The Elements of Marie Curie

<strong>Dava Sobel, acclaimed and bestselling author of <em>Longitude, </em>chronicles the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science </strong>- <strong>and the untold story of the young women who trained in her laboratory.</strong>

For decades Marie Curie was the only woman in the room at international scientific gatherings, and despite constant illness she travelled far and wide to share the secrets of radioactivity, a term she coined. She is still the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields.

Her ingenuity extended far beyond the laboratory walls; grieving the death of her husband, Pierre, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne, devotedly raised two daughters, drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I, befriended Albert Einstein and inspired generations of young women to pursue science as a way of life.

Approaching Marie Curie from a unique angle, Sobel navigates her remarkable discoveries and fame alongside the women who became her legacy - from Norway's Ellen Gleditsch and France's Marguerite Perry, who discovered the element francium, to her own daughter, Irene, a Nobel Prize winner in her own right. <em>Elements of Marie Curie </em>deftly illuminates the trailblazing life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time.