This rapid succession of discoveries which overthrew familiar scientific conceptions long held in physics and chemistry did not fail to meet, at first, with doubts and incredulity. But the great part of the scientific world received them with enthusiasm. At the same time Pierre Curie's fame grew in France and in foreign countries. Already in the Academy of Sciences had awarded him the Lacaze prize. In , Mascart, who had many times given him most valuable aid, decided to propose him as a member of the Academy of Sciences. It was not easy for Pierre Curie to agree to this, believing, as he did, that the Academy should elect its members without the necessity of any preliminary solicitation or paying of calls. Nevertheless, because of the friendly insistence of Mascart, and above all because the Physics Section of the Academy had already declared itself unanimously in his favor, he presented himself. In spite of this, however, he failed of election, and it was only in that he became a member of the Institute, a membership which did not last even a year. He was also elected to several academies and scientific societies in other countries, and given an honorary doctor's degree by several universities.
During we went to London at the invitation of the Royal Institution, before which my husband was to lecture on radium. On this occasion he had a most enthusiastic reception. He was especially happy to see here again Lord Kelvin, who had always expressed an affection for him, and who, despite his advanced age, preserved an interest, perennially young, in science. The illustrious scientist showed, with touching satisfaction, a glass vial containing a grain of radium salt that Pierre Curie had given him. We met here also other celebrated scientists, as Crookes, Ramsay, and J. Dewar In collaboration with the latter, Pierre Curie published investigations on the discharge of heat by radium at very low temperatures, and upon the formation of helium in radium salt.
A few months later the Davy medal was conferred upon him (and also upon me) by the Royal Society of London, and at almost the same time, we received, together with Henri Becquerel, the Nobel prize for physics. Our health prevented us from attending the ceremony for the awarding of this prize in December, and it was only in June, , that we were able to go to Stockholm where Pierre Curie gave his Nobel lecture. We were most cordially received and had the felicity of seeing the admirable Swedish nature in its most brilliant aspect.
The award of the Nobel prize was an important event for us because of the prestige carried by the Nobel foundation, only recently founded (). Also, from a financial point of view, the half of the prize represented an important sum. It meant that in the future Pierre Curie could turn over his teaching in the School of Physics to Paul Langevin, one of his former students, and a physicist of great competence, He could also engage a preparator to aid him in his work.
But at the same time the publicity this very happy event entailed bore very heavily on a man who was neither prepared for it, nor accustomed to it. There followed an avalanche of visits, of letters, of demands for articles and lectures, which meant a constant enervation, fatigue, and loss of time. He was kind and did not like to refuse a request; but on the other hand, he had to recognize that he could not accede to the solicitations that overwhelmed him without disastrous results to his health, as well as to his peace of mind, and his work. In a letter to Ch. Ed. Guillaume, he said:"People ask me for articles and lectures, and after a few years are passed, the very persons who make these demands will be astonished to see that we have not accomplished any work."
And in other letters of the same period, written to E. Gouy, he expressed himself as follows:
" March
"As you have seen, fortune favors us at this moment; but these favors of fortune do not come without many worries. We have never been less tranquil than at this moment. There are days when we scarcely have time to breathe. And to think that we dreamed of living in the wild, quite removed from human beings!"
" January
"MY DEAR FRIEND:
