Pierre Curie was a French physicist, a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity
and radioactivity.
In 1903 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, and
Henri Becquerel, "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint
researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel".
Early life Born in Paris, Pierre was the son of Eugène
Curie and Sophie-Claire Depouilly Curie.
He was educated by his father, and in his early teens showed a strong aptitude for mathematics
and geometry.
When he was 16, he earned his math degree.
By the age of 18 he had completed the equivalent of a higher degree, but did not proceed immediately
to a doctorate due to lack of money.
Instead he worked as a laboratory instructor.
In 1880, Pierre and his older brother Jacques demonstrated that an electric potential was
generated when crystals were compressed, i.e. piezoelectricity.
To aid their work, they invented the Piezoelectric Quartz Electrometer.
Shortly afterwards, in 1881, they demonstrated the reverse effect: that crystals could be
made to deform when subject to an electric field.
Almost all digital electronic circuits now rely on this in the form of crystal oscillators.
Pierre Curie met Maria Skłodowska when a friend introduced him to her.
What attracted Pierre to Marie was her devotion to science.
He proposed to her but she refused, even though she loved him, too.
She finally agreed to marry him on 26 July 1895.
Research Prior to his famous doctoral studies on magnetism,
he designed and perfected an extremely sensitive torsion balance for measuring magnetic coefficients.
Variations on this equipment were commonly used by future workers in that area.
Pierre Curie studied ferromagnetism, paramagnetism, and diamagnetism for his doctoral thesis,
and discovered the effect of temperature on paramagnetism which is now known as Curie's
law.
The material constant in Curie's law is known as the Curie constant.
He also discovered that ferromagnetic substances exhibited a critical temperature transition,
above which the substances lost their ferromagnetic behavior.
This is now known as the Curie point.
Pierre formulated what is now known as the Curie Dissymmetry Principle: a physical effect
cannot have a dissymmetry absent from its efficient cause.
For example, a random mixture of sand in zero gravity has no dissymmetry.
Introduce a gravitational field, and there is a dissymmetry because of the direction
of the field.
Then the sand grains can ‘self-sort’ with the density increasing with depth.
But this new arrangement, with the directional arrangement of sand grains, actually reflects
the dissymmetry of the gravitational field that causes the separation.
Pierre worked with his wife Marie Skłodowska-Curie in isolating polonium and radium.
They were the first to use the term "radioactivity", and were pioneers in its study.
Their work, including Marie's celebrated doctoral work, made use of a sensitive piezoelectric
electrometer constructed by Pierre and his brother Jacques.
Pierre and one of his students made the first discovery of nuclear energy, by identifying
the continuous emission of heat from radium particles.
He also investigated the radiation emissions of radioactive substances, and through the
use of magnetic fields was able to show that some of the emissions were positively charged,
some were negative and some were neutral.
These correspond to alpha, beta and gamma radiation.
The curie is a unit of radioactivity originally named in honor of Curie by the Radiology Congress
in 1910, after his death.
Subsequently, there has been some controversy over whether the naming was in honor of Pierre,
Marie, or both.
In the late years of the nineteenth century, Pierre Curie was investigating the mysteries
of ordinary magnetism and simultaneously became aware of the spiritualistic experiments of
other European scientists, such as Charles Richet and Camille Flammarion.
Pierre Curie initially thought that systematic investigations into the paranormal would help
him with some unanswered questions about magnetism.
He wrote to his fiancée Marie, "I must admit that those spiritual phenomena intensely interest
me.
I think in them are questions that deal with physics" Pierre Curie's notebooks from this
period show he read many books on spiritualism.
About some séances with Eusapia Palladino, Pierre Curie wrote to physicist Georges Gouy
in a letter dated 24 July 1905:
"We had at the Psychology Society a few séances with the medium Eusapia Paladino.
It was very interesting, and truly those phenomena that we have witnessed seemed to us to not
be some magical tricks—a table lifted four feet above the floor, movements of objects,
feelings of hands that pinched you or caressed you, apparitions of light.
All this in a room arranged by us, with a small number of spectators all well known
and without the presence of a possible accomplice.
Cheating would only be possible if the medium had extraordinary abilities as a magician.
But how to explain the different phenomena when we are holding her hands and legs, and
the lighting of the room is sufficient to see everything going on?"
Pierre did not go to séances as a mere spectator, and his goal certainly was not to communicate
with some spirits.
He saw the séances as scientific experiments, tried to monitor different parameters, took
detailed notes of every observation.
Personal life
Pierre and Marie Skłodowska-Curie's daughter Irène Joliot-Curie and their son-in-law Frédéric
Joliot-Curie were also physicists involved in the study of radioactivity.
They were awarded a Nobel prize for their work as well.
The Curies' other daughter, Ève, wrote a noted biography of her mother.
Their granddaughter Hélène Langevin-Joliot is a professor of nuclear physics at the University
of Paris, and their grandson Pierre Joliot, who was named after Pierre Curie, is a noted
biochemist.
Pierre Curie died in a street accident in Paris on 19 April 1906.
Crossing the busy Rue Dauphine in the rain at the Quai de Conti, he slipped and fell
under a heavy horse-drawn cart.
He died instantly when one of the wheels ran over his head, fracturing his skull.
In April 1995 Pierre and Marie were enshrined in the crypt of the Panthéon in Paris.
Awards Nobel Prize in Physics
Davy Medal Matteucci Medal
Elliott Cresson Medal awarded posthumously during Marie Skłodowska-Curie's award ceremony
See also Eusapia Palladino
References
External links NOBELPRIZE.ORG: History of Pierre and Marie
Pierre Curie's Nobel prize Official Nobel biography
Biography American Institute of Physics Annotated bibliography for Pierre Curie from
the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues Curie's publication in French Academy of Sciences
papers Some places and memories related to Pierre
Curie Pierre Curie at Find a Grave