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1
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,880
In 1927 the world's greatest
scientists assembled in Belgium,
2
00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,960
to thrash out some of the most
fundamental problems in physics.
3
00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,880
29 showed up, 17 of whom would
become Nobel prize-winners,
4
00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,480
but one of their number could
trump them all.
5
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:29,080
Someone who'd bagged two Nobel
prizes in two different sciences.
6
00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:36,080
In a man's world, a woman had broken
through - Madame Marie Curie.
7
00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,640
This is the story of Marie Curie's
life - the adventures
8
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:48,720
of a woman who refused to conform
to the social mores of her time.
9
00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,560
A woman who could pop in on
presidents, and holidayed with
Einstein...
10
00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,080
..who once trod the boards
on Broadway...
11
00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,760
..ran mobile X-ray units on the
front as the French battled the
Hun...
12
00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:10,760
..who even had duels
fought over her.
13
00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,720
And wonderfully, for such
a fiercely private woman,
14
00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,400
we've been left a unique view of her
inner struggles in life and love.
15
00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,640
Because in the decades that
followed her death,
16
00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,320
her family released her most
intimate letters.
17
00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:30,080
"I am impatient to see you,
18
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,520
"much more than I am uneasy
about the difficulties to come.
19
00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,080
"It will be good to hear your voice
again and see your dear eyes.
20
00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:43,040
"Until Saturday, my darling,
I will not stop thinking of you."
21
00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,840
The letters reveal the real Marie -
22
00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,480
a woman full of passion,
an obsessive genius,
23
00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,520
whose life was beset by tragedy
and scandal.
24
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:19,280
In every great life, there's
a moment that comes to define you.
25
00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,960
A moment of crisis that forces
you to dig deep
26
00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,080
and establish who you truly are.
27
00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,600
For Marie Curie, that
moment came in the autumn of 1911,
28
00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,360
some five years after the tragic
death of her husband, Pierre Curie.
29
00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,840
She was at the world's first
international meeting
30
00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:43,680
of physicists and chemists.
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00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,120
An historic, invitation-only event,
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00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:48,960
which would become
known as the Solvay Conference.
33
00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,480
And she was happy -
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00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,080
perhaps because she had just
received a telegram confirming
35
00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:58,400
she had won a SECOND Nobel prize.
36
00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,160
Or perhaps because she was
there with her lover.
37
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,280
Paul Langevin, he was a physicist,
and at some point,
38
00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,200
he was actually
a student of Pierre Curie's.
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00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:15,160
And he had worked with the Curies.
40
00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,400
I mean, certainly both of them
knew him.
41
00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:22,480
And he was a physicist of renown -
everyone knew who he was.
42
00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,520
Most of what we know of their affair
comes from the letters that
43
00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:27,400
Marie wrote to Paul.
44
00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:31,840
"The instinct which led us
to each other was very powerful.
45
00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,120
"I believe that we could derive
everything from it - good work
46
00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:40,360
"in common, a good solid friendship,
courage for life and even
47
00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,680
"beautiful children of love in the
most beautiful meaning of the word."
48
00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:53,760
Jeanne Langevin, Paul's wife,
49
00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,800
understandably was rather jealous
and unhappy about this.
50
00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:01,080
She was a really intense,
rather violent woman.
51
00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,160
According to a witness,
Madame Langevin accosted Marie
52
00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:09,200
in the street,
where she threatened to kill her
if she didn't leave France.
53
00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,920
Marie implored Paul to end
the marriage.
54
00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,560
"When I know you are with her, my
nights are atrocious. I can't sleep.
55
00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,200
"I wake up with a sensation of fever
and I can't work."
56
00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,040
Marie's downfall came
when pictures were published of Paul
57
00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,520
and her at the Solvay conference.
58
00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:37,440
Enraged, Madame Langevin
decided to act.
59
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,480
One day, when she was sure
Paul Langevin wasn't there,
60
00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:42,520
she somehow managed to
persuade someone
61
00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,800
to break into the apartment, where
this person found a cache of very
62
00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:51,640
intimate love letters between
Marie Curie and Paul Langevin.
63
00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,400
Marie came back from her conference
to discover that
64
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,640
parts of the letters had been
published in the press.
65
00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,600
This had suddenly become a very,
very public affair.
66
00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,960
The press ran a series of scurrilous
claims against her.
67
00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,000
This venomous publicity stirred
up an angry mob,
68
00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,120
who surrounded her home
and threw stones at the windows.
69
00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:32,240
GLASS SMASHING
70
00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:41,440
The whole affair
spiralled into a farcical nightmare.
71
00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:45,080
For Langevin, the final straw came
when he read an article
72
00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:50,520
in a newspaper accusing him of
hiding behind a Polish woman's
skirts.
73
00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,240
And for him, that was such an insult
to his French dignity
74
00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,000
that he challenged the editor
of the paper to a duel.
75
00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,800
They met at exactly 11 o'clock
in the morning.
76
00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,840
They paced out 25 yards.
77
00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:13,920
They raised their pistols
at each other
78
00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:18,160
and the editor reported afterwards
that he looked at Langevin
79
00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,600
and he thought,
"I can't possibly kill this man.
80
00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,080
"He's one of France's greatest
scientists!" so he pointed
81
00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:25,480
his pistol to the ground.
82
00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:27,320
So then there was Langevin,
and he thought,
83
00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,160
"I can't possibly shoot this man.
He's not pointing a gun at me,"
84
00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,800
so he put his gun down as well.
85
00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:37,560
And that was the end of the duel
between them.
86
00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,360
Paul Langevin returned to his wife
with honour restored
87
00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,600
and reputation intact.
88
00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:48,240
Marie fared less well.
89
00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,000
Publicly humiliated,
she'd lost her companion
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00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,400
and the controversy meant
she couldn't continue
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00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,840
the scientific work that had brought
her so much happiness.
92
00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:00,960
She fled into hiding with her
daughters,
93
00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,280
and entered a deep depression.
94
00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:08,160
The story of how Marie Curie
ascended to become the world's most
95
00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:14,880
famous female scientist, how she
lost it all and subsequently
achieved redemption
96
00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:19,320
is one of the greatest
sagas in the history of science.
97
00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,600
And it starts not in Paris, but a
thousand miles away to the east.
