encouraging to those whose inclinations and talents are such as to warrant their entire devotion to research work. They ought to be multiplied in the interest of science.

As for myself, I had to devote again a great deal of time to the preparation of several decigrammes of very pure radium chloride. With this I achieved, in 1907, a new determination of the atomic weight of radium, and in 1910 I was able to isolate the metal. The operation, an extremely delicate one, was performed with the assistance of a distinguished chemist belonging to the laboratory staff. It has never been repeated since that time, because it involves a serious danger of loss of radium, which can be avoided only with utmost care. So I saw at last the mysterious white metal, but could not keep it in this state, for it was required for further experiments.

As for the polonium, I have not been able to isolate it, its quantity in the mineral being even much less than the quantity of radium. However, very concentrated polonium has been prepared in my laboratory, and important experiments have been performed with this substance, concerning especially the production of helium by radiation of polonium.

我在1906年，接替皮埃尔到巴黎大学任教的时候，只有一间设备短缺而又狭小的临时实验室可以用来工作。皮埃尔在世时，一些科学家和学生已经在那里同他一起工作了，我接任后，在他们的鼎力相助下，得以继续进行研究，并且获得了满意的成果。

1907年，我得到安德鲁·卡内基先生的同情和赞助，他赠给我的实验室一笔奖学金，使一些成绩卓著的科学家和学生能够全身心致力于研究。这种帮助很有价值，使那些有志于科学研究且具备研究能力的研究者能够实现自己的心愿，不至于中断研究。为了科研事业，社会上的有识之士应该尽可能多地设置这种奖学金。

当时，我的奋斗目标是尽自己所能将几分克极其纯净的氯化镭提炼出来。1907年，我完成了对镭元素的新的原子量的测量，到1910年，我最终提炼出了纯净的金属镭。这一提炼和测定的过程很精密，需要特别细心。我是在一位著名的化学家的鼎力相助之下，才获得了成功的。在那之后，我没有再次重复这一实验，因为这一实验过程有使镭元素丧失的可能，除非极其小心极其谨慎地操作。这次成功终于使我见到了这一神奇而又美妙的白色金属镭。但是因为许多实验在等着使用它，所以我不能将它一直在这种美妙的观赏状态下保存。

而我却一直未能将钋元素提炼、分离出来。这是因为在原矿中它比镭的含量还要少。不过，在我的实验室里存有一些钋含量很丰富的物质，我们能够用它来做各种重要的实验。在这之中，尤以钋放射时所产生的氦气对实验最为重要。

I had to devote special care to the improvement of the measuring methods in the laboratory. I have told how important precise measurements were in the discovery of radium. It is still to be hoped that efficient methods of quantitative determination may lead to new discoveries.

I devised a very satisfactory method for determining the quantity of radium by the means of a radioactive gas produced by it and called"emanation". This method, frequently used in my laboratory, permits of the measurement of very small quantities of radium (less than a thousandth of a milligramme), with a fair precision. More important quantities are often measured by their penetrating radiation, named Gamma-rays. For this we also possess in my laboratory a suitable equipment. It is easier and more satisfactory to measure the radium by the emitted rays, than to weigh it in a balance. However, these measurements require the disposition of reliable standards. So the question of a radium standard had to be taken into careful consideration.

The measurements of radium had to be established on a solid basis, for the benefit of laboratories and scientific research, which, of course, is in itself an important reason, and moreover, the growing medical utilization of this substance made it necessary to control the relative purity of commercially produced radium.

我还专门花费了一番心思对实验室里的测量方法做了不错的改造。我说过，精密的测量在镭的发现过程中起了极其重要的作用。并且，我希望有效的含量测定方法能够带来新的发现。

我想出了一个很有效的方法，那就是用镭产生的镭射气来对镭的数量进行测量。通过多次在我的实验室里使用这一方法，我准确地测出了一毫克千分之一左右的镭，这是极其微量的。那些数量较多的，我们就运用镭射线中穿透力较强的γ射线进行测量。这样的设备在我的实验室中就有。利用射线测量镭的数量的这种方法比用天平测量要更加快速、精确。但是，要想采用这种新的度量方法，必须先要有一个经过缜密考虑并且确定后的新标准。

要想对实验与科学研究有所帮助，对镭的测量方法就必须建立在可靠的基础之上。除了其内部的重要原因之外，还因为镭在现代医学中的应用日渐增长，控制商业生产镭的相对纯度成为必须解决的大事。

The first experiments on the biological properties of radium were successfully made in France with samples from our laboratory, while my husband was living. The results were, at once, encouraging, so that the new branch of medical science, called radiumtherapy (in France, Curietherapy), developed rapidly, first in France and later in other countries. To supply the radium wanted for this purpose, a radiumproducing industry was established. The first plant was created in France and worked very successfully, but afterwards manufactures were founded in other countries, the most important of which are now in America, where great quantities of radium ore , named"carnotite", are available. The radiumtherapy and the radium production developed conjointly, and the results were more and more important, for the treatment of several diseases, and particularly of cancer. As a consequence of this, several institutes have been founded, in the large cities, for the application of the new therapy. Some of these institutes own several grammes of radium, the commercial price of the gramme being now about $70,000, the cost of production depending on the very small proportion of radium in the ore.

It may be easily understood how deeply I appreciated the privilege of realizing that our discovery had become a benefit to mankind, not only through its great scientific importance, but also by its power of efficient action against human suffering and terrible disease. This was indeed a splendid reward for our years of hard toil.

The success of the therapy depends, of course, on the precise knowledge of the quantity of radium which is used, so that the measurements of radium are as important for industry and for medicine as for physicochemical research.

在法国曾经做过实验，就镭的生物学特征进行了初步研究，并且取得了很好的效果。实验中使用的样本就是由我的实验室所提供的。那个时候，皮埃尔还没有离去，实验的结果使大家兴奋不已，并且因此，被法国人民称为“居里疗法”的镭疗法也作为一个崭新的医疗分支在法国首先诞生了，随后在其他国家也普遍地兴盛起来。由于对于镭的需求日渐增多，制镭工业也就相应地取得了发展。第一家工厂出现在法国，并且运营得很成功。随后，其他国家的制镭工厂也相继建立了起来，目前，最大的一家在美国，这是因为美国具有富含镭的钒钾铀矿，对镭进行提炼相对来说比较容易。随着制镭工业取得发展，镭治疗技术也得到了相应的提高。这一治疗方法对于某些疾病来说具有特殊的疗效，特别是在癌症治疗方面。出于这个原因，在很多大的城市里，一些专门凭借这种方法治病的医院应运而生，有的医院里还存有数克的镭。镭的市场售价现在已经达到每克7万美元，这是因为镭在原矿中的含量微乎其微，导致提炼的成本很高。

我们当初没有料到这一发现会对社会有如此大的用处，不仅是科学上的重大成就，而且能够治疗可怕的疾病，减轻人们的痛苦。读者们肯定能够体会到这时候我欣慰、激动的心情。这是对我同皮埃尔多年来辛苦拼搏的回报，这种回报是无可比拟的。

如果想令镭治疗取得成功，在用量上就必须保证准确无误。所以，不管是在工业上、医药上还是科研上，镭的度量都是至关重要的。

Considering all these needs, a commission of scientific men of different countries was formed who agreed to take as a base an international standard, formed of a carefully weighed quantity of pure radium salt. Secondary standards were then to be prepared for each country, and compared to the basic standard by means of their radiation. I was appointed to prepare the primary standard.

This was a very delicate operation, as the weight of the standard sample, quite small (about 21 milligrammes of chloride), had to be determined with great precision. I performed the preparation in 1911. The standard is a thin glass tube, of a few centimeters in length, containing the pure salt which was used for the determination of atomic weight. It was accepted by the Commission and is deposited in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Sevres, near Paris. Several secondary standards, compared with the primary one, have been put into service by the Commission. In France the control of radium tubes, by the measurement of their radiation, takes place in my laboratory, where any one may bring the radium to be tested; in the United States this is done in the Bureau of Standards.

针对这种情况，由各国科学家所组成的委员会的全体成员，集体同意制定一个国际标准来共同遵循。这一标准的制定方法是，先使用极其精确的方法对若干极纯净的镭盐进行测定，把它作为基本标准，然后再将若干纯净的镭盐的放射性同基本标准进行对比，作为副标准，以便各国进行使用。该委员会指命我来负责制定这个基本标准。

这是一项极其精密细致的工作，绝对不允许有半点马虎，因为氯化镭，重量极轻（大约只有21毫克），所以称量时必须非常准确。1911年，我将这个基本标准制作成功。这个基本标准是一个数厘米长的玻璃管，里面装有曾经测定过镭原子量的纯净镭盐，通过委员会的批准之后，存放在离巴黎不远的塞弗尔国际度量衡标准局。根据这个基本标准，委员会还制备了几个副标准，已经投入使用。在法国各地，全部存有镭的玻璃管，都是由我的实验室来完成鉴定的。鉴定的方法就是对它们的辐射强度进行测量。无论任何人，都可以带上自己的镭到我们这里测量、鉴定。在美国，这种事是标准局负责的。

Near the end of the year 1910, I was proposed for the decoration of the Legion of Honor. A similar proposal was made earlier in favor of my husband, who, however, being opposed to all honorary distinctions, did not accept the nomination. As my husband and I were too united in all things for me to act differently from him in this matter, I did not accept the decoration, in spite of the insistence of the Ministry. At that time also, several colleagues persuaded me to be a candidate for election to the Academy of Sciences, of Paris, of which my husband was a member during the last months of his life. I hesitated very much, as such a candidacy requires, by custom, a great number of personal visits to Academy members. However, I consented to offer myself a candidate, because of the advantages an election would have for my laboratory. My candidacy provoked a vivid public interest, especially because it involved the question of the admission of women to the Academy. Many of the Academicians were opposed to this in principle, and when the scrutiny was made, I had a few votes less than necessary. I do not ever wish to renew my candidacy, because of my strong distaste for the personal solicitation required. I believe that all such elections should be based wholly on a spontaneous decision, without any personal efforts involved, as was the case for several Academies and Societies which made me a member without any demand or initiative on my part.

到了1910年年末，我获得法国荣誉骑士勋章提名。以前皮埃尔也受到过同样的提名，但是他反对接受一切荣誉，就没有接受。我的行为准则和皮埃尔的全部一致，因此就这件事而言我也不想使皮埃尔的意愿受到违背，虽然内政部多次对我进行劝诫，但我仍然拒不接受这一授勋。与此同时，很多同事劝说我就成为巴黎科学院院士进行申请，皮埃尔在去世前的几个月被选为院士，所以我对要不要申请成为院士，颇为犹豫，难作决定。按照科学院的规定，如果想要申请成为院士，就必须要挨个地拜访巴黎的所有院士，这令我感到很不情愿；但如果能够被成功地选为院士，我的实验室就能够从中获益。这么一想，我就下定决心参加院士的竞选。社会公众对我的竞选给予了热切关注，就科学院是否应该对女院士进行接纳这一议题，大家展开了激烈辩论，一些老院士坚决反对接纳女性。到最后，投票结束后显示，我以数票之差落选。在这之后，我就再也不去申请了，因为挨个地求人帮忙是最令我厌恶和头疼的。我想，这种选举应该以申请人的业绩为标准进行衡量，而不应该自己奔走，私下交易。例如一些协会和学会，在我自己并没有提出任何申请的情况下，就主动将我吸纳为会员了。

As a result of all the cares devolving on me, I fell seriously ill at the end of 1911, when, for the second time, I received, this time alone, the award of the Nobel prize. This was a very exceptional honor, a high recognition of the discovery of the new elements and of the preparation of pure radium. Suffering though I was, I went to Stockholm to receive the prize. The journey was extremely painful for me. I was accompanied by my eldest sister and my young daughter Irene. The ceremony of delivery of the Nobel prizes is very impressive, having the features of a national solemnity. A most generous reception was accorded me, specially by the women of Sweden. This was a great comfort to me, but I was suffering so much that when I returned I had to stay in bed for several months. This grave illness, as well as the necessities of my children's education, obliged me to move my home from Sceaux to Paris.

During the year 1912 I had the opportunity of collaborating in the creation of a laboratory of radium at Warsaw. This laboratory was founded by the Scientific Society of Warsaw which offered me its direction. I could not leave France to go back to my native country, but I willingly agreed to occupy myself with the organization of the studies in the new laboratory. In 1913, having improved my health, I was able to attend an inauguration fête in Warsaw, where a touching reception was given, leaving me an unforgettable memory of national sentiment which succeeded in creating useful work under particularly difficult political conditions.

1911年年底，种种费心劳神的事情汇集到一起，使我心力交瘁，终于病倒了，并且病得很重。但就是这个时候，诺贝尔奖再一次降临到了我的头上，并且是单独授予我一个人的。对于我而言，这确实是一个极大的殊荣，特别是对我发现新元素和提炼出镭的极大褒奖。当时，我虽然病着，但仍旧决定亲自到斯德哥尔摩去领奖。我的大姐和大女儿艾莱娜陪同我前往。颁奖仪式十分隆重，同接待国家元首的气派不相上下，令我激动不已。在斯德哥尔摩我受到了热烈的欢迎，特别是瑞典妇女界，她们的热情更是令人感动。由于大病未愈，加上来去的旅途劳顿，待回到法国的时候，我竟一连卧床数月。因为病情严重，并且考虑到两个女儿的教育问题，我们不得不从苏城搬到巴黎市内定居了。

1912年，我同几个人合作，在华沙建立了一个镭实验室。这个实验室下属于华沙科学院，我被聘为主任，参与对其的指导。当时，我身体状况不好，没有离开法国返回波兰，但我非常愿意竭尽自己所能对该实验室的研究工作进行指导。到了1913年，我的身体状况略有好转之后，我便立即返回波兰参加这个实验室成立的纪念典礼。祖国人民对我的热烈欢迎使我激动不已。我深刻地体会到，波兰人民在那么艰难的政治条件下还能以如此高昂的爱国主义热情，开创有利于祖国建设的事业，真的是很了不起。祖国人民的这种伟大精神令我永远难忘。

While still only partially recovered from my illness, I renewed my efforts for the construction of a suitable laboratory in Paris. Finally it was arranged for, and work began in 1912. The Pasteur Institute wished to be associated with this laboratory, and, in accord with the University, it was decided to create an Institute of Radium, with two laboratories, one of physics and one of biology, the first to be devoted to studies of the physical and chemical properties of the radioactive elements, the second to the study of their biological and medical applications. But, because of the lack of financial means, the construction work proceeded very slowly, and was not yet entirely finished when the war broke out in 1914.

当我的疾病只是部分好转时，我就忍不住四处奔走，努力想在巴黎筹建一个更加合适的实验室了。通过我的一系列努力，最后终于见出了成果，我理想中的实验室在1912年破土动工了。巴斯德研究院愿意同新创建的实验室进行合作，经巴黎大学同意，新成立了一个镭研究所，其中包括两个实验室，一个物理实验室，专门对放射性元素的物理和化学特性进行研究；另一个生物实验室，专门对放射性元素在生物与医学上的应用进行研究。但是，由于经费不足，工程进行得很慢，1914年，世界大战爆发时，实验室还没有竣工。

Chapter III　At War

In 1914, it happened, as it often had in other years, that my daughters had left Paris for their summer vacation before me. They were accompanied by their governess, in whom I had all confidence, and were living in a small house on the seashore in Brittany, at a place where there were also the families of several of our good friends. My work did not generally permit me to pass the entire vacation near them without interruption.

That year I was preparing to join them in the last days of July, when I was stopped by the bad political news, with its premonitions of an imminent military mobilization. It did not seem possible for me to leave under these conditions, and I waited for further events. The mobilization was announced on August 1st, immediately followed by Germany's declaration of war on France. The few men of the laboratory staff and the students were mobilized, and I was left alone with our mechanic who could not join the army because of a serious heart trouble.

The historic events that followed are known to every one, but only those who lived in Paris through the days of August and September, 1914, can ever really know the state of mind in the capital and the quiet courage shown by it. The mobilization was a general wave of all France passing out to the border for the defense of the land. All our interest now centered on the news from the front.

【注释】

(1)钋原写作Polonium，同波兰(Pologne)一词相近。

第三章　战争中的我

1914年暑假期间，同往年一样，两个女儿由她们的家庭教师领着，先于我离开巴黎度假去了。我对这位家庭教师非常信赖，由她照顾我的女儿我十分放心。她们住到了布列塔尼的海滨度假屋，我的一些好朋友和他们的家属也住在那里。我则因为工作太忙，很少能不被打断地同她们度过整个假期。

我本来打算7月底前去海边与女儿们会合，但是很快就会有紧急军事行动这样的坏消息不断传来，使我没能去成布列塔尼。在这种紧张的状态之下，我显然是不可能离开巴黎的，而是需要留下来静观事态发展。8月1日，总动员令颁布了。随后，德国便对法国宣战了。除了我和一个有严重心脏病的技师之外，实验室其他的工作人员全部应征入伍了。

接下来的历史事件大家都知道。但是，只有在1914年的8月和9月，住在巴黎的人才能够真正体会到首都人民的心态以及他们所表现出的那种临危不惧的英雄气概。总动员令很快便传遍了整个法国，每一个法国人都勇敢地、急切地想要奔赴前线，去保卫自己的伟大祖国。这一时期，我们每天最急切盼望的就是从前线传来的消息。

After the uncertainties of the first days this news became more and more grave. First, it was the invasion of Belgium and the heroic resistance of that little country; then the victorious march of the German army through the valley of the Oise toward Paris; and soon the departure of the French government to Bordeaux, followed by the leaving of those Parisians who could not, or would not, face the possible danger of German occupation. The overloaded trains took into the country a great number of people, mostly of the well-to-do class. But, on the whole, the people of Paris gave a strong impression of calm and quiet decision in that fateful year of 1914. In the end of August and the beginning of September the weather was radiant, and under the glorious sky of those days the great city with its architectural treasures seemed to be particularly dear to those who remained in it.

When the danger of German attack on Paris became pressing, I felt obliged to put in security the supply of radium then in my laboratory, and I was charged by the government to take it to Bordeaux for safety. But I did not want to be away long, and hence decided to return immediately. I left by one of the trains that were carrying government staff and baggage, and I well remember the aspect of the national highway which was at intervals in view from the train; it showed a long line of motorcars carrying their owners from the capital.

开始几天传回来的消息反复无常，使人摸不着头脑，以后的消息则使人感到事态越来越严峻了。首先，小国比利时未能阻止住德国军队，虽然军民浴血奋战，但是比利时仍被德国入侵了。随后，德军进入到乌瓦兹峡谷，直逼巴黎。没过多久，便有传言说法国政府将要南迁到波尔多，许多巴黎市民也纷纷随政府南下，他们中的大多数人是不愿也不敢去面对德军占领巴黎后所产生的危险的。有钱人纷纷乘坐严重超载的火车逃出巴黎，到外省乡下避难。但是，总体而言，在这多灾多难的1914年，巴黎市民所表现出的那种冷静而又果断的精神还是给我留下了不可磨灭的印象。8月底至9月初的这几天，天气变得风和日丽起来。在仍旧留在巴黎城的人们眼中，蔚蓝天空映衬下的这个拥有着无数建筑宝藏的伟大城市显得更加巍峨清晰了。

德军日益逼近巴黎，情况非常危急，为了防止万一，我觉得必须把我实验室所储存的镭藏到安全的地方去。受到政府的指令，我将把这些镭护送到波尔多，但是因为不愿意留在那里，所以我决定送到之后，便立刻从波尔多返回巴黎。我所乘坐的是运载政府工作人员以及行李物品的专用列车。我仍记得一路上，从车窗向外望去，国道上的混乱情景，排成排的汽车运载着它们的主人逃离首都，到外地去避难。

Arriving at Bordeaux in the evening, I was very embarrassed with my heavy bag including the radium protected by lead. I was not able to carry it and waited in a public place, while a friendly ministry employee who came by the same train managed to find a room for me in a private apartment, the hotels being overcrowded. The next morning I hurried to put the radium in a safe place, and succeeded, although not without difficulty, in taking a military train back to Paris in the evening of the same day. Having opportunity for exchanging a few sentences with persons on the place who wanted to ask information from people coming by the train, I was interested to notice how they seemed surprised and comforted to learn of some one who found it natural to return to Paris.

My trip back was troubled by delays; for several hours the train rested immovable on the rails, while the travelers accepted a little bread from the soldiers who were provided with it. Finally arriving in Paris, I learned that the German army had turned; the battle of the Marne had begun.

In Paris I shared the alternating hope and grief of the inhabitants during the course of that great battle, and had the constant worry of foreseeing a long separation from my children in case the Germans succeeded in occupying the city. Yet I felt that I must stay at my post. After the successful outcome of the battle, however, any immediate danger of occupation being removed, I was able to have my daughters come back from Brittany to Paris and again take up their studies. This was the great desire of my children, who did not want to stay away from me and from their work, even if many other families thought it wiser to stay in the country, far from the front.

到达波尔多时已经是傍晚了。我的镭装在随身携带的箱子里，而箱子又用铅皮密封着，所以实在是太沉了，我根本就提不动，只好在车站等候前来接我的人。后来，与我同车来波尔多的一个友好的政府工作人员帮我把箱子搬到一个私人家中，并请他们腾出一个房间让我度过这个夜晚，这个时候是根本住不上旅馆的，因为旅馆早已爆满。第二天早晨，我急忙将箱子藏到一个安全的地方，虽然经历了一系列的困难，但是最后还是成功地转乘军列在当天晚上返回了巴黎。在波尔多，我曾经有机会同那里的人进行交谈，他们也都很想从巴黎来的人口中打探些确切的消息。当他们知道我在这种时候还认为返回巴黎是很自然的事的时候，所流露出来的那种既惊讶又欣慰的表情，让我觉得十分有趣。

在返回巴黎的途中，列车经常停下来无法行驶，有时在途中受阻长达几个小时。车上的军人都带着干粮，看到我们这些乘客饿得不行了，他们便分给我们些许面包，聊以充饥。当最终回到巴黎时，我听说德军改变了进攻方向，马恩河战役已经打响了。

这次大战期间，我和其他的巴黎居民一样，有时因为胜利在望而欢欣鼓舞，有时又因为感觉失败在即而忧愁沮丧。最令我担心的是，假使德国人占领了巴黎，我就将与自己的女儿们长久分离。尽管忧心忡忡，但我仍旧决定忠于职守。当法军在马恩河战役中最终胜利时，巴黎被攻陷的危险也就不复存在。于是，我便让女儿们从布列塔尼回到巴黎，继续上学，这也是她们的愿望。许多巴黎居民认为留在外省，离巴黎远些比较安全，所以并不急着回到巴黎来，但是我的两个女儿却毅然回到了我的身边，因为她们不愿意与我分隔两地，也不愿意中断学业。

The dominant duty imposed on every one at that time was to help the country in whatever way possible during the extreme crisis that it faced. No general instructions to this were given to the members of the University. It was left to each to take his own initiative and means of action. I therefore sought to discover the most efficient way to do useful work, turning my scientific knowledge to most profit.

During the rapid succession of events in August, 1914, it was clearly proved that the preparation for defense was insufficient. Public feeling was especially aroused by the realization of the grave failings which appeared in the organization of the Health Service. My own attention was particularly drawn to this situation, and I soon found a field of activity which, once entered upon, absorbed the greatest part of my time and efforts until the end of the war, and even for some time thereafter. The work was the organization of radiologic and radio-therapeutic services for the military hospitals. But I also had to make the change, during these difficult war years, of my laboratory into the new building of the Institute of Radium and to continue, in the measure possible to me, regular teaching, as well as to investigate certain problems, especially interesting the military service.

It is well known that the X-rays offer surgeons and doctors extremely useful means for the examination of the sick and wounded. They make possible the discovery and the exact location of projectiles which have entered the body, and this is a great help in their extraction. These rays also reveal lesions of bones and of the internal organs and permit one to follow the progress of recovery from internal injuries. The use of the X-rays during the war saved the lives of many wounded men; it also saved many from long suffering and lasting infirmity. To all the wounded it gave a greater chance of recovery.

国难当头，每个人都应竭尽所能为自己的国家排忧解难。政府对大学教职员工没有作任何硬性规定，但大家却都积极主动地行动了起来，我也利用自己的科学知识，想方设法地向国家贡献自己的力量。

1914年8月，战场的情况起了急剧的变化，从中也暴露出法国并没有对这场战争作出充分的准备。特别是在伤员救护方面，非常缺乏有效的组织和管理，因此引起了舆论的极大不满。我对这一情况十分关注，很快便认识到自己很适合去做救护工作，于是便迅速地加入到了这项工作当中。从此以后直到战争结束，我将大部分时间与精力都投入到了其中。具体地说，我的工作内容就是为军队医院组建医疗队和组织X射线检查。除此之外，在那艰难的战争期间，我的研究工作也不得不作出改变。我将自己的实验室迁进了镭研所的新楼，并且尽可能多地继续给学生们讲课。同时，我也经常对相关的问题进行研究，特别是有关军事的。

大家都知道，X射线对于内科和外科医生进行疾病或者伤口检查都有极大的帮助。特别是在战争期间，可以通过它来对弹片嵌入体内的确切部位进行检查和确定，从而便于医生开刀将弹片取出。而且，它还可以对骨骼以及体内器官损伤的情况进行显示，医生因此也就可以了解内伤恢复的程度了。战争期间，X射线的应用挽救了无数伤员的性命，减轻了很多人的痛苦并使他们免于落下终身残疾，而且还缩短了他们的恢复时间。

However, at the beginning of the war, the Military Board of Health had no organization of radiology, while the civil organization was also but little developed. Radiologic installations existed in only a small number of important hospitals, and there were only a few specialists in the large cities. The numerous new hospitals that were established all over France in the first months of the war had, as a rule, no installation for the use of X-rays.

To meet this need I first gathered together all the apparatus I could find in the laboratories and stores. With this equipment I established in August and September, 1914, several stations of radiology, the operation of which was assured by volunteer helpers to whom I gave instruction. These stations rendered great service during the battle of the Marne. But as they could not satisfy the needs of all the hospitals of the Paris region, I fitted up, with the help of the Red Cross, a radiologic car. It was simply a touring motorcar, arranged for the transport of a complete radiologic apparatus, together with a dynamo that was worked by the engine of the car, and furnished the electric current necessary for the production of the rays. This car could come at the call of any of the hospitals, large or small, in the surroundings of Paris. Cases of urgent need were frequent, for these hospitals had to take care of the wounded who could not be transported to more distant places.

战争刚开始的时候，军队中任何一个医疗部门都不具备X射线治疗设备，也不具备这方面的技师，即便是地方医院，除了几所大医院外，这种设备也很少见，而且大医院中虽然有X射线设备，但是技师却几乎没有。战争爆发后，法国各地纷纷建立了医院，但也都没有这种设备。

为了解决X射线设备与技师缺乏这一难题，我马上先将各实验室和贮藏室中所有的X射线设备集中到一起，并于1914年8—9月间建立了几个X射线医疗站，由经我培训过的志愿者对这些设备进行操作。在马恩河战役中，这些医疗站发挥了很大的作用。但是，由于它们无法满足整个巴黎所有医院的需要，我便借助红十字会的协助，设计并且装备出了一辆流动X光透视车，它是由一辆普通的敞篷车改装而成的。具体是将一台设备齐全的X射线放射设备和一台发电机固定在车厢里，利用汽车上的发动机来使这台发电机发电，用以满足X光设备对电力的需要。这辆流动车可以前往巴黎的任何一家医院，无论大小，只要是有需要，它就立即能够赶到。特别是对于急诊的伤病员来说，这种流动医疗车的作用更加显著。医院经常会收进危急病例和重伤员，而他们又无法被转送到很远的医院，这时这种医疗车就更加有用武之地了。

The first results of this work showed that it was necessary to do more. Thanks to special donations and to the help of a very efficient relief committee called "le Patronage National des Blessés", I succeeded in developing my initiative to a considerable extent. About two hundred radiologic installations were established or materially improved through my efforts in the zone of the French and Belgian armies, and in the regions of France not occupied by the army. I was able, besides, to equip in my laboratory and give to the army twenty radiologic cars. The frames of these cars were donated by, various persons who wished to be helpful; some of them offered also the equipment. The cars were of the greatest service to the army, particularly important in the first two years of the war, when the regular military service possessed but few radiologic instruments. Later the Board of Health created, little by little, a considerable radiologic service of its own, as the utility of the stations was more clearly realized owing to the example given by private initiative. But the needs of the armies were so great that my cooperation continued necessary to the end of the war, and even afterwards.

I could not have accomplished this work without seeing for myself the needs of the ambulance stations and hospitals. Thanks to the help of the Red Cross and to the agreement of the Board of Health, I was able to make several journeys to the army zones and to the other parts of France. Several times I visited the ambulance stations of the armies of the north and in the Belgian zone, going to Amiens, Calais, Dunkirk, Furnes, and Poperinghe. I went to Verdun, Nancy, Luneville, Belfort, to Compiegne, and Villers-Cotterets. In the regions distant from the front, I took care of many hospitals which had to do very intensive work with little aid. And I keep as a precious recollection of that time, many letters of warm recognition from those to whom I brought help in their difficulties.

最初的结果表明，这种流动医疗车具有强大的作用，它的需求量非常大。感谢社会各界的特别捐赠以及一个全称为“全国伤病员救护会”的机构对我进行的帮助，他们的办事效率很高，我所提出的关于增加流动X光医疗车的重大计划很快便得以落实了。在法国同比利时之间的战区以及法国的其他一些地区，我总共创建和改造成了200多个X射线医疗站，除此还对20辆流动X光医疗车进行了装备，以供军队的急用。这些流动车都是由各界人士慷慨捐赠的，此外，还有一些人士捐赠了整套的X光设备。所有这些捐赠对抢救伤兵起到了很大的作用。这些捐赠的车辆、设备，在战争初始的前两年起到了很大的效用，这是因为当时军队中的救护组织很少配备X光设备。没过多久，卫生部见到这些捐赠的设备所起到的重要作用之后，便开始大规模地对这种设备进行生产。但由于军队的需求量很大，卫生部同我的这种合作仍然是不可缺少的，这种合作一直保持到战争结束后的几年。

如果我没有亲自到各医院和救护站视察，不知道他们有多大多急迫的需求的话，我也很难切实地将这项工作完成。感谢红十字会的协助和卫生部的批示，我得以前往法国各地和战区作考察，还对北部战区与比利时军队驻防区所属的救护站进行了视察。我先后到了亚眠、加来、敦克尔刻、弗尔内与波普林格，还去了凡尔登、南锡、贝尔福、吕纳维尔、贡比涅与维耶柯特莱。这些离战区很远的地方的救护站人手紧张，工作又非常繁重，因此我就经常在那里帮助工作。我在他们非常困难的情况下所提供的帮助，令他们非常感动。因此他们还给我写过一些热忱的感谢信，这些信我一直都珍藏着。

The motive of my starting on a journey was usually a demand from surgeons. I went with a radiologic car which I kept for my personal use. In examining the wounded in the hospital, I could gain information of the special needs of the region. When back in Paris, I got the necessary equipment to meet these needs and returned to install it myself, for very often the people on the ground could not do it. I had then to find competent persons to handle the apparatus and show them how to do it, in full detail. After a few days of hard toil, the manipulator knew enough to work the apparatus himself, and at the same time a large number of wounded had been examined. In addition, the surgeons of the region had gained an idea of the usefulness of the radiologic examination (which few of them knew at that time), and friendly relations were established which made the later development of my work much easier.

On several of my trips I was accompanied by my elder daughter, Irene, who was then seventeen years old, and, having finished her preparatory studies, was beginning higher studies at the Sorbonne. Because she greatly desired to be useful, she now studied nursing and learned radiology, and did her best to help me under the most varied circumstances. She did ambulance work at the front between Furnes and Ypres, and also at Amiens, receiving, from the Chiefs of Service, testimonials of work satisfactorily performed and, at the end of the war, a medal.

每当有救护站的医生请求我给予帮助的时候，我便亲自驾着我自用的配有X光设备的流动车前去支援。在替伤员们进行检查的同时，我还捎带着对当地急需些什么进行一下了解，等我返回巴黎之后，便想方设法地为他们解决这些问题。战区救护站的工作人员大多数不会使用X光设备，我必须挑选一些适当的人为他们进行详细的讲解与培训。经过几天的训练，他们掌握了如何对设备进行操作，而伤员们也在医务人员进行培训的同时做完了必要的检查。刚开始，了解X光设备益处所在的医生并不多。接受了我的培训之后，他们完全清楚了这种设备的作用，我同他们之间的关系也因此变得更加亲切友好。我再去那儿工作的时候，就方便多了。

有几次我驾车到外地救护站去的时候，大女儿艾莱娜也陪着我一同前往，她那时已经17岁了，高中毕业后，正就读于巴黎大学。她同样怀着一颗报国之心，积极地加入到战地服务中来。她学习了看护知识和技术，以及X光拍片技术等，在各种情况下都尽力地帮助我。她到过位于弗尔内与伊普尔之间的战区和亚眠等地参加救护工作。由于工作很出色，她受到过嘉奖，战后还因此获得过奖章。

Of the hospital life of those years, we keep many a remembrance, my daughter and I. Traveling conditions were extraordinarily difficult; we were often not sure of being able to press forward, to say nothing of the uncertainty of finding lodgings and food. However, things always ended in arranging themselves, thanks to our persistence and to the good will we met. Wherever we went I had to look after each detail myself and see innumerable military chiefs to obtain passes and permissions for transportation. Many a time I loaded my apparatus on to the train myself, with the help of the employees, to make sure that it would go forward instead of remaining behind several days at the station. And on arrival I also went to extract them from the encumbered station.

When I traveled with the radiologic car, other problems presented themselves. I had, for instance, to find safe places for the car, to get lodgings for the assistants and to secure the automobile accessories. Since chauffeurs were scarce, I learned to drive the car, and did it when necessary. Owing to all this personal supervision, my installations were usually swiftly made, whereas appeal to the Central Health Service was answered slowly. So the military chiefs greatly appreciated the assistance they could get from me, especially in cases of urgent need.

We both, my daughter and myself, have pleasant and grateful memories of the personnel of the hospitals, and were on the best terms with the surgeons and nurses. One could not but admire these men and women who were giving their services without counting, and whose task was often overwhelming. Our collaboration was easy, for my daughter and I tried to work in their spirit; and we felt that we were standing side by side with friends.

战争期间所作的救护工作使我和艾莱娜永远难以忘怀。开车前往各个救护站的路上，经常会遇到各种各样意想不到的困难。我们经常无法确切地知道是否能够继续前行，更不知道将在何处投宿、吃饭。但是，因为我们的信心坚定，加上运气又好，一个接一个的困难全部迎刃而解了。不管到了哪里，事无巨细，我都亲自照料，并且还要去同军事首领进行交涉，以被放行并获得运输许可。许多时候，我在助手的帮助下亲自将设备装上火车，这样就可以确定仪器设备能够被迅速地运送到目的地，而不是要在车站滞留很长一段时间。到了目的地后，我还要到存放那些设备的车站把它们弄出来。

当我驾驶着我那配备有放射设备的车四处奔走时，其他的一些问题也出现了。比如，要给车子找一个安全的地方停放，为助手们解决吃住的问题，有时候还要替车子找各种零配件等。由于当时司机短缺，我便学会了驾车，并在必要的时候亲自开车。经过我的亲自监督，仪器设备得以迅速运送到目的地，如果这些事情交给卫生部门处理的话，就必然会耽误时间。所以军事长官们对我提供给他们的帮助赞不绝口，对于我处理紧急情况的能力更是钦佩不已。

我和女儿在回忆起向各个救护站奔赴的情景时，总是会有一种愉快的兴奋劲头涌上心间。我们和各个医院以及救护站的医生护士们都相处得很好，他们都能够做到吃苦耐劳、不怕牺牲，这令我和女儿对他们钦佩不已，经常以他们为榜样，来鞭策自己去克服所有的困难。正是这种共同的目标与追求，才使得我们大家相处得宛如亲朋好友，彼此互相帮助，得以顺利地完成各种任务。

While we were attached to the Belgian Ambulance Service, we were present several times during visits of King Albert and Queen Elizabeth. We appreciated deeply their devotion, their solicitude for the wounded, their extreme simplicity, and the cordiality of their behavior.

But nothing was so moving as to be with the wounded and to take care of them. We were drawn to them because of their suffering and because of the patience with which they bore it. Almost everyone did his best to facilitate the X-ray examination, notwithstanding the pain caused by any displacement. One learned very soon to know them individually and to exchange with them a few friendly words. Those who were not familiar with the examination, wanted very much to be reassured about the effect of the strange apparatus they were going to experience.

I can never forget the terrible impression of all that destruction of human life and health. To hate the very idea of war, it ought to be sufficient to see once what I have seen so many times, all through those years: men and boys brought to the advanced ambulance in a mixture of mud and blood, many of them dying of their injuries, many others recovering but slowly through months of pain and suffering.

当我们为比利时救护队服务的时候，比利时国王阿尔贝和王后伊丽莎白经常前来视察。国王与王后态度热忱，平易近人，对伤员也关切有加，这给我留下了非常深刻的印象。

但是，伤员们在我们对他们进行治疗时的那种强忍着痛苦也不哼一声的坚毅精神是最令我们感动的。每当我们同情而又钦佩地去为他们做透视、拍片子时，都尽量做到又轻又慢，以便使他们少受点痛苦。相处了一段时间后，彼此间比较熟悉了，我们便通过简单的交谈表达我们对他们的敬意。那些没有做透视的伤员也非常渴望对他们将要用的这种奇怪的设备进行了解。

我们永远也无法忘记战争期间所遇见的那些摧残人类健康的悲惨场面，它令我对战争无比的憎恨。无论我几年中所见到的那些恐怖场面中的哪一次都足以使人憎恶战争。当救护车到达前线时，那些被抬到车里的青壮年伤员无一不是血肉模糊、满身污泥，其境惨不忍睹。重伤员们奄奄一息，命若游丝。即便伤势并不致命者，也要忍受长年累月的痛苦之后才能慢慢恢复健康。

One of my difficult problems was to find the necessary trained assistants to operate my apparatus. At the beginning of the war there was little knowledge of radiology, and apparatus in the hands of those who did not understand how to handle it deteriorated quickly and was soon useless. The practice of radiology in most hospitals in war-time did not require much medical knowledge; it could be sufficiently grasped by intelligent persons who knew how to study and who had some notion of electrical machinery. Professors, engineers, or university students often made good manipulators. I had to look for those who were temporarily free from military service, or who happened to be stationed in the locality where I needed them. But even after I had secured them, these operators were often transferred by military orders, and I had to search again for others to fill their places. For this reason, I determined to train women to do this work.

Accordingly, I proposed to the Health Service to add a department of radiology to the Nurses' School which had just been founded at the Edith Cavell Hospital. This they agreed to do. And so, in 1916, the course was organized at the Radium Institute, and provided in the following years of war for the training of one hundred and fifty operators. Most of the pupils who applied had only an elementary education, but could succeed if working in a proper way. The course comprised theoretical studies and very extended practical training; it included also some instruction in anatomy. It was given by a few persons of good will, among them my daughter. Our graduates formed an excellent personnel very genuinely appreciated by the Board of Health. Theoretically, they were supposed to serve as aides to physicians, but several of them proved capable of independent work.

