Marie Curie: The Ambition to Understand
We first shared these words from Marie Curie on the Laidlaw Scholars Network in 2020. In the years since, she has resurfaced repeatedly in our Scholar Spotlights. Kathleen Francisca Liem, Ishna Tripathi, Meng (Jenny) Sijia and Divya Chaurasia have each named Curie among the leaders who inspire them, drawing on her scientific curiosity, perseverance, independence and commitment to putting knowledge to use. With Ambition at the centre of this year’s conferences, their reflections make this a particularly good moment to return to her words and the example behind them.
Marie Curie: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
Following the Questions Further
Curie built her career around questions that science had yet to answer. Her work on radioactivity led to the discovery of polonium and radium, transformed the study of atomic physics, and made her the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to receive Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields. During the First World War, she helped bring mobile X-ray units to the front so that wounded soldiers could be examined more quickly and accurately. More than a century later, Scholars continue to recognise in her the same combination of curiosity, persistence and purpose. Curie followed difficult questions beyond the limits of existing knowledge and carried what she learned into practical service, offering a powerful example of the kind of ambition that begins with wanting to understand more.
Values in Focus
Curie’s words speak to the Laidlaw value of being #Ambitious and the Oxford Character Project virtue of #Curiosity. Her ambition took shape through difficult questions pursued with patience and intellectual independence. Curiosity kept her looking more closely at what remained uncertain or unexplained, even when doing so took her beyond the assumptions of her time.
A Call to Reflect
As you consider Marie Curie’s words, we invite you to reflect and share in the comments: what in your own work are you determined to understand more deeply?