Meet Marie Curie, née Maria Sklodowska of Warsaw, Poland - (Version en Espanol)
NOTE: THIS IS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF REVIEWS OF WOMEN WHO HAVE MADE AN IMPACT IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES.
THERE IS A WELL-SPRING OF WOMEN TO CHOOSE FROM, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - TO APPRECIATE AND ADMIRE THEIR MANY, MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND SACRIFICES - DESPITE THE WORLD-WIDE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD DURING THAT ERA AND "SELECTED COUNTRIES" STILL IN 2022 - - - .
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BELOW IS A PICTURE OF THE OFFICIAL STATE FLAG AND COLORS OF POLAND, EUROPE
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Prior to living in my present city of San Clemente, California, I lived for 12 years in the city of Aliso Viejo, (Orange County) California.
Just down the street from my house - to my sheer delight - was Soka University. Pure serendipity at its very, very finest.
Trust me.
My wife and I took daily walks for years around the Soka University because of its beauty, diverse gardens, culture that it shares, and beautiful views of the surrounding valleys and on clear days - the expansive Pacific Ocean.
Soka University of America?(SUA) is a?private university.?
Originally founded in 1987, it was established on its current campus in 2001 by Daisaku Ikeda, the founder of the Soka Gakkai International Buddhist movement.
Though affiliated with?Soka Gakkai, it maintains a secular curriculum which emphasizes pacifism, human rights, and the creative coexistence of nature and humanity.
A much larger and older sister school,?Soka University in Japan, is located in Hachioji, Tokyo.?
SUA encompasses both a four-year liberal arts?college and a graduate school offering a Master's program in Educational Leadership and Societal Change.
SUA also hosts the Pacific Basin Research Center and the newly created SUA Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Human Rights.
The university has an endowment of $1.2 billion as of 2017, giving it the second-highest endowment per student?of any college or university in the United States
Though we moved south to San Clemente, I still head north on Interstate 5 for a few miles to visit Soka for a walk or explore and read in their magnificent library several times a year.
Last week, I returned to Soka for a walking tour of campus to see what fauna / flora was happening in Jul. 2022.
During my enlightening walk, I came across a statue in the honor of Marie Curie and her husband (French born) of Warsaw, Poland that I had not observed before!
How in the hell that happened, I'll never-ever know!
I had read and had known about Marie Curie and was star-struck by this Polish woman of the late 19th century and early 20th century who accomplished so much - - - despite the scorn she would receive - early on - because she was of "female gender."
Myopic. What a spot-on definition of ignorant people.
Yet, it was by her actions, laboring work and her treasure trove of accomplishments in Science that all the naysayers in time were muted.
The way it should be.
She knew where she was heading.
From my perspective, she was extremely focused - and a dogmatic scientist fully loaded with passion.
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Yes, books and even Hollywood have since made movies of this remarkable, clever, and yet humble woman from Poland, Europe.
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Marie Curie,?née?Maria Sklodowska, was born in Warsaw, Poland on Nov. 7, 1867, the daughter of a secondary-school teacher.
For a historical perspective for the rest of this blog, the American Civil war ended two years earlier in 1865, and shortly thereafter, President Lincoln was tragically assassinated at Ford's theatre
She received a general education in local schools and some scientific training from her father. She became involved in a students’ revolutionary organization and found it prudent to leave Warsaw, then in the part of Poland dominated by Russia, for Cracow, which at that time was under Austrian rule.
In 1891, she went to Paris to continue her studies at the Sorbonne where she obtained Licenciateships in Physics and the Mathematical Sciences.
She met Pierre Curie, Professor in the School of Physics in 1894 and in the following year they were married.
She succeeded her husband as Head of the Physics Laboratory at the Sorbonne, gained her Doctor of Science degree in 1903, and following the tragic death of Pierre in 1906 (Pierre was killed by a horse drawn carriage), she took his place as Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences, the first time a woman had held this position.
She was also appointed Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris, founded back in 1914.
Her early researches, together with her husband, were often performed under difficult conditions, laboratory arrangements were poor and both had to turn to teaching to earn a livelihood.