令我最为头疼的一个问题就是怎样才能找到一个训练有素的助手，可以协助我使用X光拍片设备。在战争刚刚开始的时候，X光拍片技术还十分罕见，所以懂得这方面知识的人很少。而不熟悉这种仪器设备的人对其进行使用的话，仪器就极容易损坏，过不了多久就会成为一堆废弃物。但是战争时期，多数医院都没法要求操作这种仪器的人具有太多的医学知识，只要他们识字且又灵巧一点，略微再懂点电机知识就都能上岗了。至于大学教师、工程师或者大学生，稍加训练便能够成为合格的X光机操作员。但是，战争期间，我只能聘请那些得以暂时免服兵役，或者恰好在我需要工作的地方长住的人，作为我的助手。可是，即便是找到了这样的人，也说不准哪一天又会被征入伍，奔赴前线，这样一来，我就又要重新寻找助手了。鉴于这么多的不便，后来我就另谋出路，培养一些女性来做我的助手。

我向卫生部建议，在当时刚刚成立时间不长的伊迪斯·卡维尔医院所附属的卫校添加一个X光照相科。我的提议获得批准，由镭研所在1916年负责对这个科室进行组织，并开始培训。在整个战争期间，总共培训了150个女子。初入培训队时，她们一般都只受过初级教育，但是在正确方法的引导下,她们都能够做得很好。她们的学习课程除了基础理论与一般的实习以外，还有一些解剖知识。课程由包括我女儿在内的一些热心人来讲授。从培训队毕业的女子，后来都成为了优秀的X光照相技师，并多次获得卫生部的赞赏。按所学习的课程来说，她们只能成为医护帮手，但是其中有一些人完全具备独立工作的能力。

My continued and various experience in war radiology gave me a wide knowledge of that subject, which I felt should be made more familiar to the public. So I wrote a small book called "Radiology and the War", in which I aimed to demonstrate the vital importance of radiology and to compare its development during war time with its use in the previous time of peace.

I come now to the account of the founding of the service of radiumtherapy at the Radium Institute.

In 1915, the radium, which had been safely deposited in Bordeaux, was brought back to Paris, and not having time for regular scientific research, I decided to use it to cure the wounded, without, however, risking the loss of this precious material. I proceeded to place at the disposal of the Health Service not the radium itself, but the emanation which can be obtained from it at regular intervals. The technique of the use of the emanation can readily be employed in the larger radiumtherapy institutes, and, in many ways, is more practicable than the direct use of radium. In France, however, there, was no national institute of radiumtherapy, and the emanation was not used in hospitals.

I offered to furnish regularly to the Health Service bulbs of radium emanation. The offer, was accepted, and the "Emanation Service", started in 1916, was continued until the end of the war and even longer. Having no assistants, I had, for a long time, to prepare these emanation bulbs alone, and their preparation is very delicate. Numbers of wounded and sick, military and civil, were treated by means of these bulbs.

战争期间从事X光照相的经历使我积累了很丰富的知识与经验，都是关于这门医疗检查的新技术。我认为应该把这些知识拿出来与大家分享，所以便写了一本名为《放射学与战争》的书。我写这本书的目的是想阐述并证明X光照相技术在医疗实践中的重要价值，并且我将它于战争期间所获得的发展同和平时期的用途作了详尽的比较与说明。

现在我再来谈一下战争期间镭治疗所发挥的作用和镭研所创办时的情况。

保存在波尔多的镭在1915年被运回巴黎了。我在当时没有多余的时间去作正式的科学研究，所以就用这些镭对伤员进行治疗。当然了，我们也有一个原则，在用镭进行治疗的时候，必须保证不把这种宝贵的物质用光了。治疗中我们并不使用镭本身，而是使用它的射气。我们将镭射气收集到一定的数量后，就把它交给救护单位去使用。镭射气治疗多半是在一些比较大的医院进行，治疗方法也各不相同，比直接用镭元素进行治疗要方便实用。但在法国还没有国立的镭疗养院，各家医院也没有镭射气可供治疗使用。

我向卫生部提建议，由镭研所来提供用玻璃管装着的镭射气，按时提供给各救护单位使用。建议被批准之后，镭射气服务于1916年开始施行，并一直持续到战争结束甚至更久一些。因为当时我没有助手，全部玻璃管装的镭射气都由我亲自制备，其过程既精确而又细致。不计其数的伤员和百姓因为接受了这种方法的治疗而获得了康复。

During the bombardment of Paris, the Health Board took special measures to protect from shells the laboratory in which the bulbs were prepared. Since the handling of radium is far from being free of danger(several times I have felt a discomfort which I consider a result of this cause), measures were taken to prevent harmful effects of the rays on the persons preparing emanation.

While the work in connection with the hospitals remained my major interest, I had many other preoccupations during the war.

After the failure of the German offensive in the summer of 1918, at the request of the Italian government, I went to Italy to study the question of her natural resources in radioactive materials. I remained a month and was able to obtain certain results in interesting the public authorities in the importance of this new subject.

It was in 1915 that I had to move my laboratory to the new building in the rue Pierre Curie. This was a trying and complicated experience, for which, once more, I had no money nor any help. So it was only between my journeys that I was able, little by little, to do the transportation of my laboratory equipment, in my radiologic cars. Afterwards, I had much work in classifying and distributing my materials, and arranging the new place in general, with the help of my daughter and of my mechanic, who, unfortunately, was often ill.

One of my first cares was to have trees planted in the limited grounds of my laboratory. I felt it very necessary for the eyes to have the comfort of fresh leaves in spring and summer time. So I tried to make things pleasant for those who were to work in the new building. We planted a few lime trees and plane trees, as many as there was room for, and did not forget flowerbeds and roses. I well remember the first day of bombardment of Paris with the big German gun; we had gone, in the early morning, to the flower-market, and spent all that day busy with our plantation, while a few shells fell in the vicinity.

自从巴黎遭到空袭时起，卫生部就非常重视保护制备镭射气的实验室，以防实验室遭到敌机的轰炸。进行镭射气制备就必须要与镭打交道，这是具有一定程度危险性的，所以还要想方设法地对制取人进行保护，以防其遭到射线的侵害（我有几次感到身体不舒服，就是因为不注意受到了射线的照射）。

虽然说医疗救护是我在战争期间从事的主要工作，但我也做了其他的一些事情。

1918年夏天，在德国的总攻失败之后，我接受意大利政府的邀请，去对他们放射性矿藏的拥有量进行考察。在意大利停留的一个月期间，我收获颇丰，引起了意大利政府对于这一问题的密切关注。

我的实验室于1915年迁入皮埃尔·居里街的新建大楼。经费和人手不足导致搬迁时困难重重。我驾驶着装备有X光照相设备的车子在新居旧屋之间往返，像蚂蚁搬家那样将实验室的仪器搬到新址去。搬完之后，我还要将仪器设备分门别类，重新布置整理。这期间只有我的大女儿同技师帮我，但技师身体不好，老是生病。

在刚刚搬到新的地方之后，我就十分重视在实验室四周有限的一点空地上种树。我觉得，在春夏之际，能够让眼睛看到令人感觉舒服且又新鲜的树叶是很有必要的，因此，我开始试着做这件能够让在新的实验室里工作的人员感到心情舒畅的事情。我们将空地上能种树的地方全都种上了菩提树、枫树，还开辟出几个花圃，种了玫瑰。记得在德国人第一天炮轰巴黎的时候，我们从花市买来花种，回来后一整天都忙着在花圃里进行种植，就在这个期间忽然有几发炮弹落在我们附近。

In spite of the great difficulties, the new laboratory was organized little by little, and I had the satisfaction of having it quite ready for the beginning of the school-year 1919—1920, the period of demobilization. In the spring of 1919, I organized special courses for some American soldier students, who also studied with much zeal the practical exercises directed by my daughter.

The entire period of the war was for me, as for many others, a period of great fatigue. I took almost no vacation, except for a few days, now and then, when I went to see my daughters on their holidays. My older daughter would scarcely take any, and I was obliged to send her away sometimes to preserve her health. She was continuing her studies in the Sorbonne, and besides, as said before, was helping me with my war work, while the younger daughter was still in the preparatory college. Neither of them wished to leave Paris during the bombardment.

After more than four years of a war which caused ravages without precedent, the armistice came at last, in the autumn of 1918, followed by laborious efforts to reestablish peace, which is not yet general nor complete. It was a great relief to France to see the end of that dark period of cruel losses. But the griefs are too recent and life still too hard for calm and happiness yet to be restored.

尽管困难重重，但新实验室总算逐渐地安顿好了。战争结束，部队士兵开始复员的时候，我们的实验室也基本上准备完毕，在1919—1920年开学时，我们已经可以让学生入学了，对此我尤感欣慰。1919年春天，我在实验室里专门为美国军人开了一个特别培训班，艾莱娜对培训班的学员进行辅导。这些军人也都积极认真地投入到学习中去。

战争期间，我和其他许多人一样，过着一生当中最辛苦、劳累的日子。我从未休过假，只是偶尔在看望两个放假的女儿时才会休息那么一两天。我的大女儿艾莱娜几乎不愿意歇着。为了保证她的健康，我有时候不得不强迫她休息几天。那时候，她一面在巴黎大学学习，还一面像以往所说的那样帮我做各种各样的工作来服务战争。二女儿艾娃那时候还在读高中。当巴黎遭到狂轰滥炸的时候，她们两个都不愿意离开巴黎到乡下去躲避。

四年多的大战所造成的毁灭性破坏是前所未有的，那是人类所经历的一场浩劫。1918年秋，经过各个方面为恢复和平而进行的努力之后，停战协定终于签订了。然而，真正的和平到如今仍未完全到来。残酷而又恐怖的战争结束了，法国人民总算松了一口气，但战争所造成的种种严重破坏，并不是一下子就可以消除的。人们依旧生活在水深火热之中，以往宁静欢快的心情一时间也难以恢复过来。

Nevertheless, a great joy came to me as a consequence of the victory obtained by the sacrifice of so many human lives. I had lived, though I had scarcely expected it, to see the reparation of more than a century of injustice that had been done to Poland, my native country, and that had kept her in slavery, her territories and people divided among her enemies. It was a deserved resurrection for the Polish nation, which showed herself faithful to her national memories during the long period of oppression, almost without hope. The dream that appeared so difficult to realize, although so dear, became a reality following the storm that swept over Europe. In these new conditions I went to Warsaw and saw my family again, after many years of separation, in the capital of free Poland. But how difficult are the conditions of life of the new Polish republic, and how complicated is the problem of reorganization after so many years of abnormal life!

In France, partly devastated and suffering from the loss of so many of her citizens, the difficulties created by the war are not yet effaced, and the return to normal work is being attained only gradually. The scientific laboratories feel this state of affairs and the same condition prevails for the Radium Institute.

The various radiologic organizations created during the war still partially exist. The Radiographic Nurses' School has been maintained at the request of the Board of Health. The emanation service, which could not be abandoned, is also continued in a considerably enlarged form. It has passed under the direction of Doctor Regaud, Director of the Pasteur Laboratory of the Radium Institute, and is developing into a great national service of radiumtherapy.

不管怎样，以无数生命为代价换回来的胜利使我感到快慰。快慰就是我梦寐以求而又不敢奢望的大事竟然让我在有生之年得以亲眼所见，我的祖国波兰在经历了一个多世纪的奴役、压迫之后，终于获得了独立和自由，我的激动心情难以表述。波兰人民效忠于祖国的民族精神不变，始终坚持斗争，使波兰在整个欧洲经受了狂风暴雨般的洗礼之后，终于获得了独立和自由，这是波兰人民的胜利与骄傲。多年来波兰人民所追求的梦想最终得以实现。在这欢庆的时刻，我再次回到了阔别多年的华沙，同多年未见的亲朋好友见了面。华沙已经成了新成立的波兰共和国的首都，但是经历了这么长时间的压迫与奴役，重建一个共和国将遇到多少的困难啊！其他的姑且不说，单就各种政治力量的重新组合就可能会遇到很多难以预料的困难。

此时的法国，到处都是一片废墟，看起来满目疮痍，人口也减少无数。战争所遗留下来的困难一时间难以解决，只能慢慢地恢复，进入正常状态。包括我们的镭研所在内的各个实验室，全都难以在一时间恢复元气。

战争期间建立起来的各种X射线医疗组织，一部分在战后仍旧存在，由于卫生部的坚持，X射线医学卫校保留下来了。镭射气的供应非但没有中断，反而扩大了规模，不过这项工作已于战后交给巴斯德实验室的主任瑞戈博士，由他负责了；后来，这一业务发展成为全国性的大规模镭治疗事业。

The work of the laboratory has been reorganized, with the return of the mobilized personnel and the students. But in the restrained circumstances under which the country still exists, the laboratory lacks ways and means for its efficient development. Particularly are wanted an independent hospital for radiumtherapy (which is called Curietherapy in France), and an experimental station, outside of Paris, for experiments on great quantities of material, such as are needed for the progress of our knowledge of radioactive elements.

I myself am no longer young, and I frequently ask myself whether, in spite of recent efforts of the government aided by some private donations, I shall ever succeed in building up for those who will come after me an Institute of Radium, such as I wish to the memory of Pierre Curie and to the highest interest of humanity.

However, a precious encouragement came to me in the year 1921. On the initiative of a generous daughter of the United States, Mrs. W. B. Meloney, the women of that great American country collected a fund, the"Marie Curie Radium Fund", and offered me the gift of a gramme of radium to be placed entirely at my disposal for scientific research. Mrs. Meloney invited me with my daughters to come to America and to receive the gift, or the symbol of it, from the hands of the President of the great republic, at the White House.

The fund was collected by a public subscription, as well by small as by important gifts, and I was very thankful to my sisters of America for this genuine proof of their affection. So I started for New York at the beginning of May, after a ceremony given in my honor at the Opera of Paris, to greet me before my departing.

战后，职员和学生们陆续复员，我的实验室经过了新的组合，研究工作也逐渐走上正轨，但是由于国家财政困难，想要像理想中那样发展也并非易事。就我而言，我认为最为紧迫的是应该建立一个独立的镭疗（在法国被称为“居里疗法”）医院；还应该在巴黎郊区建立一个实验分所，以便对大量原矿石进行实验分析，从而增强我们人类对于放射性元素的认识。

我已经不再年轻，精力也大不如从前。我经常暗自琢磨，尽管政府已经开始对我的实验室进行资助，而且一些私人也常常会给予我们捐赠，但我不知道自己能否为后人建立起一座镭学研究院，既可以实现皮埃尔·居里的遗愿，又可以为人类造福。

幸运的是，我于1921年得到了一个非常宝贵的帮助。美国的一位慷慨的女性W.B.梅乐内夫人，在她的国家发动全国性的妇女捐款，并成立了“玛丽·居里镭基金”，她们用这笔钱买了一克镭送给我作为科研之用。梅乐内夫人还邀请我与两个女儿前往美国旅行，请我亲自去接受这份礼物和证书，并且由美国总统在白宫亲自将礼物和证书交到我的手中。

募捐是在整个美国范围内进行的，捐助者捐款多少是由她们自己决定的。我非常感谢美国妇女对我的深情厚谊。因此，5月初，当巴黎歌剧院为我们母女三人举办完赴美欢送大会之后，我们就乘船远赴美国纽约。

I keep a grateful memory of my sojourn in the United States for several weeks, of the impressive reception at the White House, where President Harding addressed me in generous and affectionate words, of my visits to the universities and colleges which welcomed me and bestowed on me their honorary degrees, of the public reunions where I could not but feel the deep sympathy of those who came to meet me and to wish me good luck.

I had also the opportunity of a visit to the Niagara Falls and to the Grand Canyon, and admired immensely these marvelous creations of nature.

Unhappily, the precarious state of my health did not permit of the complete fulfilment of the general plan established by my visit to America. However, I saw and learned much, and my daughters enjoyed to a full extent the opportunities of their unexpected vacation and the pride in the recognition of their mother's work. We left for Europe at the end of June, with the real sorrow of parting from excellent friends whom we would not forget.

I came back to my work, made easier by the precious gift, with an even stronger desire to carry it forward with renewed courage. But as my aims are still wanting support in essential parts, I am frequently compelled to give thought to a very fundamental question concerning the view a scientist ought to take of his discovery.

在美国度过的那几个星期的情景至今还历历在目。在白宫举办的欢迎会上，哈定总统作了热情而又诚挚的演讲。后来在到各个大学和学院参观的时候，那里的师生对我表示了热烈的欢迎，还有不少院校授予我名誉学位，这使我真不知道该如何感谢才好。公众集会上，许多人争相同我握手，向我表示祝贺，所有这些情谊我都铭记在心。

我还有机会浏览了尼亚加拉大瀑布与大峡谷，大自然的鬼斧神工使我不禁赞叹它的伟大和不可思议。

遗憾的是，因为身体状况不好，我无法完成全部的预订计划，不过，这趟旅行确实使我增长了见识，学到了许多东西。在这个宝贵的机会中，我的两个女儿不但好好地享受了一番这个意料之外的精彩假期，并且当看到自己母亲的研究受到如此的尊重和赞赏时，她们感到非常自豪。6月底，我们要启程返回欧洲了，在同好友梅乐内夫人以及其他的友人告别时，因为大家都不知道今生今世还能否再次相见，所以真是难舍难分的。

返回研究所之后，因为有了美国友人赠送的这一克镭，不但研究工作进行得顺利多了，而且两国人民间的友谊也增添了我们的勇气和信心。但是经济方面的问题仍然成为我们完成预期重大目标的困扰，每当因为经济拮据而无法进行研究的时候，我就会对一个根本的问题进行考虑：一个科学家对自己的科学发现究竟应该采取怎样的态度。

My husband, as well as myself, always refused to draw from our discovery any material profit. We have published, since the beginning, without any reserve, the process that we used to prepare the radium. We took out no patent and we did not reserve any advantage in any industrial exploitation. No detail was kept secret, and it is due to the information we gave in our publications that the industry of radium has been rapidly developed. Up to the present time this industry hardly uses any methods except those established by us. The treatment of the minerals and the fractional crystallizations are still performed in the same way, as I did it in my laboratory, even if the material means are increased.

As for the radium prepared by me out of the ore we managed to obtain in the first years of our work, I have given it all to my laboratory. The price of radium is very high since it is found in minerals in very small quantities, and the profits of its manufacture have been great, as this substance is used to cure a number of diseases. So it is a fortune which we have sacrificed in renouncing the exploitation of our discovery, a fortune that could, after us, have gone to our children. But what is even more to be considered is the objection of many of our friends, who have argued, not without reason, that if we had guaranteed our rights, we could have had the financial means of founding a satisfactory Institute of Radium, without experiencing any of the difficulties that have been such a handicap to both of us, and are still a handicap to me. Yet, I still believe that we have done right.

我的丈夫和我，一直都是不愿从自己的科学发现中谋取任何物质利益的。所以，从一开始，我们就毫无保留地将镭的提取方法迅速公之于众。我们既没有申请专利，也没有向利用它来牟利的工业家提过任何权益方面的要求。提炼与制取镭的方法非常复杂，但我们详细地公布了它。可以这样认为，正是因为我们如此迅速并且详尽地将这种复杂而精细的提炼方法公之于众，镭工业才能够迅速地发展起来。到目前为止，制镭工业仍在运用我们当时所制定的方法和程序。现在提炼过程中所运用的矿石处理与部分结晶的程序，也都是从前我们在实验室里所采用过的方法，只不过现在的仪器设备比以前我们的那些有所改进。

皮埃尔与我将提炼、制取的镭全部赠送给了我们的实验室。由于在矿物中镭的含量非常少，因此它的价格十分昂贵，而且它又可以用来治疗一些疾病，因此镭工业获利不菲。我们放弃了从发现中所应获得的利益，也就相当于放弃了大量财富，如果不是这样，在我们去世后，儿孙们就会变成富翁。但是我们并没有考虑这些，倒是一些朋友的意见值得考虑。他们理直气壮地对我说，如果你们保留了应得的权益的话，早就有足够的财力去创建一座设备精良并且齐全的镭研所了，而不会像现在这样举步维艰。确实，这种困难经常使我们的研究无法顺利进行。但是，我仍旧坚信皮埃尔同我的行为与决定是完全正确的。

Humanity, surely, needs practical men who make the best of their work for the sake of their own interests, without forgetting the general interest. But it also needs dreamers, for whom the unselfish following of a purpose is so imperative that it becomes impossible for them to devote much attention to their own material benefit. No doubt it could be said that these idealists do not deserve riches since they do not have the desire for them. It seems, however, that a society well organized ought to assure to these workers the means for efficient labor, in a life from which material care is excluded so that this life may be freely devoted to the service of scientific research.

毫无疑问，人类需要注重自己实际利益的人，他们努力工作，谋取自身的利益，这是与人类的普遍利益并行不悖的。但是，人类毕竟也需要具有理想主义的人，他们对大公无私的崇高境界进行追求，没有时间去顾及自身的物质利益。追求理想主义的人因为无意于追求物质享受，因此也就没有享受物质的可能。但是，我认为一个完善的社会应该向这些理想主义者提供必要的研究经费和个人生活保证，使他们没有任何牵挂地潜心于自己的科研事业。

Chapter IV　A Visit to America

My beautiful voyage to the United States of America resulted, as is known, from the generous initiative of an American woman, Mrs. Meloney, editor of an important magazine, the Delineator, who, having planned the gift of a gramme of radium to me by her countrywomen, succeeded in a few months in bringing this plan to execution, and asked me to come over and receive the gift personally.

The idea was that the gift would come exclusively from the American women. A committee including several prominent women and distinguished scientific men received some important gifts, and made an appeal for a public subscription, to which a great number of women's organizations, especially colleges and clubs, responded. In many cases gifts came from persons who had experienced the benefit of radiumtherapy. In this way was collected the"Marie Curie Radium Fund" of more than one hundred thousand dollars for the purchase of a gramme of radium. The President of the United States, Mr. Harding, kindly agreed to deliver the gift in a ceremony at the White House.

The Committee invited me and my daughters to the United States in May, and even though it was not vacation time for me, I accepted the invitation with the consent of the University of Paris.

第四章　美国之行

在上一章中，我已经介绍过我的愉快的美国之旅。这次旅行是受到了梅乐内夫人的邀请。梅乐内夫人是著名刊物《反光灯》的主编，她在几个月内成功地用募集到的义款为我购买了一克镭。因此，我应她之邀去往纽约接受这个珍贵的赠品。

这项捐赠的意义就在于它来自美国妇女界。她们首先组成一个募捐委员会，成员全部是美国妇女界的知名人士以及很有声望的科学家。开始先募集到几笔不小的捐款，之后再号召广大妇女积极进行捐赠。她们的这个号召发出之后，很快便有许多美国妇女团体响应，各个大学和俱乐部更是不愿落后。捐赠者中就有镭治疗的获益者。捐赠者十分踊跃，所以很快便募集到了“玛丽·居里镭基金”十多万美元，随后她们便用这笔钱购买了一克镭。并且美国总统哈定同意在白宫举行仪式，亲手把它交给我。

这个委员会邀请我们母女三人5月中旬前往美国。尽管还没有到放暑假的时候，但是巴黎大学破例准许我接受邀请，前往美国领取赠品。

All care of the voyage was taken away from me. Mrs. Meloney came to France in time to be present at a manifestation organized on the 28th of April in favor of the Radium Institute of Paris by the magazine Je Sais Tout, and accompanied by sincere expressions of sympathy for the American nation. On May 4th, we took passage at Cherbourg on the Olympic for New York.

The program of my voyage prepared by the Committee seemed very intimidating. It was announced that I would not only attend the ceremony at the White House, but also visit many universities and colleges in several towns. Some of these institutions had contributed to the Fund; all desired to offer me honors. The vitality and the activity of the American nation produces programs on a large scale. On the other hand, the wideness of the country has developed in American citizens the custom of long travel. But during all that travel I was protected with the greatest care, in order to lighten as far as possible the inevitable fatigue of the voyage and the receptions. America not only gave me a generous welcome, but also true friends whom I could not thank enough for their kindness and their devotion.

After having admired the grand view of the harbors of New York, and having been greeted by groups of students, Girl Scouts, and Polish delegates, and welcomed by many gifts of flowers, we took possession of a peaceful apartment in town. The following day I made the acquaintance of the Reception Committee at a luncheon given by Mrs. Carnegie in her beautiful home still filled with memories of her husband, Andrew Carnegie, whose philanthropic achievements are well known in France. The following day we went for a visit of a few days to Smith College, and Vassar College, a few hours from New York. Later I also visited the colleges of Bryn Mawr and Wellesley, and I saw some others on my way.

对于旅途中的一切事情，邀请者们都进行了精心的安排，不需要我费一点心思。梅乐内夫人亲自前往法国迎接我，并陪我乘坐海轮到美国去。法国刊物《我无所不知》4月28日为巴黎镭研所全体员工举行庆祝大会，梅乐内夫人也参加了。在会上，主办方对美国妇女界的深厚情谊表示了由衷的感谢和高度的称赞。5月4日，我们在瑟堡乘坐奥林匹克号轮船前往纽约。

委员会为我安排的行程和各种捐赠仪式多得使我应接不暇。除了出席白宫的捐赠仪式之外，我还要参加分别位于好几座城市的大专院校所举行的欢迎仪式。仪式上我被授予许多的荣誉头衔，其中有不少授予单位参加了捐赠。美国人做事雷厉风行，举行的仪式大多场面宏大。而且，由于美国幅员辽阔，美国人习惯长途旅行，而我却对这种长途跋涉很不习惯。一路上，他们对我照顾得无微不至，竭尽所能地减轻我在旅途中和宴会上的劳累。美国人不但给了我热烈的欢迎，还成为了我真诚的朋友，我不知道怎样才能表达出对他们的感激之情。

邮轮进入纽约港时，我们见到了那雄伟壮观的码头。大批学生、女童子军和波兰人代表守候在码头上欢迎我们的到来。无数的鲜花被献给了我们。然后，我们便被送往一处清静的住所休息。第二天，卡内基夫人在她的豪华寓所设宴替我们接风洗尘。席间，我结识了募捐委员会的一些人。在卡内基夫人的私邸中，陈列着她的丈夫安德鲁·卡内基先生的部分遗物。在法国，卡内基的慈善事业名声很大。第三天，我们前往史密斯学院与瓦萨尔学院进行参观，坐火车从纽约到那儿需数个小时。在那之后，我们又去参观了布莱思·莫尔和韦尔斯利等学院。在这一过程中还顺便对其他一些学校进行了参观。

These colleges, or universities for women, are very characteristic of American life and culture. My short visit could not permit me to give an authorized opinion on the intellectual training, but even in such a visit as I made one may notice important differences between the French and American conception of girls' education, and some of these differences would not be in favor of our country. Two points have particularly drawn my attention: the care of the health and the physical development of the students, and the very independent organization of their life which allows a large degree of individual initiative.

The colleges are excellent in their construction and organization. They are composed of several buildings, often scattered in very large grounds between lawns and trees. Smith is on the shore of a charming river. The equipment is comfortable and hygienic, of extreme cleanliness, with bathrooms, showers, distribution of cold and hot water. The students have cheerful private rooms and common gathering rooms. A very complete organization of games and sports exists in every college. The students play tennis and baseball; they have gymnasium, canoeing, swimming, and horseback riding. Their health is under the constant care of medical advisers. It seems to be a frequent opinion of American mothers that the existing atmosphere of cities like New York is not favorable to the education of young girls, and that a life in the country in the open air gives more suitable conditions for the health and the tranquillity of studying.

以上这些女子高等院校最能对美国人的生活与他们的文化进行反映。由于时间仓促，我只能走马观花地看了一下，而无法确切地对美国的教育进行评价。但是，凭借这些短暂的观察，我还是感觉到了美国人与法国人在教育方面，特别是在对女子的教育方面观念的异同。其中的两点令我体会最深：一是美国人极其重视学生的健康与体育锻炼；二是美国学生在个性发展和独立自主方面有着充分的自由。她们组织了很多社团。而在法国，这两个方面都没有得到充分的重视。

我所到过的每个大学的建筑和布局都既壮观又和谐。通常情况下，教学大楼会屹立在一片空旷的场地中央，每座大楼之间遍布着树木与草坪。史密斯学院就坐落在一条幽静的小河边。校舍窗明几净，令人感觉清爽舒服。浴室的设备也很齐全，冷热水不限量供应。学生公寓十分整洁，还有供学生们聚会用的大厅。体育锻炼也被组织得很有秩序，学生们可以按照自己的爱好选练网球、棒球，或者在室内体育馆里练习体操，还可以游泳、骑马，总之是能够任意进行选择。学校里面还设有医务管理组织，负责学生们的健康。美国母亲们认为，大城市，特别是纽约的环境不利于对女孩子们的教育，但乡间宁静且又空旷，不但对她们的身心健康有益，还能够使她们静下心来学习。

In every college the young girls form an association and elect a committee which has to establish the internal rules of the college. The students display a great activity: they take part in educational work; they publish a paper; they are devoted to songs and music; they write plays, and act them in college and out of it. These plays have interested me very much in their subjects and the execution. The students are also of different social conditions. Many of them are of wealthy families, but many others live on scholarships. The whole organization may be considered as democratic. A few students are foreigners, and we have met some French students very well pleased with the college life and the studies.

Every college takes four years of study with examinations from time to time. Some students afterwards do personal work, and acquire the degree of Doctor, which does not exactly correspond to the same title in France. The colleges have laboratories with many good facilities for experimentation.

I have been strongly impressed by the joy of life animating these young girls and expanding on every occasion, like that of one of my visit. If the ceremonies of the reception were performed in a nearly military order, a spontaneity of youth and happiness expressed itself in the songs of greeting composed by the students, in the smiling and excited faces, and in the rushing over the lawns to greet me at my arrival. This was indeed a charming impression which I could not forget.

每个学院里，都由女学生们组织成立学生会，其委员由大家推选产生。学生会可以指定学生在校内所应遵守的行为准则。学生们都很活跃，她们参与教育活动，她们自己动手编印刊物，她们专注于歌曲和音乐，她们还编排戏剧在校内外进行演出。我对她们所演的戏剧内容非常感兴趣。学生们的家庭出身大不相同，有的来自富裕家庭，有的则要依靠奖学金维持学习和生活，但是学生会组织却非常民主，在那里人人平等，没有贵贱之分。学院里面也有不少的外国学生，我见过几个法国学生，他们告诉我说他们对学校的生活以及学习环境都很满意。

学院全部是四年制。学习期间不时地会进行考试。有的学生将四年的学业完成之后，可以继续进行研究，以获取博士学位。美国的博士学位和法国的不太一样。每个学院都拥有自己的实验室，并且仪器设备都很先进。

学院里年轻的女大学生们朝气蓬勃，极为活跃，给我留下了很深的印象。如果遇到欢迎会之类的庆祝活动，比如说我到学院来参观，那些女大学生们总是自觉地积极参加。为我举办的几次欢迎活动，虽然有点半军事化，但是女大学生们热情的神态，她们表演自排自唱的歌曲时那激昂的情绪，以及她们奔过草坪向我表示欢迎时的欢欣雀跃的情景，都让我感触颇深，难以忘怀。

Back in New York, several ceremonies awaited me before my leaving for Washington. A luncheon of the Chemists, a reception at the Museum of Natural History and the Mineralogical Club, a dinner at the Institute of Social Sciences, and a great meeting at Carnegie Hall, where many delegations represented the faculties and students of women's colleges and universities. At all these receptions I was greeted in warm addresses by prominent men and women, and I received honors very precious to me because of the sincerity of the givers. Neither has the part of national friendships been forgotten; the address of Vice-President Coolidge was a noble recognition of the past where French and Polish citizens had been helpful to the young American Republic, and was also a statement of fraternity strengthened by the tempest of the last years.

It was in this atmosphere of affection created by the convergence of intellectual and social sympathies that there took place on May 20th the beautiful ceremony at the White House. It was a deeply moving ceremony in all its simplicity, occurring before a democratic gathering including the President and Mrs. Harding, cabinet officers, Judges of the Supreme Court, high officers of Army and Navy, foreign diplomats, representatives of women's clubs and societies, and prominent citizens of Washington and other cities. It comprised a short presentation by the French ambassador, M. Jusserand, a speech by Mrs. Meloney for the American women, the address of President Harding, a few words of gratitude said by me, a defile of the guests, and a group picture for a souvenir, all this in the admirable setting of the White House, peaceful and dignified, white indeed between its green lawns with wide prospects on that beautiful afternoon of May. A remembrance never to be forgotten was left by this reception in which the chief representative of a great nation offered me homage of infinite value, the testimonial of the recognition of his country's citizens.

在返回纽约，去华盛顿之前，我还要参加几个宴会：化学学会的午宴，自然历史博物馆以及冶金矿业学会的欢迎宴会，社会科学研究院的晚宴，在卡内基大会堂由每个学院与大学教师、学生代表共同举行的欢迎大会，在上述宴会中，包含妇女界在内的社会各界名流都发表了热情洋溢的演讲，并授予我各种荣誉头衔和奖状。这些荣誉里都饱含着授予者的真情，所以令我格外地看重。不同国家与民族之间的友谊这一话题是经常被人们提及的。在副总统柯立芝的致辞里，表达了对法国人民及波兰人民在美国创立的过程中所给予的各种帮助的诚挚谢意，他还强调指出，这种友谊在大战中得到了进一步发展。

5月20日，在知识交流与社会之间相互认同的亲切氛围中，白宫为我举行了隆重的欢迎仪式。虽然时间不长，但却令我十分感动。整个欢迎活动显示出的是一种民主作风。出席会议的除总统哈定夫妇之外，还有国务院各部门的主要官员、高等法院法官、三军高级将领、各国驻美大使、华盛顿以及外地的社会名流。仪式开始的时候，首先由法国驻美大使儒塞朗先生致辞，接下来，梅乐内夫人作为美国妇女界的代表进行讲话，然后，哈定总统发表演说。哈定总统演讲完毕之后，我做了简短的答谢发言。随后，参会的来宾排列成队，相继由我面前走过，和我握手表示祝贺。最后，全体与会人员共同合影，用来永久留念。仪式是在庄严而又美丽的白宫举行的。正好是5月阳光明媚的午后，天气晴好，绿草茵茵。白宫屹立在一片草坪之中，周围被一座座建筑物所环绕，看起来洁白晶莹、美不胜收。这个伟大国家的总统代表美国人民在仪式上对我表示欢迎与敬意，真得使我受宠若惊，感到无上的光荣，这一切令我终生难忘。

The address of the President had been inspired by the same sentiments as that of Vice-President Coolidge, as far as concerned his appreciation of France and Poland. This address gave also an expression of the American feeling which was emphasized by an exceptional solemnity in the delivering of the gift.

The American nation is generous, and always ready to appreciate an action inspired by considerations of general interest. If the discovery of radium has so much sympathy in America, it is not only because of its scientific value, and of the importance of medical utilization; it is also because the discovery has been given to humanity without reservation or material benefits to the discoverers. Our American friends wanted to honor this spirit animating the French science.

The radium itself was not brought to the ceremony. The President presented me with the symbol of the gift, a small golden key opening the casket devised for the transportation of the radium.

Our sojourn at Washington following the principal ceremony included a very agreeable reception at the French Embassy and the Polish Legation, a reception at the National Museum, and some laboratory visits.

The itinerary of our journey from Washington included visits to the cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Buffalo, Boston, and New Haven, a visit to the Grand Canyon, and to Niagara Falls. On that trip I was the guest of several universities which did me the honor of bestowing honorary degrees on me. I have to thank for these the universities of Pennsylvania, of Pittsburgh, of Chicago, the Northwestern University, Columbia University, Yale University, the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania, Smith College, and Wellesley College, while I thank Harvard University for her reception.

总统在他的致辞中再一次代表美国人民向法国与波兰人民表达了谢意。他的致辞内容和柯立芝副总统的发言内容大致相同，但他侧重于对谢意的表达，再加上赠送镭的特殊性，令他的情意表达得更加浓烈和贴切。

美国人慷慨仗义，对于对民众福利有利的事情总是会立马表示赞赏。镭的发现之所以在美国受到极大的重视和赞许，不单单是因为它的科学价值与它在医学上的重大作用，更为重要的是，镭的发现者不因此为自己谋取个人利益。这种无偿地、毫无保留地将它奉献给全人类的精神，令美国朋友对法国科学界产生由衷的钦佩与赞赏。

赠送给我的镭并没有被直接带到欢迎仪式上去，而是由美国总统亲手交给我一把小小的金钥匙，用它能够打开那只装有镭的箱子。

在华盛顿出席完主要的庆典后，我在那里继续逗留了几日。除了出席法国使馆、波兰使馆以及国家博物馆的欢迎宴会以外，我还对几座实验室进行了参观。

离开华盛顿后，我们又先后对费城、匹兹堡、芝加哥、布法罗、波士顿以及纽海文等地进行了访问，并游览了大峡谷与尼亚加拉大瀑布。我接受了这些城市里的一些高等院校，如宾夕法尼亚大学、匹兹堡大学、芝加哥大学、西北大学、哥伦比亚大学、耶鲁大学、宾夕法尼亚女子医学院、史密斯学院、韦尔斯利学院等的邀请，去那里参观访问，还接受了他们赠给我的名誉学位。对于他们的这番好意，我感激不尽。另外，哈佛大学也举办了欢迎会，我也应该向他们表示谢意。

The delivery of honorary degrees in American universities is accompanied by solemnities. In principle, the presence of the candidate is required, and the delivery takes place at the annual commencement, but, in some cases, special ceremonies were organized in my favor. The university ceremonies in America are more frequent than in France, and play a more important part in the university life. Especially is this true at the annual commencement, which begins with an academic procession over the grounds of the university, the procession including the officials, the professors, and graduates in academic caps and gowns. Afterwards all assemble in a hall where are announced the diplomas corresponding to the grades of bachelor, master, and doctor. There is always a musical part in the program, and addresses are delivered by the officials of the university or invited orators. These addresses are naturally devoted to dignifying the ideals and the humanitarian purposes of education; but in certain cases it seems permitted to introduce a point of American humor. These ceremonies are on the whole very impressive, and certainly contribute to keep a bond between the university and the alumni. This is a favorable circumstance for those great American universities which are sustained entirely on private foundations. It is only in more recent times that most States have created universities supported by the State.

At Yale University I had the pleasure of representing the University of Paris at the inauguration of President Angell, fourteenth president of the University. I was also pleased to attend at Philadelphia a meeting of the American Philosophical Society and a meeting of the College of Physicians, and at Chicago a meeting of the American Chemical Society at which I delivered a lecture on the Discovery of Radium. The medals of John Scott, Benjamin Franklin, and Willard Gibbs had been presented to me by these societies.

在授予名誉学位时，美国的大学都要举行隆重的仪式。一般情况下，这种仪式是同每年学生的毕业典礼一起举行的，接受名誉学位的学子必须亲自出席，但为我举行的仪式，有几所则是破例单独进行的。这类庆典活动，美国的大学要比法国举办得多，这是它们学生的重要活动之一。每年举办一次的毕业典礼则更是隆重。举行典礼时，本校的教师与应届毕业生都要穿戴好学位袍与学位帽，并列队于校园中游行，之后进入大礼堂，由校长对获得学士、硕士与博士学位的学生名单进行宣读，在学子们接受学位证书时，乐队演奏着热情洋溢的乐曲。在这之后，由该校教师或者外校的代表上台进行演讲，内容都与宣扬教育思想以及为人类谋幸福有关。有时候，这之间还会被插入一些美国式的幽默。这种仪式很令人感动，对于毕业生们进行感情联络有着重要的作用。而对于美国的大学来说，这种仪式更为重要，因为美国的大学都是由私人捐赠开办的。近些年来才创办了州立大学。

在耶鲁大学，我很荣幸地代表巴黎大学参加了该校恩格尔校长的就职典礼，恩格尔将出任耶鲁大学第14任校长。在麻省，我参加了美国哲学学会以及医师协会的会议。在芝加哥，我出席了美国化学学会年会，并在会上做了有关镭的发现情况的报告。在这些会议上，我分别被授予斯科特、富兰克林以及吉布斯荣誉奖章。

Several meetings organized in my honor by the American women's organizations had particularly interested the American public. I have already mentioned the meeting of the University Women at Carnegie Hall of New York; a similar meeting was held at Chicago, where I was also received by the Association of Polish Women. I was also greeted by women's organizations in the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, and by a delegation of Canadian university women at Buffalo. In all these meetings it was impossible not to recognize the sincerity of the emotion in the women who gave me their best wishes, at the same time expressing their confidence in the future of feminine intelligence and activity. I did not feel any opposition between these feministic aspirations and the masculine opinion. As far as I could notice, the men in America approve of these aspirations and encourage them. This is a very favorable condition for the social activity of the American women which reveals itself in a strong interest in work for education, for hygiene, and for the improvement of conditions of labor. But any other unselfish purpose may rely on their support, as is proved by the success of Mrs. Meloney's plan, and by the sympathy this plan encountered in women of all social conditions.

