居里夫人自傳 第66章 缺乏關懷下的奮鬥 (9)
    Withhisgreatsuccessinothercountries,thecompleteappreciationofPierreCurieinFrance,howevertardily,didatlastfollow.Atforty-fivehefoundhimselfinthefirstrankofFrenchscientistsandyet,asateacher,heoccupiedaninferiorposition.Thisabnormalstateofaffairsarousedpublicopinioninhisfavor,andundertheinfluenceofthiswaveoffeeling,thedirectoroftheAcademyofParis,L.Liard,askedParliamenttocreateanewprofessorshipintheSorbonne,andatthebeginningoftheacademicyear-PierreCuriewasnamedtitularprofessoroftheFacultyofSciencesofParis.AyearlaterhedefinitelyquittedtheSchoolofPhysicswherehissubstitute,PaulLangevin,succeededhim.

    Thisnewprofessorshipwasnotestablishedwithoutafewdifficulties.Thefirstprojecthadprovidedforanewchair,butnotforalaboratory.AndPierreCuriefeltthathecouldnotacceptasituationwhichinvolvedtheriskoflosingeventhemediocremeansofworkthathethenhad,insteadofofferingbetterones.Hewrote,therefore,tohischiefs,thathehaddecidedtoremainattheP.C.N.Hisfirmnesswontheday.Tothenewchairwasaddedafundforalaboratoryandpersonnelforthenewwork(achiefoflaboratory,apreparator,andalaboratoryboy).Thepositionofchiefoflaboratorywasofferedtome,whichwasacauseofverygreatsatisfactiontomyhusband.

    ItwasnotwithoutregretthatwelefttheSchoolofPhysics,wherewehadknownsuchhappyworkdays,despitetheirattendantdifficulties.Wehadbecomeparticularlyattachedtoourhangar,whichcontinuedtostand,thoughinastateofincreasingdecay,forseveralyears,andwewenttovisititfromtimetotime.LaterithadtobepulleddowntomakewayforanewbuildingforthePhysicsSchool,butwehavepreservedphotographsofit.WarnedofitsapproachingdestructionbythefaithfulPetit,Imademylastpilgrimagethere,alas,alone.Ontheblackboardtherewasstillthewritingofhimwhohadbeenthesouloftheplace;thehumblerefugeforhisresearchwasallimpregnatedwithhismemory.Thecruelrealityseemedsomebaddream;Ialmostexpectedtoseethetallfigureappear,andtohearthesoundofthefamiliarvoice.

    EventhoughParliamenthadvotedthecreationofanewchair,itdidnotgosofarastoconsiderthesimultaneousfoundingofalaboratorywhichwas,nevertheless,necessarytothedevelopmentofthenewscienceofradioactivity.PierreCuriethereforekeptthelittleworkroomattheP.C.N.,andsecuredasatemporarysolutionofhisdifficultytheuseofalargeroom,thennotbeingusedbytheP.C.N.Hearranged,too,tohavealittlebuildingconsistingoftworoomsandastudysetupinthecourt.

    Onecannothelpfeelingsorrowinrealizingthatthiswasalastconcession,andthatactuallyoneofthefirstFrenchscientistsneverhadanadequatelaboratorytoworkin,andthiseventhoughhisgeniushadrevealeditselfasearlyashistwentiethyear.Withoutdoubtifhehadlivedlonger,hewouldhavehadthebenefitofsatisfactoryconditionsforhiswork,buthe,wasstilldeprivedofthemathisdeathattheprematureageofforty-eight.Canwefullyimaginetheregretofanenthusiasticanddisinterestedworkerinagreatwork,whoisretardedintherealizationofhisdreambytheconstantlackofmeans?Andcanwethinkwithoutafeelingofprofoundgriefofthewaste——theoneirreparableone——ofthenation'sgreatestasset:thegenius,thepowers,andthecourageofitsbestchildren?

    PierreCuriehadalwaysinmindhisurgentneedforagoodlaboratory.When,becauseofhisgreatreputation,hischiefsfeltobligedtotrytoinducehim,in,toacceptthedecorationoftheLegiond'Honneur,hedeclinedthatdistinction,remainingtruetotheopinionalreadyreferredtoinaprecedingchapter.Andtheletterhewroteonthisoccasionwasinspiredbythesamefeelingasthatintheonepreviouslyquoted,whenhewrotetohisdirectortorefusethepalmesacademiques.Iquoteanextract:"IprayyoutothanktheMinister,andtoinformhimthatIdonotintheleastfeeltheneedofadecoration,butthatIdofeelthegreatestneedforalaboratory."

    AfterhewasnamedprofessorattheSorbonne,PierreCuriehadtoprepareanewcourse.Thepositionhadbeengivenaverypersonalcharacterandaverygeneralscope.Hewasleftgreatfreedominthechoiceofthematterhewouldpresent.Takingadvantageofthisfreedomhereturnedtoasubjectthatwasdeartohim,anddevotedpartofhislecturestothelawsofsymmetry,thestudyoffieldsofvectorsandtensors,andtotheapplicationoftheseideastothephysicsofcrystals.Heintendedtocarrytheselessonsfurther,andtoworkoutacoursethatwouldcompletelycoverthephysicsofcrystallizedmatterwhichwouldhavebeenespeciallyusefulbecausethissubjectwassolittleknowninFrance.Hisotherlessonsdealtwithradioactivity,setforththediscoveriesmadeinthisnewdomain,andtherevolutiontheyhadcausedinscience.
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