Saturday, August 30, 2014

Dying For Their Cause

Madame Marie Curie, who coined the term "radioactivity," died of radiation. She was a heroic pioneer.

So it's sad to read that five co-authors of what will be an important contribution to unravelling the Ebola virus have died from Ebola: link


May they rest in peace.

17 comments:

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Interesting. Not being a scientist, I didn't know there is an informal, quasi-religious veneration of fellow scientists who died for their cause, although I remember the Madame Curie story from 7th grade. Galileo the Brave and so on.

We don't have that in the law, a nasty paper cut from an accordion file being pretty much the worst of it.

That said, there is a nondenominational memorial service for members of the local bar who have died since the last one. I think it's at the Presbyterian church across the street from the courthouse.

I've never attended.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I'm not one to say "rest in peace."

I think it beyond meaningless, offensive as deceitful.

I fully appreciate that mine is very much a minority view, very much mindful what fear and sorrow can do to a person.

I try not to make a big deal out of it.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

So why do people comment on blogs, anyway?

Well, lots of reasons, of course.

One of the things I like is getting prompted to connect to stuff in my head and then make new connections.

For example, I just remembered that we had 7th grade science class with Mr. Lang and there was this anthology book and we had to read a different mini-biography every week.

I thought it was called "Giants of Science" but I couldn't find it easily enough on the internet.

The title was an allusion to somebody who accepted some sort of acclaim by saying that, if he had seen farther than his fellow man, it is because he has stood on the shoulders of giants.

I'll find that on the internet, certainly.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

That took, what, five seconds?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Actually, we do have our martyrs in the law, of a sort, come to think of it.

Atticus Finch.

There might be one or two others and they might not even be fictional.

It's possible.

ndspinelli said...

The 2 US care workers who contracted Ebola were Christian missionaries. There are Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc. hospitals. Are there any Muslim hospitals?

Unknown said...

I noted that too, Spinelli.

These people were Mother Theresa's. It's a huge loss that they died because they dedicated their lives to the care of others. RIP.


I won't even forget this leftist I met here locally. My short stint in politics a few years ago we met at a local gop event and she was pretending to be "on the right". It didn't take long for me to figure out she was attempting to be a mole/spy. (ooo good one! --- we have so much to hide) She couldn't keep her stupid and delusional leftist opinions to herself. At one point she insisted that the US was the least generous of all the nations.

I wanted to punch her in the mouth. But I didn't.

ndspinelli said...

April, I grew up in a blue collar town. And if you came to my hometown w/ a chip on your shoulder you were gonna get your ass kicked. Punching an asshole does feel good, but it really hurts your hand. I went to forearming instead of punching whenever possible. But alas, that is only for youts. I stopped punching in my early 20's and don't miss it. Although once in awhile...

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

In a way even more heroic. Currie probably did not recognize, at least immediately, the dangers of the materials she was handling.

These medial workers knew how horrific Ebola is and faced it in an attempt to save lives.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Eric, the only thing you can say when someone dies (to the living person who suffered the loss) is "I am sorry." To a close friend you might say "I am here for you if you need it." Beyond that it is just words and you are almost going to offend someone if you say more than that.

Rest in Peace is sort of the same thing in a general sense. It is certainly not intended to be offensive or deceitful, at least by most people who say it. It is a short hand for saying you are sorry that person died. So as an alternative to RIP you could say: "I am sorry this person died."

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Atticus Finch was not a martyr. (Beyond being a fictional character) Finch does the right thing for an accused man but other than having the true criminal target his daughter he does not suffer for his choice. While some of the citizens disagree with what he is doing, he still has the respect of the town leaders. The guilty man is caught.

It is tragic that Finch's client ends up killing himself after being convicted.

Did Atticus Finch commit malpractice?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

It is good to recognize these people and those still rising their lives. A recent success for a vaccine in monkeys suggests that this will ultimately be controllable, but until then it requires unusual courage to be on the front line of this epidemic. As bad as humans are in indiscriminately killing each other, microbes have always been far worse.

chickelit said...

As bad as humans are in indiscriminately killing each other, microbes have always been far worse.

This true. Many of the antibiotics we use were first isolated from microbes found in dirt -- chemical weapons which microbes used against each other in their never-ending and fast evolving wars.

Paddy O said...

microbists.

JAL said...

I wanted to punch her in the mouth. But I didn't.

Sigh.

I have those thoughts from time to time ... they usually come out when faced by bizarre statements that are so far out they catch me completely off guard. The Americans are tightwads one always raises my blood pressure. I have to walk away.


Screaming might be interesting. Punching would get me a court date.

But yeah, I'd like to punch a few people to get their attention. But I wasn't raised that way.

deborah said...

It take a special courage and love to work in those conditions.