I could not, to my deep regret, give time enough to the visit to laboratories and scientific institutes. These too brief visits were of great interest to me. I found everywhere the greatest care for developing scientific activity and for improving the facilities. New laboratories were in building, and in older laboratories very modern equipment might be found. The available room never gave that impression of insufficiency from which we suffered too often in France. The means are provided by private initiative expressed in gifts and foundations of various kinds. There exists also a National Council of Research established by private funds for stimulating and improving scientific work, and for assuring its connection with industry.

美国妇女联合会为我举办的几场欢迎会，引起了公众的广泛注意。我在前面已经说过，纽约各大学的妇女于卡内基大会堂为我举办了欢迎大会；在芝加哥，波兰妇女协会组织也举行了类似的欢迎会；位于匹兹堡的卡内基研究所的妇女组织，也热烈地欢迎了我；除此之外，在布法罗，加拿大大学妇女代表团也对我表示了热忱的欢迎。这一次又一次的欢迎会令我深深地感觉到她们对我的深厚情谊，她们觉得女性在未来的科学和其他各种事业中将会发挥越来越大的作用。我认为，在美国，女性的这种看法和男性的看法毫不对立。据我亲眼所见，男性一般来说对女性的这种期待给予了充分的支持与鼓励。在美国妇女界的社会活动中，教育事业、卫生事业以及增加劳工待遇等方面，都得到了特别的重视，并且取得了很大的进步。除此之外，其他各项公益事业也全部受到妇女界的重视与积极支持。梅乐内夫人对我进行支持和资助的计划得以圆满完成，并且受到各阶层妇女的鼎力相助，就是一个明证。

这次美国之行，遗憾的是我没有充足的时间去对各个实验室和科学研究机构进行参观。在不多的几次这样的参观中，我每次都是有着极大的兴趣的。每到一处，我都会发现美国人非常关心科学事业的发展，并且力求在实验室的仪器设备方面做到完善。有些地方在建立新的实验室，而旧实验室也都用新的仪器进行了配备。每个实验室都高大明亮，丝毫不像法国的那样狭小而又拥塞。在美国，实验室的经费多半是由私人捐赠或各种不同的基金会供给的，有一个全国研究会，全部都是依靠私人捐赠建立起来的，它的宗旨就是激励科学研究，使其得到发展，并在科研与工业生产之间搭建桥梁、建立合作。

I had visited with special interest the Bureau of Standards, a very important national institution at Washington for scientific measurements and for study connected with them. The tubes of radium presented to me were at the Bureau, whose officials had kindly offered to make the measurements, and to take care of the packing and delivery to the ship.

New laboratory had been created at Washington for researches on very low temperatures with the use of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium. I had the honor of dedicating this laboratory to its service.

I had the great pleasure of meeting in their laboratories several very important American scientific men. The hours I spent in their company are among the best of my travel.

The United States possesses several hospitals for radiumtherapy. These hospitals are generally provided with laboratories for the extraction of radium emanation which is sealed up in small tubes for medical use. These institutions own important quantities of radium, have a very good equipment, and treat a great number of patients. I had visited some of them, and this made me feel more deeply, if possible, the regret of not having in France even one national institute capable of rendering the same services. I hope that this lack will be filled in the near future.

The industry of radium has been started in France, but it is in America that it has had its greatest development, owing to the presence of a sufficient supply of the ore carnotite. I was very much interested in my visit to the most important of the factories, and I gladly recognized the spirit of initiative in this undertaking. The factory owned a collection of documentary films which enabled one to appreciate the effort made each day in collecting the ore scattered in the immense fields of Colorado, in carrying and concentrating this ore originally very poor in radium. On the other hand, the means of extraction of radium are still the same which have been described in earlier chapters.

我还颇有兴趣地对华盛顿的标准局进行了参观。这是一个全国性的科学计量与相关研究的重要机构。美国妇女界赠送给我的镭，被分装在几支玻璃管中，就陈放于这里。该局的工作人员还认真地计量了这些镭，并将其装置妥当，安全地送到我所乘坐的邮轮上。

在华盛顿的时候，我还去了一处新建的实验室，这个实验室是专门利用液态氢以及液态氦来进行低温研究的。我很荣幸地为它的启用揭幕。

在对一些实验室进行参观时，我非常高兴能同一些著名的美国科学家会面。和他们的交谈成为我这次访美旅行中最为愉快的事情。

美国有一些镭疗医院，医院又全部设有实验室，专门进行镭射气提炼，并把这些镭射气封固在玻璃管中以备应用。这些医院储存着不少的镭，医疗条件也很好，在那些医院里接受镭疗的患者很多。在对几家这类医院参观完毕后，令我深感遗憾的是，在法国，没有一家国立医院拥有这么多的镭与这么优良的仪器设备，镭疗也就远不如美国的发达。我期待着这一差距能够尽快地缩短。

镭工业在法国兴起，但却在美国得以飞速发展。这是因为美国具有大量的含镭铀矿(钒、钾、铀矿)能够保证供应。(1)在旅行途中，我还到美国最大的制镭工厂参观过，感触很深。工作人员的创新精神令我感到非常高兴。该工厂保存的一些胶片上记录着在科罗拉多州广阔的工地上工人们采矿与运矿的情景，以及于这些镭含量微小的矿石之中提炼出镭的过程。他们的提炼方法与程序同我们在实验室里所做的一样，没有丝毫差别。

The greatest courtesy was paid me in my visit to the radium plant and laboratory. I found the same reception at a factory of mesothorium which presented me with some material, and where the officials expressed the desire to help in my scientific work.

To make complete these travel impressions it would be necessary to speak of the nature of the country. I recoiled before the task, being incapable of expressing in a few words the immensity and the variety of the spaces which opened before my eyes. The general impression is one of unlimited possibilities for the future. I keep a particularly vivid remembrance of the great falls of Niagara, and of the magnificent colors of the Grand Canyon.

On June 28th I embarked in New York on the same ship which had brought me to the United States less than two months before. I would not take the liberty, after so short a period of time, of giving an opinion on America and the Americans. I would only say how deeply I have been touched by the warm reception which was tendered everywhere to me and my daughters. Our hosts wanted to make us feel that we were not with strangers; and, on the other hand, many of them assured me that they felt in entirely friendly surroundings when on the soil of France. I got back to France with a feeling of gratitude for the precious gift of the American women, and with a feeling of affection for their great country tied with ours by a mutual sympathy which gave confidence in a peaceful future for humanity.

在我对这些镭工厂和厂内附设的实验室进行参观时，工作人员对我极为尊敬，并且热情地接待了我。在我参观一个炼制新钍的工厂时，工作人员还送了我少许的新钍，工厂的主人还表示愿意在科研方面给予我帮助。

为了对美国之行的印象和感受进行全面的描述，我必须简略地介绍一下美国的风土人情。但要真的做到这一点还挺困难，因为美国幅员辽阔，各地的风土人情又各不相同，这本小小的书很难做到面面俱到。如果只对大致印象进行阐述，我可以说，美国的未来是不可估量的。雄伟壮观的尼亚加拉大瀑布、光怪陆离的大峡谷……留给我的回忆都是难以忘怀而又非常清晰的。

6月28日，我又在纽约港码头登上了不到两个月前载我来到美国的那艘邮轮返回法国。急匆匆地，两个月过去了，我不能对美国以及美国人妄加评论。但是所到之处，人们对我与我的两个女儿的隆重而又热情的接待，使我深受感动，这种感情是很难用语言来表达的。主人们想尽一切办法使我感到像回到家里那样。许多美国人对我说，他们曾经也在法国受到过同样的热情接待，希望他们的热情能驱走我们的陌生感，让我们感到就像在自己的家中一样。当我回到法国的时候，除了对美国妇女赠给我珍贵的礼品表示深深的感谢之外，还深切地感觉到我们两个伟大国家之间友谊的亲切与珍贵。我深深地相信，只要法国和美国两国人民共同努力，就能够为人类和平相处带来无尽的希望。

【注释】

(1)由于最近在比属刚果发现了一个铀矿，因此在安菲尔斯特建立了一座大型制镭工厂。——作者注

第二篇　皮埃尔·居里传

Chapter I　Curie Family

Pierre Curie 's parents, who were educated and intelligent, formed a part of the petite bourgeoisie of small means. They did not frequent fashionable society, but confined themselves entirely to the companionship of their relatives and a few intimate friends.

Eugene Curie, Pierre's father, was a physician and the son of a physician. He knew very few kinsmen of his name, and very little about the Curie family, which was of Alsatian (Eugene Curie was born at Mulhouse in 1827) and Protestant origin. Even though his father was established in London, Eugene had been brought up in Paris, where he pursued his studies in the natural sciences and medicine, and worked as teaching assistant under Gratiollet in the laboratories of the Museum.

Doctor Eugene Curie's remarkable personality impressed all who approached him. He was a tall man, who in youth must have been blonde, with beautiful blue eyes of a clearness and brilliancy that were striking even in an advanced old age. These eyes, which had retained a child-like expression, reflected goodness and intelligence. He had indeed unusual intellectual capacities, a very live aptitude for the natural sciences, and the temperament of a scholar.

第一章　居里家族

皮埃尔·居里的父母既有文化又聪明。他们是并不富裕的小资产阶级，与上流社会毫无瓜葛。他们只和一些亲戚以及为数不多的知心好友经常走动。

欧仁尼·居里(1)，皮埃尔的父亲，是个医生，也是医生之子，不过他对自己的姓氏了解甚少，对原籍阿尔萨斯并且是新教徒的居里家族也不甚了解（1827年，欧仁尼·居里出生在米卢斯）。尽管他的父亲在伦敦定居，但欧仁尼·居里却在巴黎接受教育；他在巴黎学习了自然科学以及医学，还在与格拉蒂奥莱相距不远的姆塞恩实验室从事教辅工作。

欧仁尼·居里医生人品极佳，这使得与他接触过的人都很敬佩他。他身材高大，年轻时应该是个金发蓝眼的小伙子，他的那双眼睛，即便进入垂暮之年，也仍然炯炯有神。这对眼睛透着一股孩童般的清纯，流露出既善良又聪颖的神采。确实，他智力超群，钟情于自然科学，颇有学者风范。

Although he wished to consecrate his life to scientific work, family responsibilities following his marriage and the birth of two sons forced him to renounce this desire. The necessities of life obliged him to practice his medical profession. He continued, however, such experimental research as his means permitted, in particular undertaking an investigation upon inoculation for tuberculosis at a time when the bacterial nature of this malady was not yet established. His scientific avocations developed in him the habit of making excursions in search of the plants and animals necessary to his experiments, and this habit, as well as his love of Nature, gave him a marked preference for country life. Until the end of his life he conserved his love for science, and, without doubt, also, his regret at not having been able to devote himself exclusively to it.

His medical career remained always a modest one, but it revealed remarkable qualities of devotion and disinterestedness. At the time of the Revolution of 1848, when he was still a student, the Government of the Republic conferred on him a medal, "for his honorable and courageous conduct" in serving the wounded. He himself had been struck, on February 24th, by a ball which shattered a part of his jaw. A little later, during a cholera epidemic, he installed himself, in order that he might look after the sick, in a quarter of Paris deserted by physicians. During the Commune he established a hospital in his apartment near which there was a barricade, and there he cared for the wounded. Through this act of civism and because of his advanced convictions he lost a part of his bourgeois patronage. At this time he accepted the position of medical inspector of the organization for the protection of young children. The duties of this post permitted him to live in the suburbs of Paris where health conditions for himself and his family were much better than those of the city.

他的初衷是想终生致力于自然科学研究，但最终却不得不放弃这一愿望，婚后沉重的家庭负担和两个儿子的出生使他不得不放弃这一梦想。由于生活所迫，他选择了从医。然而，他仍坚持偶尔进行一些实验活动，特别是做结核接种的实验。那个年代，还没有确定这种疾病的病原体。居里医生对科学的痴迷使他养成了远足的习惯，他常常去找寻一些对实验有帮助的植物和动物。而他对大自然的热爱也使他从内心深处偏爱着乡村生活。直到晚年，他都对自然科学怀有极其深刻的感情，也无疑为未能潜心进行科学研究而倍感遗憾。

医生的行业收入始终很微薄，不过他却在从医过程中表现出了忠诚耿直和大公无私的优秀品质。在1848年革命时期，当他还是个大学生的时候，共和国政府就颁发给他一枚荣誉勋章，来表彰他在救治伤员过程中的“英勇卓越的行为”。但是在2月24日那天，他自己却因为一颗子弹击碎他部分颌骨而负了伤。随后不久，法国霍乱猖獗，为了更好地照顾病人，他搬到巴黎的某个医生全部走光了的街区居住。巴黎公社期间，他在自己的公寓里建立了一个急救中心，公寓附近设置着一个街垒，他就在这个地方抢救伤员。他的公民责任心及激进的信念使得他失去了资产阶级顾客。与此同时，他接受了一项新任务，即作为一名巡回医生保护低龄儿童，这使他有机会去巴黎郊区生活，那里的环境、空气对他和家人的身体健康远比在城里更加有利。

Doctor Curie had very pronounced political convictions. Temperamentally an idealist, he had embraced with ardor that republican doctrine which inspired the revolutionaries of 1848. He was united in friendship with Henri Brisson and the men of his group. Like them, a free thinker and an anticlerical, he did not have his sons baptized, nor did he have them practice any form of religion.

Pierre's mother, Claire Depouilly, was the daughter of a prominent manufacturer of Puteaux, near Paris. Her father and brothers distinguished themselves through their numerous inventions connected with the making of dyes and special tissues. The family, which was of Savoy, was caught in the business catastrophe caused by the Revolution of 1848, and ruined. And these reverses of fortune, added to those which Doctor Curie had experienced during his career, meant that he and his family lived always in comparatively straightened circumstances, with the difficulties of existence often renewed. Even though raised for a life of ease, Pierre's mother accepted with tranquil courage the precarious conditions which life brought her, and gave proof of an extreme devotion as she made life easier for her husband and children by her activity and her good will.

If the circumstances in which Jacques and Pierre grew up were modest and not free from cares, nevertheless there reigned in the family an atmosphere of gentleness and affection. In speaking to me for the first time of his parents, Pierre Curie said that they were "exquisite". They were, in truth, that. The father's spirit was a little authoritative—always awake and active. And he possessed a rare unselfishness. He neither wished nor knew how to profit by personal relations to ameliorate his condition. He loved his wife and sons tenderly, and was ever ready to aid all who needed him. The mother was slight, vivid in character, and, even though her health had suffered through the birth of her sons, was always gay and active in the simple home that she so well knew how to make attractive and hospitable.

居里医生是个政治观念坚定的人。生性为理想主义者的他，却狂热地爱上了启迪了1848年革命者们的共和理论。他同亨利·布里松及与其同一阵营的人结下了浓厚的友谊。和他们一样，他也是自由的思想者，同时也是反教会者，因此他根本就没让自己的儿子们接受洗礼，也没让他们去信奉任何的宗教。

皮埃尔的母亲克莱尔·德普利是巴黎附近的小城普托的一位企业家之女；她的父亲与兄弟们因多项与染料及特殊薄纱相关的发明创造而文明于工业界。她家祖籍萨乌瓦，不幸的是，1848年革命对她家的企业造成了重创而使她的家道中落。家业倒闭，再加上居里医生职业生涯中的不顺，使她和家人一直过着艰难的生活，并且新困难还不停地出现。皮埃尔·居里的母亲尽管出身优越，但却能够以平静而勇敢的心态坦然接受摆在她眼前的这种艰难的生活，并且忠贞不渝地相夫教子，陪同整个家庭渡过难关。

虽然在雅克和皮埃尔成长过程中家庭环境并不富裕，甚至是困难重重，但是，家里却始终洋溢着一种温馨和睦、其乐融融的气氛。皮埃尔·居里首次跟我提及他的父母时对我说，他们“相敬如宾”，“互相关爱”。他们也确实如此。父亲欧仁尼稍有点独断，思想却一直清醒而又积极，并且还带有罕见的无私，他不愿意也不懂得利用自己手里的关系为改善家庭条件而去谋点私利。对于妻儿，他有着深沉的爱，对任何有求于他的人总是竭力相助。母亲克莱尔个子偏矮、性格开朗外向，尽管因为生孩子而使身体状况受到了一定影响，但她总是快快乐乐，无忧无虑，把简朴的家整理得干净整洁。他们的家里充满温暖，很多人都很乐意去做客。

When I first knew them they lived at Sceaux, rue des Sablons (today rue Pierre Curie) in a little house of ancient construction half concealed amidst the verdure of a pretty garden. Their life was peaceful. Doctor Curie went where his duties called him, either in Sceaux or in neighboring localities. Beyond this he occupied himself with his garden or his reading. Near relatives and neighbors came to visit on Sundays, when bowling and chess were the favorite amusements. From time to time Henri Brisson sought out his old companion in his tranquil retreat. Great calm and serenity enveloped the garden, the dwelling, and its inhabitants.

Pierre Curie was born the 15th of May, 1859, in a house facing the Jardin des Plantes, rue Cuvier, where his parents lived at the time when his father was working in the Museum laboratories. He was the second son of Doctor Curie and three and a half years younger than his brother Jacques. In after life he retained few particularly characteristic memories of his childhood in Paris; yet he did tell me how vividly present in his mind were the days of the Commune, the battle on the barricade so near the house where he then lived, the hospital established by his father, and the expeditions, on which his brother accompanied him, in search of the wounded.

It was in 1883 that Pierre moved with his parents from the capital to the suburbs of Paris, living first, from 1883 to 1892, at Fontenayaux-Roses, then at Sceaux from 1892 to 1895, the year of our marriage.

我认识他们的时候，他们居住在苏城的萨布隆街（今天的皮埃尔·居里街）的一幢老式房子里，房子位于一座迷人的花园绿荫深处。他们生活平静。居里医生因工作关系不得不四处奔波，或者在苏城，或者去附近其他地区。工作之余，他便读读书或侍弄他的花园。每到星期天，一些近亲或邻居就会过来拜访；当时地滚球和弈棋是最受欢迎的娱乐项目。亨利·布里松也不时地跑到这个宁静祥和的退隐地来探望自己的老战友。无论是房屋、花园还是居民，都给人一种怡然安宁的印象。

皮埃尔·居里生于1859年5月15日。他的出生地对面就是居维埃街的植物园。他的父母亲当时就在这里居住。他父亲当时为姆塞恩实验室工作。皮埃尔是居里医生的次子，他比哥哥雅克小3岁半。对于巴黎的童年时光，他的印象并不太深刻。然而，当对我讲述时，那些关于巴黎公社时期他家附近的街垒战斗和父亲的急救中心以及在两个儿子的帮助下父亲抢运伤员的情景，他却记得非常清楚。

1883年，皮埃尔·居里离开首都，同父母一起搬到郊区去住。1883—1892年住在丰特奈·欧罗斯；1892—1895年，也就是我们结婚的那一年，住在苏城。

Pierre passed his childhood entirely within the family circle; he never went to the elementary school nor to the lycee. His earliest instruction was given him first by his mother and was then continued by his father and his elder brother, who himself had never followed in any complete way the course of the lycee. Pierre's intellectual capacities were not those which would permit the rapid assimilation of a prescribed course of studies. His dreamer's spirit would not submit itself to the ordering of the intellectual effort imposed by the school. The difficulty he experienced in following such a program was usually attributed to a certain slowness of mind. He himself believed that he had this slow mind and often said so. I think, however, that this belief was not entirely justified. It seems to me, rather, that already from his early youth it was necessary for him to concentrate his thought with great intensity upon a certain definite object, in order to obtain a precise result, and that it was impossible for him to interrupt or to modify the course of his reflections to suit exterior circumstances. It is clear that a mind of this kind can hold within itself great future possibilities. But it is no less clear that no system of education has been especially provided by the public school for persons of this intellectual category, which nevertheless includes more representatives than one would believe at first sight.

Very fortunately for Pierre, who could not, as we can see, become a brilliant pupil in a lycee, his parents had a sufficiently keen intelligence to understand his difficulty, and they refrained from demanding of their son an effort which would have been prejudicial to his development. If, then, Pierre's earliest instruction was irregular and incomplete, it had the advantage of not so weighing on his intelligence as to deform it by dogmas, prejudices or preconceived ideas. And he was always grateful to his parents for this very liberal attitude. He grew up in all freedom, developing his taste for natural science through his excursions into the country, where he collected plants and animals for his father. These excursions, which he made either alone or with one of the family, helped to awake in him a great love of Nature, a passion which endured to the end of his life.

皮埃尔的童年时光完全是在自己家中度过的，因为他从来没有进过学校。他的启蒙教育首先来自于母亲，随后是父亲和哥哥，而他的哥哥自己也没有完成高中课程。皮埃尔·居里虽然聪颖过人，但却根本无法适应学校的正规课程。他的脑子里满是幻想，不能忍受学校强制的知识灌输。他觉得跟不上学校的这种教学方法，于是他常常被大家认为头脑有些反应迟钝。久而久之，他自己也觉得自己脑子笨，而且时常这么说。相反的，我却认为这种说法并不完全正确。在我看来，反倒是他很专注。自童年开始，他就把注意力高度集中在某个特定事物上，直到获得正确答案为止，无论外界环境怎样，他的思路都不可能被打断或改变。很明显，这种类型的思想很可能蕴涵着巨大的发展空间，而同样明显的是，对于这样类型的智力，公共学校中是不会存在任何教育体系能为之服务的，事实上这类智力不在少数，远多于人们最初的想法。

对于皮埃尔·居里而言，极其幸运的是，尽管如常人所见，他不太可能成为一名优秀学生，但他父母头脑却很清醒，明白他的困难，因此并没有强迫他入学，否则的话他的智力发展可能会大打折扣。即使皮埃尔·居里所接受的启蒙教育非常的不正规也不完整，但它同时也有它的好处，也就是无需对他的智力加大压力，各种条条框框、成见偏见不会因此而损伤他的智力。皮埃尔·居里因这种极为自由的教育方式而始终感激并怀念他的父母。他得益于这样的自由，并且在乡间的远足中逐渐增强了对自然科学的兴趣，他从乡下带回一些动、植物以供他父亲实验使用。这种乡间漫步不论是他同家人一起还是独自一个人，都极大地唤起了他对大自然的热爱，甚至直到生命尽头，他都始终保持着这份激情。

Intimate contact with Nature, which, because of the artificial conditions of city life and of traditional education, few children can know, had a decisive influence on Pierre's development. Guided by his father, he learned to observe facts and to interpret them correctly. He became familiar with the animals and plants of the environs of Paris. He knew which ones could be found at each season of the year in the forests and fields, the streams and ponds. The ponds in particular had for him an ever new attraction with their characteristic vegetation and their population of frogs, tritons, salamanders, dragonflies, and other denizens of air and water. No efforts to obtain the objects of his interests seemed too great for him. He never hesitated to take any animal in his hands in order to examine, it more closely. Later, after our marriage, in our walks together, if I made some objection to letting him put a frog into my hands, he would exclaim: "But no, see how pretty it is!" He loved always, too, to bring back bouquets of wild flowers from his walks.

Thus his knowledge of natural history progressed rapidly. At the same time, also, he was mastering the elements of mathematics. His classical studies, on the contrary, had been much neglected, and it was principally through general reading that he acquired a knowledge of literature and history. His father, who was widely cultured, possessed a library containing many French and foreign works. Having himself a very pronounced taste for reading, he was able to communicate it to his son.

When he was about fourteen years old, a very happy event occurred in Pierre's education. He was put under an excellent professor, A. Bazille, who taught him elementary and advanced mathematics. This master was able to appreciate his young pupil, became much attached to him, and directed his work with the greatest solicitude. He even helped him to advance in his study of Latin, in which he was very much behind. At the same time Pierre and Albert Bazille, his professor's son, became friends.

能够对大自然进行了解的孩子少之又少，这是由于居住在城市以及传统教育等人为条件限制的缘故。而皮埃尔·居里能有机会与大自然如此亲密地接触，这对他思想观念的培养起着决定性的作用。在父亲的指导下，他学会了观察事物，并且可以正确地表达出来；他对巴黎地区附近的动物和植物非常熟悉。在一年当中的不同季节，他知道什么时候在森林里或在草原上，在溪流中或在池塘里，能发现什么样的动物和植物。特别是池塘对他而言具有一种不断变化的难以言表的吸引力，那儿生长着各种各样奇异独特的植物，还有数目繁多的青蛙、北螈、蝾螈、蜻蜓以及其他生活在空中和水里的“居民”。他总是毫不费力地就能抓住他感兴趣的东西。之后他会无所畏惧地把某个小动物抓在手里仔细地进行观察研究。等到我们两个结婚以后，一起外出散步的时候，如果我不同意他把一只青蛙放在我手里，他就会大声说：“不，你看它多么漂亮呀！”每次散步回来，他也总要带上几束野花。

因此，他的自然科学知识在神速地进步，同时他对数学方面的基础知识也了解甚多，可惜文史方面却大大忽视了，他的文史方面的知识主要是通过阅读的方式来掌握的。他父亲知识面广泛，对各种知识都有所涉猎，并且自己有一间书房，收藏着很多法国及外国作家的著作。他的父亲因为对阅读具有浓厚的兴趣，所以明白怎样更好地与儿子们进行沟通交流。

皮埃尔·居里14岁左右的时候，在他的教育方面出现了一个非常宝贵的机会，他被委托给一位出色的教授进行培养。那个教授名叫罗贝尔·巴齐尔，主要教授皮埃尔·居里基础数学以及高等数学。这位老师特别善于启发学生，他对皮埃尔十分关心，不仅督促他努力学习，甚至还帮他提高他那并不出色的拉丁文水平。与此同时，皮埃尔·居里还和老师的儿子阿尔贝·巴齐尔成了朋友。

This teaching had, I am sure, a great influence on the mind of Pierre, aiding him to develop and to sound the depth of his faculties and to realize his capacities for science. He had a remarkable aptitude for mathematics, which expressed itself chiefly by a characteristic geometric spirit and a great power of spatial vision. He, therefore, progressed rapidly and joyfully in his studies under M. Bazille, for whom he always felt an unalterable gratitude.

He once told me something which proved that even at this time he was not content solely to follow a fixed program of studies, but that he had already begun to launch out into personal investigation. Strongly attracted by the theory of determinants, which he had just mastered, he undertook to realize an analogous conception, but in three dimensions, and endeavored to discover the properties and uses of these "cubical determinants". Needless to say that at his age, and with the knowledge then at his disposal, such an enterprise was beyond his powers. The attempt, however, was none the less indicative of his awakening inventive spirit.

Several years later, when preoccupied with reflections upon symmetry, he asked himself the question: "Could not one find a general method for the solution of any equation whatever? Everything is a question of symmetry." He did not then know of Galois' theory of groups which had made it possible to attack this problem. But he was happy later to learn its results in the geometric applications to the case of equations of the 5th degree.

Thanks to his rapid progress in mathematics and physics, Pierre Curie was made a bachelor of science at the age of sixteen years. With this he passed his most difficult stage of formal education. The only thing with which he had to concern himself in the future was the acquisition of knowledge through his personal and independent effort in a field of science freely chosen.

毋庸置疑，这种教育对于皮埃尔·居里的智力培养有着巨大的作用，使得他的智力明显增长，他的才能逐步加深，并且使他意识到了自己在科学方面的洞察力。皮埃尔·居里在数学学习方面天分极高，这在对几何概念的独到看法和善于对空间问题进行思索上充分地反映了出来。在不长的时间内，他便取得了长足的进步。他所热衷的这些学习内容也是他巨大乐趣的所在之一，所以他对这位老师一直满怀感激之情。

他跟我提过一个情况，证明了他从那时开始就不再满足于单一地遵循某一种学习计划，而是独立地进行思考和研究。他对刚刚掌握的行列式理论极为着迷，于是便着手画一个与之相类似的图，那是一个三维图。他试图找出这些“立体行列式”所具有的特征和运用方法。无须赘言，他这样小小年纪，掌握的知识又有限，这种尝试无疑是他所力不能及的，然而，他的设想却极富特色，这又表明他的创新精神在逐渐萌芽。

数年后，一心思索对称问题的他，对自己提出这样一个问题：“人们难道就不能找出一种普通的方法来解任何一个方程式吗？一切都是一个有关对称的问题。”他那时还不了解能够使他接触到这个问题的伽罗瓦群理论(2)。不过随后令他无比欣喜的是，他终于知道了在五次方程情况下几何理论运用的结果。

多亏了他在数学和物理学方面的突飞猛进，皮埃尔·居里16岁时就获得了理科的学士学位。(3)5至此，对他而言最艰难的课程阶段终于跨越过去了。以后，他就可以专心致志地在自由选择的科学领域进行思考并依靠个人的独立努力去涉猎新知了。

Chapter II　Dream in His Youth

Pierre Curie was still very young when he began his higher studies in preparation for the licentiate in physics. He followed the lectures and laboratory work at the Sorbonne and had, besides, access to the laboratory of Professor Leroux in the School of Pharmacy, where he assisted in the preparation of the physics courses. At the same time he became further acquainted with laboratory methods by working with his brother Jacques, who was then teaching assistant of chemistry courses under Riche and Jungfleisch.

Pierre received his licentiate in physical sciences at the age of eighteen. During his studies he had attracted the attention of Desains, director of the University laboratory, and of Mouton, assistant director of the same laboratory. Thanks to their appreciation he was appointed, when only nineteen years old, teaching assistant for Desains and placed in charge of the students' laboratory work in physics. He held this position five years, and it was during this time that he began his experimental research.

It is to be regretted that because of his financial situation Pierre was obliged, at this early age of nineteen, to accept the post of teaching assistant instead of being able to give his whole time for two or three years longer to his University studies. With his time thus absorbed by his professional duties and his investigations he had to give up following the lectures in higher mathematics, and he therefore passed no further examinations. In compensation, however, he was released from military service in conformity with the privileges at that time accorded young men who undertook to serve as teachers in the public-school system.

【注释】

(1)1827年，欧仁尼·居里出生于米卢斯。——作者注

(2)同一个多项式的各根相联系的一个特殊扩张域的同构群。

(3)通过法国高中毕业会考的人所取得的学位。拥有这个学位便能够直接注册进入大学。

第二章　青年时期的梦想

皮埃尔·居里尚在年少时，就开始进入大学学习了，为获得物理学学士学位作准备。他在巴黎大学听课并修了一些实验课程，还获得机会在前药学院教授勒鲁的实验室协助他准备物理课所需教案。与此同时，他还与他哥哥雅克一起工作，进一步熟悉了实验研究方法，雅克当时是里希和赞弗莱什的化学课教辅人员。

皮埃尔·居里18岁时取得了物理学学士学位。在上学期间，他就得到了大学实验室主任德桑与专员姆东的赏识。感谢他们的推荐，皮埃尔在19岁时，便被巴黎大学任命为理学院德桑主任的助教，负责学生们的物理实验课。他在这一职位上干了五年，正是在这期间，他开始了自己的实验研究。

大家可能会觉得遗憾，虽说皮埃尔·居里遇到了一个好机会，但他却不得不在19岁的时候就当起了教辅人员，这样他在两三年内都不能继续专心致志地学习了。由于实验室的工作和自己的研究占用了他全部的时间，皮埃尔只好放弃了对高等数学的继续学习，也不再参加考试了。但是，他也因此而不用服兵役了，这是那个时候对从事公共教育工作的年轻教师的优惠政策。

He was by this time a tall and slender young man with chestnut-colored hair and a shy and reserved expression. At the same time his youthful face mirrored a profound inner life. One has such an impression of him as he appears in a good group photograph of Doctor Curie's family. His head is resting on his hand in a pose of abstraction and reverie, and one cannot but be struck by the expression of the large, limpid eyes that seem to be following some inner vision. Beside him the brownhaired brother offers a striking contrast, his vivacious eyes and whole appearance suggesting decision.

The two brothers loved each other tenderly and lived as good comrades, being accustomed to work together in the laboratory and walk together in their free hours. They also kept up affectionate relations with a few of their childhood friends: Louis Depouilly, their cousin, who became a physician; Louis Vauthier, also later a physician; and Albert Bazille, who became an engineer in the post and telegraph service.

Pierre used to tell me of the vivid memories he had of the vacations passed at Draveil on the Seine, where, with his brother Jacques, he took long walks beside the river, agreeably interrupted by swimming and diving in the stream. Both brothers were excellent swimmers. Sometimes they tramped for entire days. They had, at an early age, acquired the habit of visiting the suburbs of Paris on foot. At times also Pierre made solitary excursions which well suited his meditative spirit. On these occasions he lost all sense of time, and went to the extreme limit of his physical forces. Absorbed in delightful contemplation of the things about him, he was not conscious of material difficulties.

当时的皮埃尔身材高挑而修长，有着栗色的头发和腼腆而又矜持的表情。同时，他那张年轻的面庞清楚地显示出了他生活圈子的狭小。这一点，在他与父母、哥哥共同照的那张全家福上便可以显现出来。他用手支着脑袋，沉浸在幻想之中，那双大眼睛好像看到了内在深处的什么东西，使人不由自主地便被它打动。与他完全不同，他的哥哥拥有褐色的头发和炯炯有神的目光，整个人看起来神色坚定。

他们兄弟两个相亲相爱、互相关心，这是因为他们总是在一起，工作时共同待在实验室里，闲暇时一起出去散步。他们有几个童年时期的伙伴，直到后来还一直保持着密切的联系：路易·德普利，是他们的堂哥，后来成为了医生；路易·沃蒂埃，后来也成为了医生；阿尔贝·巴齐尔，后来成了电信工程师。

皮埃尔·居里曾经对我讲起过他在塞纳河度假时的趣事。他同哥哥雅克沿着塞纳河的河岸走出去很远，有时还下水游泳或者潜水嬉戏。他和他的哥哥都是游泳的好手。有时候，他们还整天整天地漫步。在他们很小的时候，便已养成了在巴黎郊外徒步行走的习惯。有的时候，皮埃尔还会独自一人漫步，这很适合他进行沉思默想。在这种情况之下，他往往会忘记了时间，走路一直走到身体都疲惫不堪的程度。他陶醉于对外部事物所进行的观察和思考，根本没有注意到物质方面的困难。

On the pages of a diary written in 1879, he thus expressed the salutary influence of the country upon him:"Oh, what a good time I have passed there in that gracious solitude, so far from the thousand little worrying things that torment me in Paris. No, I do not regret my nights passed in the woods, and my solitary days. If I had the time I would let myself recount all my musings. I would also describe my delicious valley, filled with the perfume of aromatic plants, the beautiful mass of foliage, so fresh and so humid, that hung over the Bievre, the fairy palace with its colonnades of hops, the stony hills, red with heather, where it was so good to be. Oh, I shall remember always with gratitude the forest of the Miniere; of all the woods I have seen, it is this one that I have loved most and where I have been happiest. Often in the evening I would start out and ascend again this valley, and I would return with twenty ideas in my head."

Thus, for Pierre Curie, the sensation of well-being he experienced in the country was derived from the opportunity for tranquil reflection. Daily life in Paris with its numerous interruptions did not permit of undisturbed concentration, and this was to him a cause of inquietude and suffering. He felt himself destined for scientific research; for him the necessity was imperative of comprehending the phenomena of Nature in order to form a satisfactory theory to explain them. But when trying to fix his mind on some problem he had frequently to turn aside because of the multiplicity of futile things that disturbed his reflections and plunged him into discouragement.

Under the heading, "A day like too many others", he enumerated in his diary a list of the puerile happenings that had completely filled one of his days, leaving no time for useful work. He then concluded: "There is my day, and I have accomplished nothing. Why?" Further on he returned to the same theme under a title borrowed from Victor Hugo's "Le Roi S'Amuse" :

在他于1879年所写的日记中，(1)皮埃尔是这样描述乡间生活给他带来的有益影响的：“啊！我在这里度过了多么美好的时光啊！远离了巴黎那些令我心烦意乱的种种琐事，我对在林中度过的夜晚和一人独处的白天丝毫不会感到遗憾。如果时间允许的话，我会把我当时的幻想全部讲述出来。我还想描绘那开满了芬芳花朵的河谷。在那里还有新鲜而又湿润的树叶，悬垂在比埃弗尔河的上方。这个拥有美丽的瀑布，和长满石楠的红色鹅卵石丘的地方是那么的美好，简直像童话里的世界。是的，我将永远感激地记住米尼埃尔河边的树林。在我至今见过的所有树林中，它是我最喜欢的一个，在那里我感觉最快乐。我经常在晚上出发，沿着河谷朝上游走，回来的时候脑子里装满了各种各样的想法。”

因此，在皮埃尔·居里看来，在乡间之所以感受到幸福是因为在那里有进行冷静思考的可能性。在巴黎忙碌的日常生活不允许他集中思想，这是导致他痛苦与焦虑的一个原因。他认为自己生来就注定是要进行科学研究的。对于他来说，深入了解种种自然现象以创建一种科学的理论去解释它们是很必要的；但是，当他试图将自己的精力集中在某一个问题上时，却经常因众多琐碎的事情而分心，使他的思绪被打乱，这令他很气馁。

在一篇标题为《天天如此》的日记里，他记述了那些占据了他整整一天，使他没有时间去做有用的事情的琐事。他最后总结道：“这就是我的一天，我没有做成任何事情。这是为什么呢？”后来，他又回到这个问题上来，引用了作家维克多·雨果《国王取乐》中的一句话作标题写道：

"To deafen with little bells the spirit that would think"

"In order that, weak one that I am, I shall not let my head turn with all the winds, yielding to the least breath that touches it, it is necessary that all should be immobile about me, or that, like a spinning top, movement alone should render me insensible to external objects. "

"When, in the process of turning slowly upon myself, I try to gain momentum, a nothing, a word, a story, a paper, a visit stops me and is able to put off or retard forever the moment when, granted a sufficient swiftness I might have, in spite of my surroundings, concentrated on my own intention... We must eat, drink, sleep, be idle, love, touch the sweetest things of life and yet not succumb to them. It is necessary that, in doing all this, the higher thoughts to which one is dedicated remain dominant and continue their unmoved course in our poor heads. It is necessary to make a dream of life, and to make of a dream a reality."

This acute analysis, sufficiently surprising in a young man of twenty years, suggests in an admirable manner the conditions necessary to the highest manifestations of the intellect. It carries a lesson which, if it were sufficiently understood, would facilitate the way of all contemplative spirits capable of opening new paths for humanity.

