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CURIES, CURE, AND CULTURE SAMUEL HELLMAN* As we come close to the end of the first century following the discovery of radioactivity, it is interesting to reflect upon what can be learned from the story of this discovery, of the discoverers, and of its acceptance by society. It is difficult to exaggerate the profound effect of this finding of a new power and of the lionization of its discoverers. This great revelation, with its folk heroes, was accompanied by great expectations and, unfortunately, some subsequent disillusionment. Perhaps we can profit from the consideration of this experience as we enter a similar time of discovery and expectation about the results of the new biology. My interest in the Curies and their discoveries is both professional and personal, stimulated by my medical specialty (radiation oncology) and by my admiration for a remarkable and dedicated individual, Maria Skoldowska Curie, and her family. There are three interesting and quite different biographies worth your attention: the French biography, Une Femme Honorable, by Françoise Giroud [1], which has been translated into English and retitled Marie Curie—A Life [2]; the highly personal and adulatory biography Madame Curie by Marie's daughter, Eve Curie [3]; and the most recent one, Grand Obsession, by Rosalynd Pflaum [4]. The latter is of special interest because it also includes biographical information on Irene Curie (Marie's other daughter) and her husband, Frederick Joliot. Because Joliot was actively involved in and was the leader of the study of atomic energy and its application in France, this family story allows us to trace radioactivity from its discovery through some of its potential and realized societal applications. One might ask whether this is appropriate for a medical journal. I believe that the answer is yes, since in almost every instance the purposes and consequences of the discovery of radioactivity, either intended or not, were primarily medical. It was the medical uses of radium that *Dean, Division of Biological Sciences and Pritzker School of Medicine, 5841 Maryland Avenue, MC 1000, Chicago, Illinois 60637.© 1992 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 003 1-5982/93/3601-0790$01 .00 Perspectives in Biofogy and Medicine, 36, 1 ¦ Autumn 1992 39 stimulated the hysteria for this "wonder drug," and the popularity of Madame Curie, in large measure, resulted from the therapeutic indications for radium use. Radioactivity brought to us the artificial radioactive isotopes so much a part of past and present medical research, clinical laboratory tests, and medical imaging, isotopes that are, for the radiation oncologist, essential weapons in the therapeutic armamentarium. The undesired consequences of radiation exposure were only realized later. Both Marie and Irene became martyrs to their discoveries, for they both died of the hematopoietic consequences of exposure to ionizing radiation. Today, of course, the untoward health consequences of exposure to radioactive substances are a feared sequel to the widespread use of atomic energy. While most of the original benefits as well as the subsequently discovered complications of radioactivity and its uses are medical, the implications of the story are far greater. It reveals a great deal about society's response to discovery, new knowledge, and disillusionment. It also reveals a profound fear and antipathy to certain areas of scientific research thought to be tampering with essentials of nature which, it is argued, one should better leave alone. This type of antiscience is embodied in the Frankenstein story, where the doctor, despite good intentions, is driven by ambition to experiment in forbidden areas, thus unleashing evil. A similar view is of concern today as we consider genetic engineering and other applications of the biological revolution. The story of the Curies and their discoveries is interesting history and can teach us much about other great discoveries and how they may be accepted by society. Curies Maria Skoldowska was born in 1867, in Warsaw, Poland, the fifth child of Vladislav and Bronislawa Skodowski, who were impoverished members of the lesser nobility. Vladislav was a physics and mathematics professor. The death of Madame Skoldowska from tuberculosis when Marie was eleven was a great tragedy for the family, but it helped create a strong bond between the children and Professor Skoldowski as he sought to...

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