March: 587 WORRY 27 January 2023

The discoverer of radium Madame Curie*

Two Nobels reflect the favor she did curry

From radiation she never did hide

So from leukemia she died

About exposure risk she never did worry

What me worry is an Alfred E Neuman* quote

Its intended purpose Mad Comics to promote

This magazine was the purest satire

Of its humor readers never did tire

It’s amazing how much laughter it could evoke

*(1) Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (1867-1934) was a Polish-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice (Physics-1903 and Chemistry-1911), and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. She is credited with the discovery of radium and polonium. She died of leukemia attributed to her work with radioactivity.

*(2) Alfred E. Neuman is the fictitious mascot and cover boy of the American humor magazine MAD. The gap tooth cover boy’s motto “What, me worry” became the catchphrase of teenage readers in the 1950’s. The E stands for enigma.