用琐事麻痹想要思索的脑子(2)

尽管我很弱，但是我应该不让自己的头脑随风飘荡，哪怕是接触到我的最弱小的风。让我周围的一切都静止不动是很有必要的，或者是让我像一只飞速旋转的陀螺，只是独自旋转而对外界的事物无动于衷。

在我自身正在缓缓地转动时，我就想要让自己飞速地转动起来，但是，一点小事、一句话语、一个陈述、一份报纸、一次来访就使我停了下来，这就致使我可能将那个重要的时刻永远地推后、延迟，本来只需要加快必要的速度，我会做到无视周围的一切，将精力集中……我们必须要吃、喝、睡、懒、爱，必须要对生活中最甜美的事物进行接触，但是却不能沉湎其中，在做全部这些必须做的事情的时候，还要坚定不移地保持主导思想的正统地位，并使它在我们可怜的脑袋里面坚定不移地发展下去。我们必须要把生活变成一个梦，然后再使梦想变成现实。

一个20岁的年轻人的这种鞭辟入里且又全面的分析，凭借一种令人赞叹的方式对人类思想的最高境界进行了表述。它蕴含着一种教诲，如果充分明白了这一教诲，它就能够为所有想要为人类开创新道路的思考精神开辟道路。

The unity of thought toward which Pierre Curie strove was troubled not only by professional and social obligations but also by his tastes, which urged him towards a broad literary and artistic culture. Like his father, he loved reading, and did not fear to undertake arduous literary tasks. To some criticism made in this connection, he responded readily: "I do not dislike tedious books." This meant that he was fascinated by the search after truth which was sometimes associated with writing devoid of charm. He also loved painting and music, and went gladly to look at pictures or to attend a concert. A few fragments of poetry in his handwriting were left among his papers.

But all these preoccupations were subordinated in his mind to what he considered his true task, and when his scientific imagination was not in full activity, he felt himself, in a sense, an incomplete being. He expressed this inquietude with an emotion born of his suffering during momentary periods of depression. "What shall I become?" he wrote. "Very rarely have I command of all myself; ordinarily a part of me sleeps. My poor spirit, are you then so weak that you cannot control my body? Oh, my thoughts, you count indeed for very little! I should have the greatest confidence in the power of my imagination to pull me out of the rut, but I greatly fear that my imagination is dead."

But despite hesitations, doubts, and lost moments, the young man was little by little striking out his path and strengthening his will. He was resolutely carrying on fruitful investigations at an age when many men who were to become savants were as yet only pupils.

His first work, done in collaboration with Desains, concerned the determination of the lengths of heat waves with the aid of a thermo-electric element and a metallicwire grating, a process, then entirely new, which has since often been employed in the study of this question.

皮埃尔·居里所推崇的思想集中，不但被他的职业与社会生活所扰乱，还被他自己的爱好所干扰，这种兴趣爱好促使他向广阔的文艺领域发展。和他的父亲一样，他爱好文学，并且不害怕尝试那些晦涩难懂的文学作品。面对有人因此对他作出的批评，他爽快地回答说：“我不厌恶艰涩难懂的书籍。”这就意味着他迷恋寻求真理，有的时候这种真理却是同没有任何感染力的描写联系在一起的。他还很喜欢绘画和音乐，去看画展和听音乐会的时候总是很高兴。在他的日记中还保留着他亲手抄写的一些诗歌片段。

但是，全部的这一切都是服从于他自认为是自己真正使命的任务的，科学思考没有被充分调动起来的时候，他就会认为自己不完整。他用因刹那的低落所产生的带有消极色彩的语言对他的这种焦虑不安进行表达，“我将会变成什么样子？我很少真正属于我自己；通常，我身体中的一部分总是在酣睡。我可怜的精神，你就那么软弱，而无法控制我的身体吗？啊，我的思想啊！你真是没有任何价值！只有在幻想中，我才最有信心令自己摆脱困扰，但我非常害怕我的幻想已经死掉了。”

尽管伴随着犹豫、疑虑和时间的丧失，年轻的皮埃尔还是逐渐地找到了自己的出路，并坚定了自己的信念。在当时许多后来成为学者的人还处于做学生的年龄的时候，他就坚定地投身到科学研究中了。

他与德桑合作完成的第一项研究就是对热波长度的确定。这项研究他们是借助一个热电堆和一个用金属丝制成的网完成的。后来，在对同样的问题进行研究时，这种全新的方法经常被使用。

Following this he undertook an investigation on crystals in collaboration with his brother, who had passed his licentiate and was teaching assistant for Friedel in the laboratory of mineralogy at the Sorbonne. Their experiments led the two young physicists to a great success: the discovery of the hitherto unknown phenomena of piezo-electricity, which consists of an electric polarization produced by the compression or the expansion of crystals in the direction of the axis of symmetry. This was by no means a chance discovery. It was the result of much reflection on the symmetry of crystalline matter, which enabled the brothers to foresee the possibilities of such polarization. The first part of the investigation was made in Friedel's laboratory. With an experimental skill rare at their age, the young men succeeded in making a complete study of the new phenomenon, established the conditions of symmetry necessary to its production in crystals, and stated its remarkably simple quantitative laws, as well as its absolute magnitude for certain crystals. Several wellknown scientists of other nations (Roentgen, Kundt, Voigt, Riecke) have made further investigations along this new road opened by Jacques and Pierre Curie.

The second part of the work, and much more difficult to realize experimentally, concerned the compression resulting in piezo-electric crystals when they were exposed to the action of an electric field. This phenomenon, foreseen by Lippmann, was demonstrated by the Curie brothers. The difficulty of the experiment lay in the minuteness of the deformations that had to be observed. Fortunately Desains and Mouton placed a small room adjoining the physics laboratory at the disposal of the brothers so that they might proceed successfully with their delicate operations.

From these researches, as much theoretical as experimental, they immediately deduced a practical application, in the form of a new apparatus, a piezo-electric quartz electrometer, which measures in absolute terms small quantities of electricity, as well as electric currents of low intensity. This apparatus has since then rendered great service in experiments in radioactivity.

随后，他同他的哥哥合作对晶体进行了研究。他的哥哥取得学士学位后，在巴黎大学矿物系实验室做弗里代尔的助手。这项研究带给这两位年轻的物理学家一个巨大的成功：发现了新的压电现象，即由无对称中心的晶体压缩或者膨胀而产生的在一个电极上出现这种压电的现象。这次的发现绝非偶然，它是由对晶体材质的对称进行反复的思考所得来的，这些思考令他们兄弟两个对这种电极出现的可能性得以预见。他们这项研究的前期工作就是在弗里代尔的实验室中进行的。凭借在他们这个年龄罕见的实验能力，两名年轻的物理学家成功地对这一新的现象进行了研究，确立了压电在晶体中产生的必需的对称条件，确定了非常简单的定量规律和某些晶体的绝对量。罗恩根、康特、乌瓦特、里埃克等很多著名的外国科学家都沿着雅克与皮埃尔·居里所开创的这条新路对这方面进行了研究。

从实验的角度来看，要想完成这项研究的第二部分则更加困难。它涉及压电晶体在受到电磁场的作用时所出现的变形现象。这一现象曾被里普曼所预见，最后被居里兄弟两个证明了。这项研究的困难在于所要进行观察的变形非常微小。德桑和姆东给皮埃尔兄弟两个提供了一个屋子，这个屋子和他们两个的物理实验室相毗邻，这样他们就能够成功地着手进行他们微妙的实验了。

由这些既是理论性又是实验性的研究中，他们立马推论出一个实际的结果。在这个过程中他们使用的是一种新仪器，还有可以用绝对值对微弱电量进行测量的压电石英，以及弱电压的电流。这个仪器对后来的放射性研究产生了很大的作用。

During the course of their experiments on piezo-electricity the Curies were obliged to employ electrometric apparatus, and, not being able to use the quadrant electrometer known at that time, they developed a new form of that instrument, better adapted to their necessities. This became known in France as the Curie electrometer. Thus these years of collaboration between the two brothers, always intimately united, proved both happy and fruitful. Their devotion and their common interest in science were to them both a stimulant and a support. During their work the vivacity and energy of Jacques were of precious aid to Pierre, always more easily absorbed by his thoughts.

However, this beautiful and close collaboration lasted only a few years. In 1883, Pierre and Jacques were obliged to separate; Jacques left for the University of Montpelier as Head Lecturer in Mineralogy. Pierre was made Director of Laboratory Work in the School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry founded by the city of Paris at the suggestion of Friedel and of Schutzenberger, who became its first director.

Their remarkable researches with crystals won for the brothers in 1895—very late, it was true—the Plante prize.

在对压电进行研究的过程当中，居里兄弟两个需要使用一些测电设备。并且不能使用当时已知的象限静电计，因此他们亲自动手制作了一件更适合于他们的研究的新型仪器，这件仪器后来在法国尽人皆知，被命名为居里静电计。向来亲密无间的两兄弟在共同合作的这几年里是幸福并且硕果累累的，对于他们来说，友谊和对科学的热爱是给他们的一种激励与支持。在共同研究的过程中，雅克的活跃和精力给予了皮埃尔宝贵的帮助，因为皮埃尔很容易沉湎于幻想之中。

但是，这种美好而又亲密的合作只维持了几年。1883年，皮埃尔与雅克不得不分开了。雅克到蒙彼利埃大学出任矿物学主管讲师，而皮埃尔出任巴黎物理和化学学校实验室主任。皮埃尔要去的学校是在弗里代尔与舒赞贝格的推动下，由巴黎市政府创建的，第一任校长为舒赞贝格。

雅克与皮埃尔·居里就晶体所作的卓越的研究，在1895年为他们赢得了普朗泰奖，虽然很晚，但却是真实的。

Chapter III　Prime Research

It was in the School of Physics and Chemistry, in the old buildings of the College Rollin, that Pierre Curie was destined to work, first as Director of Laboratory Work, then as Professor, for twenty-two years, a period covering practically the whole of his scientific life. His memory seemed to cling to these old buildings, now destroyed, in which he had passed all his days, returning only in the evening to his parents in the country. He counted himself fortunate since he enjoyed the favor of the Founder Director Schutzenberger, and the esteem and good will of his students, many of whom became his disciples and friends. In alluding to this experience, at the close of an address delivered at the Sorbonne near the end of his life, he said:

【注释】

(1)皮埃尔·居里并没有留下什么真正意义上的日记，只是通过不多的几页，将他一生中很短的一个时期进行了记述，并且也只是随手写写而已。——作者注

(2)引自《国王取乐》，作者维克多·雨果。——作者注

第三章　最初的研究

正是在物理和化学学校罗林学院里的旧楼中，皮埃尔·居里工作了22年，开始任实验室主任，后来便成了教授，这几乎等同于他科学生命的全部时间，甚至于他的回忆也似乎都与那些已经被拆除了的旧大楼密切地联系在了一起。在那里面，他会度过整个白天，只有晚上才会回到他父母亲居住的乡间。他在学校里感到非常幸福，因为学校的创建者舒赞贝格校长对他十分关怀，并且学生们对他也非常敬重和友善，其中有很多学生都成了他的弟子和朋友。对这段经历，他在他生命中最后几年里于巴黎大学所作的一次演讲将要结束的时候，这样说道：

"I desire to recall here that we have made all our investigations in the School of Physics and Chemistry of the city of Paris. In all creative scientific work the influence of the surroundings in which one works is of great importance, and a part of the result is due to that influence. For more than twenty years I have worked in the School of Physics and Chemistry. Schutzenberger, the first director of the School, was an eminent scientist. I remember with gratitude that he procured for me opportunities for my own investigations when I was yet but an assistant. Later, he permitted Madame Curie to work beside me, an authorization which was at that time far from an ordinary innovation. Schutzenberger allowed us all great liberty; his direction made itself felt chiefly through his inspiring love of science. The professors of the School of Physics and Chemistry, and the students who have gone from it, have created a kindly and stimulating atmosphere that has been extremely helpful to me. It is among the old students of the school that we have found our collaborators and our friends. I am happy to be able, here, to thank them all."

The newly appointed director of the laboratory was, when he first assumed his duties, scarcely older than his students, who loved him because of his extreme simplicity of manner, which was much more that of a comrade than of a master. Some of these students recall with emotion their work carried on with him and his discussion at the blackboard, where he readily allowed himself to be led to debate scientific matters to their great profit both in information and in kindled enthusiasm. At a dinner given in 1903 by the Association of Former Students of the School, which he attended, he laughingly recalled an incident of this period. One day after lingering late with several students in the laboratory, he found the door locked, and they all had to climb down from the first floor single file, along a pipe that ran near one of the windows.

在此，我想着重指出，在巴黎市政府筹建的物理和化学学校，我们进行了所有的研究工作。无论任何科研成果，人们身处的工作环境对它的影响都是很大的，甚至于有一部分成果都应该归功于这种影响。我在物理和化学学校工作了20多年，学校的首任校长舒赞贝格是一位优秀的科学家。我至今仍旧心怀感激地记得当我还是教辅人员的时候，他所为我提供的优越的工作条件。后来，他又允许我的妻子玛丽·居里到我身边工作，这样的举措在当时那个年代是一种不同寻常的尝试。舒赞贝格在很大程度上给予我们大家自由。他对科学的那种热情感染了大家，令我们感触颇深。物理和化学学校的教师以及该校的毕业生共同形成了一种亲切有益、成果多多的氛围，对我有很大帮助。在学校的校友中我们找到了合作伙伴和朋友。非常高兴我能够在这里向他们表示感谢。

在刚开始出任新职务的时候，他几乎比他的学生们大不了多少，不过日常生活中的他平易近人且又彬彬有礼，是老师，可更像朋友，因此学生们都很敬爱他。他们中有一些人至今回忆起在他身边学习以及在黑板上讨论问题的情景时还很动情。他会主动地和大家就一些科学问题进行讨论，这对大家的成长以及激情的萌发都是大有裨益的。1903年，皮埃尔参加了学校老校友会举办的一次聚餐会，在那里，他笑着回忆起那时的一次意外。有一天，他和几个学生在实验室里干活干得太晚了，等到他想走的时候，发现门被锁上了，所以大家只能顺着二楼窗子旁的一根管子溜下去。

Because of his reserve and shyness he did not make acquaintances easily, but those whose work brought them near him loved him because of his kindliness. This was true of his subordinates during his entire life. In the school his laboratory helper, whom he had aided under trying circumstances, thought of him with the greatest gratitude, in fact, with veritable adoration.

Although separated from his brother, he remained bound to him by their former bond of love and confidence. During vacations, Jacques Curie would come to him that they might renew again that valuable collaboration to which both willingly sacrificed their periods of liberty. At times it was Pierre who joined Jacques, who was engaged in making a geological chart of the Auvergne country, and there they covered together the daily distances necessary to the tracing of such a map.

Here are a few memories of these long walks, extracts from a letter written to me shortly before our marriage:

"I have been very happy to pass a little time with my brother. We have been far from all immediate care, and so isolated by our manner of living that we have not even been able to receive a letter, never knowing one night where we would sleep the next. At times it seemed to me that we had gone back to the days when we lived entirely together. Then we always arrived at the same opinions about all things, with the result that it was no longer necessary for us to speak in order to understand each other. This is all the more astonishing because we differ so entirely in character."

因为矜持和腼腆，他不是很容易就能和大家打成一片，但是由于工作关系而同他在一起的那些人却非常爱戴他，因为他为人亲切随和。他这一生，都是深受他的下属们喜欢的。皮埃尔在学校的实验室里有一个助手，是个小伙子，他在生活极其困难的时候得到了皮埃尔的帮助，因此对皮埃尔·居里一直怀有很深的感激和崇敬之情。

尽管同哥哥分居两地，但皮埃尔仍与哥哥维系着以往的友谊和信任。每到放假，雅克·居里就会前来看他，两人再次开始颇有成效的合作，将这段自由的时间全部奉献给这种合作了。有的时候，皮埃尔也会前去看望雅克，雅克当时正于奥弗涅忙着绘制一份地质图，他便和雅克共同进行实地踏勘工作。

下面就是他对其中一次踏勘的回忆，是从他在我们俩结婚前不久给我写的一封信中摘抄下来的：

我和我哥哥一起度过了一段很开心的时光。我们抛开了眼前的所有烦恼，去享受我们已经习惯的生活方式，我们甚至于连一封信都收不到，因为每一天我们都不知道第二天将会宿于何处。有的时候，我觉得我们两个又回到了生活在一起的那个时候。我们竟然达到了对任何事情的看法都一致的程度。因为想法一致，我们都不用再说出来就可以相互领会彼此的看法。我们两个性格迥异，能做到这一点就更是难能可贵了。

From the point of view of scientific investigation, one must recognize that the nomination of Pierre Curie to the School of Physics and Chemistry retarded from the very first his experimental research. Indeed, at the time of his appointment nothing yet, existed in that establishment; everything had to be created. Even the walls and the partitions were hardly yet in place. He had, therefore, to organize completely the laboratory and its work, and he acquitted himself of this task in a remarkable manner, injecting into it the spirit of precision and originality so characteristic of him.

The direction of the laboratory work of the large number of students(thirty by promotion) was alone a strain on a young man, assisted as he was only by one laboratory helper. The first years were, therefore, hard years of assiduous work, of benefit chiefly to the students trained and developed by the young laboratory director.

He himself profited by this enforced interruption of his experimental research by trying to complete his scientific studies and, in particular, his knowledge of mathematics. At the same time he became engrossed in considerations of a theoretical nature on the relations between crystallography and physics.

In 1884 he published a memoir on questions of the order and repetition that were at the base of the study of the symmetry of crystals. This was followed in the same year by a more general treatment of the same subject. Another article on symmetry and its repetitions appeared in 1885. In that year he published, too, a very important theoretical work on the formation of crystals, and the capillary constants of the different faces.

This rapid succession of investigations shows how completely engrossed Pierre Curie was in the subject of the physics of crystals. Both his theoretical and his experimental research in this domain grouped itself around a very general principle, the principle of symmetry, that he had arrived at step by step, and which he only definitely enunciated in memoirs published between the years 1893 and 1895.

从科研的角度来看，必须承认皮埃尔·居里从一开始受聘到物理和化学学校任职的时候，就耽误了他的实验性研究。的确，他刚上任的时候，这所学校还没有任何东西，全部都要创建。围墙和隔板也都刚刚弄好。皮埃尔·居里必须全权负责组织学生实验工作。他以其别具一格的精细新颖的思想成功地完成了这项任务。

学生数量很多，每班有30名。对于仅有一个实验室助手相帮的年轻的皮埃尔来说，带领这么多的学生做实验，本身就很艰难。刚开始的几年他的工作无疑是艰苦的，但他所指导的学生们在教育和培养上却获得了很大的益处。

皮埃尔·居里趁着自己的实验研究被迫中断的机会来补充自身的科学知识，尤其是数学方面的知识。这个时候，在晶体学和物理学的理论研究方面，他已经成为了领军人物。

1884年，他发表了以晶体对称性研究为基础的有关增长序与重现的一篇论文。同一年，就同一题目，他做了一个更加广泛的报告。另一篇有关于对称与重现的论文发表于1885年。同一年，他就晶体的形成与不同面的毛细常数又发表了一篇非常重要的理论文章。

我们可以从这连续发表的几篇论文看出，对于晶体物理，皮埃尔·居里有多么关心。他在这一领域的研究，不论是理论性的还是实验性的，都围绕着一个非常普遍的对称性原则。他成功地逐渐将这一原则指出，但直到1893—1895年，他断断续续发表的一些论文才最终把这一原则确定了下来。

The following is the form, already classic, in which he made his announcement:

"When certain causes produce certain effects, the elements of symmetry in the causes ought to reappear in the effects produced.

"When certain effects reveal a certain dissymmetry, this dissymmetry should be apparent in the causes which have given them birth.

"The converse of these two statements does not hold, at least practically; that is to say, the effects produced can be more symmetrical than their causes."

The capital importance of this statement, perfect in its simplicity, lies in the fact that the elements of symmetry which it introduces are related to all the phenomena of physics without exception.

Guided by an exhaustive study of the groups of symmetry which might exist in nature, Pierre Curie showed how one should use this revelation in character at once geometric and physical, in order to foresee whether a particular phenomenon could reproduce itself, or whether its reproduction was impossible under the given conditions. At the beginning of a certain memoir, he insisted in these terms:

"I think it is necessary to introduce into physics the ideas of symmetry familiar to crystallographers."

下面就是他关于这一论证所提出的且今后将成为经典的方式：

当某些效果为某些原因所产生时，原因的对称因子应该再次出现于所产生的效果之中。

当某些效果显出某种不对称时，这样的不对称应该再次出现在使之产生的原因之中。

这两种假设的逆命题未必正确，但至少在实际之中不是这样，换句话说所产生的效果能够比原因更加对称。

这个虽然简单但却完美的论证具有极大的重要性，这种重要性在于，它所引入的对称因子是同所有物理现象相关联的，无一例外。

受对有可能存在于自然界之中的对称群所作的一次深入研究的指引，皮埃尔·居里指出了应该怎样利用这种既是几何学特性又是物理学特性的资料，去对某种现象是否会产生或是它在所考虑的条件下产生是不可能的进行预见。他在一篇论文的开头是这样强调的：

我认为最好能够在物理学中引入为晶体研究者们所熟知的对称概念。

His work in this field was fundamental, and even though he was led away from it later by other investigations, he always retained a passionate interest in the physics of crystals, as well as in projects of further research in this domain.

The principle of symmetry to which Pierre Curie had so eagerly devoted himself is one of the small number of great principles which dominate the study of the phenomena of physics, and which, having their root in ideas derived by experiment, yet little by little detach themselves and assume a form more and more general and more and more perfect. It is in this way that the idea of the equivalence of heat and of work, added to the earlier notion of the equivalence of kinetic and potential energies, brought about the establishment of the principle of the conservation of energy whose application is entirely general. In the same way the law of the conservation of mass grew out of the experiments of Lavoisier, which belonged to the foundations of chemistry. Recently an admirable synthesis has made it possible for us to attain a still higher degree of generalization through the union of these two principles, for it has been proved that the mass of a body is proportional to its internal energy. The study of electrical phenomena led Lippmann to announce the general law of the conservation of electricity. The principle of Carnot, born of considerations on the functioning of thermal machines, has acquired also so general a significance, that it made possible the foreseeing of the most probable character of spontaneous evolution for all material systems.

他在这条道路的研究上取得了重大的成果，尽管后来转向了其他研究，但对于晶体物理，他始终保持着浓厚的兴趣，并在这一领域内不断地酝酿出一些新的研究计划。

使皮埃尔·居里念念不忘的对称原理是重大的物理原理之一，这些原理虽然为数不多，但却对物理现象的研究起着指导作用，它们扎根于实验所提供的概念之中，但是又逐渐地从中摆脱出来，获得一种更加普遍、更加完美的形式。因此，热当量与功当量的概念便被补充进动能与潜能的当量概念中来，使得应用很普遍的能的保存原理得到建立。同样，质量保存原理也从将化学作为基础的拉乌瓦齐埃实验中逐渐地得出来了。通过对这两种原理进行聚合，一个令人赞叹的综合在最近得以达到了更加普遍的程度，因为已经被证明过，一个物体的质量同其内在的能是成正比的。对电现象的研究令里普曼将电的保存的普遍原理提了出来。根据生热装置的运作构思所产生的卡尔诺原理也具有非常普遍的意义，使各种物质系统自发变化的预见成为可能。

The principle of symmetry furnished an example of an analogous evolution. To begin with, observation of Nature was able to suggest the idea of symmetry; though such observations revealed only imperfectly any regular dispositions in the aspects of animals and plants. The regularity becomes very much more perfect in the case of crystallized minerals. We may consider that Nature furnishes us the idea of a plane of symmetry and of an axis of symmetry. An object possesses a plane of symmetry, or a plane of reflection, if this plane divides the object into two parts, of which each one may be thought of as the image of the other reflected in the plane as in a mirror. It is this, approximately, that occurs in the external appearance of man and of numerous animals. An object possesses an axis of symmetry of the order, if it preserves the same appearance after a rotation on this axis of the nth part of a revolution. Thus a regular flower of four petals has an axis of symmetry of the order four, or a quarternary axis. Crystals like those of rock salt or of alum possess many planes of symmetry and many axes of symmetry of different orders.

Geometry teaches us to study the elements of symmetry of a limited figure such, for instance, as a polyhedron; and to discover the relations between its parts which permit us to reunite different symmetries in groups. The knowledge of these groups is of the greatest usefulness in establishing a rational classification of crystal forms in a small number of systems each of which is derived from a simple geometric form. Thus the regular octahedron, belongs to the same system as the cube, for in the case of each the group formed by the axes and the planes of symmetry is the same.

对称原理提供了一种平行进化的榜样。从一开始，通过对大自然的观察就能对对称概念进行验证：如果矿物质是晶体化了的，那么它的规律性则会更加完美。我们能够看到大自然向我们提供了对称面与对称轴的概念。如果对称面将物体分成两个部分，而如果每一部分又都可以被看作是这个面所反映的另一部分的形象（就像在一面镜子里那样）的话，这个物体就拥有一个对称面或是蜃景面。这几乎就是人与众多动物的外部形象所产生的那样。如果把一个物体沿着某一轴线旋转，当转到一周的几分之一的时候，物体恢复到开始的形状，我们就能够说这个物体拥有一千几阶的对称轴线。比如，一个整齐的四瓣花朵，就拥有一个四阶对称轴线，或是四阶轴线。像岩盐或者明矾这样的晶体就拥有好几个对称面与好几个不同序的对称轴。

从几何学中我们学会对一种被限定的形象，例如多面体的对称因子与在这些因子中发现的使它们聚集成堆的一些不可或缺的关系。了解这些堆体十分有利于将晶体形式合理地排列成为一个数量不多的系，其中的每一个系都是由一个简单的几何形式演变而来的。因此，正八面体就属于和立方体一样的系，因为由对称轴与对称面所组成的堆体于两种情况之下都是相同的。

In the study of the physical properties of crystalline matter it is necessary to take account of the symmetry of such matter. This is, in general, anisotropic; that is to say, it has not the same properties in all directions. On the other hand, media such as glass or water are isotropic, having equivalent properties in all directions. It was the study of optics which first showed that the propagation of light in a crystal is dependent upon the elements of symmetry in that crystal. The same thing is true for the conduction of heat or electricity, for magnetization, for polarization, etc.

It was in reflecting upon the relations between cause and effect that govern these phenomena that Pierre Curie was led to complete and extend the idea of symmetry, by considering it as a condition of space characteristic of the medium in which a given phenomenon occured. To define this condition it is necessary to consider not only the constitution of the medium but also its condition of movement and the physical agents to which it is subordinated. Thus a right circular cylinder possesses a plane of symmetry perpendicular to its axis in its position, and an infinity of planes of symmetry pass through its axis. If the same cylinder is in rotation on its axis, the first plane of symmetry persists, but all the others are suppressed. Furthermore, if an electric current traverses the cylinder lengthwise, no plane of symmetry remains.

In every phenomenon the elements of symmetry compatible with its existence may be determined. Certain elements can coexist with certain phenomena, but they are not necessary to them. That which is necessary is that certain ones among these elements shall not exist. It is dissymmetry that creates the phenomenon. When several phenomena are superposed in the same system, the dissymmetries are added together.（ "Works of Pierre Curie", page 127）

在研究晶体物质的物理属性的过程中，必须对这种物质的对称性进行考虑。这种物质在通常情况下都是各向异性的；换句话说，当介质，例如玻璃或水，是各向同性（这是因为于这种情况下，各个方向完全相等）时，它于各个方向中就不具有相同的特性。对于光学的研究首先指出了光在晶体里的传播所依据的是晶体的对称因子。对于导热性、导电性，对于磁化与极化等来说，也是同样的。

正是在对这些现象的因果关系进行思考时，皮埃尔·居里被引导去对对称的概念进行补足与扩展。他认为对于一个现象出现在其中的介质来说，这种概念是一种独有的空间状态。为了对这一状态进行确定，就必须要考虑介质的构成，和它的运动状态以及它所从属的物理因子。所以，一个直圆柱体就拥有与它在其介质中的轴相垂直的一个对称面和通过这个轴的无尽的对称面。假如这同一个圆柱体能够围绕着它的轴进行旋转，那就存在第一对称面，但是其他的就全部被取消了；假如这个圆柱体还被一股电流同时纵向通过，那么任何对称面就都保存不住了。

对于所有的现象来说，都有将同它的存在相容的对称因子确定下来的必要：在这些因子中，有一些能够同某些现象共存，但是它们却并不是不可缺少的。必须要确定的是，它们之中的某一些并不存在，而是不对称在产生现象。当数个现象重叠于同一个系中时，不对称就自动增多。（出自皮埃尔·居里《论文集》第127页）

It was from the above considerations that Pierre Curie announced the general law whose text, already cited, attains the highest degree of generalization. The synthesis thus obtained seems complete, and all that was further needed was to deduce from it all the developments of which it admited.

For this it is convenient to define the particular symmetry of each phenomenon and to introduce a classification which makes clear the principal groups of symmetry. Mass, electric charge, temperature, have the same symmetry, of a type called scalar, that of the sphere. A current of water and a rectilineal electric current have the symmetry of an arrow, of the type polar vector. The symmetry of an upright circular cylinder is of the type tensor. All of the physics of crystals can be expressed in a form in which the particular phenomena in question are not specified, but in which are examined only the geometrical and analytical relations between the types of quantities where certain ones are considered as causes and the other as effects.

Thus, the study of electrical polarization by the application of an electric field becomes the examination of the relation between two systems of vectors, and the writing out of a system of linear equations having 9 coefficients. The same system of equations holds for the relation between an electric field and an electric current in crystalline conductors; or for that between the temperature gradient and the heat current, except that the meaning of the coefficients must be changed. Similarly, a study of the general relations between a vector and a system of tensors can reveal all the characteristics of piezo-electric phenomena. And all the rich variety of the phenomena of elasticity depends on the relation between two sets of tensors which require, in principle, 36 coefficients.

正如上述结论所说，皮埃尔·居里对一种普遍原理进行了阐释，其《论文集》（第37页）对这一普遍原理的研究，在其普遍性和抽象性方面，达到了巅峰的状态。如此得到的综合似乎是决定性的，而剩下的只是据此去推论出它所包含的整个发展。

因此，应该将每个现象的独特对称确定，并将那些对称群按照门类分开。质量、电荷、温度有着相同的称之为“标量”的，也就是圆球形对称。水流或者单向电流属于矢量对称性，是“极矢量”之类。正圆柱体的对称则是属于“张量”之类。所有的晶体物理学研究都能够按照这种方法加以归类，但在使用这种方法时，不需要指定所研究现象的具体情形，而只需要观察它们的各物理量于几何与解析上的因果关系就行了。

因此，对于电场所产生的极化效应所作的研究也就相当于是在对两个矢量之间的关系进行研究，并列出含有9个系数的一组线性方程式。这组方程式中的每个系数的意义在于，对于它们加以修改即可以用来表示导体中的电流同电场的关系，或者热流同温度梯度的关系。同样，在对矢量同张量间的普遍性关系进行研究时，压电现象的各种特性便可以显示。除此之外，凡是属于晶体弹性的各种现象也都能够通过两组张量之间的关系来决定。但是，这些张量通常都需要36个系数才能进行表述。

The foregoing brief exposition reveals the high philosophic import of these conceptions of symmetry which touch all natural phenomena, and whose profound significance Pierre Curie so clearly set forth. It is interesting in this connection to recall the relation which Pasteur saw between these same conceptions and the manifestations of life. "The universe", he said, "is a dissymmetric whole. I am led to believe that life, as it is revealed to us, must be a function of the dissymmetry of the universe, or of the consequences that it involves."

As his organization of his work in the School progressed, Pierre Curie could begin to dream of going forward again with his experimental research. He could do so, however, only under most precarious conditions, for he had not even a laboratory for his personal work, nor a room of any kind entirely at his disposition. Besides, he possessed no funds to support his investigations. It was only after he had been several years at the School that he obtained, thanks to the influence of Schutzenberger, a small annual subvention for his work. Up to that time the materials necessary for him were provided, thanks to the kindness of his superiors, to the extent possible, by drawing upon a very limited general fund of the teaching laboratory. As for a place to work in, he had to content himself with very little. He set up certain of his experiments in the rooms of his pupils when these were not in use. But more frequently he worked in an outside corridor running between a stairway and a laboratory. It was there that he conducted, in particular, his long research on magnetism.

This abnormal state of affairs was manifestly prejudicial to his work, but it had, nevertheless, the happy result of bringing his students closer to him, for it allowed them, at times, to share in his personal scientific interests.

通过这一简单的阐述，我们能够了解到自然现象中全部的对称性在理论上的巨大的重要性，而皮埃尔·居里凭借一种明白无误的方式对其深刻的意义进行了表述。有必要在此提及，巴斯德曾经也用过同样的观点来对生命进行观察，他说道：“作为一个整体，宇宙是不对称的，所以我相信我们见到的生命应该是受宇宙不对称作用影响的，或是说我们的生命是不对称性的结果。”

随着学校里的工作渐渐进入有序状态，皮埃尔能够考虑再次进行自己的实验研究了。但是实验研究的条件却不理想，他没有自己专门的实验室，也没有空屋可以利用，并且研究经费也毫无着落。在学校工作了好几年之后，幸亏有舒赞贝格的支持，他才得以每年获得一小部分研究经费。另外，也是由于校长的关照，他所需要的实验器材经费能够从学校教学实验室的日常开支中划拨，但那所谓的日常开支经费事实上也是少得可怜。他只能占用一点点实验场所。他的部分实验是当学生们不用大课堂时，在大课堂里进行的。不过，最经常的是他在楼梯底下或者学生实验室里进行自己的实验。就是在这种条件下，他完成了那漫长而又卓有成效的磁学研究。

这种非正常的并且明显不利于皮埃尔的科研状况倒也有其有利的一面，那就是他正好可以借此更多地接触学生，而有时候那些学生也能参与一些他的科学研究。

His return to experimental research was marked by a profound study of the "direct reading periodic precision balance for least weights." (1889, 1890, 1891). In this balance, the use of small weights is suppressed by the employment of a microscope by means of which one reads a micrometer attached to the extremity of one of the arms of the balance. The reading is made when the oscillation of the balance is arrested, which can occur very rapidly, thanks to the use of pneumatic dampeners conveniently constructed. This balance marks a considerable advance over old systems. It has shown itself particularly valuable in laboratories for chemical analysis, where the rapidity of the weighings is frequently a test of precision. We can say that the introduction of the Curie balances marks an epoch in the construction of these instruments. The work done in this field was far from empirical; it comprised a study of the theory of damped movements and the construction of numerous curves established with the aid of some of his students.

It was toward 1891 that Pierre Curie began a long series of investigations on the magnetic properties of bodies at divers temperatures(from the normal up to 1400 ℃ ). These investigations, covering years, were presented as a Doctor's thesis before the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Paris in 1895. In it he stated precisely in the following few words the object and results of his work:

"From the point of view of their magnetic properties, bodies may be divided into three groups: diamagnetic bodies, bodies only feebly magnetic, and paramagnetic bodies. At first sight the three groups seem entirely separate. The principal aim of this research has been to discover if there exist transitions between these three states of matter, and if it is possible to make a given body pass progressively through them. To determine this I have examined the properties of a great number of bodies at temperatures differing as much as possible, in magnetic fields of varying intensities.

皮埃尔再次开始实验研究的主要目标是对“直接称量最微小量的精密天平”这一高深的课题进行研究。这些研究在1889年、1890年、1891年间进行。这种天平不用小砝码，而代之以一个测微计，将它装在天平一臂的顶端，并通过显微镜来读数。在这种天平上装有空气阻尼器，能令天平两臂的摆动及时停止，然后便能够立刻读数了。和旧天平相比，它大有改进，特别是它的称量极其快速，在化学分析实验中称量的速度直接影响到它的精确性。所以，在化学分析实验室里，这种新式天平非常受青睐。甚至可以说，这种由皮埃尔发明的天平确实开创出了天平制造业的新纪元。这种发明并不是完全靠经验的，而是皮埃尔先对阻尼运动研究了一番，并借助于一些学生的帮助，绘制出了一些曲线图表，将他的推论证实之后才获得成功的。

1891年左右，皮埃尔·居里开始进行他对物体的磁性和温度（从常温到1400℃之间）的关系长达几年的系统研究。1895年在巴黎大学的教师会议上，研究结果以博士论文的形式被宣读。皮埃尔将他的研究目的和结果以明确而又简洁的语言叙述了出来。他在文章中写道：

根据自身磁性，物体可被明确地分为抗磁性物体、弱磁性物体以及顺磁性物体(1)8三类。乍看上去，这三类物体完全不同。该项研究的主要目的在于探究这三种状态之间是不是存在着一种过渡，能否让某一种物质按照顺序经过这些不同的状态。因此，我对不同温度与磁场下的许多物质进行了研究，并对它们的磁性进行了观察与测量。

"My experiments failed to prove any relation between the properties of diamagnetic and those of paramagnetic bodies. And the results support the theories which attribute magnetism and diamagnetism to causes of a different nature. On the contrary, the properties of ferro-magnetic bodies and of bodies feebly magnetic are intimately united."

This experimental work presented many difficulties, for it necessitated the measuring of very minute forces (of the order of 1/100 of a milligramme weight) within a container where the temperature could attain 1400℃.

As Pierre Curie well understood, the results he obtained are, from a theoretic point of view, of fundamental importance. The Curie law, according to which the coefficient of magnetization of a body feebly magnetized varies in inverse ratio to the absolute temperature, is a remarkably simple law. It is quite comparable to the Gay-Lussac law relating to the variation of the density of a perfect gas with the temperature. In his well known theory of magnetism P. Langevin, in 1905, took into account the Curie law and arrived again, theoretically, at the difference between the origins of diamagnetism and paramagnetism. His work, as well as the important investigations of P. Weiss, demonstrated the accuracy of Pierre Curie's conclusions, as well as the importance of the analogy that he perceived between the intensity of magnetization and the density of a fluid—the paramagnetic state being comparable to a gaseous state, and the ferro-magnetic state to the state of condensation.

我在实验中未能对抗磁性物质和顺磁性物质在性质上的关系进行证实，但实验的结果却显示一些不同性质的原因造成了磁性和抗磁性。相反，铁磁性物质与弱磁性物质的性质却是有着紧密的关系。

在实验方面，这项研究呈现出大量的困难，因为实验需要在温度达到1400℃左右的装置中测量出极其微小的力（它的重量仅有0.01毫克）。

正像皮埃尔·居里非常清楚的那样，他所取得的结果在理论上看是十分重要的。他从中得出了“居里定律”。按照这一定律，物体的磁化系数同它的绝对温度成反比。这个定律十分简单，完全可以同盖·吕萨克的“理想气体的密度同其温度成反比”的定律相媲美。1905年，保尔·朗之万发表的著名的磁学理论就引用了皮埃尔·居里的这个定律，并从理论上进一步对抗磁性和顺磁性的不同起因进行了证实。朗之万的研究，与后来的P.魏斯的重要研究都证明了皮埃尔·居里所得出的结果是非常精确的。在磁化强度和流体密度之间皮埃尔还看到了相似状态，因为物质处在顺磁化状态可以同气态相比较，处在铁磁化状态则可以同凝聚状态相比较。

In connection with this work, Pierre Curie spent some time in the search for unknown phenomena whose existence did not seem, a priori, impossible to him. He sought for bodies strongly diamagnetic, but found none. He tried to discover, too, if there were bodies that acted as conductors of magnetism, and if magnetism can exist in a "free state", like electricity. Here also the result was negative. He never published any of these investigations, for he had the habit of thus engaging in the pursuit of phenomena, often with little hope of success, solely for the love of the unforeseen, and without ever thinking of publication.