98
00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:40,240
Marie Curie was born in obscurity,
in a different country
99
00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,640
and under a completely
different name.
100
00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,960
This is the museum
of Maria Sklodowska-Curie.
101
00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:53,040
In 1867, on the seventh of November,
it was the place where
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00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,120
Maria Sklodowska was born.
103
00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,520
From the beginning,
Maria, as she'd been christened,
104
00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,080
had to face prejudice every day.
105
00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:09,080
Marie Sklodowska was born when
Poland was divided by three
countries -
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00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:10,680
Russia, Prussia and Austria.
107
00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,840
And in that time,
Warsaw was occupied by Russians.
108
00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:21,360
It was forbidden to talk in Polish,
to learn Polish history.
109
00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:22,880
To make Polish science.
110
00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,000
Indeed, ever since Napoleon's
defeat at Waterloo in 1815,
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00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,400
Warsaw had been under
the rule of Tsarist Russia.
112
00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,000
The occupiers
set about a cultural cleansing,
113
00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,160
banning Polish folk songs
and dancing.
114
00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,280
Russian became the state language.
115
00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:55,400
So it was in private that
her father,
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00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,240
Professor Wladyslaw Sklodowski,
sparked her passion for science.
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00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,440
At home he kept a cabinet full of
scientific apparatus that fascinated
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00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:10,880
the young Maria, who by the age of
four was already a confident reader.
119
00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:18,560
Later the same year, her mother
began to lose weight
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00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:22,560
and would cough constantly - a sign
that tuberculosis was taking hold.
121
00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:28,280
And of course doctors said,
you know,
122
00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:30,160
you have to stay of clear
your daughter
123
00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,760
and so she didn't have a lot of
physical affection from her mother.
124
00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,080
Her mother finally
succumbed to the disease in 1878
125
00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:40,880
when Maria was just 12 years old.
126
00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,360
"For many years,
we all felt weighing on us
127
00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,400
"the loss of the one who had been
the soul of the house."
128
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,880
So for most of her formative years,
her father raised her as best
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00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,760
he could as a poorly paid teacher.
130
00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,600
She adored him
and it was from him that she
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00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:05,040
inherited her questioning nature
and her life-long love of science.
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00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:08,880
EASTERN EUROPEAN FOLK MUSIC
133
00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:17,640
Maria left school aged 15 with
a gold medal for topping her year.
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00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,160
But Warsaw University was
closed to women,
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00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:25,080
so she was forced to give up her
passion for science.
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00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:31,680
She abandoned her studies and left
to join her relatives in the
country.
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00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:33,320
EASTERN EUROPEAN FOLK SINGING
138
00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,520
"We do everything that comes
to our minds. Sometimes we sleep
139
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:51,800
"at night, sometimes during the day.
We dance, and in all, we frolic
140
00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,880
"so much that sometimes we might
deserve to be locked up in a mental
home..."
141
00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:07,040
For most girls of her age, finding
a good husband was the next step.
142
00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:11,640
But she and her older sister
Bronia would break the convention.
143
00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:12,760
MUSIC STOPS
144
00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:13,840
Whoo! Bravo!
145
00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:15,360
APPLAUSE
146
00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,200
They concocted an audacious plan
that would allow them
147
00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,840
both to get a university education.
148
00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:29,920
Maria would remain in the Polish
countryside,
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00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,040
to seek work as a governess.
150
00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:37,680
She would support Bronia
as she left to study medicine at the
Sorbonne University in Paris.
151
00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:40,920
In return, Bronia would later
help Maria to join her there.
152
00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:51,400
And so it was that in the winter of
1886, Maria arrived at the family
home of a wealthy beetroot farmer...
153
00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,600
..the ruins of which still stand on
land owned by Teresa Kaczorowska.
154
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,200
Almost at once, Maria felt at home.
155
00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:57,520
Maria taught the Zorawski children
upstairs in her little room.
156
00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,240
And it was here that one day
she met their eldest brother,
157
00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,000
a meeting that threatened to
derail all her plans.
158
00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:09,240
The rejection of the Zorawski family
sent her into a depression
159
00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:14,280
that saw her abandon all
thoughts of leaving Poland.
160
00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:16,160
"I have been stupid,
161
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:22,200
"I am stupid and I shall remain
stupid all the days of my life.
162
00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,840
"I dreamed of Paris
as of redemption,
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00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:28,920
"but the hope of going there
left me a long time ago."
164
00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,720
Heartbroken, Maria returned to her
ageing father in Warsaw.
165
00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:42,000
And here she may have remained
in obscurity, if it wasn't for
166
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:48,080
what went on in this building, the
Museum of Industry and Agriculture,
167
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:52,280
because behind its impressive facade
was a secret Polish laboratory.
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00:14:55,600 --> 00:15:01,200
This is a very important place in
Maria's scientific life. When she was
169
00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:09,120
about 18-19 years old she started to
learn here chemical analysis.
170
00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,200
The lab was part of the so-called
Flying University,
171
00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,120
which moved from location
to location around Warsaw
172
00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,520
to avoid the suspicion of the
Russians.
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00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,360
Here, all Poles could advance their
education, be they male or female.
174
00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,880
"I tried to reproduce various
experiments described in treatises
175
00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:35,520
"on physics and chemistry. From time
to time a little unhoped-for success
176
00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:40,360
"would encourage me, and at others I
sank into despair.
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00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:46,160
"But on the whole, I discovered my
taste for experimental research
during these first trials."
178
00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:03,280
Marie had rediscovered her appetite
for science. She wrote to Bronia.
179
00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,240
"If my coming is just possible,
tell me,
180
00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,040
"and tell me what entrance
examinations I must pass,
181
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,800
"and what is the latest date at which
I can register as a student.
182
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:16,240
"I am so nervous at the prospect
of my departure that
183
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:18,080
"I can't speak of anything else.
184
00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,840
Bronia could at last repay her
little sister as Maria prepared
185
00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:29,200
to give herself to physics.
186
00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:42,800
At the close of the nineteenth
century, the study of physics
was a backwater.
187
00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:47,040
In the universities of Europe,
it was widely accepted that all
188
00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:51,040
the important laws of nature
had been discovered.
189
00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:56,360
Theories of electromagnetism,
thermodynamics and mechanics seemed
to explain everything.
190
00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:11,640
No-one could foresee that there
was a scientific revolution looming,
191
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,280
even less that one of its leaders
would be a poor young woman
192
00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:20,960
from Poland who had just
enrolled in the physics faculty.
193
00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,400
# Leave your home
194
00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:27,880
# Change your name
195
00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:34,920
# Live alone... #
196
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,880
In the spring of 1891,
Maria Sklodowska arrived in Paris.
197
00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:46,560
She found herself
in France at a time
198
00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,600
when there was some ill-feeling
towards foreigners.
199
00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:52,400
So to better fit in,
200
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,640
she changed her name to the more
Gallic-sounding Marie.
201
00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,880
Her university, the Sorbonne,
was one of the few elite
202
00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:05,280
European academic institutions
that admitted women.
203
00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:11,480
In Britain, it would be the 1920s
before Oxford and Cambridge allowed
women degrees.
204
00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,800
She excelled, graduating first
out of her entire year in science.
205
00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:19,480
But life was hard.
206
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,160
After paying rent for her tiny
garret room,
207
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:26,240
she had very little
left over for food or fun.
208
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,840
If she was to stay in Paris,
she needed a job.
209
00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:32,120
She worked on magnets,
210
00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:35,480
which now might not
sound a terribly exciting subject,
211
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:40,640
but you need magnets when you're
making electric motors and dynamos.
212
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:45,880
This was when the electricity
industry was just beginning
to take off.
213
00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,000
Electricity companies were
hungry to improve
214
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,600
the quality of the magnets
in their generators
215
00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,800
and thereby produce more
electricity to keep the lights on.
216
00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,080
Marie was hired to help.
217
00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:05,080
She carried out lots of very precise
research on exactly what
218
00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:09,000
alloys you use to make a very
powerful, very permanent magnet.
219
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,920
Now she needed
a lab in which to work.
220
00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:17,400
And thanks to some shrewd
matchmaking from a fellow Pole,
221
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:22,040
she was about to meet lab owner and
expert in magnetism, Pierre Curie.
222
00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,520
"When I came in, Pierre Curie
was standing in the window.
223
00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:34,960
"He seemed very young to me,
though he was aged 35.
224
00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,800
"I was struck by the expression
of his clear gaze,
225
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:43,960
"and by a slight appearance of
carelessness in his lofty stature."
226
00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,320
30 years later, she remembered that
very first moment that she
227
00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:49,720
saw him across the room
and she was terribly struck.
228
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:51,920
So I guess it was
love at first sight.
229
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,480
She moved into the corridor
of Pierre's lab
230
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,960
at Ecole de Physique et Chimie
and set to work.
231
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:03,520
Here, an extraordinary romance
unfolded.
232
00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:05,960
"He caught the habit
of speaking to me
233
00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,480
"of his dream of an existence
consecrated entirely
234
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:14,720
"to scientific research,
and asked me to share that life."
235
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:19,880
Marie had her doubts. She was
homesick and missed her father.
236
00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,760
But Pierre pleaded with her to stay
and make a life with him in France.
237
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:29,480
# Am I to be the one
238
00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:34,960
# To hold you
back and make you come my way
239
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:42,040
# I know I'm the only one to do
what's to be done... #
240
00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:45,960
So where shall I put this?
Oh, in the cupboard there.
241
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,040
In desperation, he insisted that
if she left,
242
00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:53,640
he would throw in his career
and follow her to Poland.
243
00:20:57,120 --> 00:20:59,400
He won Marie over.
244
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:05,760
"It is a sorrow to me to have to stay
for ever in Paris,
but what am I to do?
245
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,680
"Fate has made us
deeply attached to each other
246
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:13,840
"and we cannot endure
the idea of separating."
247
00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:19,000
Marie and Pierre were
married on the 26th of July 1895.
248
00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,120
# Am I to be the one
249
00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:30,400
# To hold you back
and make you come my way
250
00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:36,080
# I know I'm the only one to do... #
251
00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:41,280
They honeymooned on two wheels
during the so-called Golden Age of
Bicycles.
252
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:45,240
# Am I to be the one
253
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:49,480
# To hold you back and make you come
my way... #
254
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,920
On the newly invented
pneumatic tyre,
255
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,600
they rode far and wide
across the French countryside.
256
00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,360
# To do what's to be done... #
257
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,320
A year and a half later,
still working hard on magnetism,
258
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,960
Marie found herself
bearing her first child.
259
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,000
She approached her pregnancy
rather like a modern woman.
260
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,080
She went on working right
until the very end,
261
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,720
whereas most woman of that period
after a couple of months,
262
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,200
they would have completely
retired from public view
263
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,440
and they'd have spent a lot of time
resting and lying down.
264
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,880
In due course, Pierre's father,
Dr Eugene Curie,
265
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:34,320
delivered Marie's healthy six-pound
baby girl, whom she named Irene.
266
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,920
She really didn't want her pregnancy
to hinder her work at all,
267
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,640
and she was the sort of woman who
was sort of back at the lab bench
268
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,560
within a couple of days
of the baby being born.
269
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:47,160
Indeed, just weeks after the birth,
270
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,600
Marie published her first
scientific paper.
271
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:52,600
It was an important work,
which quickly spread
272
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,720
around the world, standardising the
manufacturing process of magnets.
273
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,840
But soon after,
she abandoned all work on magnetism,
274
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,120
because she'd heard of a stunning
new discovery -
275
00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:09,760
one that would be the making of her
as a professional scientist.
276
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,720
It was now 1896,
and another Paris-based physicist,
277
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,080
Henri Becquerel, was exploring
the properties of uranium.
278
00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,200
Finishing work early one day,
279
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,800
he placed his materials
away in a desk drawer,
280
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:33,080
leaving a nugget of uranium on top
of a sealed photographic plate.
281
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,160
When he opened the drawer
the following day and examined
the plate,
282
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,600
he saw that it appeared to
have been exposed to a bright light.
283
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:48,880
Serendipity had led Becquerel to the
discovery that uranium was
284
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:52,240
emitting unknown rays that could
pass through solid matter.
285
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,360
Nobody had any idea what it was.
286
00:23:56,360 --> 00:24:00,120
It was not seen as a particularly
fruitful research topic,
287
00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:03,160
which is probably why she,
as a Polish woman, was enabled
288
00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:07,640
to pick it up, because there wasn't
a lot of competition for it.
289
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:12,600
But after publishing,
Becquerel promptly gave up on the
strange new rays,
290
00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,720
leaving the field clear
for the Curies.
291
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,320
But how to measure
these invisible rays?
292
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,440
Marie needed something more
sensitive than a crude
293
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,120
photographic plate.
294
00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:29,560
Fortunately, she'd married
a brilliant electrical engineer,
295
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,440
and he designed a way of accurately
measuring the strength of any
296
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:34,480
potential source of these rays.
297
00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,720
So this instrument is called
ionization chamber.
298
00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:49,040
As Marie Curie did, we just have to
put our sample between the two
metal plates.
299
00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,560
The new rays would then ionise
the air between the plates
300
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,720
and a small electrical current would
flow to another instrument called an
electrometer.
301
00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,160
This measured exactly
how much current was produced.
302
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,520
The electricity will be
transmitted and it will reach
303
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,400
this instrument which is
called electrometer.
304
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,160
And then using the piezoelectrical
quartz invented
305
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:16,320
by Pierre Curie, it was possible to
measure very precisely the rays
emitted
306
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:17,360
by the sample.
307
00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:26,520
Marie undertook the enormous
task of measuring all the metals,
308
00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,280
minerals and compounds
she could get her hands on, to see
309
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:33,120
if any others were producing
these invisible rays.
310
00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:36,480
And around this time, she started to
refer to the phenomenon
311
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:40,080
she was seeking as radioactivity.
312
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,680
She'd given a whole new
area of physics its name.
313
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,520
But Marie's growing obsession with
radioactivity came at a price.
314
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:05,680
Irene, and later her second daughter
Eve, were cared for by others.
315
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,360
Her father-in-law took
care of her daughters
316
00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:12,520
and that opened things up
entirely for her.
317
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:13,960
He was a widower at that stage,
318
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,200
and I mean literally there
were whole years
319
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,680
when he was their caretaker.
320
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:23,920
There are little suggestions
of the daughters being resentful.
321
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,280
And I say this
because there were letters -
322
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:31,040
certainly Irene would write letters
and she would say, you know,
"When are you going to come home?
323
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,680
"When are you going to be able
to read to me
324
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:35,920
"instead of Grandfather
reading to me?"
325
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:41,440
In time, Irene would understand
Marie's passion for science but Eve
never would.
326
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,440
And her resentment would
remain throughout her life.
327
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,720
Marie continued to
work at Pierre's apparatus,
328
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,280
until one day, whilst testing
a substance called pitchblende,
329
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:08,240
she got a result that sent
the electrometer off the scale.
330
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,080
This was the highest reading anyone
had seen, and since it was so much
331
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:18,520
stronger than uranium, it must be
coming from an entirely new element.
332
00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,000
The question was, what was it?
333
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:34,120
Since pitchblende was a mixture of
different elements jumbled together,
334
00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:39,280
somehow she had to free her new
element from the compound material.
335
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:40,600
In Marie Curie's notebooks,
336
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:44,160
she talks about starting
with 100g of material.
337
00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:47,400
We're losing bits all over
the place.
338
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:54,920
You know, really substantial amounts
of rock and this is really hardcore
physical labour.
339
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:59,120
You've just got to pound and grind
until you've got
340
00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:03,240
a nice, fine, free-flowing material
341
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:09,160
and at that point you can move
really from the engineering into the
chemistry.
342
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:13,000
The next step is going to be to
actually try and dissolve it out
343
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,080
and she would have chosen nitric
acid - because what she would have
344
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:23,960
known was that this could dissolve
up pretty well any metallic ion.
345
00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,640
At this point, Marie Curie would
really have been reaching
346
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:31,200
a kind of branching point,
347
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,520
in that there would have been
the immediate question
348
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:36,560
of where is the radioactivity?
349
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:41,600
Is it actually soluble in the acid,
or is it left behind?
350
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:45,720
A quick check with the electrometer
and she deduced - correctly -
351
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,440
that her new element
was in the liquid.
352
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:49,960
But there was a problem.
353
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,800
The pitchblende only contained
a tiny quantity of this new element.
354
00:28:55,800 --> 00:29:00,120
# So I can't get enough
of that stuff... #
355
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:02,320
So to isolate it,
she'd have to process
356
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,000
tons of the stuff to find her
needle in a haystack.
357
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,840
# And I've tried and I've tried
358
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,600
# But all night I have cried
359
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,960
# No, I can't get enough of that
stuff... #
360
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,800
We're standing in the car
park of what's now called the ESPCI,
361
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,400
which is a big physics
and chemistry institute in Paris.
362
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:28,960
And behind me here there's a white
line on the ground and that marks
out one corner of a shed
363
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:32,640
that Pierre and Marie Curie were
given to work in.
364
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:38,520
# Do you think that's it's smart to
pump it through my heart
365
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:43,040
# No, I can't get enough
of that stuff... #
366
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,040
The shed was run down -
367
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,240
draughty
and freezing cold in the winter,
368
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:53,280
stifling hot under
the glass in the summer.
369
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,480
And this is where all
the horse-carts of pitchblende
370
00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,560
would line up and deposit
all their deliveries for Pierre
371
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,600
and Marie Curie to refine.
372
00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,200
When you think about the kind of lab
operations that she was doing,
373
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:14,960
I mean a lot of it was really kind
of repetitive, tedious drudgery
374
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,640
and in a way you wonder what
kept her going.
375
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,960
And it's when you start looking at
the notebooks that maybe one
gets a kind of clue.
376
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:27,240
And here on the 27th of June 1898
she starts with
377
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,120
180 grams of powdered
pitchblende.
378
00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:36,120
But at the end of half a page of
description, suddenly there she is -
379
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:41,680
very large letters saying "300 times
more active than uranium".
380
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,320
There was always, in a sense,
this sort of little
381
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:48,320
light at the end of the tunnel which
was getting brighter and brighter.
382
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:53,720
For four years she persevered,
383
00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:56,920
gradually getting closer to
isolating her new element.
384
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,840
And as she continued to
concentrate the material,
385
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:04,680
something wonderful unfolded.
