Scientists and scientific idealism:

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by paddoboy, Jun 28, 2015.

  1. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    All mentioned so far fit the bill of what I required in the OP.
    Still to me, Marie Curie and her husband still stand out somewhat, probably due to the heavy physical long term effort involved in what they did, the fact that they did not do it for awards or money, and the great work Marie did in WW1 .
    Plus I also saw the movie on TCM starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon and that prompted me to start this thread.
    Hollywood may tend to flower up and exaggerate things in their movies, but in that movie, simply entitled "Madam Curie" it was pretty factual and spot on although made in 1943.
     
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  3. brucep Valued Senior Member

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    It's a great movie. Charles Darwin was a tortured soul.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3632469/
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2015
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  5. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    Darwin in my opinion would rank with Einstein, Galileo and Newton as among the greatest scientists, and all fit the criteria quite well in line with my OP.
    And there are probably many more who remain virtually unknown, that worked through difficulties and barriers, but still kept there arse up and head down. [as some of us in Australia are apt to say

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    The only movie on Darwin I ever saw was "Creation"
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974014/
    made in 2009.
     
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  7. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    The following played a part in my choice of Marie Curie......
    https://www.aip.org/history/curie/war1.htm

    As the German army swept toward Paris, the government decided to move to Bordeaux. France's entire stock of radium for research was the single gram in Curie's lab. At the government's behest, Curie took a Bordeaux-bound train along with government staff, carrying the precious element in a heavy lead box. Unlike many, however, Curie felt her place was in Paris. After the radium was in a Bordeaux safe-deposit box, she returned to Paris on a military train.
    X-rays could save soldiers' lives, she realized, by helping doctors see bullets, shrapnel, and broken bones. She convinced the government to empower her to set up France's first military radiology centers. Newly named Director of the Red Cross Radiology Service, she wheedled money and cars out of wealthy acquaintances.

    She convinced automobile body shops to transform the cars into vans, and begged manufacturers to do their part for their country by donating equipment. By late October 1914, the first of 20 radiology vehicles she would equip was ready. French enlisted men would soon dub these mobile radiology installations, which transported X-ray apparatus to the wounded at the battle front,petites Curies (little Curies).

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    This “petite Curie,” which brought X-rays to the Front in World War I, was displayed in Paris in 1998 during the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the discovery of radium.
    READ Curie's words

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    LTHOUGH CURIE HAD LECTURED
    about X-rays at the Sorbonne, she had no personal experience working with them. Intending to operate the petite Curie herself if necessary, she learned how to drive a car and gave herself cram courses in anatomy, in the use of X-ray equipment, and in auto mechanics. As her first radiological assistant she chose her daughter Irène, a very mature and scientifically well-versed 17-year-old. Accompanied by a military doctor, mother and daughter made their first trip to the battle front in the autumn of 1914.

    “The use of the X-rays during the war saved the lives of many wounded men; it also saved many from long suffering and lasting infirmity.”--Marie CurieWould Irène be traumatized by the sight of the soldiers' horrific wounds? To guard against a bad reaction, Curie was careful to display no emotion herself as she carefully recorded data about each patient.
    Irène followed her mother's example. Heedless of the dangers of over-exposure to X-rays, mother and daughter were inadequately shielded from the radiation that helped save countless soldiers' lives. After the war the French government recognized Irène's hospital work by awarding her a military medal. No such official recognition came to Curie. Perhaps her role in the Langevin affair was not yet forgiven.
     
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  8. Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    From my Post # 9
    From river Post # 10
    Einstein was laughed at when he proposed that energy was quantized, which led to the development of quantum theory. Planck’s paper described black body radiation as being quantized & suggested that there were some type of
    unobservable oscillators which caused the effect.
     

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