Because of this entirely disinterested passion for scientific research the presentation of a doctor's thesis which would give an account of these early investigations had never appealed to him. He was already thirty-five years old when he decided to gather together, in such a thesis, the results of his beautiful work on magnetism.

I have a very vivid memory of how he sustained his thesis before the examiners, for he had invited me, because of the friendship that already existed between us, to be present on the occasion. The jury was composed of Professors Bonty, Lippmann, and Hautefeuille. In the audience were some of his friends, among them his aged father, extremely happy in his son's success. I remember the simplicity and the clarity of the exposition, the esteem indicated by the attitude of the professors, and the conversation between them and the candidate which reminded one of a meeting of the Physics Society. I was greatly impressed; it seemed to me that the little room that day sheltered the exaltation of human thought.

在这项研究工作中，皮埃尔尽力去探求还不为人所知的新现象，他认为这些新现象并不是没有存在的可能。他忙着寻找一种很强的抗磁性物质，但没有成功。他还在探究是不是有一些能够传导磁性的物质，是不是磁性能够像电荷一样以自由状态存在。在这一方面，他也没有得到确定的结果。他从来没有就这些研究发表过什么，这是因为他习惯于这样投入到对现象的追踪中去，经常无功而返，但他就是喜欢对意外的东西进行探寻，而从不考虑是不是要著书立说。

这种对科研完全无私的激情令他并没有想过要专门利用自己开始的研究成果去创作一篇博士论文。当决心将刚完成的磁性研究方面的见解颇深的成果集中起来作为博士论文的时候，他已经是35岁的中年人了。

他进行博士论文答辩时候的情景，我至今都记忆犹新。当时我们两个已经友谊甚笃，所以他邀请我前去参加他的答辩会。布蒂教授、里普曼教授同奥特弗耶教授共同组成了评委会。旁听者有他的朋友和他的父亲。他的父亲因为自己儿子所取得的成就而非常高兴。我记得皮埃尔进行答辩时简洁明确而又条理清晰，深受评委们的赞赏。当评委们和皮埃尔进行问答式的交流沟通时，我仿佛在参加一个物理学的研讨会。那一天，小教室里就像是在对人类的崇高理想进行颂扬，我深深地被那里的一切打动了。

In recalling this period in the life of Pierre Curie, between 1883 and 1895, we can appreciate the great progress the young physicist had made while acting as Chief of Laboratory. He had succeeded during this time in organizing an entirely new teaching service; he had published an important series of theoretical memoirs, as well as the results of experimental research of the first order. In addition, he had constructed new apparatus of great perfection—and all this in spite of very insufficient accommodations and resources. This achievement suggests the distance he had traveled since the doubts and hesitations of his early youth in learning to discipline his methods of work, and to derive from them the full advantage of his exceptional capacities.

He enjoyed a growing esteem in France, and in foreign countries. He was listened to with interest at the meetings of the learned societies (Society of Physics, Society of Mineralogy, Society of Electricians), where he was in the habit of presenting his communications and where he joined readily in the discussion of various scientific questions.

在对1883—1895年年间，皮埃尔·居里一生中的这一时期进行回忆的时候，我们可以看到，作为实验室主任，他在学术上的成就。在这几年间，他成功地将实验室组建成为一个全新的教学单位，并发表了一系列重要的理论性文章与一流的实验研究报告，还制作了一些非常精确的新仪器，而所有的这一切全部都是在设备不完善、经费不充足的情况下完成的。所以，我们可以认为他克服掉了青少年时期怀疑和犹豫的情绪，并将自己的研究方法进行了规范，充分调动了自己不平凡的才能。

由此他在国内外的声誉与日俱增。在一些学术团体的会议上，包括物理学会、矿物学会以及电气工程师学会等，他经常将自己的研究成果拿出来和他人进行交流，并且在对各种科学问题的讨论中踊跃发表自己的看法，到会者全都洗耳恭听。

Among foreign scholars who already at this time appreciated him highly, I can name, in the first place, the illustrious English physicist, Lord Kelvin, who joined with him in a certain scientific discussion, and who often expressed for him, from that time on, both esteem and sympathy. During one of his visits to Paris, Lord Kelvin was present at a meeting of the Society of Physics when Pierre Curie made a statement regarding the construction and the use of standard condensers with guard ring. In this statement he recommended the use of an apparatus which involved the charging of the central part of the guard ring plate by a galvanic cell and in uniting the guard ring with the earth. One uses then, as a measure, the charge induced on the second plate. Even though the resulting disposition of lines of the field be complex, the charge induced can be calculated by a theorem of electrostatics, with the same simple formula as is used for an ordinary apparatus in a uniform field, and one has the benefit of a better isolation. Lord Kelvin believed at first that this reasoning was inexact. Despite his great repute and his advanced age, he went the following day to the laboratory to find the young Director. Here he discussed the matter with him before the blackboard. He was completely convinced, and seemed even delighted to concede the point to his companion.

这一时期对他进行高度评价的外国科学家中，首先能够举出的是英国著名物理学家开尔文爵士。他于一次科学讨论会上和皮埃尔进行了交流，从此以后，他就一直很赏识皮埃尔并且对他十分亲切。开尔文爵士于他的一次巴黎之行期间，参与了物理学会的一次会议。在会上，当谈到装有保护环的标准的电容器的构造与使用时，皮埃尔主张用电池对保护环里的中央圆板进行充电，而保护环则同地面连接，这样就可以将另一块电板上所感应到的电荷用来计量。尽管这种构造令电线的空间分布很复杂，但它的感应电荷却能够运用静电学中的定理来计算。这一过程中所运用的公式和普通电容器与均匀电场中所运用的公式同样简单。另外，按照皮埃尔的方法，电容器的绝缘性能更好。刚开始的时候，开尔文认为皮埃尔的推论并不精确，但是，到了第二天，他不顾自己年龄已大，亲自来到皮埃尔的实验室拜访年轻的实验室主任，同皮埃尔在黑板上进行了讨论。后来，他彻底信服了，并且很高兴地称赞了皮埃尔推论的正确性。(2)

It may seem astonishing that Pierre Curie, in spite of his merits, continued during twelve years in the small position of Chief of Laboratory. Without doubt this was largely due to the fact that it is easy to overlook those who have not the active support of influential persons. It was due also to the fact that it was impossible for him to take the many steps that the pushing of any candidature involves. Then, too, his independence of character ill fitted him to ask for an advance, and this notwithstanding the fact that his position was very modest. Indeed his salary, then comparable to that of a day laborer(about 300 francs a month), was scarcely sufficient to enable him to lead the simple life that would yet permit him to carry on his work.

He expressed his feelings on this subject in the following words:

"I have heard that perhaps one of the professors will resign, and that I might, in that case, make application to succeed him. What an ugly necessity is this of seeking any position whatsoever; I am not accustomed to this form of activity, demoralizing to the highest degree. I am sorry that I spoke to you about it. I think that nothing is more unhealthy to the spirit than to allow oneself to be occupied by things of this character and to listen to the petty gossip that people come to report to you."

令我们感到惊讶的是，尽管皮埃尔·居里成绩斐然，但12年间却一直担任着小小的实验室主任。毫无疑问，这是因为无人举荐关照，没有得到有权势者的帮助的人，是非常容易被人遗忘的；还因为他对为达到升迁的目的而四处奔走，求人帮忙的行为深恶痛绝。他向来性格独立、光明磊落，是绝对不会为了升迁去活动的。为此，他只能屈于此职，（每月拿三百法郎的薪水），同体力劳动者没有什么差距，只是勉强能够维持简单的生活而已。虽然处境如此糟糕，但他却始终没有放弃过自己的研究工作。

关于这一问题，他曾经在给我的一封信中提道：

有人对我说，我校的一位教授可能要辞职，如果是这样的话，我就想接替他所留下的职位。不过，任何职位都需要自己申请，这可是件令人头疼的事，我实在是不习惯做这种使人难堪的事情。我认为真是没有比这么干而去听别人说三道四的事更不像话的了。我很遗憾和您谈到这种事情。

If he disliked soliciting an advancement in position, he was even less inclined to hope for honors. He had, in fact, a very decided opinion on the subject of honorary distinctions. Not only did he believe that they were not helpful, but he considered them frankly harmful. He felt that the desire to obtain them was a cause of trouble, and that it could degrade the worthiest aim of man, which was, work for the pure love of it. Since he possessed great moral probity, he did not hesitate to make his acts conform to his opinions. When Schutzenberger, in order to offer him a mark of esteem, wished to propose him for the Palmes academiques he refused this distinction, despite the advantages which, according to general belief, it would confer. And he wrote to his director:

"I have been informed that you intend to propose me again to the acquirement for the decoration. I pray you do not do so. If you procure for me this honor, you will place me under the necessity of refusing it, for I have firmly decided not to accept a decoration of any kind. I hope that you will be good enough to avoid taking a step that will make me appear a little ridiculous in the eyes of many people. If your aim is to offer me a testimony of your interest, you have already done that, and in a very much more effective manner which touched me greatly, for you have made it possible for me to work without worry."

如果说皮埃尔不渴望强求晋升的话，那他则更是不追求荣誉声望。涉及名誉、奖赏的问题，他的态度尤为坚决，他不但不认为它们具有任何的用处，还相信它们有百害而无一利，谁要将全部心思都用在对荣耀的追求上，就必将自寻烦恼，还会将人最崇高的目标放到次要的地位，这个目标就是为了爱好而从事的科学研究，这是人类最为高尚的情操。他的道德观念向来真诚而又崇高，所以他的行为举止同他的思想保持着一致，从来都是言行一致、表里统一的。舒赞贝格曾经想要提议授予皮埃尔共和国一级教育勋章，虽然获此殊荣会带来很多好处，但他仍婉言谢绝了。他写信给校长舒赞贝格说：

获悉您再次推举我获取这一殊荣，我不胜感激，但我真诚地请您千万不要这么做。如果您真的成功地为我申请了这一荣誉，那会令我处于尴尬的境地，因为我已下定决心不再接受任何荣誉了。请校长先生谅解我并撤销您的提议吧，免得使我贻笑大方。如果您希望向我表达您的关怀，那么您以前为了使我无后顾之忧地进行研究工作所作的努力就已经是对我很大的关怀了，这远远胜过为我去争取虚名。但是，我仍对此向您表示不胜的感激。

Faithful to this firm opinion, he later declined the decoration of the Legion d'Honneur, which was offered him in 1903. But even though Pierre Curie refused to take steps to change his situation it was at last improved. In 1895 the well-known physicist, Mascart, professor in the College de France, impressed with his ability, and with Lord Kelvin's opinion of him, insisted that Schutzenberger create a new Chair of Physics at the School of Physics and Chemistry. Pierre Curie was then named professor under conditions in which his talents were duly recognized. However, nothing was done at this time to ameliorate the inadequate material conditions under which, as we have already seen, he was carrying on his personal investigations.

皮埃尔从来没有违背过自己的意愿。1903年，政府曾经准备向他授予“荣誉勋章”，但是也被他婉言谢绝了。虽然他并不愿意为了自己的晋升而四处活动，但在1895年，他还是得到了升迁。法兰西学院著名的物理学家马斯卡尔教授十分欣赏皮埃尔·居里的才干，又听到开尔文爵士对他作出的高度评价，便竭力向舒赞贝格保荐皮埃尔，聘请皮埃尔为教授，在物理和化学学校开了一个物理学讲座，使皮埃尔的才能得到充分地发挥。但是，这一时期，皮埃尔的研究缺乏经费的问题并没有由此而得到任何解决。

Chapter IV　Life and Character

I met Pierre Curie for the first time in the spring of the year 1894. I was then living in Paris where for three years I had been studying at the Sorbonne. I had passed the examinations for the licentiate in physics, and was preparing for those in mathematics. At the same time I had begun to work in the research laboratory of Professor Lippmann. A Polish physicist whom I knew, and who was a great admirer of Pierre Curie, one day invited us together to spend the evening with himself and his wife.

As I entered the room, Pierre Curie was standing in the recess of a French window opening on a balcony. He seemed to me very young, though he was at that time thirty-five years old. I was struck by the open expression of his face and by the slight suggestion of detachment in his whole attitude. His speech, rather slow and deliberate, his simplicity, and his smile, at once grave and youthful, inspired confidence. We began a conversation which soon became friendly. It first concerned certain scientific matters about which I was very glad to be able to ask his opinion. Then we discussed certain social and humanitarian subjects which interested us both. There was, between his conceptions and mine, despite the difference between our native countries, a surprising kinship, no doubt attributable to a certain likeness in the moral atmosphere in which we were both raised by our families.

【注释】

(1)同铁相类似，顺磁体的磁化作用有时为极强的磁化（铁磁化），有时为较弱的磁化。抗磁体系是指物体的磁化作用非常微弱，并且和铁在相同磁场中具有相反的磁化极性。——作者注

(2)在访法期间，著名物理学家，英国的开尔文爵士给皮埃尔写了一封信，内容摘要如下：

亲爱的居里先生：

十分感谢您周六的来信，对于信的内容，我感到非常有趣。如果我明天上午11点到你的实验室拜访，您应该会在吧？我有两三件事情想和您进行讨论，并且还想看看您所绘制的在不同温度下的铁的磁化带曲线圈。

开尔文

1893年10月

第四章　生活与品德

我在1894年的春天第一次遇到皮埃尔。当时我住在巴黎，已在巴黎大学读了三年书，通过了物理学科学士考试，(1)并且还在为数学学士学位的考试作准备。与此同时，我还在里普曼教授的实验室里作研究。和我相识的一位波兰物理学家对皮埃尔·居里非常敬重，有一天，便邀请我们同时去和他们夫妇共度周末。

当我进入客厅时，看见皮埃尔·居里正站在冲着阳台的落地窗旁。我认为他看上去非常年轻，虽然已是35岁的人了。他的目光清澈，双目炯炯有神，身材修长，非常潇洒，给我留下的印象很深。他说起话来总是经过深思熟虑，听起来慢条斯理的。并且他的态度率直，笑起来庄重而又富有生气，让人很是信赖。我们很快便谈得十分投机了。一开始我们谈的是科学问题，我很愿意听听他的看法。后来，我们便将话题转到彼此都感兴趣的社会问题与人类问题上了。我们两人虽然国籍不同，但对事物的看法却是惊人的相似，想必这是因为我们两个从小所处的家庭环境有着某种共同的道德使然。

We met again at the Physics Society and in the laboratory. Then he asked if he might call upon me. I lived at that time in a room on the sixth floor of a house situated near the schools. It was a poor little room, for my resources were extremely limited. I was, nevertheless, very happy in it for I was now first realizing, although already twenty-five years old, the ardent desire I had so long cherished of carrying on advanced studies in science. Pierre Curie came to see me, and showed a simple and sincere sympathy with my student life. Soon he caught the habit of speaking to me of his dream of an existence consecrated entirely to scientific research, and he asked me to share that life. It was not, however, easy for me to make such a decision, for it meant separation from my country and my family, and the renouncement of certain social projects that were dear to me. Having grown up in an atmosphere of patriotism kept alive by the oppression of Poland, I wished, like many other young people of my country, to contribute my effort toward the conservation of our national spirit.

So matters stood, when at the beginning of my vacation I left Paris to go to my father in Poland. Our correspondence during this separation helped to strengthen the bond of affection between us.

During the year 1894 Pierre Curie wrote me letters that seemed to me admirable in their form. No one of them was very long, for he had the habit of concise expression, but all were written in a spirit of sincerity and with an evident anxiety to make the one he desired as a companion know him as he was. The very quality of the expression has always seemed to me remarkable. No other one could describe in a few lines, as he could, a state of mind, or a situation, and by the simplest means make that description evoke a seizing image of truth. Because of this gift, he might, I believe, have been a great writer. I have already cited a few fragments of his letters, and others will follow. It is appropriate to quote here a few lines which expressed how he looked on the possibility of our marriage:

我们于物理学会与实验室再次相遇，然后他就请我允许他前来拜访我。当时我住在大学区里一幢破旧楼房的七层，因为经济条件所限，我只能住这种公寓。但是我因为已经实现了在科学方面进行深造这一多年的夙愿，所以仍旧乐呵呵的。当时我25岁。皮埃尔·居里到我住的地方看我，见我住得这么差，对我表达了真诚的关怀和同情。在这之后，他就常常跟我谈起他愿意为科学研究奋斗终生的梦想，并请求我和他共同分享这种生活。但是，一时间我还很难下此决心，因为如果真的那样做了，也就意味着我将要和我的家庭、祖国分离，并放弃种种对自己来说是弥足珍贵的为社会服务的计划。我是在被践踏的波兰伴随着一种浓厚的爱国主义氛围成长起来的，我想像祖国许多其他的青年人那样，为保存民族精神而贡献出自己的全部力量。

假期开始的时候，我离开巴黎回到了波兰父亲的身旁，我和皮埃尔的事情也就被放在了一边。在身处两地的这些日子里，我们之间的感情不但没有减少，随着彼此间书信的往来，反而增加了。

1894年夏天，皮埃尔·居里给我写了一些文采飞扬、热情洋溢的信。他习惯了言简意赅，所以每封信都不长，但是他的每一封信都在真心实意地表达着对我的一片深情，希望我可以成为他的终身伴侣。对于他的文字功底，我是非常钦佩的，没有谁可以像他那样凭借三言两语就能够将一种精神状态或是一种境况表达出来，并且是用一种非常简朴的方式讲述出事情的本质，给人留下难忘的印象。我认为，凭借这一天赋，他完全可以成为一个出色的作家。关于他的信，我在这本书中已经引述了几段，其他的以后我还要引述。下面我先引述一下他殷切希望我能够成为他的妻子的几段：

"We have promised each other (is it not true?) to have, the one for the other, at least a great affection. Provided that you do not change your mind! For there are no promises which hold; these are things that do not admit of compulsion.

"It would, nevertheless, be a beautiful thing in which I hardly dare believe, to pass through life together hypnotized in our dreams: your dream for your country; our dream for humanity; our dream for science. Of all these dreams, I believe the last, alone, is legitimate. I mean to say by this that we are powerless to change the social order. Even if this were not true we should not know what to do. And in working without understanding we should never be sure that we were not doing more harm than good, by retarding some inevitable evolution. From the point of view of science, on the contrary, we can pretend to accomplish something. The territory here is more solid and obvious, and however small it is, it is truly in our possession.

"I strongly advise you to return to Paris in October. I shall be very unhappy if you do not come this year, but it is not my friend's selfishness that makes me ask you to return. I ask it because I believe you will work better here and that you can accomplish here something more substantial and more useful."

One can understand, from this letter, that for Pierre Curie there was only one way of looking at the future. He had dedicated his life to his dream of science: he felt the need of a companion who could live his dream with him. He told me many times that the reason he had not married until he was thirtysix was because he did not believe in the possibility of a marriage which would meet this, his absolute necessity. When he was twenty-two years old he wrote in his diary:

我们两个已经彼此承诺过（不是吗？）至少相互间要保持一种伟大的友谊。希望您没有改变初衷！因为口头的承诺并不能算数的，而这种事又无法强求。不过，这又将会是一桩美事。

斗胆地，我盼着我们两个可以互相依偎在一起，在我们的梦想中度过一生：您报效祖国的梦、我们替人类谋幸福的梦与我们的科学之梦。在上述所有的这些梦中，我觉得最后的那个梦是能够实现的。我是想说，我们没有力量去改变社会的现状，即便有这种可能，我们也不知道该怎么去做，仅凭一时的想象，说不定会好心办了坏事，从而阻碍了社会不可避免的发展。但是在科学方面却不同，我们是能够做点什么的，因为这一领域是脚踏实地的。虽然这一领域非常狭小，但是我们必将有所收获。

我迫不及待地建议您10月份返回巴黎。如果今年您不回巴黎，我会十分痛苦的，不过，我可不是出于朋友的私心才让您回来的。我只不过是觉得您在这儿学习会更有利，并且可以完成更加实在、有用的工作。

由这封信，我们可以看出，对皮埃尔·居里来说，他的未来只有一条路。他将自己的生命奉献给了他的科学梦想。他需要一位和他一起去实现这个梦想的伴侣。他不止和我说过一次，他到了36岁都还没有结婚的原因，就是他不相信符合他这一绝对条件的婚姻会有存在的可能性。22岁时，他曾经在自己的日记中写道：

"Women, much more than men, love life for life's sake. Women of genius are rare. And when, pushed by some mystic love, we wish to enter into a life opposed to nature, when we give all our thoughts to some work which removes us from those immediately about us, it is with women that we have to struggle, and the struggle is nearly always an unequal one. For in the name of life and of nature they seek to lead us back."

We can see, however, in the letters I have quoted earlier, the unshakeable faith that Pierre Curie had in science and in its power to further the general good of humanity. It seems appropriate to apply to him the sentiment expressed by Pasteur in words so well known: "I believe invincibly that science and peace will triumph over ignorance and war."

This confidence in the solutions of science made Pierre Curie little inclined to take an active part in politics. He was attached, by education and by conviction, to democratic and socialistic ideas, but he was not dominated by any party doctrine. However, he always fulfilled, as his father did, his obligations as a voter. In public life, as in private life, he was opposed to the use of violence.

女人比我们男人更加喜欢为了生活而去生活。天才的女人几乎是没有的。所以，当我们为某种神秘的爱情所驱使，想进入某种反自然的道路时，当我们将自己的全部精神贯注于自然奥秘时，我们往往就会同社会相隔绝，我们常常就要同女人去斗争，而这种斗争又似乎永远不是势均力敌的，这是因为女人会以生活与本能的名义将我们的后腿扯住。

另外，根据所引述的信的内容，我们能够看出皮埃尔相信科学，认为科学对于人类有着取之不尽的力量，这种信念是不容动摇的。巴斯德说过：“我坚信科学与和平将战胜愚昧与战争。”这同皮埃尔的看法简直是太一致了。

这种认为科学能够解决一切的信念令皮埃尔·居里很少主动参与政治。深受自身教育和信念的影响，他向往民主思想与社会主义思想，但是又不受任何党派理论的影响。另外，他同他的父亲一样，向来忠于公民应尽的义务。不管是在公众生活还是在个人生活中，他都反对使用暴力。在写给我的一封信里，他这样说：

"What would you think", he wrote me, "of a person who would knock his head against a stone wall with the intention of overthrowing it? Such an idea might be the result of very beautiful feelings, but in realization it would be ridiculous and stupid. I believe that certain questions demand a general solution, and do not admit, today, of specific solutions, and that one who begins a course that has no issue, may do much harm. I believe, further, that justice is not of this world, and that the strongest system or rather the one best developed from the economic point of view will be that which will stand. A man may exhaust himself by work, and yet live, at best, miserably. This is a revolting fact, but it will not, because of that, cease. It will disappear probably because man is a kind of machine, and it is of economic advantage to make every machine work in its normal manner, without forcing it."

He felt the same necessity for clarity and understanding in considering his own inner life as in examining a general problem. A great necessity of loyalty to himself and toward others made him suffer from the compromises imposed by life, even though he reduced them to a minimum.

假如有这样一个人，想用头去将一堵墙撞倒，对于此人，您有什么看法？这种想法应该是由一种十分美好的愿望导致的，不过，如果真的这么做起来，那便是荒唐愚蠢至极了。我觉得某些问题需要运用一般的方法进行解决，而今天，不可以用个别的方法加以解决，人们一旦走上一条找不到出路的道路的话，就有可能做出许多坏事来。我还觉得当今世界没有正义，只有强权政治，或者说是经济强国才能够胜出。一个人累得不死不活，但却过着凄惨的生活，这是令人十分气愤的事情，不过，这种事情并不会因为您一气愤就消失了。这种情况有可能会消失，因为人就是一种机器，根据经济观点来进行分析，让一部机器在正常状态而不是强制状态之下进行运转，才是上策。

对待自己的内心活动，他有着一种清晰明确的认识，就如同对普通事物进行观察一样。他向来认为最重要的就是要对自己真正的意愿保持忠心，同时对他人的观点表示尊重。为了顾此又不失彼，就必须衡量轻重，该谦让时就谦让。尽管他尽可能地在迁就，努力将矛盾减小到最低限度，但还是没有办法完全避免矛盾的出现，为此他经常感到苦恼。在给我的一封信中他写道：

"We are all the slaves of our affections", he wrote, "slaves of the prejudices of those we love. Besides, we must make a living, and this forces us to become a wheel in the machine. The most painful are the concessions we are forced to make to the prejudices of the society in which we live. We must make more or fewer compromises according as we feel ourselves feebler or stronger. If one does not make enough concessions he is crushed; if he makes too many he is ignoble and despises himself. I find myself far from the principles I held ten years ago. At that time I believed it necessary to be excessive in everything, and to make no concessions whatsoever to one's environment. I believed it necessary to exaggerate one's faults as well as one's virtues."

This was the credo of the man who, without fortune himself, desired to share his life with that of a student also without fortune, whom he had met by chance.

After my return from my vacation our friendship grew more and more precious to us; each realized that he or she could find no better life companion. We decided, therefore, to marry, and the ceremony took place in July, 1895. In conformity with our mutual wish it was the simplest service possible, a civil ceremony, for Pierre Curie professed no religion, and I myself did not practice any. My husband's parents received me with great cordiality, and reciprocally my father and my sisters, who were present at our marriage, were happy in knowing the family to which I was to belong.

Our first home, an extremely simple one, consisted of a little apartment of three rooms in the rue de la Glaciere, not far from the School of Physics. Its chief attraction was its view of a large garden. It was furnished very simply with objects that had belonged to our families. Our means did not permit our having servants, so that I had to assume practically all the household duties, as I had been in the habit of doing during my student days.

我们大家全是情感的和我们所喜欢的人的成见的奴隶。我们还要谋生，因而成为了机器的齿轮。最使人伤心的是，我们必须向我们的社会的各种偏见作出让步。让步的多少则取决于你自认为强大还是弱小。假如让步得不够，你将会被碾得粉碎。假如过分的退让，你就是卑鄙小人，就会对自己感到厌倦。今天，我已远离了十年前自己所遵循的原则。那个时候，我认为凡事都需要极端，绝不对周围环境作出任何的让步。当时我以为，一个人就应该像显示他的优点那样去展示他的缺点。

这就是那个自身无钱无势却想要同他所遇见的一贫如洗的女大学生结成伉俪的人的思想状况。

假期过后回到巴黎，我们之间的友谊逐渐亲密，双方都明白除去对方，谁都不可能找到一个更好的终身伴侣了。所以，我们决定结婚，并于1895年7月25日举行了婚礼。婚礼仪式按照我们两人共同的志趣，举办得十分简单，并且没有采取任何宗教的形式，这是因为皮埃尔·居里没有任何宗教信仰，而我自己也不是教徒。皮埃尔的父母对我表达了最真诚的欢迎，我的父亲与姐姐参加了我的婚礼，非常高兴能够认识这个我将要成为其中一员的家庭。

开始的时候，我们住的地方非常简朴，是一套位于格拉西埃尔街的三居室，离物理和化学学校不远。这个住所最大的优点就是朝着一个大花园。里面的家具很简单，都是从父母家里搬来的。由于受经济条件的限制，我们没有雇佣人，因此我几乎需要包揽所有的家务活儿，幸好我在学生生活时期就已经养成亲自动手干活儿的习惯了。

Professor Curie's salary was 6000 francs a year, and we held that he should not undertake any supplementary work, at least in the beginning. As for myself, I was preparing to take the examination for the aggregation of young women, in view of obtaining a teaching post. These I passed in 1896. We ordered our life to suit our scientific work and our days were passed in the laboratory, where Schutzenberger permitted that I might work with my husband.

He was then engaged in a research on the growth of crystals, which interested him keenly. He wished to know if certain faces of a crystal had a preferential development chiefly because they have a different rapidity of growth or because their solubility is different. He quickly obtained interesting results(not published) but he had to interrupt his investigations to undertake others on radioactivity. And he often regretted that he was never able to return to them. I was occupied at this time with the study of the magnetization of tempered steel.

The preparation of his class lectures was for Pierre Curie a genuine care. The Chair was a new one, and carried no prescribed course of study. He divided his lectures, at first, between crystallography and electricity. Then, as he recognized more and more the utility of a serious theoretical course in electricity for future engineers, he devoted himself entirely to this subject, and succeeded in establishing a course (of about 20 lectures) that was the most complete and modern then to be had in Paris.This cost him a considerable effort, of which I was the daily witness; for he was always anxious to give a complete picture of the phenomena and of the evolution of theories, and of ideas. He was always anxious, too, that his mode of exposition should be clear and precise. He thought of publishing a treatise summing up this course, but unfortunately the many preoccupations of the following years prevented him from putting this plan into execution.

皮埃尔·居里做为教师的薪水为每年6000法郎，我们觉得他不能做任何兼职，起码在开始的时候不能兼职。而我则在为年轻女子教师资格考试作准备，以便可以获得一个教职，1896年我通过了这项考试。按照科研的需要，我们对生活进行了安排。整个白天我们都待在实验室里，舒赞贝格准许我陪在我的丈夫身边共同工作。

那个时候，皮埃尔正带着很浓厚的兴趣埋头于对晶体形成所作的研究。他想知道晶体的某些面的特殊发育与生长是由生长速度不同，还是由溶解度不同而造成的。很快他便获得了一些有趣的结果（虽然他并没有发表），但是后来因为要继续进行放射性的研究他就不得不将这一研究中断了，这令他经常感到遗憾。与此同时，我正忙着研究淬火钢磁化作用。

皮埃尔·居里在学校教学的时候备课十分仔细、认真。他的这门课程是新开课，所以并没有硬性规定要求他做任何的教学大纲。一开始的时候，他将他的课程分为两部分——晶体学与电学。后来，他越来越觉得电学理论课对于培养未来的工程师来说是非常有用的，于是他便专门讲授电学理论了，而且成功地使这门课成为了正式课程（一共分为20课时左右）。在当时，他的这门课可以说是巴黎大学最完整、最现代的课程。他付出了巨大的努力来将它讲好，这是我每天都能够亲眼目睹的。对于种种现象、理论和观点的演变，他总是作出形象而又全面的阐释，务必使讲解明晰而又精确。他一直在考虑要将自己的讲义编订成册，但因为事情太多，几年来一拖再拖，最终未能遂愿。

We lived a very single life, interested in common, as we were, in our laboratory experiments and in the preparation of lectures and examinations. During eleven years we were scarcely ever separated, which meant that there were very few lines of existing correspondence between us, representing that period. We spent our rest days and our vacations walking or bicycling either in the country near Paris, or along the sea, or in the mountains. My husband was so engrossed in his researches, however, that it was very difficult for him to remain for any length of time in a place where he lacked facilities for work. After a few days he would say: "It seems to me a very long time since we have accomplished anything." And yet he liked the excursions which covered successive days, and enjoyed to the full our walks together, just as he had formerly enjoyed those with his brother. But his joy in seeing beautiful things never drew his thoughts away from the scientific questions that absorbed him. In these free times, we traversed the region of the Cevennes and of the Monts d'Auvergne, as well as the coast of France, and some of its great forests.

These days in the open, filled with beautiful sights, made a deep impression on us, and we loved to recall them. One of our radiant memories was of a sunny day, when after a long and wearying climb, we reached the fresh, green meadow of the Aubrac, in the pure air of the high plateaus. Another vivid memory was that of an evening, when, lingering until twilight in the gorge of the Truyere, we were enchanted to hear a popular air dying away in the distance, carried to us from a little boat that descended the stream. We had taken so little notice of the time that we did not regain our lodging before dawn. At one point we had an encounter with carts whose horses were frightened by our bicycles, and we were obliged to cut across ploughed fields. At length we regained our route on the high plateau, bathed in the unreal light of the moon. And cows that were passing the night in enclosures came gravely to contemplate us with their large, tranquil eyes.

因为我们两个对于理论工作、实验室的实验、备课或者备考等任何一件事情都拥有共同的兴趣，所以我们的生活一直都很亲密融洽。作为夫妻共同生活的11年中，我们几乎没有分开过，因此这一期间我们几乎没有哪怕是只言片语的信件往来。我们还会在休息日和假日的时候徒步或者骑车远足，有时在巴黎郊区的乡间田野，有时去海边或者山里。我们很难在一个无法工作的地方待久一点，因为皮埃尔心里装满了工作。只要是空闲了几天，他就会说：“我感觉我们已经好久都没有做什么了。”与此相反，他对一连数天的外出郊游还是充满了兴趣，并且玩得极其开心，每次都是我们两个一同前往，就像他从前和他哥哥一起玩耍时一样。不过，即便是游山玩水也阻止不了他对科研问题进行思考。就这样，我们跑遍了塞樊纳地区、奥弗涅山区、法国的海滨和几处大的森林。

大自然的美景四处呈现，使人难忘，我们游玩过后还不免会经常回忆这些情景。有一天，阳光明媚，我们在气喘力虚地攀登了很久之后，到达了奥布拉克高山草甸，那里有清新的空气和满目的碧绿。还有一次出行也令我们印象深刻。一天傍晚，我们正在特吕埃尔山谷流连，忽然听到一首民歌小调传来，接着便看见一只小船渐渐驶近，随着小船顺水而下，那歌声也渐渐远去，我们仿佛置身于人间仙境一般乐而忘返，直到第二天的清晨才回到住处。归去的途中，我们突然看见一辆马车驶来，拉车的两匹马受到我们自行车的惊吓，飞奔起来，我们赶紧下了大路，穿过翻耕过的田地，走了很久，才到了高处，重新回到大路上来。这个时候，月亮已经若有若无，太阳即将升起来了，牛栏中的奶牛睁着温驯的眼睛一本正经地看着我们。

The forest of Compiegne charmed us in the spring, with its mass of green foliage stretching far as the eye could see, and its periwinkles and anemones. On the border of, the forest of Fontainebleau, the banks of the Loing, covered with water buttercups, were an object of delight for Pierre Curie. We loved the melancholy coasts of Brittany and the reaches of heather and gorse, stretching to the very points of Finistere, which seemed like claws or teeth burying themselves in the water which forever rages at them.

Later, when we had our baby with us, we passed our vacations in some one locality, without traveling about. We lived then as simply as possible in retired villages where we could scarcely be distinguished from the villagers themselves. I remember the stupefaction of an American journalist when he found us one day at Pouldu, at a moment when I was sitting on one of the stone steps of our house in the act of shaking the sand from my sandals. However, his embarrassment was shortlived and, adapting himself to the situation, he sat down beside me and began jotting down in his notebook my answers to his questions.

The most affectionate relations existed between my husband's parents and myself. We often went to Sceaux, where the room my husband used to have before our marriage was always reserved for us. I had also a very tender affection for Jacques Curie and his family (he was married and had two children); for Pierre's brother became mine, and has always remained so.

Our eldest daughter, Irene, was born in September, 1897, and only a few days afterwards my husband suffered a great loss in the death of his mother. Doctor Curie came to live with us in a house which had a garden and was situated on the old fortifications of Paris (108 Boulevard Kellermann) near the park of Montsouris. Pierre Curie lived in this house until the end of his life.

春天的贡比涅森林同样使我们着迷，大片的绿叶浓荫，一眼望不到尽头，林间长满长春花与野葵，令人目不暇接、美不胜收。对于皮埃尔来说，枫丹白露森林边缘和鲁安河畔同样也是赏心悦目的去处。我们喜爱布列塔尼海边的平静氛围和它那长满一片片金雀花与欧石楠的田野，这片田野一直延伸到菲尼斯代尔海角；海角纵横交错，伸入永远对它进行侵蚀的汹涌波涛之中。

后来，我们的孩子出世了，我们不能再去远游，只好选择一个固定的地方度假。在度假的村子里，我们尽量简单地生活，与偏僻村庄的村民没有什么两样，以至于别人分辨不出我们来。我记得有一天，一个美国记者在普尔杜村找到我们的时候，被自己眼前的一幕惊呆了。当时我正坐在屋前的石台阶上，忙着将进到鞋里的沙子倒空。不过，他愣了没有多大一会儿，就顺势坐在我的身旁，掏出记事本，记录着我对他的提问所作出的回答。

皮埃尔的父母同我建立起了最诚挚的感情。我们经常到苏城去探望二老，结婚前，皮埃尔住的房间永远空着留给我们去住。我和他的哥哥雅克·居里以及他的小家庭（他已经结婚，并且有了两个孩子）也相处得很好，我把他看做自己的哥哥，并且始终如此。

1897年9月，我们的大女儿艾莱娜出生了，但是没过几天，皮埃尔竟然痛失他的母亲，于是他的父亲便搬过来和我们生活在一起。我们当时住在位于巴黎克勒尔曼大街108号，那是一所带花园的房子，位于蒙苏里公园附近，我们一直住在那里，直到皮埃尔不幸去世。

With the birth of our child, the difficulties of carrying on our work were augmented: for I had to give more time to the household. Very fortunately for us I could leave my little girl with her grandfather, who much enjoyed taking care of her. But we had to think also of increasing our resources to meet the needs of our larger family and to enable us to secure someone to help me in the house, a necessity from now on. However, our situation remained as it was during the following two years, which we consecrated to intensive laboratory research on radioactivity. It was, indeed, not relieved until 1900, to the detriment, it is true, of the amount of time we could give to our investigations.

All formal social obligations were excluded from our life. Pierre Curie had for such things an unconquerable repugnance. Neither in his earlier nor his later life would he pay visits or undertake to involve himself in relations without special interest. By nature grave and silent, he preferred to abandon himself to his own reflections, rather than to engage in an exchange of banal words. On the other hand, he valued greatly his boyhood friends, and those to whom he was bound by a common interest in science.

有了孩子之后，我们的研究工作难度明显地加大了，因为我需要腾出更多的时间来操持家务。幸运的是，我可以把女儿交给十分愿意照料她的爷爷去带。因为家里的人口增加了，又需要请保姆，所以我们必须动脑筋开源节流。因为我们一直在忙着研究放射性的问题，所以连续两年，我们的经济状况都未见改善，直到1900年，情况才有所好转，但那是以牺牲我们用来搞科研的时间为代价换来的。

我们将所有的社交应酬都排除于我们的生活之外。对于这类应酬，皮埃尔有着一种无法抑制的厌恶。不管是年轻的时候还是后来，他都不愿意去登门造访或是拉关系。他生性严肃，不爱多语，宁愿独自思考问题，也不愿意同别人闲聊瞎侃。不过，他和儿时的朋友们的关系却很密切，和同样对科学有着兴趣的朋友更是保持着经常性的联系。

Among the latter, E. Gouy, professor of the faculty of sciences at Lyon, should be named. His friendly relations with Pierre Curie dated from the time when they were both teaching assistant at the Sorbonne. They carried on regularly a scientific correspondence, and took great pleasure in seeing each other again during the various brief visits of E. Gouy to Paris, on which occasions they were inseparable. There existed also a friendship of long standing between my husband and Ch. Ed. Guillaume, now director of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures of Sevres. They met at the Physics Society and occasionally on Sundays at Sevres or Sceaux. Later a group of younger men formed themselves about Pierre Curie. They were investigators engaged, as he was, in physical and chemical research in the newest fields of these sciences. Among these men were Andre Debierne, my husband's intimate friend and collaborator in the work on radioactivity; George Sagnac, his collaborator in a study of the X-rays; Paul Langevin, who became a professor in the College de France; Jean Perrin, at present professor of physical chemistry in the Sorbonne; and Georges Urbain, student of the School of Physics and later professor in the Sorbonne. Often one or the other came to see us in our quiet house in the Boulevard Kellermann. Then we engaged in discussions of recent or future experiments, or of new ideas and theories, and never tired of rejoicing over the marvelous development of modern physics.

