The World's Most Dangerous Manuscript

I can assume that such wording brings to mind a Voynich manuscript, a Copiale codex or a Soig book, but things are much more interesting, because it is not about the danger of "sacred" knowledge contained in a manuscript, but literally that contact with it can lead to an agonizing death.

 

I'm sure Marie Curie needs no introduction. Even if you are not familiar with her biography, and do not know that she received as many as two Nobel Prizes (in physics in 1903 and in chemistry in 1911), you understand that we are talking about radioactivity.

 

During her work, Maria Curie received such a large dose of radiation that she had to be buried in a lead coffin. It's quite an interesting fact in general, because, having developed methods of isolating radioactive isotopes, neither Maria, nor her husband or colleagues had the slightest idea about the need for protection. The woman simply carried radium in her pocket.

 

As a result, Maria Curie died in 1934 of aplastic anemia caused by exposure to huge doses of radiation, and many of her colleagues died of leukemia and other similar diseases.

 

I think it's not difficult to guess now that her manuscripts and personal effects given to the National Library of France (in Paris) are also radioactive and will remain so for about 1500 years, since the half-life of radium-226 is about 1600 years. They are stored, of course, in a separate room in lead boxes.

 

If you need to see these manuscripts for some reason, you will be able to do so only in a protective suit, after getting approval, after which you will be required to sign a "disclaimer of responsibility".

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