386
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:10,440
Before they started all the
experimenting, Pierre had said to
Marie,
387
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:14,760
"I wonder what sort of colour
our new product is going to be?"
388
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:19,040
And he fantasised that it would be
some sort of bluey-greeny
389
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:21,720
magic colour. And that was indeed
what happened.
390
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:26,200
As the pitchblende became more and
more concentrated as they went on
purifying it,
391
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:31,200
this sort of strange eerie
blue-green glow could be seen all
over the walls
392
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:34,760
of the little shed that they
were working in.
393
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,120
MUSIC: "Clair de Lune"
by Claude Debussy
394
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,000
And they used to come here at night,
and watch it and marvel at it
395
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:54,440
and they had a family at home,
but for them,
396
00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,640
it was a scientific child that they
had worked on together for so long
397
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,520
and dreamt about it and finally here
they were, they were producing it
398
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,480
in this tiny dilapidated
shed with a glass roof.
399
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:11,440
And then you get to page 66 with
a big underlined heading
400
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,520
which says "Dosage" - determination.
401
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:20,240
The 28th of March 1902 -
she says 0.1179 grams.
402
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:27,920
And then there's a quick calculation
and at the end of it in really large
letters there's "Ra = 225.9".
403
00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:30,760
She now knows the atomic mass
404
00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:35,680
and she really knows exactly where
in the periodic table this fits.
405
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,480
This is kind of the moment
of triumph.
406
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,080
It's the culmination of years
of work. She's arrived.
407
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:46,520
Congratulations.
408
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,080
After four years
of bone-crushingly hard work,
409
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:57,040
Marie and Pierre had discovered
a new element - radium.
410
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:05,880
Its highly radioactive nature
411
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:10,400
and eerie green glow
set the world alight.
412
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,080
MUSIC: "I Can't Get Enough"
by the Dead Brothers
413
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:24,360
# No, I can't get
enough of that stuff
414
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,000
# No, I can't get
enough of that stuff... #
415
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:29,800
I think nowadays we're terribly
aware of how dangerous
416
00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:32,680
radiation of any kind can be.
417
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,960
But when it first appeared,
it seemed that this new miracle
source of energy -
418
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,240
it was a universal panacea -
and it was being advertised for
419
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:47,520
throat medicines, and cough cures,
and you could buy radium toothpaste.
420
00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,600
It was sort of the new
hope for the future.
421
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,280
As the radium craze spread,
some could still not believe
422
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:58,880
the central role Marie had
played in the discovery.
423
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,640
There's this marvellous caricature
that came out in Vanity Fair
424
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,960
and there's Marie Curie
and Pierre Curie in Man of the Year.
425
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,320
And he's there and he's holding up
this great big test-tube
426
00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:14,760
and the radium is shining out
onto his forehead.
427
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,360
and so his forehead is glowing
with genius.
428
00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:19,960
And she's this little diminutive
figure behind him
429
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,920
with a hand on his shoulder,
sort of peering over him,
430
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:26,680
and you can almost hear her saying,
"Oh, Pierre! You're so clever."
431
00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:31,440
So all the glory of the discovery
is being attributed to him.
432
00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,920
Even though it was very much
a collaborative piece of work.
433
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:40,400
The years of toil had paid off.
434
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,840
In 1903, the Nobel committee
decided to honour
435
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:45,840
the discoverers of radioactivity.
436
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:51,320
But in a blatant show of sexism,
the committee only nominated
437
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:53,600
Henri Becquerel and Pierre.
438
00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:54,880
Marie was ignored.
439
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,280
Pierre responded that
if this nomination was serious
440
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:06,120
he could not accept the prize unless
Madame Curie's name was included.
441
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:07,880
The committee was forced to relent,
442
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,840
and all three shared
the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics.
443
00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:18,160
"We have been awarded half of the
Nobel prize. We are inundated with
444
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,840
"letters and visits by journalists
and photographers, and yesterday
445
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,680
"an American wrote, asking
permission to name a racehorse
after me."
446
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:34,200
The Curies were on their way to
scientific stardom, but their health
447
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,240
was beginning to suffer from
the years of exposure to radiation.
448
00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:54,920
Pierre was feeling especially
unwell as he left Marie
449
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:59,800
on the 19th of April 1906 for
a series of appointments in Paris.
450
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,520
Pierre Curie's just had his lunch.
451
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:13,760
He's in a hurry, he's got to
get to the printer's down there.
452
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:17,760
It was raining - he had an umbrella
and he crossed the road.
453
00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:19,960
He slipped onto the cobbles
454
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:24,560
and he saw these two horses in front
of him and he grabbed the harness
455
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:28,680
and tried to save himself but then
he got thrown down on the ground.
456
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,240
And for a moment it seemed that
everything was fine.
457
00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:33,880
The carriage missed him
but then, just at the last moment,
458
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:37,560
the back wheels of the carriage
swerved and they went right
459
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:38,520
over his head.
460
00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:43,040
And it crushed
his skull and he died immediately.
461
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:51,360
"I put my head against the coffin.
462
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:55,640
"And in great distress,
I spoke to you.
463
00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:57,440
"I told you that I loved you
464
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:00,600
"and that I had always loved you
with all my heart."
465
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:02,760
MUSIC: "Adieu Mon Coeur"
by Edith Piaf
466
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:12,200
# Adieu mon coeur
467
00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:19,520
# On te jette au malheur
468
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:26,280
# Tu n'auras pas mes yeux
469
00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:28,840
# Pour mourir... #
470
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,080
Slowly, Marie emerged from her pain.
471
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:36,120
Seven months after his death,
472
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,040
she took on Pierre's
professorship at the Sorbonne,
473
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:41,080
supported by her closest friends...
474
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:47,440
..one of whom, Paul Langevin,
had been Pierre's student.
475
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,720
He too was unhappy,
trapped in a loveless marriage,
476
00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:57,040
so it was perhaps only
natural that the two became close.
477
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:01,920
So we're standing near the Sorbonne.
478
00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:05,880
Somewhere in the area, Paul Langevin
rented a small apartment
479
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:08,840
and he used to meet Marie Curie
there and this is where they
480
00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:13,640
conducted their affair and where
their love relationship blossomed.