There were not many large reunions in our house, for my husband did not feel the need of them. He was more at his ease in a conversation with some one or few persons, and rarely attended any meetings except those of the scientific societies. If by chance he found himself in a gathering where the general conversation did not interest him, he took refuge in a tranquil corner where he could forget the company as he pursued his own thoughts.

Our relations with our families were very restricted on his side as on mine; for he had few relatives and mine were far away. He was, however, very devoted to those of my family who could come to visit me in Paris, or during our vacations.

朋友中，里昂理学院的古伊教授和皮埃尔关系最为密切。他们自两人同时在巴黎大学做教辅人员的时期就开始交往了。后来，他们经常通信，对科学问题进行讨论，每当古伊到巴黎进行短暂的停留时，他们两个就会经常在一起，讨论个没完。位于塞弗尔的国际度量衡标准局现任局长纪尧姆和皮埃尔也是老朋友了。他们两个经常在物理学会见面，到了星期天，两人有时候还去塞弗尔或者苏城相聚。后来，一些更年轻的朋友聚集在了皮埃尔的身边，这些朋友同他—样，都是进行物理和化学研究的，他们属于这两门科学最前沿领域的研究者：他的亲密朋友，在放射性研究方面的合作者德比埃纳；他在X射线研究方面的合作者乔治·萨涅克；他从前的学生、后来的法兰西学院教授保尔·朗之万；巴黎大学物理化学系教授让·佩兰；巴黎大学化学教授，曾经的物理和化学学校学生乔治·乌尔班。他们中的这些人经常到我们位于克勒尔曼大街的幽静住所来拜访，大家共同聊着最近的或是将来的实验，对新的思路与新的理论进行讨论，并因当代物理学的飞速发展而感到振奋。

我们一般不会邀请好多人在家里聚会，皮埃尔不喜欢这样。他认为少数几个人聚一聚更加惬意，并且除了一些学会会议之外，他很少参加其他会议。偶尔参加一次多人的交谈，假如他对谈话内容不感兴趣的话，就会躲在一个安静的角落里，一个人继续他的思考。

我们同家里的亲戚来往也不频繁，因为双方的亲戚本来就不多，并且又相距太远。不过，只要是我的亲戚来到巴黎或者是在假期里前来看我，皮埃尔对待他们就都很亲切和蔼。

In 1899, Pierre Curie made a journey with me to the Carpathians of Austrian Poland, where one of my sisters, married to Doctor Dluski and herself a physician, directed, with him, a large sanatorium. Through a touching desire to know all that was dear to me, my husband, though he knew little of foreign languages, wished to learn Polish, something which I had not thought of suggesting because I did not believe it could prove sufficiently useful to him. He felt a sincere sympathy for my country and believed in the future reestablishment of a free Poland.

In our life together it was given to me to know him as he had hoped I might, and to penetrate each day further into his thought. He was as much and much more than all I had dreamed at the time of our union. My admiration of his unusual qualities grew continually; he lived on a plane so rare and so elevated that he sometimes seemed to me a being unique in his freedom from all vanity and from the littlenesses that one discovers in oneself and in others, and which one judges with indulgence although aspiring to a more perfect ideal.

In this lay, without doubt, the secret of that infinite charm of his to which one could not long rest insensible. His thoughtful expression and the directness of his look were strongly attractive and this attraction was increased by his kindliness and gentleness of character. He sometimes said that he never felt combative, and this was entirely true. One could not enter into a dispute with him because he could not become angry. "Getting angry is not one of my strong points", he would say, smiling. If he had few friends, he had no enemies; for he could not injure anyone, even by inadvertence. But at the same time no one could force him to deviate from his line of action, something which led his father to nickname him the "gentle stubborn one".

1899年，皮埃尔同我共同前往奥地利管辖下的波兰，来到喀尔巴阡山，我有一个姐姐住在那儿，她是学医的，并和德鲁斯基大夫结了婚，他们在那儿经营着一家大型疗养院。尽管不太喜欢学外语，但是因为非常想要了解我所喜爱的东西，皮埃尔便想要学习波兰语了。这并不是受到了我的鼓励，因为我认为这种语言对他来讲并没有什么用处。不过，对于我的祖国，他有着深切的同情，认为将来一定会诞生一个自由的波兰。

在我们两人的共同生活中，我逐渐地对我想了解的皮埃尔有了深深的了解，对他的思想也日益看清了。他像刚结婚时我梦想的那样好，甚至还要好。他出众的才能使我对他的崇敬之情逐渐增加。他的水平之高是惊人的，有时候，我觉得他简直就是一个无可比拟的人，他没有丝毫的虚荣心和鄙俗——那是普通人在自己和他人身上经常会看到的缺点。

想必这就是他身上所散发出的无穷魅力之所在吧，和他共处，是不可能感受不到这种魅力的。无论是他沉思的面容，还是那双炯炯有神的眼睛，都有着巨大的吸引力。在这之后，我又发现他的和蔼可亲与温柔的性格，这时，他对我的吸引力就更大了。有时候，他会说觉得自己丝毫也不争强好胜，这话倒是一点不假。你很难和他发生争吵，因为他从来都不发火。他经常笑着说：“我不怎么善于发火。”如果说他的朋友不多的话，那他也没有一个敌人，这是因为他从来都不伤害别人，连不经意地伤害别人的事都从没有发生过。不过，谁都不能让他背离自己的行为准则，为此，他的父亲就经常说他是个“温柔的固执者”。

When he expressed his opinion he did so frankly, for he was convinced that diplomatic methods were puerile, and that directness was at once easiest and best. Because of this practice, he acquired a certain reputation for naivete; in reality he was acting on a well-considered decision, rather than by instinct. It was perhaps because he was able to judge himself and to retire within himself, that he was so capable of clearly appreciating the springs of action, the intention, and the thoughts of others. And if he sometimes neglected details, he was rarely deceived in the essentials. Usually he kept his sure judgments to himself; but once he had made up his mind he sometimes expressed them without reticence, in the assurance that he was doing something useful.

In his scientific relations he showed no sharpness, and did not permit himself to be influenced by considerations of personal credit or by personal sentiments. Every beautiful success gave him pleasure, even if achieved in a domain where he felt himself to have priority. He said: "What does it matter if I have not published such and such investigations, if another has published them?" For he held that in science we should be interested, in things and not in persons. He was so genuinely against every form of emulation that he opposed even the competitions and gradings of the lycees, as well as all forms of honorary distinction. He never failed to give counsel and encouragement to any of those who showed an aptitude for science, and certain among them still remain profoundly grateful to him.

他在表达自己的看法时，总是率直而又坦诚，因为他坚信外交的方式通常是幼稚的，直截了当才是简单而又上乘的方式。所以，他的天真率直是出了名的，其实他的这种做法是经过深思熟虑而不是发自本能的。也许正是由于他懂得自我评判和自我反省，才能够将他人的行为动机、意图和思想完全清晰地看出来。如果说他会将一些细枝末节忽视掉的话，那在根本的地方，他是很少出错的。他经常将他坚信不疑的判断存在心里不说出来，不过，一旦决定说出来或是认为说出来更好时，他就会毫无保留地将自己的看法说出。

在科学界的朋友圈子中，他从不尖刻，不为自尊心与个人情感所左右。他对所有成功的实验都会感到特别的高兴，即便是在他未领先的某一个领域里的成功。他经常说：“虽然我没有发表研究成果而是别人发表了，可那又有什么关系呢？”他觉得在科学方面，大家应该去关心的是事而并不是人。只要是争拔头筹的想法都同他的情感相冲突，所以他甚至对中学里的会考或是排名次的方法及颁发荣誉证书的做法都表示坚决反对。对于那些被他认为有从事科学事业能力的人他是不吝赐教，给予鼓励的，其中有很多人到现在都还对他怀有深深的感激之情。

If his attitude was that of one of the elite who have attained the highest summit of civilization, his acts were those of a truly good man endowed with the sentiment of human solidarity intimately bound to his intellectual conceptions, and full of understanding and indulgence. He was always ready to aid, as far as his means allowed, any person in a difficult situation, even if helping meant giving some of his time, which was always the greatest sacrifice he could make. His generosity was so spontaneous that one scarcely noticed it. He believed that the only advantage of material means, beyond that of providing the necessities of a simple life, was in the opportunity they offered of aiding others, and of pursuing the work of one's preference.

What shall I say, finally, of his love for his own, and of his qualities as friend? His friendship, which he gave rarely, was sure and faithful, for it rested on a community of ideas and opinions. And still more rarely did he give affection; but how complete was his gift to his brother and to me! He could forsake his customary reserve for an unconstraint which established harmony and confidence. His tenderness was the most exquisite of blessings, sure and helpful, full of gentleness and solicitude. It was good to be surrounded by this tenderness; it was cruel to lose it after having lived in an atmosphere completely permeated by it. But I will let his own words tell how completely he gave himself:

假如说他的态度已经达到人类文明巅峰的话，那他的行为举止则就是一个真正的好人才有的行为举止。他非常随和，乐于助人而又宽容大度，这同他所受的教育是无法分开的。他总是时刻准备着尽自己最大努力去帮助任何一位身处困境的人，并会为此而将自己部分的宝贵时间牺牲，对于他来说这可是最大的牺牲。他的无私发自内心而又从不张扬，因为在他看来，钱财除了用来保证你的简单的生活之外，就是用来帮助他人与满足自己所热爱的工作的需要。

我真的不知道怎样才能将他对自己亲朋好友的爱描述清楚。他的朋友不是很多，但是一旦成为他的朋友，那么他给你的友谊绝对是最忠实且又最可靠的，因为它建立的基础是共同的思想观念。他与他哥哥的手足之情和对我的爱是多么的可贵呀！他的温情令人感觉无比的幸福和甜蜜。被他关怀，真的是妙不可言，但是失去了这份爱之后，现实就显得更加残酷，令人难以忍受。我借用他的一段话来将他对我深深的爱表达出来：

"I think of you who fill my life, and I long for new powers. It seems to me that in concentrating my mind exclusively upon you, as I am doing, that I should succeed in seeing you, and in following what you are doing; and that I should be able to make you feel that I am altogether yours at this moment, but the image does not come."

We were not warranted in having great confidence in our health, nor in our strength so often put to severe tests. And from time to time, as happens to those who know the value of sharing a common life, the fear of the irreparable touched our minds. In such moments his simple courage led him always to the same inevitable conclusion: "Whatever happens, even if one should become like a body without a soul, still one must always work."

我想念你，你已经融入了我的生命之中，可我还希望让你给我一些新的力量。我认为我在将思想集中到你身上的时候——就像现在这样——我心里就会显现出你的身影，就仿佛能够看到你的一举一动，就能使你感觉到此时此刻的我已经完全属于你了，但我却没有能够看到你出现在我的面前。

对于自己的身体状况，我们都不是太有信心，对于体力在艰难的环境中能否支持得住也没有太大的把握。像深知共同生活的宝贵的人们经常会出现的情况那样，我们不时地会害怕有悲剧发生。每到这个时候，他总是凭借自己的勇气说出这样的话：“不管发生什么事情，即便是一个人变成了没有灵魂的躯体，另外一个也还要努力地工作下去。”

Chapter V　Dicovery of Radium

I have already said that in 1897 Pierre Curie was occupied with an investigation on the growth of crystals. I myself had finished, by the beginning of vacation, a study of the magnetization of temperedsteels which had resulted in our getting a small subvention from the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry. Our daughter Irene was born in September, and as soon as I was well again, I resumed my work in the laboratory with the intention of preparing a doctor's thesis.

Our attention was caught by a curious phenomenon discovered in 1896 by Henri Becquerel. The discovery of the X-ray by Roentgen had excited the imagination, and many physicists were trying to discover if similar rays were not emitted by fluorescent bodies under the action of light. With this question in mind Henri Becquerel was studying uranium salts, and, as sometimes occurs, came upon a, phenomenon different from that he was looking for: the spontaneous emission by uranium salts of rays of a peculiar character. This was the discovery of radioactivity.

The particular phenomenon discovered by Becquerel was as follows: uranium compound placed upon a photographic plate covered with black paper produces on that plate an impression analogous to that which light would make. The impression is due to uranium rays that traverse the paper. These same rays can, like X-rays, discharge an electroscope, by making the air which surrounds it a conductor.

【注释】

(1)法国大学一般分为三个阶段。其中一二年级为基础阶段，即第一阶段；三四年级为学士（三年级）阶段与硕士（四年级）阶段，即第二阶段；然后为大学博士阶段，即第三阶段；在这之后继续深造，能够获得国家博士学位。

第五章　镭的发现

前面我已经说过了，1897年皮埃尔在进行晶体的生成研究。暑假开始的时候，我也将淬火钢的研究完成了，并因此获得了由国家工业奖励协会颁发的少量补贴金。9月份，大女儿艾莱娜出生了，我在身体复原之后，便又继续回到实验室工作，为我的博士论文作准备。

1896年，亨利·贝克莱尔发现了一个奇异的现象，吸引了我们的注意力。当时，伦琴发现了X射线，因此许多物理学家开始对荧光物质能否在阳光照射下发射出类似X射线的射线来进行研究。对此，亨利·贝克莱尔在对铀盐进行研究时，竟然意外地发现了一个现象，这个现象与他正在探寻的完全不同：铀盐能够自发地发射出射线，这种射线的性质非常独特。放射性就是这样发现的。

以下就是亨利·贝克莱尔发现的现象：将铀盐放在照相底片上，底片用黑纸裹得严严实实的，将它在暗处放上几天，底片上就会显出一个影像来，这个影像同在日光对铀盐进行照射的情况下得到的影像相近。这种显影是由铀射线穿透黑纸造成的。这种铀射线可以像X射线一样，令验电器放电，使验电器四周的空气成为导电体。

Henri Becquerel assured himself that these properties did not depend on a preliminary isolation, and that they persisted when the uranium compound was kept in darkness during several months. The next step was to ask whence came this energy, of minute quantity, it is true, but constantly given off by uranium compounds under the form of radiations.

The study of this phenomenon seemed to us very attractive and all the more so because the question was entirely new and nothing yet had been written upon it. I decided to undertake an investigation of it.

It was necessary to find a place in which to conduct the experiments. My husband obtained from the director of the School the authorization to use a glassed-in study on the ground floor which was then being used as a storeroom and machine shop.

In order to go beyond the results reached by Becquerel, it was necessary to employ a precise quantitative method. The phenomenon that best lent itself to measurement was the conductibility produced in the air by uranium rays. This phenomenon, which is called ionization, was produced also by X-rays and investigation of it in connection with them had made known its principal characteristics.

For measuring the very feeble currents that one can make pass through air ionized by uranium rays, I had at my disposition an excellent method developed and applied by Pierre and Jacques Curie. This method consists in counterbalancing on a sensitive electrometer the quantity of electricity carried by the current with that which a piezo-electric quartz can furnish. The installation therefore required a Curie electrometer, a piezo-electric quartz, and a chamber of ionization, which last was formed by a plate condenser whose higher plate was joined to the electrometer, while the lower plate, charged with a known potential, was covered with a thin layer of the substance to be examined. Needless to say, the place for such an electrometric installation was hardly the crowded and damp little room in which I had to set it up.

亨利·贝克莱尔坚信，铀盐的这种特性同在暗处存放的时间长短无关，即便是将它在暗处放上数日，它的放射性的特性仍会存在。因此，就必然要问，这种能量来自何处？虽然这种能量小到几乎可以忽略不计，但它却不断地从铀盐中放射出来。

我们感觉对这个现象进行研究会很有意思，特别是这个现象是一个全新的问题，还无人问津。因此我决定对这一问题展开探究。

要进行实验研究，就必须要有研究场所。获得了校长的批准，皮埃尔将一楼的一间带有玻璃门窗的屋子收拾出来让我使用。这是一间原用作储藏室，并兼作机修间的屋子。

要对贝克莱尔获得的结果进行进一步的研究，就必须进行精确的定量测量。铀盐辐射出的射线于空气中所产生的传导性是最适合于进行计量的现象。这种现象名叫电离作用，X射线也具有这种现象，并且X射线的那些重要特性也是刚刚从电离现象中获知的。

我可以用皮埃尔和雅克·居里兄弟两个发明的仪器对铀盐辐射经过空气时令空气离子化而产生的十分微弱的电流进行测量，方法就是利用电离作用所引起的微小电流含有的电量，于一极灵敏的静电计中，同一压电石英结晶所得的电量相平衡，从而对极微小的电流进行计量。这样，我们的仪器设备就一定要有一个居里静电计和一块压电石英晶体及电离室。一个平板电容器构成了电离室，其上板同静电计相连，而下板则涂有薄薄的一层需要进行计量的物质，在下板，还需要加上一定量的电压。这种仪器很不适合在潮湿狭小的底层使用。

My experiments proved that the radiation of uranium compounds can be measured with precision under determined conditions, and that this radiation is an atomic property of the element of uranium. Its intensity is proportional to the quantity of uranium contained in the compound, and depends neither on conditions of chemical combination, nor on external circumstances, such as light or temperature.

I undertook next to discover if there were other elements possessing the same property, and with this aim I examined all the elements then known, either in their pure state or in compounds. I found that among these bodies, thorium compounds were the only ones which emited rays similar to those of uranium. The radiation of thorium has an intensity of the same order as that of uranium, and is, as in the case of uranium, an atomic property of the element.

It was necessary at this point to find a new term to define this new property of matter manifested by the elements of uranium and thorium. I proposed the word radioactivity which had since become generally adopted; the radioactive elements have been called radio elements.

During the course of my research, I had had occasion to examine not only simple compounds, salts and oxides, but also a great number of minerals. Certain ones proved radioactive; these were those containing uranium and thorium; but their radioactivity seemed abnormal, for it was much greater than the amount I had found in uranium and thorium had led me to expect.

This abnormality greatly surprised us. When I had assured myself that it was not due to an error in the experiment, it became necessary to find an explanation. I then made the hypothesis that the ores uranium and thorium contain in small quantity a substance much more strongly radioactive than either uranium or thorium. This substance could not be one of the known elements, because these had already been examined; it must, therefore, be a new chemical element.

I had a passionate desire to verify this hypothesis as rapidly as possible. And Pierre Curie, keenly interested in the question, abandoned his work on crystals(provisionally, he thought) to join me in the search for this unknown substance.

铀盐的放射性是可以被准确地测量的这一结论被我的实验结果证实了，并且铀盐的这种放射性属于铀元素的原子特性之一，它的强度只和化合物中含有铀的数量成正比，而不受化合物的化学性质以及外界的光与热的影响。

我又开始对是否还存有一些其他的同样具有放射性质的物质进行研究，于是我将当时已知的不管是纯元素还是其化合物全部都分析研究了一遍。结果，发现只有钍的化合物能够放射出同铀类似的射线。钍的放射性强度和铀处在同一水平，而且钍的放射性也是它的特性。

从那时开始，就必须为铀和钍等物质所显示的新性质起一个新的名称来对其进行确定。我建议使用“放射性”这个名字，在那之后，这一名称便被广泛使用。具有放射性的元素就开始被称为“放射性元素”了。

在进行研究的过程中，我不但有机会对一些简单化合物，如各种盐和氧化物，进行了分析研究，还分析了一些矿物。它们中的几种含有铀与钍的矿物也具有放射性，但是它们的放射性似乎不是很正常，因为它们所具有的放射性的强度比纯铀或是纯钍的都要强。

这种反常无疑给我们带来了十足的惊讶。当我非常确定这不是实验的错误时，就不得不为这种反常的现象寻出一种答案来。于是，我就假设在含有铀与钍的矿物中一定会有少量的另一种比铀或钍的放射性更强的元素。这种元素不会是人们已知的元素，因为对于已知元素，我们都已经作了分析研究，所以说，这大概是一种全新的化学元素。

我迫不及待地想要尽快证实这种假设。对于这个问题，皮埃尔也很感兴趣，他将他的晶体研究搁置下来——他还认为只是暂时地搁置一下呢——和我共同寻找这个全新的元素。

We chose, for our work, the ore pitchblende, a uranium ore, which in its pure state is about four times more active than oxide of uranium. Since the composition of this ore was known through very careful chemical analysis, we could expect to find, at a maximum, 1 percent of new substance. The result of our experiment proved that there were in reality new radioactive elements in pitchblende, but that their proportion did not reach even a millionth percent!

The method we employed is a new method in chemical research based on radioactivity. It consists in inducing separation by the ordinary means of chemical analysis, and of measuring, under suitable conditions, the radioactivity of all the separate products. By this means one can note the chemical character of the radioactive element sought for, for it will become concentrated in those products which will become more and more radioactive as the separation progresses. We soon recognized that the radioactivity was concentrated principally in two different chemical fractions, and we became able to recognize in pitchblende the presence of at least two new radioactive elements: polonium and radium. We announced the existence of polonium in July, 1898, and of radium in December of the same year.

In spite of this relatively rapid progress, our work was far from finished. In our opinion, there could be no doubt of the existence of these new elements, but to make chemists admit their existence, it was necessary to isolate them. Now, in our most strongly radioactive products (several hundred times more active than uranium), the polonium and radium were present only as traces. The polonium occurred associated with bismuth extracted from pitchblende, and radium accompanied the barium extracted from the same mineral. We already knew by what methods we might hope to separate polonium from bismuth and radium from barium; but to accomplish such a separation we had to have at our disposition much larger quantities of the primary ore than we had. It was during this period of our research that we were extremely handicapped by inadequate conditions, by the lack of a proper place to work in, by the lack of money and of personnel.

我们选取了一种在纯净状态下，放射性要比铀强四倍的，名叫沥青矿物的含铀矿石进行实验。因为经过精确的化学分析后，这种矿石的成分已经被掌握了，所以我们期待能够从中至少找到百分之一的这种新元素。到了后来，在研究中我们确实是发现了包含在铀沥青矿物中的一种新元素，但是它的含量甚微，还不够百万分之一。

在研究过程中我们使用的是以放射性现象为基础的新化学分析法。先运用普通的化学分析法使铀沥青矿的各个组成部分相分离，然后再于合适的条件下，对各个组成部分的放射性进行计量。通过这种方法，我们就能够对分析出来的部分放射性元素的化学特性进行了解，就能发现在部分物质中这种放射性元素的浓度在增强。没过多久，我们就又发现这种未知的元素主要集中于两种不同的化合物之中，所以我们确定在铀沥青矿石里，至少含有两种还不为人所知的新放射性元素，我们分别将它们命名为钋和镭。1898年7月，我们对外宣布了钋的发现，同年12月，我们又宣布了镭的发现。(1)

虽然研究进展得较为迅速，但是这项研究并没有完成。我们认为，这两种全新的放射性元素是肯定存在的，但是必须将它们分离出来，才能让化学家们认可。但是，钋和镭的含量在我们已经获得的放射性很强的（比铀要强数百倍）化合物中，却是微乎其微的。钋同铀沥青矿石中提取出来的铋相化合；镭则同钡相化合。我们已经知道用什么方法可以把钋和镭从铋与钡的化合物中分离出来。不过进行这种分离需要大量的铀沥青矿石。正是在这一研究阶段，我们因为地方狭窄，资金缺乏和人手不足而使实验受到阻碍。

Pitchblende was an expensive mineral, and we could not afford to buy a sufficient quantity. At that time the principal source of this mineral was at St. Joachimsthal (Bohemia) where there was a mine which the Austrian government worked for the extraction of uranium. We believed that we would find all the radium and a part of the polonium in the residues of this mine, residues which had so far not been used at all. Thanks to the influence of the Academy of Sciences of Vienna, we secured several tons of these residues at an advantageous price, and we used it as our primary material. In the beginning we had to draw on our private resources to pay the costs of our experiment; later we were given a few subventions and some help from outside sources.

The question of quarters was particularly serious; we did not know where we could conduct our chemical treatments. We had been obliged to start them in an abandoned storeroom across a court from the workroom where we had our electrometric installation. This was a wooden shed with a bituminous floor and a glass roof which did not keep the rain out, and without any interior arrangements. The only objects it contained were some worn pine tables, a castiron stove, which worked badly, and the blackboard which Pierre Curie loved to use. There were no hoods to carry away the poisonous gases thrown off in our chemical treatments, so that it was necessary to carry them on outside in the court, but when the weather was unfavorable we went on with them inside, leaving the windows open. A view of the extraction of radium in the old shed where the first radium was obtained.

铀沥青非常昂贵，我们无力购买足够多的矿石进行研究。这种矿石在当时的主要产地是圣约阿希姆斯塔尔，位于波希米亚，奥地利政府在那儿建立了一个矿，用来进行铀矿石开采。根据我们的推测，提炼完铀之后所抛弃的矿渣中肯定会含有镭与部分的钋，而在当时，这种矿渣被认为是废弃物。幸亏有维也纳科学院的帮助，我们才用极少的钱购到了好几吨这种矿渣来作为实验材料。开始的时候，实验所用的经费都由我们自掏腰包，到了后来我们才得到了一点补助和一点外界的资助。

场所问题是最为严重的问题，我们不知道有什么地方可以让我们用来作化学分析。最后我们不得不在一个和我放置静电仪器的房间相邻的废置的仓库里进行实验。这间仓库是个木棚子，地面是沥青，棚顶是玻璃的，因为年久失修，早已破旧不堪，每到下雨就会漏雨。木棚里仅有几张破旧的松木桌子和一只很难烧热的铸铁取暖炉以及一块黑板，皮埃尔经常喜欢在那块黑板上面写写算算。木棚子里没有通风排气设备，而进行化学分析难免会产生有毒气体，所以有时候我们不得不搬到院子里去做实验。但是，一旦遇上刮风下雨，我们就只能在敞开窗户的棚子里做实验了。就是在这间破旧的棚子里，我们发现了镭。

In this makeshift laboratory we worked practically unaided during two years, occupying ourselves as much with chemical research as with the study of the radiation of the increasingly active products we were obtaining. Then it became necessary for us to divide our work. Pierre Curie continued the investigations on the properties of radium, while I went ahead with the chemical experiments which had as their objective the preparation of pure radium salts. I had to work with as much as twenty kilogrammes of material at a time, so that the hangar was filled with great vessels full of precipitates and of liquids. It was exhausting work to move the containers about, to transfer the liquids, and to stir for hours at a time, with an iron bar, the boiling material in the castiron basin. I extracted from the mineral the radium-bearing barium and this, in the state of chloride, I submitted to a fractional crystallization. The radium accumulated in the least soluble parts, and I believed that this process must lead to the separation of the chloride of radium. The very delicate operations of the last crystallizations were exceedingly difficult to carry out in that laboratory, where it was impossible to find protection from the iron and coal dust. At the end of a year, results indicated clearly that it would be easier to separate radium than polonium; that was why we concentrated our efforts in this direction. We examined the radium salts we obtained with the aim of discovering their powers and we loaned samples of the salts to several scientists, in particular to Henri Becquerel.

在这个临时的实验室里，我们在几乎没有任何帮手的情况下干了整整两年，我们两个一起既作化学分析，又对我们所获得的渐渐增多的放射性提炼物质进行研究。到了后来，我们不得不分开各自进行：皮埃尔继续对镭的放射性进行研究，我便进行化学分析，以便对纯净的镭盐进行提取。要由我进行处理的原材料一次往往多达20公斤，因此在木棚子里到处都堆放着盛满液体与沉淀物的大容器，我要搬动它们，往里面倒水，还要用大铁棒在一口大铁锅里搅拌沸腾的铀沥青矿渣，一搅就是几个钟头，真能把人累倒。我将含有镭的钡化合物（它的成分为氧化钡）从矿石中提炼出来后，再运用分步结晶法对其进行分离、提取。最后，全部镭元素都集中到最难溶解的化合物当中。必须使用特别精密的操作方法，才能将这种结晶提取出来，而这在我们那间木棚子里几乎是不能实现的，因为里面充满了灰尘与煤烟，肯定会影响到结晶的纯净度。一年之后我们得到的结果清楚地显示，镭元素的提取要比钋元素的提取容易得多，因此我们便集中力量先进行镭元素的提取。我们对所提取出来的镭盐进行了测定它的放射性能力的研究。我们还将一些镭盐的样本借给了好几位科学家使用，(2)12尤其是亨利·贝克莱尔。

During the years 1899 and 1900, Pierre Curie published with me a memoir on the discovery of the induced radioactivity produced by radium. We published another paper on the effects of the rays: the luminous effects, the chemical effects, etc.; and still another on the electric charge carried by certain of the rays. And, finally, we made a general report on the new radioactive substances and their radiations.

Pierre Curie with the quartz piezo-electroscope he invented, by which rays of radium were measured for the Congress of Physics which met in Paris in 1900. My husband published, besides, a study of the action of a magnetic field on radium rays.

The main result of our investigations and of those of other scientists during these years, was to make known the nature of the rays emitted by radium, and to prove that they belonged to three different categories. Radium emits a stream of active corpuscles moving with great speed. Certain of them carry a positive charge and form the Alpha rays; others, much smaller, carry a negative charge and form Beta rays. The movements of these two groups are influenced by a magnet. A third group is constituted by the rays that are insensible to the action of a magnet, and that, we know today, are a radiation similar to light and to X-rays.

We had an especial joy in observing that our products containing concentrated radium were all spontaneously luminous. My husband who had hoped to see them show beautiful colorations had to agree that this other unhoped-for characteristic gave him even a greater satisfaction than that he had aspired to.

The Congress of 1900 offered us an opportunity to make known, at closer range, to foreign scientists, our new radioactive bodies. This was one of the points on which the interest of this Congress chiefly centered.

1899—1900年，皮埃尔和我一起发表了几篇论文，其中一篇是关于镭所产生的感应放射性的发现，另一篇关于放射线的作用，如发光、化学作用等，还有一篇是对放射线所携带的电荷问题进行论述的。除此之外，还有一份有关于新的放射性物质与其放射性的总结报告。

皮埃尔带着他发明的对镭射线进行过测量的晶体验电器出席了1900年在巴黎召开的物理学会大会。此外，他还发表了一篇研究报告，是和磁场影响放射线有关的。

人们通过我们和其他几位科学家在这个阶段内所取得的主要成就认识了镭所放射出的射线的性质，并认识到这些射线属于三种不同的范畴。镭放射出一些带有放射性的微小粒子束，它的运行速度极快，其中那些带着正电的构成α射线，其他的那些更加细小，带着负电的构成β射线。在运动过程中，这两组射线都受到磁场的影响。由γ射线组成的第三组射线，不受磁场的影响，现在，我们知道它是同光和X射线相类似的一种辐射。

观察到我们获得的富含镭的化合物全部能够自行发光令我们感到尤为有趣。皮埃尔曾经希望它们会有丰富的色彩，却并没有想到它们会有发光的特性，这极大地超出了他的预料。

1900年的物理学会年会为我们提供了机会，使我们能够将有关于新放射性元素的最新研究成果仔细地向国外的科学家们作一下介绍。这种新的放射性物质成了这次大会参与者们高度关注的焦点。

We were at this time entirely absorbed in the new field that opened before us, thanks to the discovery so little expected. And we were very happy in spite of the difficult conditions under which we worked. We passed our days at the laboratory, often eating a simple student's lunch there. A great tranquillity reigned in our poor, shabby hangar; occasionally, while observing an operation, we would walk up and down talking of our work, present and future. When we were cold, a cup of hot tea, drunk beside the stove, cheered us. We lived in a preoccupation as complete as that of a dream.

Sometimes we returned in the evening after dinner for another survey of our domain. Our precious products, for which we had no shelter, were arranged on tables and boards; from all sides we could see their slightly luminous silhouettes, and these gleamings, which seemed suspended in the darkness, stirred us with ever new emotion and enchantment.

Actually, the employees of the School owed Pierre Curie no service. But nevertheless the laboratory helper whom he had had to aid him when he was laboratory chief had always continued to help him as much as he could in. This good man, whose name was Petit, felt a real affection and solicitude for us, and many things were made easier because of his good will and the interest he took in our success.

因为这种意想不到的发现，这一时期我们把全部身心都投入到了这个在我们面前出现的新领域的研究中去了。虽然研究条件不是很好，但我们仍然感到非常的幸福快乐。几乎一整天我们都要待在实验室里，午饭也就随便凑合一下。我们那破旧的木棚子里，充满着宁静而又平和的气氛。有的时候，在对一次实验完成了观察，等待结果的时候，我们便一边在木棚子里来回踱步，一边对当前与未来的研究进行谈论。当我们感觉到冷的时候，就喝一杯火炉上烧着的热茶，来暖暖身子。我们好像生活在梦境中一般，心里想着的只有实验研究。

有时，在吃完晚饭后，我们又会回到木棚里去看上一眼。由于没有地方收藏，我们的宝贝成果全都被摊放在桌子上和木板上。不管从哪个角度去看，都可以看到它们那发出微光的身影，而我们每次看到这些似乎是悬浮于黑暗之中的幽幽亮光，都会感到无比的激动与迷恋。

原则上，学校没有为皮埃尔指派助手。不过，在皮埃尔任实验室主任的时候有一个帮工协助他进行操作，直到现在，只要是有时间，这个帮工仍旧会继续对他进行帮助。这个真诚的人名叫佩蒂，和我们的感情很好并且很愿意帮助我们。他心地善良并且对我们的成败非常关心，因为有他帮忙，我们省却了不少的麻烦。

We had begun our research in radioactivity quite alone, but because of the magnitude of the undertaking, we were more and more convinced of the utility of inviting collaboration. Already in 1898, one of the laboratory chiefs of the school, G. Bemont, had given us temporary aid. And toward 1900 Pierre Curie associated with him a young chemist, Andre Debierne, teaching assistant under Friedel, who held him in high esteem. Andre Debierne gladly accepted Pierre Curie's proposal that he occupied himself with the investigation of radioactivity; and he undertook, in particular, the search for a new radio element, which we suspected existed in the iron group and in rare earths. He discovered the element actinium. Even though he carried on his work in the laboratory of physical chemistry at the Sorbonne, directed by Jean Perrin, he frequently came to visit us in our storeroom, and was soon an intimate friend of ours, and of Doctor Curie and the children.

About this same time, George Sagnac, a young physicist engaged in the study of X-rays, often came to discuss with my husband the analogies one could expect to find between these rays, and their secondary rays, and the radiations of radioactive bodies. They worked together on the investigation of the electric charge carried by the secondary rays.

Besides our collaborators we saw very few persons in the laboratory; however, from time to time some physicist or chemist came to see our experiments, or to ask Pierre Curie for advice or information; for his authority in several branches of physics was very well recognized. And then there were discussions before the blackboard, discussions which are pleasantly remembered today, because they stimulated an interest in science and an ardor for work without interrupting any course of reflection, and without troubling that atmosphere of peace and contemplation which is the true atmosphere of the laboratory.

一开始，我们单独进行放射性研究。到了后来，随着任务的扩大，就越来越需要同他人进行合作了。1898年，学校里的一位实验室主任贝蒙就同我们临时合作过。1900年前后，皮埃尔同安德烈·德比埃纳相识了。后者是弗里代尔教授的助教，一位年轻的化学家，弗里代尔教授对他有很高的评价。在皮埃尔的建议下，安德烈·德比埃纳很高兴地就同意了参与放射学的研究。当时，我们怀疑在铁族和稀土族元素中可能有一种新的放射性元素存在，就让安德烈专门进行这方面的研究。最后，他终于发现了这种被命名为锕的新元素。尽管他是在巴黎大学让佩兰教授所领导的理化实验室做的这一研究，但他却经常到我们的木棚实验室里看望我们，没过多久，他就成为了我们非常亲密的朋友中的一个，后来他还成了皮埃尔父亲和我的孩子们的朋友。

大约在同一时期，乔治·萨涅克，一位年轻的物理学家在进行有关于X射线的研究，他经常到我们实验室同皮埃尔进行讨论，他认为X射线和它附带产生的射线以及放射性物质产生的射线之间，可能会有相似之处。他提议对此进行研究，于是他们两人便一起对那些附带射线携带着的电荷进行了研究。

除去我们的合作者之外，我们很少在实验室里接待别人。因为皮埃尔在物理学的多个领域内已经颇有名气了，所以不时地会有一些物理学家或者化学家来对我们的实验进行参观，或是向皮埃尔求教。他们一来，就会到黑板前进行讨论。这种讨论到现在还令人回味无穷，因为它们能够激发起人们对于科学的兴趣，催人奋进，同时又能激发人们的想象力，有助于人们进行积极的思考，而这并不会将实验室真正宁静、肃穆的气氛扰乱。

Chapter VI　Struggling under Lack of Concerns

In spite of our desire to concentrate our entire effort on the work in which we were engaged, and in spite of the fact that our needs were so modest, we were forced to recognize, toward 1900, that some increase in our income was indispensable. Pierre Curie had few illusions about his chances of obtaining an important chair in the University of Paris, which would, even though it meant no large salary, have sufficed for the small needs of our family, and enabled us to live without a supplementary revenue. Since he was neither a graduate of the Normal School nor of the Polytechnic, he lacked the support, often decisive, which these big schools gave their pupils; and the posts to which he might justly have aspired, because of his achievements, were given to others, without anyone's even thinking of him as a possible candidate. At the beginning of 1898, he asked, without success, for the Chair of Physical Chemistry left vacant by the death of Salet, and this failure convinced him that he had no chance of advancement. He was appointed, however, in March, 1900, to the position of assistant professor (repetiteur) in the Polytechnic School, but he kept his post only six months.

【注释】

(1)我们是与贝蒙一起对镭的发现进行宣布的，因为他和我们合作进行过实验。——作者注

(2)我想通过引述波尔森写给皮埃尔的一封感谢信来进行证明，因为自1899年起皮埃尔便开始将放射性物质提供给他了。

尊敬的先生和同事：

我于冰岛北部收到了您在8月1日写来的信，对此，我表示非常感谢。

我们先前对固定导电体某一点的电压进行计量时是凭借其周围的空气来进行确定的，现在我们已经将这种方法放弃，而改为应用您的放射性粉末的方法……

请接受我发自内心的谢意，尊敬的先生和同事，再次感谢您给予我研究工作的巨大支持。

亚当·波尔森

1899年10月16日

于雅克雷伊

——作者注

第六章　缺乏关怀下的奋斗

虽然我们一心想要将全部精力都投入到实验研究中去，并且在生活上一直克勤克俭，但是，到了1900年左右，我们还是不得不想办法来维持生活了。对于能在巴黎获得一个好些的教职，皮埃尔是不抱太大希望的，尽管这种职位薪酬并不丰厚，但还是能够满足一个没有其他经济来源而又对生活水平要求不高的家庭的生活所需的。他没有在巴黎高等师范学校和巴黎高等综合工艺学校接受过教育，因此缺少这类重点大学对它们的毕业生的支持，这些支持往往是决定性的。本来，他可以凭借自己的业绩谋求的一些职位，都被别人抢占了，甚至根本没有人想起过他。1898年年初，巴黎大学物理化学讲座的主讲教授萨莱去世，因此这一教席出现了空缺，皮埃尔便去申请这一职位，但却无功而返。这次失败使他坚信了自己同升迁无缘。1900年3月，他出任巴黎高等综合工艺学校辅导教师，但是也只有半年时间。

In the spring of 1900, there came an unexpected offer, that of the Chair of Physics in the University of Geneva. The doyen of that University made the invitation in the most cordial manner, and insisted that the University was ready to make an exceptional effort to secure a scientist of such high repute. The advantages of this position were that the salary was larger than the average one, that it carried the promise of the development of a Physics Laboratory adequate to our needs, and that an official position for me would be provided in this laboratory. Such a proposition merited a most careful consideration, so we made a visit to the University of Geneva, where our reception was the most encouraging possible.

This was a grave decision for us to make. Geneva presented material advantages, and the opportunity of a life comparable in its tranquillity with that in the country. Pierre Curie was, therefore, tempted to accept, and it was only our immediate interest in our researches in radium that made him finally decide not to. He feared the interruption of our investigations which such a change must involve.

At this moment the Chair of Physics in the physics, chemistry and natural history course at the Sorbonne, obligatory for students of medicine, and familiarly known as P.C.N., was vacant; he applied, and was appointed, due to the influence of Henri Poincare, who was anxious to free him from the necessity of quitting France. At the same time I was given charge of the physics lectures in the Normal School for Girls at Sevres.

So we remained in Paris, and with our income increased. But we were at the same time working under increasingly difficult conditions. Pierre Curie was doing double teaching; and that in the P.C.N., with its very large number of students, fatigued him greatly. As for myself, I had to give much time to the preparation of my lectures at Sevres, and to the organization of the laboratory work there, which I found very insufficient.

1900年春天，一个意料之外的消息突然传来了：日内瓦大学聘请皮埃尔担任物理学讲座教授。日内瓦大学校长以非常诚挚的态度向他发出了这一邀请，并强调说他将为能够请到他这样著名的科学家来他们学校任教而作出特殊的努力。校长声称，他们将会给皮埃尔以优厚的待遇，还将为他建立一个物理实验室，用来满足我们的科研需求，而且还同时聘请我到那个实验室去工作。这一建议当然值得我们好好地考虑。所以，我们便去参观了日内瓦大学，并在那里受到了非常热烈的欢迎。

对于我们来说，下定决心前往日内瓦大学关系重大。日内瓦大学提供给我们的物质待遇十分丰厚，并且那里的生活环境清幽，如同田园一般。皮埃尔非常想去，但是考虑到镭研究正处于关键的时期，最后他还是婉言谢绝了。因为他确实非常担心，环境的改变会令镭研究中断。

正在这个时候，巴黎大学出现了P.C.N.(1)课程中物理课教席的空缺，皮埃尔便对这一职位提出了申请，亨利·普安卡雷不希望皮埃尔离开巴黎，由于他的鼎力相助，皮埃尔得以获得了这一教席。这个时候，我也接受了聘请，到塞弗尔女子高等师范学校去讲授物理课程。

因此，我们留在了巴黎，收入也得到了提高。不过，这却极大地影响了我们的研究工作。皮埃尔有两处教学任务，并且P.C.N.的课是大课，学生非常多，备起课来既费时又费力。而我也必须拿出很多时间去为塞弗尔女子高等师范学校的课程作准备，还要组织学生们进行实验，因为我觉得她们的操作能力很不足。

Moreover, Pierre Curie's new position did not bring with it a laboratory; a little office and a single work room were all that he had at his disposition in the annex (12 rue Cuvier) of the Sorbonne, which served as teaching quarters for the P.C.N. And yet he felt it absolutely necessary to go ahead with his own work. In fact, the rapid extension of his investigations in radioactivity had made him determine that in his new position at the Sorbonne he would receive students and start them in research. He therefore took steps to find larger available working quarters. Those who have taken similar steps realize the wall of financial and administrative obstacles against which he was throwing himself, and realize the large number of official letters, visits, and of requests the least success entailed. All this thoroughly wearied and discouraged Pierre Curie. He was obliged, too, constantly, to keep traveling back and forth between the laboratories of the P.C.N. and the hangar of the School of Physics where we still continued our work.

And besides these difficulties, we found that we could not make further progress without the aid of industrial means of treating our raw material. Fortunately certain expedients and generous assistance solved this question.

As early as 1899 Pierre Curie succeeded in organizing a first industrial experiment, using for it a chance installation placed at his disposition by the Central Society of Chemical Products, with which he had had relations in connection with the construction of his balances. The technical details had been arranged very successfully by Andre Debierne, and the operations brought good results, even though it had been necessary to train a special personnel for this chemical work which demanded special precautions.

虽然在巴黎大学拥有了新职位，但皮埃尔并没有得到相应的实验室，他只有一间小小的办公室与一间供他讲课用的大教室。这间大教室在巴黎大学内的一幢附属建筑物里（位于居维埃街12号）。但是，皮埃尔是肯定需要独自进行研究的，并且，他在巴黎大学担任了新职，于是他就更加坚定不移地挑选出一些学生，指导他们来进行研究，这样做也是由当时放射性研究大有进展的现状所决定的。所以，他开始四处奔走，想要争取到大一些的能够用来进行实验的场所。只要是做过这类申请的人都非常清楚其中的艰难，包括行政审批、财政困难在内的阻碍不一而足，为了达到目的，你必须一次又一次地写信并且奔走，四处求人帮助，这个过程使人心烦气馁，并且皮埃尔又最讨厌做这种事情，所以他更是被搞得精疲力尽，垂头丧气。除此以外，他还必须经常在P.C.N.和一直被我们占用为实验室的物理和化学学校的那个木棚之间穿梭往来。

另外，在这个时候，我们的研究工作必须要用工业手段来对原材料进行处理，否则就不能取得进展。由于想出了一些权宜之计并有一些自愿的人相帮，这一问题总算得到了解决。

早在1899年，皮埃尔就用一种临时装置成功地对第一次工业处理实验进行了组织，这个装置是由化学品研究中心提供的，他和该中心在制作精密天平的时候有过联系。他同德比埃纳在技术上对工业方法提炼镭的实验做过细致的研究，所以在实验正式进行时，效果是非常不错的。当然，因为做这种化学实验要求非常小心、细致，所以必须培养一些专门人才。

Our investigations had started a general scientific movement, and similar work was being undertaken in other countries. Toward these efforts Pierre Curie maintained a most disinterested and liberal attitude. With my agreement he refused to draw any material profit from our discovery. We took no copyright, and published without reserve all the results of our research, as well as the exact processes of the preparation of radium. In addition, we gave to those interested whatever information they asked of us. This was of great benefit to the radium industry, which could thus develop in full freedom, first in France, then in foreign countries, and furnish to scientists and to physicians the products which they needed. This industry still employs today, with scarcely any modifications, the processes indicated by us.

Even though our industrial experiment yielded good results, again our slender resources made it difficult to make further progress. Inspired by our attempt, a French industrial, Armet de Lisle, had the idea, which seemed daring at that epoch, of founding a veritable radium factory that would furnish this product to physicians, whose interest in the biological effects of radium and its possible therapeutic applications had been aroused by the publication of various investigations. The project proved a success because he could employ men already trained by us in the delicate processes of this manufacture. Radium was then regularly placed on sale, at a high price, it is true, because of the special conditions under which it had to be made, and because, too, of the immediate rise in the cost of the minerals necessary to its production.

在我们的研究工作的带动下，国外也开始进行一些类似的实验。对此，皮埃尔的态度绝对是大公无私的。在征得我的同意后，他决定不凭借我们的发现来获取任何物质利益，因此我们没有申请任何专利，并且毫无保留地对我们研究的所有成果以及镭的提炼方法进行了公布。除此之外，我们还向那些对此感兴趣的人们提供了他们所需要的全部资料。对于制镭工业，这是大有好处的，因此，这一工业在法国，继而在国外快速地发展起来，它为科学家及医生们提供了需要的产品。直到今天，制镭工业仍旧几乎一成不变地在延续使用我们运用过的方法。(2)

尽管我们所应用的工业处理原材料的方法收到了不错的效果，但是由于能力有限，我们很难继续进行下去。法国企业家阿尔梅·德·里斯勒对这个实验很感兴趣，1904年的时候，他便想到要兴建一座大型制镭工厂，用来向医生们提供镭产品，因为当时有很多的文章在介绍镭在生物与治疗上的效用，医生们对此非常感兴趣。在当时，他的这一想法可以说是非常大胆。由于雇用了一些接受过我们的培训的人——尤其是奥德潘与达纳——来进行这种精细的工作，所以他这个计划实行得很成功。因此，镭便开始正式地在市场上进行销售，但售价也确实昂贵，这是它的制作过程十分复杂，并且原材料的价格也很快被拍高的缘故。(3)

I should like to express, here, our appreciation of the spirit in which Armet de Lisle offered to cooperate with us. In an entirely disinterested manner he placed at our disposition a little working place in his factory and a part of the means necessary for us to use it. Other funds were added either by ourselves, or came through subventions, of which the most important, accorded in 1902 by the Academy of Sciences, amounted to 20,000 francs.

It was in this way that we were able to utilize the ore we had acquired little by little in the preparation of a certain quantity of radium, which we used constantly in our research. The radium-bearing barium was extracted in the factory, and I carried on its purification and fractional crystallization in the laboratory. In 1902 I succeeded in preparing a decigramme of chloride of pure radium which gave only the spectrum of the new element, radium. I made a first determination of the atomic weight of this new element, an atomic weight much higher than that of barium. Thus the chemical individuality of radium was completely established, and the reality of radioelements was a known fact about which there could be no further controversy.

I based my doctor's thesis, presented in 1903, on these investigations.

Later, the quantity of radium extracted for the laboratory was increased, and in 1907 I was able to make a second and more precise determination of the atomic weight as 225.35—one accepts now the number 226. I succeeded, too, jointly with Andre Debierne, in obtaining radium in the state of metal. The total quantity of radium I prepared and gave to the laboratory, in agreement with Pierre Curie's desire, amounted to more than a gramme of radium element.

在此，我想深切地对阿尔梅·德·里斯勒表示感谢，他主动地向我们提供了帮助，无私地将他的工厂中的一小块地方划给我们使用，还资助了部分经费让我们用于在那儿进行的研究。除此之外，其他的一些资金均是来自于一些补助，或是由我们自己筹备的，其中最大的一笔是1902年由科学院给的，高达20000法郎。

这样，我们便逐渐从以前所拥有的铀沥青矿中提炼出一定数量的镭，用来供我们研究所用。从原矿石中对含镭的钡盐进行提炼的过程是在工厂里进行的，我则负责在实验室里进行精炼与部分结晶的工作。1902年，我成功地将一分克的纯氯化镭提炼了出来，这样就能够获得镭元素的光谱。我首次将镭元素的原子量测了出来，它的数值远远高于钡的数值。这样，镭的化学新元素地位就被确认了，不会再有人对此进行质疑。

就此，我于1903年完成了我的博士论文。

到了后来，为实验室所提炼的镭的数量就增多了。1907年，我便能够对镭的原子量进行了第二次测定，这一次更为精确，测出的结果为225.35，而现在所用的镭原子量为226。我还同德比埃纳共同提炼出了纯金属镭。我提炼出的镭共有1克多一点，在皮埃尔的支持下，我将它们全部放到实验室里用来使用。

The activity of pure radium exceeded all our expectations. For equal weights this substance emits a radiation more than a million times more intense than uranium. To offset this, the quantity of radium contained in uranium minerals is scarcely more than three decigrammes of radium to the ton of uranium. There is a very close relation between these two substances. In fact, we know today that radium is produced in the minerals at the expense of uranium.

The years that followed his nomination to the P.C.N. were hard for Pierre Curie. He had to face the many anxieties incident to the organization of a complicated system of work when his happiness depended on his being able to concentrate his efforts on a single determined subject. The physical fatigue due to the numerous courses he was obliged to give was so great that he suffered from attacks of acute pain, which in his overtaxed condition became more and more frequent.

It was therefore vitally important, if he was to spare his energy and keep his health, that the burden of his professional duties be lightened. He decided to apply for the Chair of Mineralogy, which was vacant, at the Sorbonne, for which he was entirely qualified because of his profound knowledge and his important publications on the theories of the physics of crystals. Yet his candidacy failed.

纯净镭的放射能力比我们原来的估计要高。在同样的重量下，纯净镭的放射能力要比铀的大100万倍。依此类推，铀沥青矿石中所含有的镭和铀的比例大概是3分克比1吨。这两种物质之间的关系十分紧密，在矿石中，它们总是同时出现。今天，我们知道矿石中的镭是由铀衰变而成的。

对于皮埃尔来说，到P.C.N.任教的那几年，是非常艰难的。那么多必须要面对的劳心事，令他忙得不可开交，但又只有将精力集中于一个固定的目标才会使他觉得快乐。课程太多，体力消耗过大，使他不堪重负，经常感到浑身酸痛。

对他而言，他迫切需要减轻教学任务，节省体力，以保证身体健康。所以，当巴黎大学矿物学讲座出现教授位置空缺时，他就下定决心对这一职位进行申请，并且他完全有资格胜任的，因为在这方面，他有很深的造诣，而且还就晶体物理方面发表过重要文章。但是，他却没能够获得委任。

During this painful period he nevertheless managed, by a truly superhuman effort, successfully to complete and publish several investigations that he had made either alone or in collaboration: Investigations on induced radioactivity(in collaboration with A. Debierne). Investigations on the same subject (in collaboration with J. Danne). Investigations on the conductibility provoked in dielectric liquids by the rays of radium and the Roentgen rays. Investigations on the law of the decrease of the emanation of radium and on the radioactive constants that characterize this emanation and its active deposit. Discovery of the liberation of heat produced by radium (in collaboration with A. Laborde). Investigations on the diffusion of the emanation of radium in the air (in collaboration with J. Danne). Investigation on the radioactivity of gases from thermal springs (in collaboration with A. Laborde). Investigation on the physiological effects of radium rays (in collaboration with Henri Becquerel). Investigation on the physiological action of the radium emanation (in collaboration with Bouchard and Balthazard). Notes on the apparatus for the determination of magnetic constants (in collaboration with C. Cheneveau).

All these investigations in radioactivity are fundamental and touch very varied subjects. Several have as their aim the study of the emanation, that strange gaseous body that radium produces and which is largely responsible for the intense radiation commonly attributed to the radium itself. Pierre Curie demonstrated by a searching examination the rigorous and invariable law according to which the emanation destroys itself, no matter what the conditions are in which it finds itself. Today the emanation of radium, harvested in tiny phials, is commonly employed by physicians as a therapeutic agent. Technical considerations make its employment preferable to the direct use of radium, and in this case no physician can proceed without consulting the numerical chart which tells how much of this emanation has disappeared each day, despite the fact that it is cloistered in its little glass prison. It is this same emanation that is found in small quantities in mineral waters, and that plays a part in their curative effects.

在这么艰难的时期，他竟然凭借超常的努力完成并且发表了好几项研究，有的是他单独做的，有的是和人合作完成的。主要包括：感应放射性研究（部分同德比埃纳合作，部分同达纳合作）；镭射线和X射线于电解质液体中所引起的导电性研究；镭射气的衰减律以及镭射气同其沉淀物的放射性常数研究；镭对热量释放的发现（同拉波德合作）；镭射气于空气中漫射的研究（同达纳合作）；温泉所产生气体的放射性研究（同拉波德合作）；镭射线生理影响的研究（同亨利·贝克莱尔合作）；镭射气生理效应的研究（同布萨尔与巴尔塔扎尔合作）；对决定磁性常数仪器的简介（同什纳沃合作）。

上述对放射性进行的种种研究都是基础性的，涵盖的范围十分广泛，其中有好几项是对镭射气进行研究的。这种气体是由镭产生的一种奇异的气体，镭所具有的大部分强烈的放射性都是由它产生的。经过深入的研究，皮埃尔揭示出了这种镭射气能够自行衰变，继而消失的状况，并且它的衰变过程有着自己的一定规律，而不受到外界的任何影响。在今天，一般情况下，镭射气都是由细小的玻璃瓶来收集的，医生们经常用它来治病。由技术角度来看，用它来直接治疗比用镭更加方便。但是，凡是医生们要使用镭射气的时候，就必须查阅数学图表，来对镭射气每天的衰减数量进行了解。虽然密封在细小的玻璃瓶里，但镭射气是照样衰减的。一些泉水之所以因为能够治病而名气大振，也是由于泉水中含有少量镭射气的缘故。

More striking still was the discovery of the discharge of heat from radium. Without any alteration in appearance this substance releases each hour a quantity of heat sufficient to melt its own weight of ice. When well protected against this external loss, radium heats itself. Its temperature can rise 10 degrees or more above that of the surrounding atmosphere. This defied all contemporary scientific experience.

Finally, I cannot pass in silence, because of their various repercussions, the experiments connected with the physiological effects of radium.

In order to test the results that had just been announced by F. Giesel, Pierre Curie, voluntarily exposed his arm to the action of radium during several hours. This resulted in a lesion resembling a burn, that developed progressively and required several months to heal. Henri Becquerel had by accident a similar burn as a result of carrying in his vest pocket a glass tube containing radium salt. He came to tell us of this evil effect of radium, exclaiming in a manner at once delighted and annoyed: "I love it, but I owe it a grudge!"

Since he realized the interest in these physiological effects of radium, Pierre Curie undertook, in collaboration with physicians, the investigations to which I have just referred, submitting animals to the action of radium emanation. These studies formed the point of departure in radium therapy. The first attempts at treatment with radium were made with products loaned by Pierre Curie, and had as their object the cure of lupus and other skin lesions. Thus radium therapy, an important branch of medicine, and frequently designated as Curie-therapie, was born in France, and was developed first through the investigations of French physicians (Danlos, Oudin, Wickham, Dominici, Cheron, Degrais, and others).

在皮埃尔的研究中，尤其以发现了镭可以产生热量最为惊人。通常情况下，虽然镭的表面没有显示出什么变化，但它每小时所产生的热量却足以将与它本身重量相等的冰块融化。如果将这热量保护好使其不向外面消散的话，镭本身就会发热，温度可以高达10℃，高于它周围空气的温度。这种现象是完全不同于当时的科学实验数据的。

最后，关于镭的生理效用的各项实验研究我不能不提及，因为它具有明显的消肿作用。

为了对吉塞尔发表不久的这项研究结果进行验证，皮埃尔主动将自己的胳膊伸出接受镭的照射长达几个小时。结果，他的皮肤受到伤害，就像是灼伤一样，并且向四周扩展，过了好几个月才得以恢复。亨利·贝克莱尔在将一支装有镭盐的玻璃管放到西服背心口袋里时，也曾意外地被灼伤过。他跑过来对我们讲述镭对他的伤害时，又喜又怒地叫嚷道：“我真爱它，可又恨它。”

在了解到镭的生理效应如此大后，皮埃尔便着手同医生们合作，共同对动物进行实验。镭疗方法的起步点就是这些实验研究。实验开始时所使用的镭都是由皮埃尔提供的，目的是治疗狼疮和其他一些皮肤病。就这样，通常被称为“居里疗法”的镭疗法，作为医学上的重要分支，就在法国应运而生了，后来经过一些法国医生（例如丹洛斯、威克汉姆、多光尼西和德格莱等）的研究，这一疗法得到了更大的发展。(4)

In the meantime the great impetus given to the study of radioactivity abroad led to a rapid succession of new discoveries. Many scientists engaged in the search for other radio elements, using the new method of chemical analysis, with the aid of radiation, that we had inaugurated. Thus were found the mesothorium now used by physicians and manufactured industrially, radio-thorium, ionium, protoactinium, radio-lead, and other substances. At present we know, in all, about thirty radio elements (among which three are gases, or emanations), but among them all radium still plays the most important part, because of the great intensity of its radiation, which diminishes only extremely slowly during the course of years.

The year 1903 was especially important in the development of the new science. In this year the investigation of radium, the new chemical element, was achieved, and Pierre Curie demonstrated the astonishing discharge of heat by this element, which nevertheless remained unaltered in appearance. In England, Ramsay and Soddy announced a great discovery. They proved that radium continually produces helium gas and under conditions that force one to believe in an atomic transformation. If, indeed, radium salt heated to its melting point is confined for some time in a sealed glass tube, entirely emptied of air, one can, in reheating it, make it throw off a small quantity of helium, easy to measure and to recognize from the character of its spectrum. This fundamental experiment has received numerous confirmations. It furnished us the first example of a transformation of atoms, independent, it is true, of our will, but at the same time it reduces to nothing the theory of the absolute fixity of the atomic edifice.

All these facts, along with others formerly known, were made the object of a synthesis of the highest value, in a work by E. Rutherford and F. Soddy, who proposed a theory of radioactive transformations, today universally adopted. According to this theory, each radio element, even when it appears unchanged, is undergoing a spontaneous transformation, and the more rapid the transformation, the more intense is the radiation.

同时，国外也在积极地发展放射学研究，新的发现不停地涌现出来。许多科学家积极地对其他放射性元素进行寻找，并在这期间运用了我们所发明的新的化学分析法。据此，人们很快便发现了由工业大规模地制造，在医学上被经常使用的新钍，以及放射性钍、镤、锕等物质。到如今，我们已经知道的放射性元素有30多种，其中有3种是射气。在这30多种放射性元素中，镭仍旧占据着最为重要的地位，因为它具有很强的放射性，而它的衰减蜕变则在几年中都非常缓慢。

1903年，是放射学这门新学科在发展中十分重要的一年。这一年，在法国，对镭所进行的研究刚刚结束，皮埃尔就发现了一种惊人的现象：这种新元素可以在表面没有任何损伤的情况下散发出热量。在英国，拉姆塞与索迪宣布了一个重大发现：通过他们的观察可知，镭能够持续不断地发出氦气，这就说明原子一定是能够变化的。如果我们将镭盐加热到它的熔点后将它密存于完全真空状态的玻璃管里，然后再次加热，令它放出少量的氦气，便可以运用光谱仪来对氦气的存在进行确定了。这个重要实验被反复做了很多次，镭可以放出氦气这一论断完全得到了证实。它为我们提供了原子能够变化的第一个例证。当然，对于这种变化，我们是无法控制的，但却推翻了原子不能够被改变的理论。

吕特福和索迪将这些情况与我们以前所知道的情况进行了综合概括，并提出了今天已为大家所接受的放射蜕变的理论。从这一理论可以看出，任何放射性元素，即使是它表面上没有任何变化，它的内部也都在自行蜕变，速度越快，放射性就越强。(5)

A radioactive atom can transform itself in two ways: it can expel from itself an atom of helium, which, thrown off at an enormous speed and with a positive charge, constitutes an Alpha ray. Or, instead, it can detach from its structure a much smaller fragment, one of those electrons to which we have become accustomed in modern physics, and whose mass, 1800 times smaller than that of an atom of hydrogen when its speed is moderate, grows excessively when its speed approaches that of light. These electrons, which carry a negative charge, form the Beta rays. Whatever the detached fragment, the residual atom no longer resembles the primitive atom.Thus when the atom of radium has expelled an atom of helium, the residue is an atom of gaseous emanation. This residue changes in its turn, and the process is not arrested until the attainment of a last residue which is stable and does not give off any radiation. This stable matter is inactive matter.

Thus the Alpha and Beta rays result from the fragmentation of atoms. Gamma rays are a radiation analogous to light, which accompanies the cataclysm of the atomic transformation. They are very penetrating, and are the ones most used in the therapeutic methods so far developed.

We can see in all this that radio elements form families, in which each member derives from a preceding member by direct descent the primary elements being uranium and thorium. We can in particular prove that radium is a descendant of uranium, and that polonium is a descendant of radium. Since each radio element, at the same time that it is formed by the mother substance, destroys itself, it cannot accumulate in the presence of this mother substance beyond a determined proportion, which explains why the relation between radium and uranium remains constant in the very ancient unaltered minerals.

放射性原子通过两种方式蜕变：一是原子自身发射出一个速度飞快并且带有正电的粒子，即α射线；二是原子自身发射出在现代物理学中我们已经十分熟悉的电子，即β射线。电子在速度不是很快时，它的质量仅是原子量的1/1800，不过当它的速度同光速接近时，它的质量便会大为增加。各种放射性原子，不管是通过哪一种方式蜕变之后，剩下的原子就不会再和原来的原子相同了。剩下的原子还会不断蜕变，蜕变得直到它不再具有任何放射性，成为一个稳定的原子为止。这种原子就是非放射性元素。

所以，α射线与β射线都是经过原子分裂得来的。γ射线则与α射线和β射线不同，它是由原子蜕变所产生的一种与光相似的辐射。这些射线都具有很强的穿透性能，近些年来一直用于治疗疾病。(6)

所以，放射性元素分为好几族，每一族中的元素均由它前面的一个元素蜕变而来，而铀和钍为每一族中的原始元素。我们尤其可以证实，铀产生了镭，而镭又产生了钋。既然每个放射性元素都由其母体产生，又自行蜕变并且产生其他放射性元素，那么，这些元素同其母体并存时，它的数量就不会超过固定的比例。正是因为这样，在原始的矿石中，镭和铀的数量才有着一种固定不变的比例。

The spontaneous destruction of radio elements takes place according to a fundamental law, called the exponential law, according to which the quantity of each radio element diminishes by one-half in a time always the same, called a period, this time-period making it possible to determine without ambiguity the element under consideration. These periods, which can be measured by diverse methods, vary greatly. The period of uranium is several billions of years; that of radium is about 1600 years; that of its emanation a little less than four days; and there are among the following descendants some whose period is the small fraction of a second. The exponential law has a profound philosophic bearing; it indicates that the transformation is produced according to the laws of probability. The causes that determine the transformation are a mystery to us, and we do not yet know if they derive from causal conditions outside the atom, or from conditions of internal instability. In many cases, up to the present, no exterior action has shown itself effective in influencing the transformation.

This rapid succession of discoveries which overthrew familiar scientific conceptions long held in physics and chemistry did not fail to meet, at first, with doubts and incredulity. But the great part of the scientific world received them with enthusiasm. At the same time Pierre Curie's fame grew in France and in foreign countries. Already in 1901 the Academy of Sciences had awarded him the Lacaze prize. In 1902, Mascart, who had many times given him most valuable aid, decided to propose him as a member of the Academy of Sciences. It was not easy for Pierre Curie to agree to this, believing, as he did, that the Academy should elect its members without the necessity of any preliminary solicitation or paying of calls. Nevertheless, because of the friendly insistence of Mascart, and above all because the Physics Section of the Academy had already declared itself unanimously in his favor, he presented himself. In spite of this, however, he failed of election, and it was only in 1905 that he became a member of the Institute, a membership which did not last even a year. He was also elected to several academies and scientific societies in other countries. and given an honorary doctor's degree by several universities.

放射性元素的这一自行蜕变是按照一定规律进行的，这个规律被称为“指数定律”。根据这一定律，每个放射性元素的重量减少到它原来的一半时所需要的时间被称为“半衰期”，而任何一个放射性元素的半衰期都是不会变的。知道了半衰期，便能够确定出某个元素的种类，绝对不会有差错。每个元素的半衰期都不相同，测定的方法也有所不同。铀的半衰期为几十亿年，镭的则大约为1600年，它的射气周期不到4天，由镭射气直接蜕变而来的元素中，甚至有的半衰期都不到1秒钟。这种指数定律表明蜕变是依照概率规律产生的，有着一种深远的哲学意义。到现在，决定蜕变的因素还是个谜团，我们还不清楚它是由原子外的偶然情况还是由内部的不稳定性造成。总而言之，到目前为止，不管外在的什么干预都不能有效地对这种变化产生影响。

这些飞速的发现把我们所熟知的物理学与化学所遵循的各种科学性观念推翻了。刚开始，这些发现还受到质疑，可是后来大部分科学家都热情地承认了它们的可信性。与此同时，皮埃尔的名声也在法国和国外大振。早于1901年，法国科学院就授予过他拉卡兹奖了。1902年，曾经在以前多次给予他宝贵支持的马斯卡尔支持他对法国科学院院士进行申请。皮埃尔很为难，因为他认为院士的遴选不应该靠竞选者本人四处活动，对在巴黎的院士们逐个拜访来进行。但是，在马斯卡尔的多次友好相劝下，特别是科学院物理所的全体同仁早就声明要一致推荐他成为院士，他也就提出了自己的申请，但却未能成功，直到1905年，他才最终被接纳为院士，但在成为院士还不到一年时，他就不幸遭遇车祸身亡了。他还在一些其他国家的院校以及科学界当选，并被许多大学授予名誉博士学位。

During 1903 we went to London at the invitation of the Royal Institution, before which my husband was to lecture on radium. On this occasion he had a most enthusiastic reception. He was especially happy to see here again Lord Kelvin, who had always expressed an affection for him, and who, despite his advanced age, preserved an interest, perennially young, in science. The illustrious scientist showed, with touching satisfaction, a glass vial containing a grain of radium salt that Pierre Curie had given him. We met here also other celebrated scientists, as Crookes, Ramsay, and J. Dewar In collaboration with the latter, Pierre Curie published investigations on the discharge of heat by radium at very low temperatures, and upon the formation of helium in radium salt.

A few months later the Davy medal was conferred upon him (and also upon me) by the Royal Society of London, and at almost the same time, we received, together with Henri Becquerel, the Nobel prize for physics. Our health prevented us from attending the ceremony for the awarding of this prize in December, and it was only in June, 1905, that we were able to go to Stockholm where Pierre Curie gave his Nobel lecture. We were most cordially received and had the felicity of seeing the admirable Swedish nature in its most brilliant aspect.

The award of the Nobel prize was an important event for us because of the prestige carried by the Nobel foundation, only recently founded(1901). Also, from a financial point of view, the half of the prize represented an important sum. It meant that in the future Pierre Curie could turn over his teaching in the School of Physics to Paul Langevin, one of his former students, and a physicist of great competence. He could also engage a teaching assistant to aid him in his work.

1903年期间，应英国皇家学会的邀请，皮埃尔和我一起前往英伦做关于镭的报告，并且受到了热烈的欢迎。他非常高兴能够在伦敦见到开尔文爵士。开尔文爵士向来都对皮埃尔怀有深情，虽然他当时年龄很大了，但对科学却始终保持着很大的关注。这位知名度很高的科学家经常自豪地将皮埃尔送给他的装有镭盐的玻璃瓶拿出来给人看。在那里，我们还见到了其他一些著名的科学家：如克鲁克斯、拉姆塞、德瓦等。德瓦还与皮埃尔合作，发表了一篇关于低温条件下镭放出的热量与镭盐产生氮气的研究报告。

几个月以后，皮埃尔和我接受了伦敦皇家学会授予的戴维奖章。差不多与此同时，我们两人和贝克莱尔一起获得1903年度的诺贝尔物理学奖。由于健康问题，我们没有能够参加12月份在斯德哥尔摩举行的颁奖仪式，直到1905年6月，我们才到瑞典首都领取了这一奖项，在领奖仪式上，皮埃尔发表了讲话。在那里，我们受到了热烈的欢迎，并欣赏了瑞典夏季的美丽风光。

对于我们来说，获得诺贝尔奖真是一件不平凡的大事，这是因为这个新近成立的诺贝尔基金会（成立于1901年），具有崇高的威望。就经济方面来讲，哪怕是只有一半的奖金，其数额也大得吓人。在这之后，保尔·朗之万便替代了皮埃尔在物理和化学学校里面的教学任务。朗之万是皮埃尔的学生，是一位非常有才气的物理学家。(7)9皮埃尔还专门聘请了一位教辅人员，协助他进行实验研究。

But at the same time the publicity of this very happy event entailed bore very heavily on a man who was neither prepared for it, nor accustomed to it. There followed an avalanche of visits, of letters, of demands for articles and lectures, which meant a constant enervation, fatigue, and loss of time. He was kind and did not like to refuse a request; but on the other hand, he had to recognize that he could not accede to the solicitations that overwhelmed him without disastrous results to his health, as well as to his peace of mind, and his work. In a letter to Ch. Ed. Guillaume, he said:"People ask me for articles and lectures, and after a few years are passed, the very persons who make these demands will be astonished to see that we have not accomplished any work."

And in other letters of the same period, written to E. Gouy, he expressed himself as follows:

"20 March 1902

"As you have seen, fortune favors us at this moment; but these favors of fortune do not come without many worries. We have never been less tranquil than at this moment. There are days when we scarcely have time to breathe. And to think that we dreamed of living in the wild, quite removed from human beings!"

然而，媒体对这件幸福大事的大肆宣扬很快便让我们不堪重负，因为对此，我们既不习惯又没有心理准备。每天前来拜访我们的人从不间断，信件也像雪片一样飞来，有的约稿，有的邀请做报告，令我们应接不暇，既浪费了时间，又使自己疲惫不堪。皮埃尔是一个和蔼的人，他不喜欢对别人的请求一口拒绝，但是他也非常清楚，这样下去也不是个办法，不仅他的身体承受不了，而且清醒的头脑与研究的思绪也都被搅乱了。在写给纪尧姆的一封信中，他说：“他们老是要我写文章、做报告，如果时间就这么一年一年的过去，即便是那些让我写文章做报告的人也会惊讶地看到我的年华竟然被虚度，什么都没有干成。”

与此同时，他在写给古伊的几封信中也发出了同样的感慨；古伊将这些信转交给了我，在此，我应该向古伊表示诚挚的感谢。

像您所看到的那样，此刻幸运眷顾了我们，不过，这幸福的来临却也将无尽的烦恼带给了我们。我们还从来没有像现在这样的不得安宁。有些日子，我们甚至连喘口气的时间都没有。我们可都是曾经梦想着要远离人群，到荒郊野外生活的人呀！

1902年3月20日

"22 January 1904

"MY DEAR FRIEND:

"I have wanted to write to you for a long time; excuse me if I have not done so. The cause is the stupid life which I lead at present. You have seen this sudden infatuation for radium, which has resulted for us in all the advantages of a moment of popularity. We have been pursued by journalists and photographers from all countries of the world; they have gone even so far as to report the conversation between my daughter and her nurse, and to describe the black and white cat that lives with us... Further, we have had a great many appeals for money... Finally, the collectors of autographs, snobs, society people, and even at times, scientists, have come to see us—in our magnificent and tranquil quarters in the laboratory—and every evening there has been a voluminous correspondence to send off. With such a state of things I feel myself invaded by a kind of stupor. And yet all this turmoil will not perhaps have been in vain, if it results in my getting a chair and a laboratory. To tell the truth, it will be necessary to create the chair, and I shall not have the laboratory at first. I should have preferred the reverse, but Liard wishes to take advantage of the present moment to bring about the creation of a new chair that will later be acquired for the university. They are to establish a chair without a fixed program, which will be something like a course in the College de France, and I believe I shall be obliged to change my subject each year, which will be a great trial to me."

我亲爱的朋友：

我早就想写信给您了。请您原谅我如此拖沓。可要是知道我此刻的日子是多么的荒唐和愚蠢，您就不会责怪我了。您已经看到了，镭成了现在的热门话题。这在一时间带给了我们种种的好运，令我们声名鹊起，因此，世界各国的记者与摄影师也都到处跟着我们：他们甚至于将我女儿和保姆的谈话都作为新闻来炒作，连我们家的黑白花猫也都成为新闻明星了。除此之外，还有许多人请我们捐款。索要签名的人、权势贵族，甚至有时还有一些科学家也会找上门来，使得我们在洛蒙街的家都不像个家了。并且，在实验室里也无法安心地进行工作。每天晚上还要对大量的信件进行回复。我真是有点不胜其烦，整天都昏昏沉沉的。如果这么的折腾，能够让我获得一个大学的教席与一间实验室的话，那还可以说得过去。可是说实话，教席之事还在计划之中，而一时半会儿，实验室也仍旧没个踪影。我倒是希望先有实验室，但里亚德院长却认为应该趁着这个劲头儿先建立一门与法兰西学院相似的新课程，并且暂时不要明确大纲。这样一来，我每年都要编写教材，那就为我增添了许多麻烦。

1904年1月22日

"31 January 1905

"...I have had to give up going to Sweden. We are, as you see, most irregular in our relations with the Swedish Academy; but, to tell the truth, I can only keep up by avoiding all physical fatigue. And my wife is in the same condition; we can no longer dream of the great work days of times gone by.

"As to research, I am doing nothing at present. With my course, my students, apparatus to install, and the interminable procession of people who come to disturb me without serious reason, the days pass without my having been able to achieve anything useful at this end."

"25 July 1905

"My DEAR FRIEND:

"We have regretted so much being deprived of your visit this year, but hope to see you in October. If we do not make an effort from time to time, we end by losing touch with our best and most congenial friends, and in keeping company with others for the simple reason that it is easy to meet them.

"We continue to lead the same life of people who are extremely occupied, without being able to accomplish anything interesting. It is now more than a year since I have been able to engage in any research, and I have no moment to myself. Clearly I have not yet discovered a means to defend ourselves against this frittering away of our time which is nevertheless extremely necessary. Intellectually, it is a question of life or death."

我不得不放弃了瑞典之行。就像您所见到的那样，我们已经完全将瑞典科学院的规定违反了。说实话，我的身体实在太差了，稍微累一点就受不了。我妻子的健康状况和我一样。我都不敢想过去的那些从事繁忙的研究工作的日子了。

说起研究工作，我现在什么都没做。每天只是讲课，指导学生，对仪器设备进行安装，并应付那些登门拜访却又没有什么要紧事的人，这些使我虚度时光，没有做成一点有意义的事情。

1905年1月31日

我亲爱的朋友：

我们对于您今年没能来我们家感到非常遗憾，希望10月份能够和您见面。如果不经常见面，人到最后就会失去了自己最亲密的、最要好的朋友了，那样就只能去见其他一些没有什么关系的人，因为他们容易见到。

虽然我们仍旧忙碌，但却没做任何有意义的事情。我已经有一年多没进行研究了，但我也没有一点时间是属于自己的。显然，我还没有找到能够防止我们的时间被弄得支离破碎的办法，但是我必须找到它。因为理性地看，这可是有关生死存亡的大事。

1905年7月25日

"7 November 1905

"I begin my course tomorrow but under very bad conditions for the preparation of my experiments. The lecture room is at the Sorbonne, and my laboratory is in the rue Cuvier. Besides, a great number of other courses are given in the same lecture room, and I can use it only one morning for the preparation of my own.

"I am neither very well, nor very ill; but I am easily fatigued, and I have left but very little capacity for work. My wife, on the contrary, leads a very active life, between her children, the School at Sevres, and the laboratory. She does not lose a minute, and occupies herself more regularly than I can with the direction of the laboratory in which she passes the greater part of the day."

To sum up: despite these outside complications, our life, by a common effort of will, remained as simple and as retired as formerly. Toward the close of 1904 our family was increased by the birth of a second daughter. Eve Denise was born in the modest house in Boulevard Kellermann, where we still lived with Doctor Curie, seeing only a few friends.

As our elder daughter grew up, she began to be a little companion to her father, who took a lively interest in her education and gladly went for walks with her in his free times, especially on his vacation days. He carried on serious conversations with her, replying to all her questions and delighting in the progressive development of her young mind. From their early age, his children enjoyed his tender affection, and he never wearied of trying to understand these little beings, in order to be able to give them the best he had to give.

