In 2020 the Baltic States Regional Association BASNET Forumas published the Lithuanian version of the book “Marie Curie – Une femme dans son siècle“ (Marie Curie –A woman in her century). The book was written by Curie Museum and Marion Augustin, with an introduction by Hélène Langevin-Joliot, Marie Curie’s grand-daughter. The original French version of the book was issued in 2017 on the occasion of Marie Curie’s 150th anniversary.
BASNET Forumas published this book in the framework of its continuing project “On the verge of cognition“. The project goal is to disseminate women scientists’ fundamental input in science development. This book was selected by BASNET Forumas association because it contains many aspects.
The first one is the personality of M. Curie, whose contribution to science and society is not yet fully appreciated. She and her husband got a first Nobel Prize for research “on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel”. Today her researches seem more important because they built the background for a new field of physics – nuclear physics – and its applications in medicine.
Moreover her life led women to pursue education, and her stubbornness, talent and scientific achievements opened the doors of world universities to women. She really changed the society, anticipating the growing need for science in society. M. Curie’s attitudes on the importance of science and education, her understanding of the need to allow talents to use their abilities for the benefit of society regardless of their gender, are still on our community agenda. We too are trying to find ways on how to attract pupils to science.
M. Curie showed the way that to understand the nature phenomena it is necessary to use an experiment-based training.
The last and very important aspect for choosing the book was its unique structure, giving the possibility for the readers to participate in the lives of the book’s heroes through personal letters and documents facsimiles. Another advantage of the book is that it is richly illustrated, easy to read and targeting the general public.
On November 9th 2020 BASNET Forumas presented the translated book. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the event was transferred to the Internet space and organised as a remote event with live broadcast for the whole of Lithuania by one of the TV channels. The event programme included welcome speeches by French and Polish Ambassadors in Lithuania and video congratulations by Hélène Langevin-Joliot on the occasion of this publication, which were filmed in Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie’s house. The book was presented by one of the authors, Natalie Pigeard-Micault, representing Curie Museum in Paris. The heads of the Lithuanian institutions that supported the book publication spoke about M. Curie’s significance for modern science and the importance of her discoveries for their organizations. At the end of the event BASNET Forumas thanked the individuals and national organisations who understood the importance of the book and contributed to its publication.
Special thanks to EPWS President Claudine Hermann for her international assistance.
The book has now begun its life in Lithuania…
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dalia Satkovskiene