Explore how radium has changed the world in a positive way. Do you feel it was worth the sacrifice?

Although radium can be seen as an evil entity in the book, it's also been used for the greater good. Explore how radium has changed the world in a positive way. Do you feel it was worth the sacrifice?

I was not sure of the extent to which it is still used in medicine, so - to be honest - I had to do a quick search. Results show that forms of radium are still used to treat cancer, such as prostrate cancer which has spread to the bone, to sterilize medical instruments, etc. Evidently radioactive isotopes have replaced radium. I would probably have to spend a lot more time researching, but it seems that the Curries' discovery did lead to the nuclear medicine we rely on today for detections and treatments. What bothers me is the extent to which corporations in the United States ignored the dangers and continued to let women handle radium and lick their radium paint brushes. An interesting fact I ran across is that the Curries' lab books are still too dangerously radioactive to handle as of today.

This is so interesting about the Curries' books, rebeccar. It seems that many aspects of scientific discoveries have both positives and negatives. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a crisis for us to learn the drawbacks

Knowing that radium treatment can effectively battle several forms of cancer does not excuse the general toll women and minorities have continually paid to advance science or industry in some form or another. The sacrifice of any human life is too high a price to pay.

Business, greed, and a blatant disregard for human rights will continue to prey on the more vulnerable populations as long as there are "good reasons" for doing so, and as long as those with power continue to get away with it.

There have been some discoveries of useful needs of radium - but at what cost? If this had been your grandmother who died of this atrocity, would it have been worth it? Due to the negligence of corporate greed, women's lives were sacrificed and no amount of good can come from that. Radium is not the culprit here, mankind's greed is.

I think the Curies' should have done a whole hell of a lot more research on radium before they turned it loose.

I think it is used to treat some form of cancer today. While it was very unfortunate for the Radium girls, for some, it may have saved their lives.

Because it is so very radioactive, it appears to have little use today. As mentioned some cancer treatments. Why did there have to be such sacrifice is the more important question. What is it in human nature that humans allow other humans to be so damaged?

Hard to say. It is now used in cancer treatments and nuclear reactors, so there are positive benefits. Still, it should have been recognized early on for the dangerous physical effects. It's easy to play Monday morning quarterback in our modern world, so I won't judge.

Needless to say, the advances it made in cancer treatments can not be glossed over. My question is, if the Curries were the scientist that they obviously were, where were the protocols to ensure any negative effects? I don't think that the second part of the question is fair in that you are saving and taking lives . There are no winners.