明天，我要讲授的课程就会正式开始，但是实验室还没有彻底准备好，所以我的心里不是很高兴。我们在索邦上课，但实验室却在居维埃街。除此之外，还有几门其他课程也在我们上课的教室进行，我只能在上午利用这间教室好好地备备课。

虽然还没有卧床不起，但是我的健康状况却不是很好，老是感觉浑身无力，连实验研究也无法进行了。我的妻子则和我不同，她倒是充满活力的。除了照顾两个女儿之外，她还要到塞弗尔女子高等师范学校去讲课，另外，还要去实验室做实验，非常忙碌。她要比我强得多，每天有大半天的时间都在实验室里做实验或对学生进行指导。

1905年11月7日

总体来看，虽然受到外界多种多样的干扰，但是通过共同努力，我们的生活仍旧像以往那样简单而又离群索居。在快到1904年年底的时候，我们家又增添了一名新成员，二女儿艾娃·德尼斯在克勒尔曼大街我们的寓所里诞生了。同我们来往的朋友不多，只有皮埃尔的父亲一直和我们住在一起。

大女儿长大了，开始成为父亲的朋友。皮埃尔很注重对她的培养和教育，并且只要有空闲的时候就总要带她出去散步，尤其是在假日里。他经常和她一本正经地交谈，回答她提出的全部问题，并且因为她的头脑越来越聪明而十分高兴。在早年，孩子们受到了父亲细心的体贴与关爱，皮埃尔从来都是不知疲倦地试着去了解这些小东西们，因为他想尽可能地把最好的东西都给她们。

With his great success in other countries, the complete appreciation of Pierre Curie in France, however tardily, did at last follow. At forty-five he found himself in the first rank of French scientists and yet, as a teacher, he occupied an inferior position. This abnormal state of affairs aroused public opinion in his favor, and under the influence of this wave of feeling, the director of the Academy of Paris, L. Liard, asked Parliament to create a new professorship in the Sorbonne, and at the beginning of the academic year 1904—1905 Pierre Curie was named titular professor of the Faculty of Sciences of Paris. A year later he definitely quitted the School of Physics where his substitute, Paul Langevin, succeeded him.

This new professorship was not established without a few difficulties. The first project had provided for a new chair, but not for a laboratory. And Pierre Curie felt that he could not accept a situation which involved the risk of losing even the mediocre means of work that he then had, instead of offering better ones. He wrote, therefore, to his chiefs, that he had decided to remain at the P.C.N. His firmness won the day. To the new chair was added a fund for a laboratory and personnel for the new work (a chief of laboratory, a teaching assistant, and a laboratory boy). The position of chief of laboratory was offered to me, which was a cause of very great satisfaction to my husband.

随着皮埃尔在国外的声望逐渐增高，虽然在法国皮埃尔受到的崇敬姗姗来迟，但是它总算是到来了。45岁时，他在法国科学家中名列前茅，但是，在教学岗位上，他的地位仍旧很低。这种非正常的状态引发了公众的反对。趁着这股舆论力量，巴黎科学院的里亚德院长最后提出要在巴黎大学创建出一个新的教席。1904—1905学年里，皮埃尔被巴黎大学理学院授予正教授头衔。一年以后，他完全离开了物理和化学学校，在那里的职位则由保尔·朗之万接替。

虽然巴黎大学设立了新教席，但在开始时也存在不小的困难。开始时的计划是只设讲座而没有实验室。皮埃尔觉得接受了这个新的职位却有可能失去目前他所使用的聊胜于无的实验室，而又没有新的实验室给他，这是没有办法接受的。所以，他便写信给上级，决定仍旧留在P.C.N，而不接受新职。由于态度坚定，他获得了成功。除去设立了一个新教席之外，巴黎大学还为他划拨了一笔经费，用来创建实验室和聘请工作人员。实验室的编制包括一名主任、一名助教与一名实验室杂役。实验室的主任由我担任，对于这个安排，皮埃尔也感到非常满意。

It was not without regret that we left the School of Physics, where we had known such happy work days, despite their attendant difficulties. We had become particularly attached to our hangar, which continued to stand, though in a state of increasing decay, for several years, and we went to visit it from time to time. Later it had to be pulled down to make way for a new building for the Physics School, but we had preserved photographs of it. Warned of its approaching destruction by the faithful Petit, I made my last pilgrimage there, alas, alone. On the blackboard there was still the writing of him who had been the soul of the place; the humble refuge for his research was all impregnated with his memory. The cruel reality seemed some bad dream; I almost expected to see the tall figure appear, and to hear the sound of the familiar voice.

Even though Parliament had voted the creation of a new chair, it did not go so far as to consider the simultaneous founding of a laboratory which was, nevertheless, necessary to the development of the new science of radioactivity. Pierre Curie therefore kept the little workroom at the P.C.N., and secured as a temporary solution of his difficulty the use of a large room, then not being used by the P.C.N. . He arranged, too, to have a little building consisting of two rooms and a study set up in the court.

One cannot help feeling sorrow in realizing that this was a last concession, and that actually one of the first French scientists never had an adequate laboratory to work in, and this even though his genius had revealed itself as early as his twentieth year. Without doubt if he had lived longer, he would have had the benefit of satisfactory conditions for his work, but he was still deprived of them at his death at the premature age of forty-eight. Can we fully imagine the regret of an enthusiastic and disinterested worker in a great work, who is retarded in the realization of his dream by the constant lack of means? And can we think without a feeling of profound grief of the waste—the one irreparable one—of the nation's greatest asset: the genius, the powers, and the courage of its best children?

尽管我们在物理和化学学校的条件很艰难，但在那里我们却伴随着实验研究度过了幸福的日日夜夜，现在一旦离开，不可避免的会有一种恋恋不舍之情。那间属于我们的木棚实验室尤其令我们难以割舍。这座木棚又存在了几年，但却日益破败，有时候，我们还回去看一看它。后来，物理和化学学校为了修建新校舍，就不得不拆掉它了，不过我们保留了几张它的照片。进行拆除的那一天，忠实的佩蒂告知了我。那时，皮埃尔已经不在了。唉！我孤身一人过去看了它最后一眼。黑板上，仍然留有那个可以称为是这个木棚的灵魂的人的笔迹，木棚里的每一个角落似乎都留有他的痕迹，物是人非，现实中的一切就像噩梦一样，我真想看到那个高大的身影出现在我的眼前，真想再听到他那熟悉的声音。

虽然创办新讲座的决议被大学委员会通过了，但是他们并没有考虑要同时创建一个实验室，而如果想要进一步对放射性这门新科学进行研究，实验室却是必不可少的。皮埃尔仍旧保留着在P.C.N.的那个小实验室，并且又借用了学校里的一个单独的大教室，还在院子里搭建了拥有两个房间的小屋与一个工作间。

想到这就是法国对皮埃尔的最后帮助，不免令人感到伤心。一个20岁便崭露头角的法国一流的科学家却没有一个较好的可供实验研究用的实验室，听起来简直令人感到不可思议。当然，假如他能够多活几年，是迟早会拥有令自己满意的工作条件的，不过，在他48岁英年早逝的时候，却仍旧未能如愿，这难道不让人感到痛心吗？因为条件所限，一个为了伟大的事业宁愿无私奉献的科学家，却不能实现自己的科学梦想，这难道不令他遗憾终生吗？国家的巨额财富——它优秀的孩子的才华、毅力与勇气——就这么不可挽回地浪费掉了，令人回想起来好不痛心！

Pierre Curie had always in mind his urgent need for a good laboratory. When, because of his great reputation, his chiefs felt obliged to try to induce him, in 1903, to accept the decoration of the Legion d'Honneur, he declined that distinction, remaining true to the opinion already referred to in a preceding chapter. And the letter he wrote on this occasion was inspired by the same feeling as that in the one previously quoted, when he wrote to his director to refuse the palmes academiques. I quote an extract:

"I pray you to thank the Minister, and to inform him that I do not in the least feel the need of a decoration, but that I do feel the greatest need for a laboratory."

After he was named professor at the Sorbonne, Pierre Curie had to prepare a new course. The position had been given a very personal character and a very general scope. He was left great freedom in the choice of the matter he would present. Taking advantage of this freedom he returned to a subject that was dear to him, and devoted part of his lectures to the laws of symmetry, the study of fields of vectors and tensors, and to the application of these ideas to the physics of crystals. He intended to carry these lessons further, and to work out a course that would completely cover the physics of crystallized matter which would have been especially useful because this subject was so little known in France. His other lessons dealt with radioactivity, set forth the discoveries made in this new domain, and the revolution they had caused in science.

Even though he was very much absorbed in the preparation of his course, and often ill, my husband continued, nevertheless, to work in the laboratory, which was becoming better and better organized. He had a little more space now, and could receive a few students. In collaboration with A. Laborde, he carried on investigations in mineral waters and gases discharged from springs. This was the last work he published.

在皮埃尔的心里，一直希望能够拥有一座好的实验室。1903年，当他名声大振时，迫于压力，他的领导要求他接受荣誉骑士勋章，他坚持自己一贯的做派，婉言谢绝了这一殊荣，像上一次他给物理和化学学校校长写信对教育棕榈奖章进行谢绝一样，他又写信对荣誉骑士勋章进行了谢绝，他对于荣誉的态度始终没有改变。我引述他这封信中的一段话如下：

请代我向部长表示谢意，并请向部长先生转告，我不需要任何的奖赏，只希望能给我一个急需的实验室。

被聘为巴黎大学教授之后，皮埃尔需要准备开设一门新课。课程内容的范围很广并由他自己决定，所以他有充分的自由对教材进行选择。利用这一良机他回到了自己所热爱的课题上来，他将对称性定律、矢量和张量场研究等选定为部分教材内容，并将这些概念应用到晶体物理学中。他想办法对自己的讲课内容加以充实，使他的这门课程能够成为一个完整的晶体物理学课程，因为在法国还很少有人问津这一课题，所以它更为有用。除此之外，他还对放射性进行讲授，并对这一新领域里的科学发现和这些发现带来的科学革命进行阐述。

虽然他备课非常繁忙，身体又不好，但他仍旧继续留在实验室里进行研究。实验室的组织管理在日渐好转。由于地方扩大了些，他能够接收几个学生共同进行研究。他同拉波德合作，对矿泉水以及泉水中释放出的气体的放射性进行了研究，并发表了研究报告，这同时也是他的最后一份研究报告。

His intellectual faculties were at this time at their height. One could but admire the surety and rigor of his reasoning on the theories of physics, his clear comprehension of fundamental principles, and a certain profound sense of phenomena which he had by instinct, but which he perfected during the course of a life entirely consecrated to research and reflection. His skill in experiment, remarkable from the beginning, was increased by practice. He experienced the pleasure of an artist when he succeeded with a delicate installation. He enjoyed, too, devising and constructing new apparatus, and I used jokingly to tell him that he would not be happy unless he made at least an attempt of this kind once every six months. His natural curiosity and vivid imagination pushed him to undertakings in very varied directions; he could change the object of his research with surprising ease.

He was scrupulously careful of scientific probity and of complete accuracy in his publications. These are very perfect in form, and none the less so in those parts where he applies the critical spirit to himself, expressing his determination never to affirm anything that does not seem entirely clear. He expresses his thought on this point in the following words:

"In the study of unknown phenomena, one can make very general hypotheses and then advance step by step with the help of experience. This method of progress is sure but necessarily slow. One can, on the contrary, make daring hypotheses in which he specifies the mechanism of phenomena. Such a method of procedure has the advantage of suggesting certain experiments, and, above all, of facilitating reasoning by rendering it less abstract through the employment of an image. But on the other hand, one cannot hope thus to conceive a complex theory in accord with experiment. The precise hypothesis almost certainly includes a portion of error along with a portion of truth. And this last portion, if it exists, forms only a part of a more general proposition to which it will be necessary in the end to return."

当时，他的才华已经登峰造极。我们十分钦佩他深邃并且精辟的物理学理论，以及他中肯的演绎和对基本原理透彻的理解。在观察大自然的种种现象时，他天生地就拥有超凡的能力，又因为他毕生都在从事实验研究，所以他有着令人叹服的独特见解。他像艺术家那样对待他试制的精密仪器，并且乐此不疲。有时我会因此和他开玩笑说如果每半年不弄出个新仪器来，他就会心痒难耐。他生来就好奇而又有丰富的想象力，这令他得以同时涉足不同的领域，因此在改变研究课题时显得得心应手，这是其他人很难做到的。

要发表研究报告时，他非常诚实、严谨且又一丝不苟。即便是他的研究报告已经非常完美，他却仍旧要以审视的目光对它进行修改，字斟句酌，如果有看上去不清楚的地方，就必须将它弄得无可挑剔才肯罢休。下面是他就这一点上的说法：

在进行未知现象的研究时，我们可以先做一些普通的假设，然后根据实验结果去逐渐地向前推进。这种按部就班而又稳妥可靠的做法的效果当然是缓慢的。相反，我们也能够做出一些大胆的设想，先将现象的机理确定。这种方法的优点是能够对某些实验进行设想，特别是能够有利于推论，使它通过一种图像而变得不那么抽象。与之相反的，通过实验结果来对一个复杂理论进行寻找，那是难以想象的。精确的假设虽然含有一部分真理，但是必然又存在有一部分错误。并且这一部分真理即便是存在的话，也只不过是部分一般性见解，有一天还要回过头来对它重新进行审视。

Moreover, even though he never hesitated to make hypotheses, he never permitted their premature publication. He could never accustom himself to a system of work which involved hasty publications, and was always happier in a domain in which but a few investigators were quietly working. The considerable vogue of radioactivity made him wish to abandon this field of research for a time, and to return to his interrupted studies of the physics of crystals. He dreamed also of making an examination of diverse theoretical questions.

He gave much thought to his teaching, which constantly improved, and which suggested to him ideas on the general orientation of studies and on methods of teaching, which he believed should be based on contact with experience and nature. He hoped to see his views adopted by the Association of Professors as soon as it was formed, and to obtain the declaration "that the teaching of the sciences must be the dominant teaching of both the boys' and girls' lycees." "But", he said, "such a notion would have little chance of success."

But this last period of his life, so fecund, was, alas, soon to end. His admirable scientific career was to be suddenly broken at the very moment when he could hope that the years of work to come would be less hard than those which had preceded.

In 1906, quite ill and tired, he went with me and the children to spend Easter in the Chevreuse Valley. Those were two sweet days under a mild sun, and Pierre Curie felt the weight of weariness lighten in a healing repose near to those who were dear to him. He amused himself in the meadows with his little girls, and talked with me of their present and their future.

虽然他会毫不犹豫地提出部分假设，但是在没有证实无误之前他是肯定不会提前发表的。他讨厌仓促地对研究报告进行发表，而是喜欢先找很少的几位研究人员进行平心静气地讨论。当放射性研究达到顶峰的时候，他却想到要暂时将这一方面的研究放下，重新将他中断了的晶体物理学研究拾起。另外，他还希望分析研究一些不同的理论问题。

在讲课时，皮埃尔更是精益求精，认真负责，不管是对课程一般标准的要求还是讲课的方法，他都认为应该以同实验与大自然的接触为基础。当成立学院教授委员会时，他希望同仁们能够接受自己的观点，并且发表声明说：“科学教育应该成为男子中学与女子中学的主修课程。”但他又说道：“这么一个提议是不会获得通过的。”

这个时候正是皮埃尔生命中大出成果的时期，可惜却接近了尾声。正当他能够期盼今后的工作不会再像从前那样步履维艰的时候，他那辉煌的科学生涯却也戛然而止了。

1906年，皮埃尔由于过度劳累而感觉身体不适，所以我们在复活节期间带着两个孩子共同前往什弗勒兹山谷去过假期。这两天假期是美妙而又温馨的，在暖融融的太阳的照耀下，在亲人的身边休憩，皮埃尔的心情十分放松、舒畅，他带着两个女儿在草地上游戏，并和我谈论着孩子们的当前和未来。

He returned to Paris for a reunion and dinner of the Physics Society. There he sat beside Henri Poincare and had a long conversation with him on methods of teaching. As we were returning on foot to our house, he continued to develop his ideas on the culture that he dreamed of, happy in the consciousness that I shared his views.

The following day, the 19th of April, 1906, he attended a reunion of the Association of Professors of the Faculties of the Sciences, where he talked with them very cordially about the aims which the Association might adopt. As he went out from this reunion and was crossing the rue Dauphine, he was struck by a truck coming from the Pont Neuf, and fell under its wheels. A concussion of the brain brought instantaneous death. So perished the hope founded on the wonderful being who thus ceased to be. In the study room to which he was never to return, the water buttercups he had brought from the country were still fresh.

回到巴黎，他出席了物理学会的一次会议与晚餐会。席间，他同亨利·普安卡雷坐在一起，就教学方法同他谈了很久。当我们徒步走在回家的路上时，他仍然在继续高谈他理想中的文化，对于他的看法，我表示赞同，这使他显得十分高兴。

第二天，1906年4月19日，他出席了巴黎大学理学院教授委员会会议，并诚恳地同教授们就委员会应采取的方针进行了交谈。在会议结束后他走出会场，正穿过多菲纳街的时候，从新桥方向驶过来一辆运货马车，将他撞倒在地，马车的车轮从他头上碾过，导致他脑骨碎裂，当场死亡。一个优秀的人就这么离去了，人们寄于他身上的科学希望也随之破灭。在他的书房里，他从乡间采摘回来的水毛茛仍旧盛开着，可是主人却再也回不来了。

Chapter VII National Grief

I shall not attempt to describe the grief of the family left by Pierre Curie. By what I have earlier said in this narrative one can understand what he meant to his father, his brother, and his wife. He was, too, a devoted father, tender in his love for his children, and happy to occupy himself with them. But our daughters were still too young at this time to realize the calamity that had befallen us. Their grandfather and I, united in our common suffering, did what we could to see that their childhood should not be too much darkened by the disaster.

【注释】

(1)“物理、化学与博物学”的缩写。

(2)在我最近对美国进行的一次访问中，美国妇女界大方地将一克镭赠送给我。布法罗自然科学协会还将一本会刊送给我，用来留念。这本刊物对美国镭工业发展情况进行了叙述，里面还对皮埃尔为答复美国工程师们所写的一封信的影印件进行了刊登。在信中，皮埃尔详尽地对他们所提出的问题都一一做了回答。这些事情发生在1902—1903年间。——作者注

(3)一毫克镭的价值为750法郎左右。——作者注

(4)这些著名的医生都接受过企业家阿尔梅·德·里斯勒的大力相助，他向他们捐赠了开始做实验时所必不可少的镭。除此之外，1906年，他还创建了一座备有必不可少的镭的临床医学实验室，并且还对一家名为《镭》的专业杂志的创办进行了资助，旨在对放射学及其应用进行研讨。达纳任该杂志的主编。这是企业家自愿对科学进行支持的一个典范，在今天也实属罕见，希望这种支持能够越来越普遍，这样的话，企业家和科学家能够在合作中共同获益。——作者注

(5)早在吕特福和索迪进行证实之前，皮埃尔和我就已经预料到了对放射性与原子变化的假设及其他一些假设（参阅居里夫人所著《科学杂志》，1900年）。——作者注

(6)最近，吕特福利用α射线的内在能量将某些原子击碎，比如氰原子。——作者注

(7)保尔·朗之万曾经写过两篇有关皮埃尔的生活和事业的长文，一篇刊登在《物理和化学学校校友联谊会年鉴》（1904年）上，另一篇刊登在《当月》杂志（1906年）上。——作者注

第七章　民族的悲痛

我不想在这里赘述皮埃尔的不幸逝世留给我们家庭的伤痛。从我这本小书的描述中，大家可以意识到，对于他的父亲、兄长以及妻子，他有多么大的意义。他是一位很负责任的父亲，深爱着自己的一双女儿，喜爱陪同孩子们嬉戏，并耐心地与孩子交流沟通，可惜的是她们两个当时年幼还没有办法理解这场悲剧给我们带来的压力。她们的祖父和我还不得不强压住内心的悲痛，尽力使她们的童年不因这场灾难蒙上阴影。

The news of the catastrophe caused veritable consternation in the scientific world of France, as well as in that of other countries. The, heads of the university and the professors expressed their emotion in letters full of sympathy, and a great number of foreign scientists also sent letters and telegrams. No less deep was the impression produced on the public with whom Pierre Curie, despite his reserve, enjoyed great renown. This feeling was expressed in numerous private letters coming not only from those whom we knew, but also from persons entirely unknown to us. At the same time the press printed articles of regret, bearing the stamp of deep sincerity. The French government sent its condolences, and a few rulers of foreign countries sent their personal expressions of sympathy. One of the purest glories of France had been extinguished, and each understood that this was a nation's sorrow.

Faithful to the memory of him who had left us, we wished a simple interment in the family vault in the little cemetery at Sceaux. There was neither official ceremony nor address, and only his friends accompanied him to his last home. As he thought of him who was no more, his brother Jacques said to me: "He had all the gifts; there were not two like him."

悲剧消息的传来也给法国以及世界各国的科学界带来不小的震撼。巴黎各大学的校长和院长们以及教授们纷纷写信来表达沉痛的哀悼；同时国外的部分科学家的唁电信函也不时传来。尽管皮埃尔在公开场合一直少言寡语，却仍给公众留下了深刻印象，并且威望甚高。从我所收到的或相识或不相识的为数众多的私人信函中，完全可以看出公众因为他的去世而产生的悲痛之情。与此同时，新闻界也就此发表了大量的悼文，表达深切的惋惜与哀悼之情。法国政府发来了唁电。另外还有一些国家元首也以个人名义发电表达沉痛哀悼。(1)20法国的一颗光芒四射的星星殒落了，举国上下都在哀悼国家的这一重大损失。

我们遵照逝者遗留的心愿，丧事一切从简，把他的遗体安葬在位于苏城小墓园的家族墓穴中。那时既无官方仪式，也无任何悼词，有的只是几位故友护送他前往他的安息地。他哥哥雅克回想已撒手尘寰的弟弟时，对我说：“他是个举世无双的天才，这世上再也没有人能和他相提并论。”

In order to assure the continuance of his work, the Faculty of Sciences of Paris paid me the very great honor of asking me to take the place that he had occupied. I accepted this heavy heritage, in the hope that I might build up some day, in his memory, a laboratory worthy of him, which he had never had, but where others would be able to work to develop his idea. This hope is now partly realized, thanks to the common initiative of the University and the Pasteur Institute, which have aimed at the creation of a Radium Institute, composed of two laboratories, the Curie and the Pasteur, destined for the physicochemical and the biological study of radium rays. In touching homage to him who had disappeared the new street leading to the Institute was named rue Pierre Curie.

This Institute is, however, insufficient in view of the considerable development of radioactivity and of its therapeutic applications. The best authorized persons now recognize that France must possess a Radium Institute comparable to those of England and America for the Curie-therapie which has become an efficacious means in the battle against cancer. It is to be hoped that with generous and far-seeing aid, we shall have, in a few years, a Radium Institute complete and enlarged, worthy of our country.

为保证皮埃尔未竟的事业能够持续下去，巴黎大学理学院邀请我接替他的教席。我深感荣幸，最终接受了他留下的这副重担，内心深切盼望着有一天能够成功创建他曾为之呕心沥血却未能如愿的实验室，并使其他人也可以利用这个实验室来实现他们各自的梦想，以此作为对他的深切缅怀。如今这一愿望已部分地得到了实现，这多亏了巴黎大学与巴斯德研究所的协同倡议，有幸得以创立一个镭研所，其中内设两个研究室——居里研究实验室和巴斯德研究实验室，目的在于研究镭射线所具有的物理化学特性及生物效用。另外为了表达对逝去的伟人的怀念之情，通向镭研所的那条街正式命名为皮埃尔·居里街。

然而，这个研究所目前来看仍无法满足需要，因为放射学及其在医学上的应用一直在飞速地发展。眼下，最具权威的那些人也持观点认为法国国内必须拥有一个能够与英国及美国并驾齐驱的镭研所，以便使镭更好地应用于临床治疗，因为镭疗法已被公认为是治疗癌症最行之有效的手段。希望在慷慨且开明之士的赞助下，一个设施完备、规模庞大、无愧于我们国家的镭研室在不久之后能够诞生并逐渐发展壮大。(2)

To honor the memory of Pierre Curie, the French Society of Physics decided to issue a complete publication of his works. This publication, arranged by P. Langevin, comprises but a single volume of about 600 pages, which appeared in 1908, and for which I wrote a preface. This unique volume, which includes a work as important as it is varied, is a faithful reflection of the mentality of the author. One finds in it a great richness of ideas and of experimental facts leading to clear and well-established results, but the exposition is limited to the strictly necessary, and is irreproachable, one might even say classical, in form. It is to be regretted that Pierre Curie did not use his gifts as scientist and author in writing extended memoirs or books. It was not the desire that was lacking; he had several cherished projects of this nature. But he could never put them into execution because of the difficulties with which he had to struggle during all his working life.

And now, let us glance at this narrative as a whole, in which I have attempted to evoke the image of a man who, inflexibly devoted to the service of his ideal, honored humanity by an existence lived in silence, in the simple grandeur of his genius and his character. He had the faith of those who open new ways. He knew that he had a high mission to fulfil and the mystic dream of his youth pushed him invincibly beyond the usual path of life into a way which he called anti-natural because it signified the renunciation of the pleasures of life. Nevertheless, he resolutely subordinated his thoughts and desires to this dream, adapting himself to it and identifying himself with it more and more competely. Believing only in the pacific might of science and of reason, he lived for the search of truth. Without prejudice or stubborn, he carried the same loyalty into his study of things that he used in his understanding of other men and of himself. Detached from every common passion, seeking neither supremacy nor honors, he had no enemies, even though the effort he had achieved in the control of himself had made of him one of those elect whom we find in advance of their time in all the epochs of civilization. Like them he was able to exercise a profound influence merely by the radiation of his inner strength.

法国的物理学会决定编订出版皮埃尔·居里的论文全集来缅怀他。这部全集由朗之万主编，是600页左右的一卷本，出版于1908年，并且我为那本书写了一篇序言。这部单卷本论文集拥有广泛的题材，丰富的内容，忠实地展示了皮埃尔的思想精髓。我们从中可以看出论文作者视野之广阔，实验之精准，结果之明晰与确凿，无可指摘，并堪称经典，可惜的是他未能做到把自己的全部才华都展现在书中。主要是他没有运用自己所具有的科学家和作家的才情来编写内容广泛的论文或书籍，也没有著书立说，当然这并不是他不想这么去做，事实上他在这方面还有过不少的计划，只可惜都不能付诸实践，这是因为在他劳碌的一生中一直困难重重，他不得不与之抗争，无暇顾及其他。

现在，让我们大体上来看一看我所写的这本传记吧。我在试图追忆一个不屈不挠的为了自己理想而奋斗的人，他的形象使整个人类感到无上光荣，他以自己伟大而纯洁的信念与天赋默默无闻地为人类谋求幸福。他拥有那些独辟蹊径、开拓创新的人所具有的坚定信念，他深知自己肩负着一个必须完成的崇高的使命。青少年时期的神秘梦想不断地在驱使着他，叫他不要因循守旧，激励他走上一条被他称为反自然的新路，对他来说，这条路就意味着要放弃温馨的生活。然而，坚决地，他让自己的思想和欲望服从了自己的梦想，并且越来越适应这种状况，由必然走向了自然。他只信任科学与理性平和的力量，所以他一生中都在找寻真理。在研究自然现象和对他人以及自己的理解之中，他既不偏见也不固执己见。他没有任何的关于功名利禄的欲念，他淡泊权位和荣誉，所以他也没有一个敌人。皮埃尔严于律己，他那卓越的精神面貌使他成为了任何文明时代都会具有的那种精英人物中的一员。他能够像历代的精英们一样，通过自己内在的力量在很大的程度上影响着他人。

It is useful to learn how much sacrifice such a life represents. The life of a great scientist in his laboratory is not, as many may think, a peaceful idyll. More often it is a bitter battle with things, with one's surroundings, and above all with oneself. A great discovery does not leap completely achieved from the brain of the scientist, as Minerva sprang, all panoplied, from the head of Jupiter; it is the fruit of accumulated preliminary work. Between the days of fecund productivity are inserted days of uncertainty when nothing seems to succeed, and when even matter itself seems hostile; and it is then that one must hold out against discouragement. Thus without ever forsaking his inexhaustible patience, Pierre Curie used sometimes to say to me: "It is nevertheless hard, this life that we have chosen."

For the admirable gift of himself, and for the magnificent service he renders humanity, what reward does our society offer the scientist? Have these servants of an idea the necessary means of work? Have they an assured existence, sheltered from care? The example of Pierre Curie, and of others, shows that they have none of these things; and that more often, before they can secure possible working conditions, they have to exhaust their youth and their powers in daily anxieties. Our society, in which reigns an eager desire for riches and luxury, does not understand the value of science. It does not realize that science is a most precious part of its moral patrimony. Nor does it take sufficient cognizance of the fact that science is at the base of all the progress that lightens the burden of life and lessens its suffering. Neither public powers nor private generosity actually accord to science and to scientists the support and the subsidies indispensable to fully effective work.

I invoke, in closing, the admirable pleading of Pasteur:

应该知道，这样的生活需要多么大的牺牲精神。伟大的科学家们在实验室里的生活并不像许多人所想象的那样是一首田园牧歌。更经常的，它是同艰苦环境、内心的欲念进行的一种艰苦卓绝的斗争。伟大的发现是科学家日积月累得来的劳动成果，而不是科学家头脑里呼之即出的，也不是像智慧女神密涅瓦那样突然从主神朱庇特的脑子里冒出来的。在成果涌现之前，是有无数个日日夜夜都处于左右摇摆、犹豫不决中的，总是认为不会成功，似乎大自然在同自己作对，令人不免感到沮丧失望但却又必须鼓起勇气，继续下去。皮埃尔从来没有丧失过信心，总是保持着不骄不躁的情绪，有时候他对我说：“我们选择的生活真的是够艰难的。”

但是，社会对于这些富有才华的科学家，以及他们为人类所作出的巨大贡献，又有什么样的回报呢？这些追求理想的人，他们拥有自己必需的工作条件吗？他们能够在生活上没有后顾之忧吗？皮埃尔·居里和其他许多科学家的例子显示，他们简直是一无所有，而为了争取勉强说得过去的研究条件，往往要先为了日常琐事操心劳神而将自己的青春年华与精力消耗殆尽。我们的社会物欲横流且又充满奢靡之风，它不懂得科学的价值，也不懂得科学是它最宝贵的精神财富，并且它还不太清楚科学是减轻人们生活负担、减轻痛苦等所有进步的基础。政府当局和私人的慷慨捐赠到现在为止都还没能给科学以必要的支持和资助，来使科学家们得以完全有效地进行研究。

在将这篇传记结束之前，我想引述巴斯德的使人赞叹的呼吁：

"If the conquests useful for humanity touch your heart, if you are overwhelmed before the astonishing results of electric telegraphy, of the daguerrotype, of anesthesia, and of other wonderful discoveries, if you are jealous of the part your country may claim in the spreading of these marvelous things, take an interest, I beg of you, in those sacred places to which we give the expressive name of laboratories. Demand that they be multiplied and ornamented, for these are the temples of the future, of wealth, and of well-being. It is in them that humanity grows, fortifies itself, and becomes better. There it may learn to read in the works of nature the story of progress and of universal harmony, even while its own creations are too often those of barbarism, fanaticism, and destruction."

假如对人类有益的发明创造能将您的心打动的话，如果面对电报、摄影术、麻醉术和其他许许多多的发明，您会感到惊叹的话，如果因为这些奇异的发明在别的国家发展之后，使您感到嫉妒的话，那么我恳求您多关心一下我们称之为实验室的这些神圣地方吧，要求增加实验室吧，呼吁完善它们的仪器设备吧，它们是未来的圣殿，是财富与幸福的圣殿。人类发展壮大和日益变好，都是源自那里。人类在那里学会读懂大自然的、进步的、宇宙和谐的杰作，但往往大自然的这些杰作又是凶残、疯狂与毁灭性的“杰作”。

【注释】

(1)我只想于大量的唁电唁函中选出今已辞世的三位伟大科学家的信函内容。

夫人：

我非常急切地想要向您表达我的深切悲痛。同您一样，法国及其他各国也失去了一位伟大的科学家。闻听噩耗，我们无不惊愕无语！我们本来期望着这样卓越的，为科学和人类作出了如此大的贡献的天才，能够作出更大的贡献，可是转瞬之间，斯人已去，空留嗟叹……

我于旅途中突闻这一噩耗，就像痛失了一位亲兄弟。在这之前，我并没有觉得同您的丈夫具有多深的感情，今天才意识到了。

贝特洛

夫人，希望您节哀顺变。

里普曼

忽闻噩耗，不胜惊愕。明天上午我即返回巴黎，前往府上吊唁。

开尔文

于戛纳圣马尔丹别墅

(2)这方面取得了很大的发展，由雷戈医生担纲，创建了一个医学治疗所。除此之外，一个专门的组织——居里基金会——也于1921年成立，以便聚集发展镭研所必需的资金。亨利·德·罗希尔德医生第一个对居里基金会捐赠巨款。

附　录　居里夫人生平大事年表

◎1867年11月7日生于波兰首都华沙。父亲是中学物理教师，母亲为女子寄宿学校校长。

◎1873年进私立寄宿学校读书。

◎1876年1月，14岁的大姐索菲娅因病去世。

◎1878年5月9日，母亲因肺痨去世。

◎1881年进俄国人控制下的公立中学就读。

◎1883年6月，以优异成绩中学毕业，并获得金质奖章。毕业后，因健康原因去乡间亲戚家里休养。

◎1884年9月，返回华沙，做家教，并参加了波兰爱国青年知识分子组织的“流动大学”，边学习边参加爱国活动。

◎1886年只身到农村去当家庭教师，一直到1889年6月。

◎1890年9月，回到华沙，第一次进入实验室，在表哥约瑟夫主持的工农业博物馆搞物理和化学实验。

◎1891年9月，赴巴黎求学。11月，以玛丽·斯可罗多夫斯卡的名字注册，入巴黎大学理学院物理系。

◎1893年7月，以第一名的优异成绩通过物理学学士学位考试，并获得奖学金，在巴黎大学继续攻读数学学士学位。

◎1894年接受法国工业发展委员会关于钢铁磁性的研究课题。4月，与皮埃尔·居里结识。7月，以优异成绩通过数学学士学位考试。后回波兰度假。10月，返回巴黎，继续其课题研究。

◎1895年7月25日，与皮埃尔·居里喜结良缘。

◎1896年2月，法国物理学家贝克莱尔教授发现铀可以放射出一种射线。两年后，这种称之为“贝克莱尔射线”的未知射线引起居里夫妇的关注。8月，通过中学教师资格考试，获物理考试第一名，进物理和化学学校实验室工作。

◎1897年第一篇论文《淬火钢的磁化特性》发表。9月12日，大女儿艾莱娜出生。

◎1898年年初，选择铀射线作为博士论文选题。同时，发现钍也能放射出“贝克莱尔射线”，命名为“放射性”。夫妇两人合作研究放射学。7月，宣布发现一个新放射性元素，其放射性比铀强400倍，被命名为“钋”，以纪念自己的祖国波兰。12月，夫妇两人与贝蒙合作，发现又一个新元素，其放射性比铀强100万倍，命名为“镭”。

◎1899年接受奥地利政府的一吨铀沥青矿渣，作为提炼镭之用。

◎1900年3月，皮埃尔受聘为巴黎高等综合工艺学校助教。居里夫人被聘为塞弗尔女子高等师范学校教师，教物理。10月，在法国数学家普安卡雷的举荐下，皮埃尔·居里前往巴黎大学为医学院学生讲授物理、化学和博物学。

◎1902年夫妇两人终于提炼出一分克氯化镭，第一次测定镭的原子量为225。居里夫人的父亲病逝，享年70岁。

◎1903年6月，居里夫人的博士论文《放射性物质研究》获得通过，取得博士学位。12月，夫妇两人与贝克莱尔共享1903年度的诺贝尔物理学奖。居里夫人成为第一位荣获诺贝尔奖的女性。

◎1904年10月，任巴黎大学理学院物理实验室主任。12月，二女儿艾娃出生。

◎1905年6月，居里夫妇前往斯德哥尔摩领取因病未能及时前去领取的诺贝尔奖。7月，皮埃尔当选为法国科学院院士。

◎1906年4月，皮埃尔遇车祸身亡，终年47岁。5月，居里夫人去巴黎大学接替丈夫的工作，教授物理课，内容为电与物质的现代理论。

◎1907年提炼出纯净氯化镭，并测定出镭的原子量为226，发表论文《论镭的原子量》。

◎1908年晋升为教授。

◎1910年2月，皮埃尔的父亲去世。提炼出纯净镭元素。《论放射性》两卷本专著问世。9月，参加在布鲁塞尔举行的放射学会议。发表《放射性系数表》。接受委托制取21毫克金属镭作为基本测定标准，存放于巴黎国际度量衡标准局。

◎1911年1月，竞选法国科学院院士，以几票之差落选。12月，瑞典诺贝尔奖委员会宣布授予她1911年度诺贝尔化学奖。居里夫人成为第一位两次获诺贝尔奖的人。11日，做了诺贝尔奖讲演，题为《镭和化学中的新概念》。

◎1912年12月，论文《放射性的测量和镭的标准》发表。

◎1913年华沙实验室建立，亲自前往揭幕。夏天，做肾脏手术。10月，出席在布鲁塞尔举行的第二届索尔维会议。

◎1914年7月，巴黎镭研所居里楼落成，担任实验室主任。7月28日，第一次世界大战爆发。

◎1914年—1918年往返于法国各大战区，指导18个战地医疗服务队，用X光配合战地救护。

◎1918年11月，战争结束。波兰独立，成立波兰共和国。

◎1919年巴黎镭研所恢复运作。

◎1920年居里基金会成立，自1920年起开始向镭研所拨款。5月，美国新闻工作者梅乐内夫人采访她后，回到美国，号召美国妇女捐款，购得1克镭捐给居里夫人。

◎1921年《放射学和战争》一书面世。3月8日，与北京大学校长蔡元培会晤。5月，携两个女儿出访美国，接受捐赠的1克镭。5月20日，由美国总统哈定在白宫主持赠送仪式。10月，出席在布鲁塞尔举行的第三届索尔维会议。

◎1922年2月，当选为巴黎医学科学院院士。5月，出任联合国国际文化合作委员会委员。

◎1923年7月，做白内障手术，未痊愈，后于1924年和1930年，又接受了两次手术。撰写《皮埃尔·居里传》(1924年出版)，并应梅乐内夫人之请，撰写《自传》。

◎1924年巴黎大学举行纪念大会，庆祝发现镭25周年。12月，接受朗之万介绍的学生约里奥为助手。

◎1925年回华沙为波兰镭研所奠基，并任名誉所长。10月，出席第四届索尔维会议。

◎1926年10月，艾莱娜与约里奥喜结连理。

◎1927年10月，出席第五届索尔维会议。

◎1929年第二次访美，代表华沙镭研所接受美国人民赠给波兰的1克镭，由胡佛总统主持赠送仪式。秋天，接受中国清华大学物理系首届毕业生施士元为研究生。

◎1930年10月，出席第六届索尔维会议。

◎1931年前往华沙主持波兰镭研所的开幕典礼。

◎1933年在西班牙马德里举行的国际文化合作委员会会议上被选为主席。10月，与约里奥·居里夫妇一起出席第七届索尔维会议。约里奥·居里在会上报告了“他们很有成就”的研究论文。

◎1934年指导约里奥·居里夫妇发现了人工放射性，并完成两卷本《放射性》的写作(1935年出版)。6月，因病入疗养院。7月4日，因白血病辞世。7月6日，安葬于苏城居里墓地。

◎1935年11月约里奥·居里夫妇因“研究和合成人工放射性”而双双获得诺贝尔化学奖。

◎1946年居里夫妇的大女儿艾莱娜接任居里实验室主任。

◎1965年12月，二女儿艾娃的丈夫亨利·拉布伊斯以联合国儿童基金会总干事的身份在斯德哥尔摩接受诺贝尔和平奖。

Table of Contents

版权页

目　录

译者序

序：我的信念

第一篇　居里夫人自传

第一章　我的家庭

第二章　婚后生活

第三章　战争中的我

第四章　美国之行

第二篇　皮埃尔·居里传

第一章　居里家族

第二章　青年时期的梦想

第三章　最初的研究

第四章　生活与品德

第五章　镭的发现

第六章　缺乏关怀下的奋斗

第七章　民族的悲痛

附　录　居里夫人生平大事年表