The discovery of radioactivity by Henri Becquerel in 1896 inspired the Curies in their brilliant researches and analyses which led to the isolation of polonium, named after the country of Marie’s birth - - - and radium.
Mme (Madame) Curie developed methods for the separation of radium from radioactive residues in sufficient quantities to allow for its characterization and the careful study of its properties, therapeutic properties in particular.
Mme. Curie throughout her life actively promoted the use of radium to alleviate suffering and during WW I, assisted by her daughter, Irene, she personally devoted herself to this remedial work. She retained her enthusiasm for science throughout her life and did much to establish a radioactivity laboratory in her native city.
In 1929, President Hoover of the United States presented her with a gift of $50,000, donated by American friends of science, to purchase radium for use in the laboratory in Warsaw.
Mme. Curie, was said to be quiet, dignified and unassuming, was held in high esteem and admiration by scientists throughout the world.
She was a member of the Conseil du Physique Solvay from 1911 until her death.
Since 1922, she had been a member of the Committee of Intellectual Co-operation of the League of Nations.
Her work is recorded in numerous papers in scientific journals and she is the author of?Recherches sur les Substances Radioactives?(1904),?L’Isotopie et les éléments Isotopes?and the classic?Traité’ de Radioactivité?(1910).
The importance of Mme. Curie’s work is reflected in the numerous awards bestowed on her.
She received many honorary science, medicine and law degrees and honorary memberships of learned societies throughout the world.
Together with her husband, she was awarded half of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, for their study into the spontaneous radiation discovered by Becquerel, who was awarded the other half of the Prize.
In 1911 she received a second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, in recognition of her work in radioactivity.
She also received, jointly with her husband, the Davy Medal of the Royal Society in 1903 and in 1921, President Harding of the United States, on behalf of the women of America - presented her with one gram of radium in recognition of her service to science.
The Library of Congress?online catalog?lists hundreds of titles, in a number of languages, relating to Madame Curie, including works authored by her.
Of particular interest is the Manuscript Division’s deed, between the Marie Curie Radium Fund of New York City and chemist Marie Curie of Paris, France, presenting Curie with one gram of radium for use in her research.
领英推荐
Needless to say, I look forward to my next "green-as-green-can-be" walk at Soka University in Aliso Viejo - - - and hope I'll uncover another partly camouflaged "Crown Jewel-" not too unlike Capt. Sparrow always seemed to do on the silver screen.
Steve Sayer is currently a consultant covering GFSI, USDA, FDA, humane handling of feed animals and birds, OSHA, Human Resources and is a technical writer for multiple industries. He works part-time for California State Beaches in San Clemente, California.
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EXTRA, EXTRA, EXTRA READ MORE ABOUT MARIE AND SOKA
When I came to the states after living in Europe in the early '80s, the Berlin Wall was still up, which meant no westerners were going through the Iron Curtain.
I always wanted to visit all the European countries, in particular Warsaw, Poland. When learning Danish I met two (2) people who recently immigrated from Poland to Denmark.
They were initially very introverted and I could understand why - once we began conversing in Danish / Poland / English and the life they left behind.
I have mis-placed a now yellowed picture of my Polish friends - and - people from Iran and Iraq in our Danish class. When the picture was taken, we all had become fast friends with nothing but respect, smiles ,and laughter by the time the class ended.
Imagine that.
Learning of my classmates and their plight at the time, just re-enforced how blessed I was to have been born in the USA.
I wish them all well in 2022 - and the only the very best life has or had to offer them.
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WORD OF THE DAY
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NOTA: ESTA ES LA PRIMERA DE UNA SERIE DE RESE?AS DE MUJERES QUE HAN TENIDO UN IMPACTO EN EL CAMPO DE LA CIENCIA EN LOS SIGLOS XIX Y XX.
