Marie Curie

By Susan Quinn

Recommended on: 18th September 2023

Marie Curie: A Life by Susan Quinn.  Marie Curie is one of the greatest scientists of the last several centuries.  Yet people often know little of the life of this extraordinary woman who helped unravel the mysteries of radiation—to her own, and her daughter’s, ultimate peril and demise. Maria was born in Poland as the fifth and the youngest child of teachers Bronisława, (née Boguska), and Władysław Skłodowski. Władysław was the director of a secondary for boys, where he taught mathematics and physics. Władysław also taught Maria mental math—a trick she used to her advantage through her career. (Would that we commonly taught these skills in elementary school nowadays.)  Meanwhile, researcher Pierre Curie in Paris was beginning to think he would have a career wedded only to science, since he could never find a woman as interested in science as he.  But when Marie moved to Paris, Pierre was bowled over.  Their mutual passions produced a Nobel Prize and two daughters.  Pierre might, however, be thought of as an exemplar of the dangers of excessive focus. It seems he was killed while inattentively attempting to cross a busy street.  Marie, devastated, still forged ahead in her research, winning a Nobel Prize yet again for her solo efforts.  This fascinating book tells the story of this exceptional woman, with a phenomenal memory and even more extraordinary ability to piece together the mysteries of radiation.

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