Science in Paris: Marie Curie and Louis Pasteur

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We started some exploration in the history of science today. After a hotel breakfast of flaky croissants, jellies, and soft cheeses, we set out to the Marie Curie Museum. It's typically only open in the afternoons, but they book group appointments for mornings.

The museum is small, but it's on a larger campus that offers education courses. It also backs to a small garden that was established by Marie Curie herself. Inside the museum, we learned about her work. Marie Curie, along with her husband and colleague, won the Nobel Prize in physics. Later, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on her own, becoming the first person to ever win two Nobel prizes. She'd discovered the first radioactive element, which she named polonium after her homeland, Poland. She worked closely with radioactive elements like polonium and radium, and, at the time, no one really understood how dangerous the materials were. It wasn't until the end of her life that people realized some of the dangers associated with radioactive materials. In fact, we got to see old advertisements of beauty products and creams that boasted about their radium content.

We got to walk through her office, which is set up much as it was when she was living. We also got to go into a renovated version of her laboratory. It had to be decontaminated from radiation, and so many parts of the laboratory are newer. Still, it was interesting to see where she worked and what equipment she used. I think all of us were impressed by the manual, crank-operated centrifuge!

From the museum staff, we learned about a traveling exhibit on Madam Curie that was set up at the Pantheon. It's not far from the Madam Curie Museum, so we decided to check it out. We walked there, and I spoke to some museum guides in my very poor French. They offered our group a discount entrance fee of 7€ instead of the 9€. The Pantheon was incredible! I wish we had a bit longer to really explore. There was the Madam Curie exhibit on the main level, along with incredible murals, statues, and other art depicting some of the famous people who are interred inside. We walked down to the crypt and saw where Marie and her husband, Pierre Curie, are interred.

We made the decision to make the walk from the Curie Museum to the Louis Pasteur Museum (at the Institute Pasteur) so that we could see more of Paris. We walked through Le Jardin du Luxembourg, which I suspect is stunning in the spring and summer. We stopped for lunch along the way, and we re-learned our lesson from yesterday that sitting down for a meal in Paris takes quite a bit of time. While I would prefer to slow down and enjoy the change of pace, it's difficult to do when we have scheduled appointments!

The Institut Pasteur is still used as a research and education facility, in addition to their vaccine work. So, I don't think the museum is open to the public. We had to book our tour, present our passports, and receive identification to enter. Our guide took us through the museum, teaching us about Pasteur's work with microbes and sanitation. He was able to disprove the idea of spontaneous generation. That is, things like molds, plants, and insects can't just spontaneously appear. Through his methods of sanitation and pasteurization, we can prevent the growth of undesirable molds in substances like wine and beer (and, of course, milk). He also invented some of the first vaccines. The first was a bit accidental--a vaccine against cholera for hens. From there, he intentionally created a vaccine against anthrax for sheep. After that, he took steps to create a vaccine against rabies, even though the virus was too small for him to see with his microscope. His rabies vaccine saved many lives, and grateful people from all over the world donated to his institute to further his (and his colleague's) research and vaccine work.

Like Marie & Pierre Curie, Louis Pasteur was to be interred at the Pantheon in Paris. However, his wife chose to have him interred at the Institut where they lived and researched. Their son-in-law paid for the vault. We got to go downstairs to see it, and, let me tell you, I was floored. There were vaulted ceilings, mosaics, art, and tributes to Pasteur. One mosaic was of a boy vending off a rabid dog. Another was of hens, in honor of the cholera vaccine. There were Catholic angels and a science angel. Everything shimmered from gold, and there was polished marble and granite. I'm not sure I've ever seen something so grandiose.

I left the museums appreciating this program even more. I've never gotten to go to Paris (or London) before, so this trip is an incredible opportunity. What's more, I'm getting to do and see things I probably never would do if I traveled to these places on my own. Who would have guessed one of the most impressive & memorable things I'd see in Paris would be at the Institut Pasteur?

There are more photos from the museums below.

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Photos

Advertisements from the 20s
They're advertising lotions with radium.

Marie Curie's Laboratory
This was her newer laboratory that she used at the end of her life. It's since been renovated for decontamination purposes.

Le Jardin du Luxembourg
The Garden of Luxembourg (January)

Institut Pasteur
The program through my university set up a museum tour for us at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.

The Pasteur Vault
We were told we'd get to go down to the vault to see where Pasteur was interred. We were not expecting this.

Mosaics in the Pasteur Vault
Honoring his vaccination work

More of Pasteur's Interment
One angle holds up a banner that reads, "Science."