481
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,400
They were together when Marie's name
was put forward for
482
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:20,520
a second Nobel prize, in Chemistry,
in recognition of her work
483
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:24,560
isolating radium and a second new
element, polonium.
484
00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:26,600
To this day, she is the only person
485
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:29,680
to win two Nobel prizes in two
different sciences.
486
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:35,560
And so it was that she found herself
sharing the wonderful news
487
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,440
with Paul at the Solvay conference.
488
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:41,280
She'd made it to the top
table of physics.
489
00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:52,400
But her union with Paul was doomed.
490
00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:55,080
Although in an extraordinary twist,
491
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,280
this would not be the last
Curie-Langevin relationship.
492
00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:03,200
Because two generations
later, Marie's granddaughter
493
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,360
married Paul's grandson.
494
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:08,920
And to this day, her grandmother's
affair remains a raw subject.
495
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:12,760
It was a big problem.
496
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:17,800
There was all
the campaigns in the newspapers.
497
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:22,080
It was not only the Polish woman,
498
00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:26,960
but woman taking the husband
in a family
499
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:30,680
with four children
and so on, and so on.
500
00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:34,680
And there was a publication
of letters.
501
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:43,560
When his wife disclosed
these supposed love letters,
502
00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:46,880
we think they were real,
but we don't know all the details.
503
00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:54,640
My feeling is that really
they were falsified.
504
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:58,840
But nobody took care of this point.
505
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:01,480
She was a widow,
so she was not married
506
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:03,320
so she was not
adulterous in any way.
507
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:08,720
The problem is, for her, this affair
showed that she was a sexual being.
508
00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:11,240
And the reason why that was
so damning for her
509
00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:14,640
in ways it would not have been for a
man was because it showed that
510
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:19,200
her science was not nearly as saintly
as everyone had made it to look.
511
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:20,960
Because of course,
a woman's sexuality
512
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:24,640
and her science were somehow
seen as one and the same.
513
00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:27,480
I mean, you know,
when Einstein had his affairs,
514
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,600
no-one looked at what
he was doing in his private life
515
00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:36,440
and what he was doing in his science
life as related in any way.
516
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:40,880
Whether the letters were fake or
not, the effect was devastating.
517
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:42,200
For the French tabloids,
518
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,960
the story of a famous female
immigrant ruining the marriage
519
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:50,600
of a prestigious Frenchman perfectly
suited their nationalistic agenda.
520
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:52,800
She was vilified, hounded
521
00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:55,560
and abandoned by many of her
previous supporters.
522
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:02,640
It was a very difficult
period for all the family
523
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:07,000
and the children in particular.
524
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:11,360
Somehow, Marie had to find
the strength to carry on.
525
00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:14,840
The turning point came
when the Nobel committee once again
526
00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:17,840
questioned her suitability
for the prize in Chemistry.
527
00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:37,400
Incredulous, Marie rediscovered the
inner steel that had got her so far.
528
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:39,440
She wrote back -
529
00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:42,040
"I believe there is no connection
between my scientific work
530
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:44,160
"and the facts of private life.
531
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:47,840
"I cannot accept the idea in
principle that the appreciation of
532
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:54,440
"the value of scientific work should
be influenced by libel and slander."
533
00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:58,480
A harder, prouder, more aggressive
Madame Curie emerged,
534
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,240
who in her address to the
Nobel prize ceremony,
535
00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:06,160
firmly established her ownership
of the field of radioactivity.
536
00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:08,240
"The discoveries of radium
537
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:12,200
"and polonium were made by Pierre
Curie in collaboration with me.
538
00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:15,840
"The chemical work aimed at
isolating radium was carried out
539
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:17,200
"especially by me."
540
00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:27,760
With this newfound determination,
she set about rebuilding her life.
541
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,000
And though she would never find love
again,
542
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:33,000
she would see
her reputation shift once more,
543
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,520
as she took on an almost
legendary status.
544
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:54,160
Marie decided to take
charge of her own destiny.
545
00:42:54,160 --> 00:43:00,160
Rather than work in someone else's
lab, she would build her own.
546
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:04,920
She designed her Radium Institute
to be a state-of-the-art laboratory
547
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:06,880
built around a charming
little square
548
00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:10,440
where she could indulge her love
of gardening.
549
00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:16,480
Here she planted many of the trees
and roses that grow to this day.
550
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:22,160
But her peace did not last,
because on the 3rd of August 1914...
551
00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:27,960
..Germany declared war on France.
552
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:36,200
Fearful of a German invasion
of Paris, many fled the capital.
553
00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:39,240
Marie however stayed,
554
00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:42,320
though all work on her new institute
stopped.
555
00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:54,280
As the war began to bite, Marie
learned that lives were being lost
556
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:58,160
because the entire French army
had only one X-ray station.
557
00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:06,440
So in a moment of organizational
brilliance,
558
00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:10,320
she conceived the idea of
mobile X-ray units -
559
00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:13,760
small cars adapted to
carry their own generator
560
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:17,840
and lightweight X-ray equipment.
561
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:22,280
To help the war effort,
Marie taught herself to drive,
562
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:26,120
and took the so-called Petites
Curies to wherever they were needed,
563
00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:30,280
where she'd unload the equipment,
hook up the generator
564
00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:32,880
and activate the X-ray machine,
565
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:38,120
with little or no protection
from the rays for herself.
566
00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:41,320
But she desperately needed
more technicians,
567
00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:44,000
so she brought her elder
daughter to the front.
568
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:53,160
In the 17-year-old Irene,
Marie had found a new collaborator,
569
00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:55,600
a relationship that would last
until her death.
570
00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:05,960
By the end of the Great War in 1918,
571
00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:10,440
Marie's X-ray units had treated over
a million wounded soldiers.
572
00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:13,320
And with the subsequent
treaty of Versailles,
573
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:18,360
Poland was given its independence
after 123 years of occupation.
574
00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:22,200
Marie had lived to see her
mother-country free at last.
575
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:31,560
The French government never formally
recognised her efforts
576
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:36,400
during the war, but social attitudes
towards Marie did begin to soften.
577
00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:44,160
She returned to the Radium
Institute, where she continued
578
00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:49,240
her radioactivity research here in
her laboratory.
