WOMAN IN SCIENCE 



Subsequent investigations seemed only to render "con- 

 fusion worse confounded." They appeared to justify the 

 dreams of the alchemists of old, not only regarding the 

 transmutation of metals but also respecting the elixir of 

 life. For was not this apparently absurd idea vindicated 

 by the observed curative properties bordering almost on 

 the miraculous this marvelous element was reputed to 

 possess ! Its virtues, it was averred, transcended the fabled 

 properties of the famous red tincture and the philosopher 's 

 stone combined, and many were prepared to find in it a 

 panacea for the most distressing of human ailments, from 

 lupus and rodent ulcer to cancer and other frightful forms 

 of morbid degeneration. 1 



And the end is not yet. Continued investigations, made 

 in all parts of the world since the discovery of radium by 

 the Curies, have but emphasized its mysterious properties, 

 and compelled a revision of many of our most cherished 

 theories in chemistry, physics and astronomy. No one 

 single discovery, not even Pasteur's far-reaching discovery 

 of microbic life, it may safely be asserted, has ever been 

 more subversive of long-accepted views in certain domains 

 of science, or given rise to more perplexing problems re- 

 garding matters which were previously thought to be thor- 

 oughly understood. 



Never in the entire history of science have the results of 

 a woman's scientific researches been so stupendous or so 

 revolutionary. And never has any one achievement in 

 science reflected more glory on womankind than that which 

 is so largely due to the genius and the perseverance of 

 Mme. Curie. 



After their startling discovery, honors and tributes to 

 their genius came in rapid succession to the gifted couple. 

 On the recommendation of the venerable British savant, 



i Notice sur Pierre Curie, p. 20 et seq., by M. D. Gernez, Paris, 

 1907, nd Le Radium, Son Origine et ses Transformations, by M. L. 

 Houllerigue, in La Bevue de Paris > May 1, 1911. 