HAY UNA BUENA PRIMAVERA DE MUJERES PARA ELEGIR, Y LO MáS IMPORTANTE, PARA APRECIAR Y ADMIRAR SUS MUCHOS, MUCHOS LOGROS Y SACRIFICIOS, A PESAR DE LA OPRESIóN MUNDIAL DE LAS MUJERES EN TODO EL MUNDO DURANTE ESA ERA Y "PAíSES SELECCIONADOS" AúN EN 2022 - - - .
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A CONTINUACIóN SE ENCUENTRA UNA IMAGEN DE LA BANDERA OFICIAL DEL ESTADO Y LOS COLORES DE POLONIA, EUROPA
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Antes de vivir en mi ciudad actual de San Clemente, California, viví durante 12 a?os en la ciudad de Aliso Viejo, (Condado de Orange) California.
Justo al final de la calle de mi casa, para mi gran deleite, estaba la Universidad Soka. Pura serendipia en su máxima expresión.
Confía en mí.
Mi esposa y yo hicimos caminatas diarias durante a?os alrededor de la Universidad Soka debido a su belleza, diversos jardines, la cultura que comparte y las hermosas vistas de los valles circundantes y, en días despejados, el extenso Océano Pacífico.
La Universidad Soka de América (SUA) es una universidad privada.
Originalmente fundado en 1987, fue establecido en su campus actual en 2001 por Daisaku Ikeda, el fundador del movimiento budista internacional Soka Gakkai.
Aunque está afiliado a la Soka Gakkai, mantiene un plan de estudios secular que enfatiza el pacifismo, los derechos humanos y la coexistencia creativa de la naturaleza y la humanidad.
Una escuela hermana mucho más grande y antigua, la Universidad Soka en Japón, está ubicada en Hachioji, Tokio.
SUA abarca una universidad de artes liberales de cuatro a?os y una escuela de posgrado que ofrece un programa de maestría en liderazgo educativo y cambio social.
SUA también alberga el Centro de Investigación de la Cuenca del Pacífico y el recién creado Centro SUA para la Raza, la Etnicidad y los Derechos Humanos.
La universidad tiene una dotación de $ 1.2 mil millones a partir de 2017, lo que le otorga la segunda dotación más alta por estudiante de cualquier colegio o universidad en los Estados Unidos.
Aunque nos mudamos al sur a San Clemente, todavía me dirijo hacia el norte por la Interestatal 5 por unas pocas millas para visitar Soka para caminar o explorar y leer en su magnífica biblioteca varias veces al a?o.
La semana pasada, regresé a Soka para un recorrido a pie por el campus para ver qué fauna/flora estaba sucediendo en julio de 2022.
Durante mi esclarecedora caminata, me encontré con una estatua en honor a Marie Curie y su esposo (nacido en Francia) de Varsovia, Polonia, ?que no había visto antes!
?Cómo diablos pasó eso, nunca jamás lo sabré!
Había leído y sabía sobre Marie Curie y me impresionó mucho esta mujer polaca de finales del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX que logró tanto - - - a pesar del desprecio que recibiría - desde el principio - porque era de "mujer género."
Miope. Qué definición tan acertada de los ignorantes.
Sin embargo, fue por sus acciones, trabajo laborioso y su tesoro de logros en la ciencia que todos los detractores en el tiempo fueron silenciados.
La forma en que debe ser.
Ella sabía hacia dónde se dirigía.
Desde mi perspectiva, ella estaba extremadamente concentrada, y era una científica dogmática completamente cargada de pasión.
Sí, desde entonces los libros e incluso Hollywood han hecho películas de esta notable, inteligente y humilde mujer de Polonia, Europa.
Marie Curie, de soltera Maria Sklodowska, nació en Varsovia, Polonia, el 7 de noviembre de 1867, hija de un maestro de escuela secundaria.
Para una perspectiva histórica del resto de este blog, la guerra civil estadounidense terminó dos a?os antes, en 1865, y poco después, el presidente Lincoln fue trágicamente asesinado en el teatro Ford.
Recibió una educación general en las escuelas locales y algo de formación científica de su padre. Se involucró en una organización revolucionaria de estudiantes y consideró prudente dejar Varsovia, luego en la parte.
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