579
00:45:49,240 --> 00:45:53,920
Marie had never taken out patents on
any of her discoveries, so money was
580
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:59,200
a constant worry and she was running
short of her precious radium.
581
00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:03,880
That's why in 1920 -
perhaps sensing an opportunity -
582
00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:07,560
she agreed to meet one "Missy"
Mattingly Meloney, an American
583
00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:10,960
journalist who had come all the way
to Paris to interview her.
584
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:16,360
Over the course of the interview,
585
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:17,880
she comes to discover that
586
00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:20,720
Madame Curie, who had discovered
radium,
587
00:46:20,720 --> 00:46:24,600
did not actually have a
gram of it to run her experiments.
588
00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:29,480
So Meloney decides, "Well, I'm going
to start this big radium campaign in
the United States,"
589
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:33,720
and she's the perfect person to do
this because of course she's very
well-connected.
590
00:46:33,720 --> 00:46:36,720
And indeed she comes back to the
United States and within months,
591
00:46:36,720 --> 00:46:40,560
she raises well over the $100,000
she needs for this gram of radium.
592
00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:45,520
MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue"
by George Gershwin
593
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:48,520
And so, on the 11th of May 1921,
594
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:54,240
Marie arrived in New York's Hudson
Bay to collect more radium.
595
00:46:54,240 --> 00:46:56,920
It was still incredibly rare
596
00:46:56,920 --> 00:47:02,280
and if she was to ensure her
institute's future, she needed more.
597
00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:05,320
Accompanied by her daughters,
she'd crossed the Atlantic
598
00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:09,400
on the Titanic's sister ship,
the Olympic.
599
00:47:09,400 --> 00:47:12,320
She was in her suite and, uh,
600
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:13,760
Marie Mattingly Meloney, Missy,
601
00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:19,160
warned her that she was going
to have to meet some reporters
602
00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:22,720
and that there were photographers
and she took a little while
603
00:47:22,720 --> 00:47:26,120
then she finally came out
and she was interviewed
604
00:47:26,120 --> 00:47:27,920
by a battery of reporters.
605
00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:32,840
This is where she supposedly
said that radium could cure
606
00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:36,640
all diseases,
even the very deep tumours.
607
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:41,760
Marie Curie's name was increasingly
being linked to a radical
608
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:47,040
cancer treatment that she
and Pierre had developed.
609
00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:50,960
For cancers that were readily
accessible, say on the face,
610
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:56,200
tiny flecks of radium would be
carefully positioned over the
tumour.
611
00:47:56,200 --> 00:47:59,040
The radiation would kill
the cancer cells.
612
00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:01,320
And if the patient was lucky,
613
00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:04,320
their healthy cells would in time
repair the lesion.
614
00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:11,440
Marie herself had little to do
with cancer treatment.
615
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:17,080
Her focus remained
purely on radioactivity research.
616
00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:22,560
But Missy was a master of spin.
She knew that selling a dedicated
617
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:27,360
scientist to the American
public would be tough.
618
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:29,720
She needs to make her look likeable.
619
00:48:29,720 --> 00:48:32,160
But that also means making her
look appropriate.
620
00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:33,520
She has to depict her
621
00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:37,600
not as scientist at all
but as this maternal figure,
622
00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:40,680
who of course didn't actually
discover radium because she was
623
00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:45,960
doing science for science's sake
like men do, she was doing it because
624
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:50,040
of course she wanted to rid humanity
of cancer, like any good mother
625
00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:53,040
would want to and this is really why
she discovered radium. And so this
626
00:48:53,040 --> 00:48:58,360
is the publicity that Curie walks
into when she comes to New York
in 1921.
627
00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:00,680
MUSIC: "Freddie Freeloader"
by Miles Davis
628
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:09,720
Marie began a series
of public engagements
629
00:49:09,720 --> 00:49:14,880
that Missy had laid on
that would last for eight weeks.
630
00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:17,360
"The programme seemed
very intimidating.
631
00:49:17,360 --> 00:49:21,680
"It was assumed that I would not
only attend a ceremony
at the White House
632
00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:26,000
"but also visit many universities
and colleges in several towns.
633
00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:29,520
"Some of these institutions had
contributed to the fund.
634
00:49:29,520 --> 00:49:33,120
"All desired to offer me honours."
635
00:49:33,120 --> 00:49:37,880
The timing of her coming to the
United States was not a coincidence.
636
00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:40,880
Women had just won suffrage
in the United States in 1920.
637
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:44,120
They're just starting to get
the right to vote in this country.
638
00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:48,120
So she's thinking she's a very good
role model for American women.
639
00:49:55,240 --> 00:50:00,120
Marie Curie began her US tour
here in the city of New York.
640
00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:04,120
And it was immediately clear
that amongst American women,
641
00:50:04,120 --> 00:50:06,000
she had become a star.
642
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:16,120
We're here in Carnegie Hall and I'm
thinking back to May 18th, 1921,
643
00:50:16,120 --> 00:50:18,160
when Marie Curie was honoured.
644
00:50:18,160 --> 00:50:19,080
APPLAUSE
645
00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:28,120
We know that when Marie Curie
entered, there was
646
00:50:28,120 --> 00:50:34,000
thunderous applause and the applause
took maybe five minutes to die down.
647
00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:37,120
The event was sponsored
by American university women
648
00:50:37,120 --> 00:50:41,280
and it was a celebration of Curie
but it was also a celebration
of, really,
649
00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:44,040
higher education for women
in the United States.
650
00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:52,280
According to newspaper accounts,
there were supposedly 3,500 women
in attendance.
651
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:56,880
The colleges decorated the hall
with their banners.
652
00:50:56,880 --> 00:51:00,240
It must have been very colourful.
Certainly very exciting.
653
00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:08,760
Marie was an instant hit.
654
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:11,360
And all the while
as she toured the States,
655
00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:17,080
Missy worked hard to protect
the legend she was creating.
656
00:51:17,080 --> 00:51:20,520
Everybody was very good about not
mentioning the scandal,
657
00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:23,840
the sex scandal in Paris.
And of course, remember, this was
658
00:51:23,840 --> 00:51:29,440
Meloney making very clear, "When you
cover her, do not discuss this."
659
00:51:29,440 --> 00:51:34,200
Exhausted, Marie finally
arrived in Washington
660
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:37,000
for her last appointment
at the White House itself.
