By Marjorie C Malley
Oxford University Press
Hardback: £14.99 $21.95
Between 1899 and 1902, Polish physicist Marie Curie processed 100 kg of radioactive pitchblende ore – in 20 kg batches – by hand, in the courtyard of a leaky shed in Paris. The feat provided her with the atomic weight of radium and earned her a Nobel prize. But the research also left her with lifelong medical complications from exposure to radioactivity.
Marjorie C Malley’s comprehensive history of radioactivity captures the excitement, promise and tragedy of the “mysterious” field from its inception in the late 19th century to the present day. The narrative spans two continents and two world wars, taking in decorative uranium glassware, radium spas and atom bombs along the way. Avoiding technical detail, Malley explores the cultural, technological and scientific forces that shaped research in radioactivity, and relates the important personalities and discoveries that drove the field forward.
Malley’s cast spreads across France, Germany, the UK and Canada. We are introduced to Wilhelm Röntgen, discoverer of X-rays; Henri Becquerel, who noticed that invisible rays from uranium registered on photographic plates, even in the dark; and Marie Curie, who first applied electrical techniques to understanding radioactive substances and who discovered the elements radium and polonium in the process.
In Canada, Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Soddy investigated further the radioactivity of both uranium and thorium and found that in the course of emitting radiation they change into different elements. The shock of atomic transmutation – with its undertones of alchemy – was almost heresy to chemists at the time. When they returned to the UK, Rutherford went on to discover the atomic nucleus, while Soddy was the first to form the concept of isotopes.
Two aspects of Malley’s narrative stand out for me: the “reasonable” hypotheses that scientists put forward for the origins of radioactivity, which seem so outlandish now; and the shocking ignorance of the true medical dangers of radiation that prevailed until relatively late in the 20th century.
In fluorescent paint factories of the 1920s, workers wetted the tips of their brushes with their lips, swallowing radioactive radium in the process. Alpha radiation from the paint often led to the death of jaw tissue and mysterious cancers. Researchers regularly mixed radioactive solutions with their fingers: physicist Stefan Meyer had to give up playing the bass viol because of radiation damage to his fingers.
Malley’s clearly written text captures the intellectual excitement of early research into radioactivity, though I found her section on the cultural forces shaping radioactivity rather weak. Although she notes that individuals, scientific ideals, culture and nationalism (among others) triggered the spurt of research interest in radioactivity, I was unconvinced that research into radioactivity deserves a special place among the countless other scientific advances of the 20th century. Was its development really that unique? I also felt that in a history of radioactivity, the implications of using nuclear power – for good or evil – were rather glossed over in deference to scientific papers and super scientists.
In Radioactivity, Malley weaves disparate historical threads into an accessible and engaging narrative for the nonexpert. I would recommend this book, describing it as a well written and useful overview of the topic for students and teachers. Those seeking in-depth analysis of the implications of the technology – or biographies of the scientists involved – should look elsewhere.
