French physicist (1859–1906), best known for his pioneering investigation of radioactivity, who shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Curie. ALS, in French, signed “P. Curie,” on both sides of a 5.5 x 4 Faculté des Sciences de Paris note card, May 12, 1905. Letter to Henriette Vincent Banquer. In full (translated): “2 decg of radium salt of activity 250 are the equivalent of 1 gram activity 50, and from the point of view of radiation you will obtain the same results. It is also correct to say that when you use radium barium in the form of bromide, it attracts a little moisture from the air, and that humidity will absorb part of the radiation. It would be better if your physician saw to it that the applications be made from the product in a bag of cloth or paper, and that the radium product be in the form of sulfate which is not hygrometric. The Anet de Lisle Company usually sells its products in the form of bromide. It would be necessary, therefore, to ask for a special preparation.-In the meantime you may still use the applications with the little apparatus. The layer of ebonite to be found in the apparatus absorbs a portion of the radiation. Please accept, Madame, my sincere regards." In fine condition, with light crease to lower corner, and surface loss and rubbing from removal of an ownership stamp above text. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope addressed by Curie. A ‘People of the Century’ tag has been affixed in the blank lower left of the envelope indicating it was part of Chicago businessman Noel Goldblatt's ‘People of the Century’ collection.
In this 1905 letter, Curie advised Banquer on how best to use radium products, including radium salt, for medical treatment. Radium salts such as radium bromide or barium sulfates were placed in a tube, wrapped in paper or cloth, then passed over or inserted into the area to irradiated. After the Curies' discovery of radium in 1898, people tried to get as much of the element as possible for medical cures. Little was known about its harmful effects and although it was extremely rare and expensive, radium was added to food, clothing, toys, and watches. People drank radium water for their health and medical journals declared the element safe. Curie learned otherwise. After fellow scientist Henry Becquerel received an accidental chemical burn, Curie began self-testing himself and received similar burns, and scientists realized that radium was dangerous if improperly handled and administered.
On June 6, 1905, three weeks prior to this letter, Curie delivered his lecture in Stockholm for the 1903 Nobel Prize award which the Curies shared with Becquerel. He referred to the dangers of radium therapy and its proper handling: "A more prolonged action could lead to paralysis and death. Radium must be transported in a thick box of lead..." Curie himself contracted bone cancer through his self-inflicted radium experimentation but died in a 1906 street accident before the cancer could do its work. However the Curies' work revolutionized cancer care and set the stage for the age of nuclear medicine. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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