Ihadoccasiontoexamineacertainnumberofminerals.Afewofthemshowedactivity;theywerethosecontainingeitheruraniumorthorium.Theactivityofthesemineralswouldhavehadnothingastonishingaboutit,ifithadbeeninproportiontothequantitiesofuraniumorthoriumcontainedinthem.Butitwasnotso.Someofthesemineralsrevealedanactivitythreeorfourtimesgreaterthanthatofuranium.Iverifiedthissurprisingfactcarefully,andcouldnotdoubtitstruth.Speculatingaboutthereasonforthis,thereseemedtobebutoneexplanation.Theremustbe,Ithought,someunknownsubstance,veryactive,intheseminerals.MyhusbandagreedwithmeandIurgedthatwesearchatonceforthishypotheticalsubstance,thinkingthat,withjoinedefforts,aresultwouldbequicklyobtained.Neitherofuscouldforeseethatinbeginningthisworkweweretoenterthepathofanewsciencewhichweshouldfollowforallourfuture.
Ofcourse,Ididnotexpect,evenatthebeginning,tofindanewelementinanylargequantity,asthemineralshadalreadybeenanalyzedwithsomeprecision.Atleast,Ithoughttheremightbeasmuchasonepercentoftheunknownsubstanceintheminerals.Butthemoreweworked,theclearerwerealizedthatthenewradioactiveelementcouldexistonlyinquiteminuteproportionandthat,inconsequence,itsactivitymustbeverygreat.Wouldwehaveinsisted,despitethescarcityofourmeansofresearch,ifwehadknownthetrueproportionofwhatweweresearchingfor,noonecantell;allthatcanbesaidnowisthattheconstantprogressofourworkheldusabsorbedinapassionateresearch,whilethedifficultieswereeverincreasing.Asamatteroffact,itwasonlyafterseveralyearsofmostarduouslaborthatwefinallysucceededincompletelyseparatingthenewsubstance,nowknowntoeverybodyasradium.Hereis,briefly,thestoryofthesearchanddiscovery.
Aswedidnotknow,atthebeginning,anyofthechemicalpropertiesoftheunknownsubstance,butonlythatitemitsrays,itwasbytheseraysthatwehadtosearch.WefirstundertooktheanalysisofapitchblendefromSt.Joachimsthal.Analyzingthisorebytheusualchemicalmethods,weaddedanexaminationofitsdifferentpartsforradioactivity,bytheuseofourdelicateelectricalapparatus.Thiswasthefoundationofanewmethodofchemicalanalysiswhich,followingourwork,hasbeenextended,withtheresultthatalargenumberofradioactiveelementshavebeendiscovered.
Inafewweekswecouldbeconvincedthatourprevisionhadbeenright,fortheactivitywasconcentratinginaregularway.And,inafewmonths,wecouldseparatefromthepitchblendeasubstanceaccompanyingthebismuth,muchmoreactivethanuranium,andhavingwelldefinedchemicalproperties.InJuly,,weannouncedtheexistenceofthisnewsubstance,towhichIgavethenameofpolonium,inmemoryofmynativecountry.
Whileengagedinthisworkonpolonium,wehadalsodiscoveredthat,accompanyingthebariumseparatedfromthepitchblende,therewasanothernewelement.Afterseveralmonthsmoreofcloseworkwewereabletoseparatethissecondnewsubstance,whichwasafterwardsshowntobemuchmoreimportantthanpolonium.InDecember,,wecouldannouncethediscoveryofthisnewandnowfamouselement,towhichwegavethenameofradium.
However,thegreatestpartofthematerialworkhadyettobedone.Wehad,tobesure,discoveredtheexistenceoftheremarkablenewelements,butitwaschieflybytheirradiantpropertiesthatthesenewsubstancesweredistinguishedfromthebismuthandbariumwithwhichtheyweremixedinminutequantities.Wehadstilltoseparatethemaspureelements.Onthisworkwenowstarted.
Wewereverypoorlyequippedwithfacilitiesforthispurpose.Itwasnecessarytosubjectlargequantitiesoforetocarefulchemicaltreatment.Wehadnomoney,nosuitablelaboratory,nopersonalhelpforourgreatanddifficultundertaking.Itwaslikecreatingsomethingoutofnothing,andifmyearlierstudyingyearshadoncebeencalledbymybrother-in-lawtheheroicperiodofmylife,IcansaywithoutexaggerationthattheperiodonwhichmyhusbandandInowenteredwastrulytheheroiconeofourcommonlife.
WeknewbyourexperimentsthatinthetreatmentofpitchblendeattheuraniumplantofSt.Joachimsthal,radiummusthavebeenleftintheresidues,and,withthepermissionoftheAustriangovernment,whichownedtheplant,wesucceededinsecuringacertainquantityoftheseresidues,thenquitevalueless,andusedthemforextractionofradium.HowgladIwaswhenthesacksarrived,withthebrowndustmixedwithpineneedles,andwhentheactivityprovedevengreaterthanthatoftheprimitiveore!Itwasastrokeofluckthattheresidueshadnotbeenthrownfarawayordisposedofinsomeway,butleftinaheapinthepinewoodneartheplant.Sometimelater,theAustriangovernment,onthepropositionoftheAcademyofScienceofVienna,letushaveseveraltonsofsimilarresiduesatalowprice.WiththismaterialwaspreparedalltheradiumIhadinmylaboratoryuptothedatewhenIreceivedthepreciousgiftfromtheAmericanwomen.