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.