The First Issue of Le Radium (1904)

Founded in 1904, le Radium (along with Jahrbuch der Radioaktivitat und Electronik) was the first scientific journal devoted to radioactivity and related subjects. Its first editor was Jacques Danne, an assistant to Pierre Curie. In 1910, following the Academie des Sciences rejection of her nomination for membership, Marie Curie stopped submitting her publications to Comptes Rendus, the academy’s journal, and instead published almost exclusively in le Radium and the Journal de Physique.  The cover photograph features the three codiscoverors of the element radium, from left to right: Gustave Bemont (?), Pierre Curie and Marie Curie. Note: the figure on the left is sometimes identified as Henri Becquerel (clearly incorrect) or Petit, the Curie's assistant, rather than Bemont.

In 2002, another copy of the same issue sold for $2868 at a Christies' auction

Donated by Merril Eisenbud

Miscellaneous                Museum Directory