In the basements of the National Library of France, kept in special boxes with several layers of lead, are found some of the most important documents in the history of science.
To be able to consult them, researchers must wear protective clothing and must sign a consent form in which they exempt the institution from any responsibility.
They are probably the best kept documents in the library, which houses some of the rarest and oldest books in the world.
But the fear with which these notebooks are kept goes beyond their value for knowledge. Caution is so much because they are highly radioactive.
We are talking about the notebooks of Marie Curie, the only woman who has been awarded the Nobel Prize twice (in 1903, in Physics, and 1911, in Chemistry). Together with her husband Pierre, she discovered not only new chemical elements, but also the principles of atomic physics and radioactivity.
Like all objects that were close to the Curies, the scientist’s notebooks can be highly dangerous for humans. Although the Curies discovered radium and polonium (named after Poland, where Marie Curie was born on November 7, 1867), the two scientists never imagined the harmful effects that radioactivity could have on our organism. .
Marie Curie, whose birth name was Maria Salomea Skłodowska, died in 1934 of aplastic anemia, a rare type of anemia that probably resulted from her frequent exposure to radium and polonium, which samples she used to carry in her pocket.
In this way, any objective related to her and that is still kept must be kept with extra precautions and in lead boxes, including the scientist’s own body – the first of a woman to be buried, in her own merits, in the Pantheon in Paris , the famous mausoleum of the glories of France.
When he was transported to the site, a lead sarcophagus had to be built more than 2 cm thick to prevent the radioactive atoms still leaving Curie’s body from escaping.
Scientists believe that his body will remain that way, like notebooks, for at least 1,500 years, the average time it takes for radium atoms to disintegrate — the new metal that Curie dedicated his life to and with which it changed. once the history of Physics and Chemistry.
radioactive house
In the south of Paris, in the community of Arcueil, there is a three-story building where entry is prohibited.
A high wall covered in graffiti and covered with barbed wire protects it. Surveillance cameras guard the site to prevent intruders, while authorities regularly check the surroundings.
The house on Rue de la Convention, however, is abandoned: it was the last laboratory where Marie Curie worked – and another place where the scientist’s experiments left high levels of radiation for centuries to come
It is called by many “Chernobyl of the Seine”, in reference to the river that cuts through Paris, due to the radiation still present there. But, in honor of the scientist, the laboratory continued to be used for decades as the headquarters of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Faculty of Science in Paris, without any knowledge that the radioactivity that guarded its walls, carpets, floors, roof and wallpapers it was too high for the presence of humans.
Towards the end of her life, Marie Curie worked there, unprotected, with some of the most dangerous radioactive metals, from thorium and uranium to polonium. According to what she wrote in her autobiography, one of her pleasures at night was to see the blue-green flashes that escaped the metals “like faint fairy lights.”
When handling the radioactive metals, she wrote and drew in her notebooks, which became impregnated with the atoms of everything Curie touched.
It was only years after his death that most countries banned the commercial use of these metals. The first was the United States, in 1938.
It was a blow to many industries, because radioactive materials, the root of Curie’s discoveries and awards, had become so popular that they were used to make everything from face creams to razor blades and underwear – or even care products. hair loss and male impotence.
Long way
However, it was not until the 1980s that the laboratory where the scientist worked was finally emptied, after many neighbors, according to reports at the time, reported an increase in the number of cases of cancer in the community.
In one of the inspections carried out at the site, signals were found not only from radio, but also from a uranium isotope with an average life of 4.5 billion years.
The decision was then taken to transfer Curie’s belongings, including her notebooks, considered French national heritage, to a safe place in the National Library.
In the 1990s, the laboratory received a thorough cleaning, but French authorities still prohibit entry to the site and continue to periodically monitor the radiation levels in its surroundings, including the Seine River.
It is estimated that France has already spent more than $10 million on cleaning the site, and it is believed that this amount could multiply in the coming years, when the laboratory house will finally be dismantled.
In the meantime, the notebooks will continue to be kept for at least a millennium and a half inside the lead boxes, hoping that humans from some distant future can once again touch, without wearing special attire, the handmade testimony of one of the most brilliant women. of history
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