The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science

Written by Dava Sobel

Narrated by Patricia Rodriguez

The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo’s Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the remarkable young women trained in her laboratory

“Even now, nearly a century after her death, Marie Curie remains the only female scientist most people can name,” writes Dava Sobel at the opening of her shining portrait of the sole Nobel laureate decorated in two separate fields of science—Physics in 1903 with her husband, Pierre, and Chemistry by herself in 1911. And yet, as brilliant and creative as she was in the laboratory, Marie Curie was equally memorable outside it. Grieving Pierre’s untimely death in 1906, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne, devotedly raised two brilliant daughters, drove a van she outfitted with X-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I, befriended Albert Einstein and other luminaries of twentieth-century physics, won support from two US presidents, and inspired generations of young women to pursue science as a way of life.

As Sobel did so masterfully in her portrait of Galileo through the prism of his daughter, she approaches Marie Curie from a unique angle, narrating her remarkable life of discovery and fame alongside the women who became her legacy—from France’s Marguerite Perey, who discovered the element francium, and Norway’s Ellen Gleditsch, to Mme. Curie’s elder daughter, Irène, winner of the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. For decades the only woman in the room at international scientific gatherings that probed new theories about the interior of the atom, Marie Curie traveled far and wide, despite constant illness, to share the secrets of radioactivity, a term she coined. Her two triumphant tours of the United States won her admirers for her modesty even as she was mobbed at every stop; her daughters, in Ève’s later recollection, “discovered all at once what the retiring woman with whom they had always lived meant to the world.”

With the consummate skill that made bestsellers of Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, and the appreciation for women in science at the heart of The Glass Universe, Dava Sobel has authored a radiant biography and a masterpiece of storytelling, illuminating the life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798894865911

Dava Sobel

Dava Sobel is the internationally renowned author of ‘Longitude’ and ‘Galileo’s Daughter’. She is also an award-winning former science reporter for the ‘New York Times’ and writes frequently about science for several magazines, including the ‘New Yorker’, ‘Audubon’, ‘Discover’, ‘Life’ and ‘Omni’. She is currently writing a book called ‘The Planets’ for Fourth Estate. She lives in East Hampton, New York.

Reviews for The Elements of Marie Curie

[muddyboy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful study that pays homage to an iconic woman pacesetter in Physics with a personal touch. The book emphasizes her scholarship as well as her family life and her very focused passion to get more women involved in science. The book shows how she and other women must struggle for recognition and their rightful place in a male dominated career. I learned a lot about this great and influential woman.

[asukamaxwell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marie Curie has always been among my top favorite historical women. A martyr for science before anyone truly understood the dangerous effects of radiation exposure. She was proud to be Polish, allowed her daughters to reach their fullest potential, and broke the glass ceiling, balancing work and homelife in an age where women were forced to choose between marriage or an education. I actually read Sobel's "Longitude" earlier this year, and their enthusiasm for science shines yet again. The sexism that Marie and her female colleagues faced is incredibly frustrating, but an excellent reminder of what women in STEM still deal with today.

I only wish Sobel focused more on the proteges passing through the Curie lab, and less on Curie herself. There are so many biographies of Curie already. With a title like this, I wanted to know more about how these women carried Curie's influence into their professional life and their accomplishments within the lab. Eva Ramstedt, a notable Swedish physicist who studied under Curie, has only a paragraph in her introductory chapter. Curie's daughters are of course brilliant, but the rest are a revolving door, outshined until they finally get their due at the end. But Sobel's passion for her subjects made this read very engaging and the intention is clear. I'm certainly not well-versed in physics but Sobel's explanations and descriptions - as needed - are accessible and easy to follow. I recommend this one if you're looking for inspiring, feminist nonfiction!

[japaul22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dava Sobel has written a new biography of scientist Marie Curie that is a straight-ahead biography of Marie Curie that also focuses on the women who worked in her labs and went on to make significant discoveries of their own.

I enjoyed learning more about Marie Curie's life and her scientific discoveries. The science writing is very clear and understandable to a lay person like me. I also was interested in several of the other women in the book, especially Curie's daughters.

However, I was hoping for a little more. I'm not sure exactly what. Part of it was that if I didn't have the subtitle, I'm not sure I would have really gotten Sobel's thesis. Certainly there was a focus on women in the book, but that seemed like a no-brainer when talking about Marie Curie so it didn't seem that special of an idea.

So, this was enjoyable and informative, but, to me, just not that special. I was hoping for more from Sobel, whose Longitude I loved and found innovative as nonfiction.

[kalliegrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is mostly biography of Marie Curie, with some other women scientists mentioned here and there who were able to follow in her wake. I really enjoyed this, and find her remarkable.

[booklover1801 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marie Sklodowska Curie won two Nobel Prizes, one in physics and one in chemistry, and dedicated her life to studying radioactivity, a word that she coined. “The Elements of Marie Curie,” a work of non-fiction by Dava Sobel, traces Marie’s experiences from her bittersweet childhood in Poland until her death in France. We learn about her extensive education, marriage to Pierre, motherhood (the Curies had two daughters, Irène and Ève), the Curies’ discovery of polonium and radium, and the decades that Madame Curie spent unlocking the mysteries of radioactivity.

Marie was a humble person, but she knew her own worth. When Pierre died in 1906, she was grief-stricken, but took his place as a teacher of physics at the Sorbonne, where she had received degrees in both physical sciences and mathematics. In addition, she invited young scholars to her laboratory, where they acquired valuable skills and experience. Few people realize how many female scientists worked in Europe during the early twentieth century. Sobel names quite a few talented women, such as Marguerite Perey and Ellen Gleditsch, who were mentored by Mme. Curie, and went on to have distinguished careers of their own. In her preface, Sobel states that there were “forty-five aspiring female scientists who spent a formative period in the Curie lab.”

The discovery of x-rays made it possibly to more precisely diagnose medical conditions. To her tremendous credit, Marie created portable x-ray units that were used in World War I to help physicians treat wounded soldiers. Tragically, the researchers who exposed themselves to radioactivity did not realize that they needed to protect themselves from this powerful force. As a consequence, a number of them would die at a relatively young age. “The Elements of Marie Curie” is an enlightening exploration of Madame Curie’s amazing life, not just as a scientist, but also as a doting parent and renowned professor. It should be noted that those of us who are unfamiliar with advanced physics, chemistry, and mathematics will find some of the more technical passages difficult to navigate. Overall, however, the author vividly details the tremendous contributions made by Marie, Irėne, and many other eminent individuals—among them, Wilhelm Roentgen, Henri Becquerel, Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein, and Max Planck—who sought to understand and unleash the power of the atom.

[neurodrew · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marie Curie and her woman collaborators discover new elements in Paris
I have always imagined a fraternal feeling for Marie Curie, nee Slodowska, born in Warsaw at the time that Poland was occupied by Russia and Austro-Hungary. This book is a complete biography, organized by chapters relating the discovery of radioactivity and the isolation of elements, as new female scientists are given the chance to work in the Curie lab. Madame Curie seems both formidable in her dedication to the advancement of science, and vulnerable in her personal life. The author describes the science of radiochemistry well, explaining what was known in the period 1880 to 2030, and how the elements were discovered. The repeated introduction of biographies of the scientists became somewhat like encyclopedia entries, interrupting the flow of the book, but the prose is excellent, and I read through it in about 5 days.