661
00:51:38,960 --> 00:51:43,680
"It was a deeply moving
ceremony in all of its simplicity.
662
00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:47,160
"It comprised a short presentation
by the French ambassador,
663
00:51:47,160 --> 00:51:50,840
"a speech by Missy Meloney on behalf
of the American women,
664
00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:53,240
"and then the address
of President Harding."
665
00:51:53,240 --> 00:51:57,760
MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue"
by George Gershwin
666
00:51:57,760 --> 00:52:02,400
At last, she received what she'd
come to America for.
667
00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:08,120
When Harding hands her the
ceremonial box of radium, he says
668
00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:14,160
"This is a gift from the American
people," and he even goes so far
as to say, you know,
669
00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:17,400
"We are just in awe of you,
not only for your science but
670
00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:21,360
"because you did all this, and still
were the perfect wife and mother."
671
00:52:25,320 --> 00:52:28,480
Marie returned to France
with her name restored
672
00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:31,400
and the future of her beloved
Institute secure.
673
00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:39,560
She would return again
to America to collect more
674
00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:45,040
radium for a second Radium Institute
in Warsaw she was helping
to establish.
675
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:48,360
But it would take an even greater
toll on her failing health.
676
00:52:55,880 --> 00:53:00,520
Soon after she came home,
she wrote to Missy.
677
00:53:00,520 --> 00:53:05,080
"My very dear friend, your letter
distressed me.
678
00:53:05,080 --> 00:53:07,800
"I did not know that you had a bad
accident.
679
00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:12,040
"I too had troubles, a kind
of general disease which obliged me
680
00:53:12,040 --> 00:53:16,440
"to take a very strict diet,
probably to last for the future."
681
00:53:19,120 --> 00:53:21,200
After years of ill health,
682
00:53:21,200 --> 00:53:25,840
her family helped nurse
Marie during her final months.
683
00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:28,480
Eve really comes to terms with
her mother later in life.
684
00:53:28,480 --> 00:53:31,840
She's the one that really
cares for her in her final days.
685
00:53:31,840 --> 00:53:34,640
And I think that there's a sort
of reconciliation, but it was
686
00:53:34,640 --> 00:53:39,560
a very um...I mean, the relationship
between them was torn for some time.
687
00:53:39,560 --> 00:53:42,760
It took her mother dying, I think,
688
00:53:42,760 --> 00:53:46,160
and her being there to take care of
her for them to sort of reconcile.
689
00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:57,960
On the 4th of July 1934,
Marie Curie died, aged 67,
690
00:53:57,960 --> 00:54:00,000
with Eve by her side.
691
00:54:13,960 --> 00:54:19,240
Her doctor gave the cause of death
as aplastic pernicious anaemia.
692
00:54:19,240 --> 00:54:24,240
Her bone marrow had been injured by
the long accumulation of radiation.
693
00:54:24,240 --> 00:54:27,600
So it seemed her child,
radium, had killed her.
694
00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:35,040
She was buried in this cemetery
just outside Paris,
695
00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:37,320
where she shared a grave
with Pierre.
696
00:54:42,040 --> 00:54:44,840
And here they lay
together for over sixty years.
697
00:54:47,360 --> 00:54:50,400
Until one spring day in 1995,
698
00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:56,640
when radioprotection expert Jean-Luc
Pasquier came to examine
her remains.
699
00:54:56,640 --> 00:54:58,880
HE SPEAKS FRENCH
700
00:55:10,680 --> 00:55:15,280
Since the half-life of radium
is 1,600 years,
701
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:18,800
they were worried that Marie
was still radioactive,
702
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:22,800
because they were about to
move her body.
703
00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:01,280
This surprised everyone,
because if the myth was correct
704
00:56:01,280 --> 00:56:04,920
and radium exposure had made her
a martyr to her science,
705
00:56:04,920 --> 00:56:09,200
her remains should still
exceed today's safe levels.
706
00:56:09,200 --> 00:56:13,840
So it led the team to speculate that
something else had caused her
premature demise.
707
00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:50,560
If X-rays killed Marie, then
she was a different kind of martyr.
708
00:56:52,240 --> 00:56:56,040
Her life ended prematurely -
like so many others -
709
00:56:56,040 --> 00:56:58,520
as a result of her
efforts in the Great War.
710
00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:07,640
A few days later,
here in the heart of Paris,
711
00:57:07,640 --> 00:57:10,920
the Curies were given a full
state funeral.
712
00:57:10,920 --> 00:57:14,960
# Adieu mon coeur... #
713
00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:21,320
This square and the street down
there are absolutely packed
with people,
714
00:57:21,320 --> 00:57:23,560
and there's a big white carpet
coming all the way
715
00:57:23,560 --> 00:57:28,600
up the street, across the square
and up the steps into the Pantheon.
716
00:57:28,600 --> 00:57:31,000
# ..mes yeux
717
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:35,360
# Pour mourir... #
718
00:57:35,360 --> 00:57:40,560
They'd made it into France's
national mausoleum.
719
00:57:40,560 --> 00:57:45,520
# Adieu mon coeur... #
720
00:57:45,520 --> 00:57:49,640
In a sense, it was a final
journey for Pierre and Marie Curie
721
00:57:49,640 --> 00:57:54,000
but for Marie Curie in particular,
it was a very momentous occasion,
722
00:57:54,000 --> 00:57:58,240
because she was the first woman
to be buried in the Pantheon
723
00:57:58,240 --> 00:58:01,680
as a tribute
to her own individual achievements.
724
00:58:06,120 --> 00:58:10,520
At last, France had made it up
to Marie Curie.
725
00:58:10,520 --> 00:58:15,240
This brave, brilliant Polish
scientist, so cruelly
726
00:58:15,240 --> 00:58:19,960
shamed in life, had received her
adopted country's highest honour.
727
00:58:26,080 --> 00:58:28,280
# Autrefois tu respirais
le soleil d'or
728
00:58:32,560 --> 00:58:34,200
# Tu marchais sur des tresors
729
00:58:39,720 --> 00:58:40,920
# On etait vagabonds
730
00:58:43,960 --> 00:58:46,920
# On aimait les chansons
C'a fini dans les prisons... #
731
00:58:49,600 --> 00:58:52,280
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