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

by Dava Sobel

The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo’s Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory who were launched into stellar scientific careers of their own

“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, Sobel makes clear, as brilliant and creative as she was in the laboratory, Marie Curie was equally passionate 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 U.S. presidents; and inspired generations of young women the world over to pursue science as a way of life.

As Sobel did so memorably 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 her most recent The Glass Universe, Dava Sobel has crafted a radiant biography and a masterpiece of storytelling, illuminating the life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Biography, History, Feminism, Audiobook, Memoir

318 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2024

About the author

Dava Sobel is an American writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Her books include Longitude, about English clockmaker John Harrison; Galileo's Daughter, about Galileo's daughter Maria Celeste; and The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars about the Harvard Computers.

Reviews

[Wiktoria Krzyżaniak]

yooo it's Maria SKŁODOWSKA Curie :|

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Imagine naming your discovery polonium to honour your homeland just for people to blatantly ignore it after your death while making money off of your life story.

[Aleksandra (part-time hiatus) · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s Maria SKŁODOWSKA Curie

[EveStar91 · Rating 5 out of 5]

It had an asphalt floor and a glass roof that leaked.
A century would pass before the term “glass ceiling” gained currency as a metaphor for invisible barriers to women’s advancement, but Marie Curie toiled under an actual glass ceiling from 1899 to 1902, the years she spent in that “poor, shabby hangar,” spinning pitchblende into radium.

The Elements of Marie Curie has been a particularly special read to me by providing not only a biography of Marie's life, but also a glimpse into all the  macro-aggressions faced by the first few women in Science academia. They had to overcome a lot of challenges such as not being allowed memberships in academic societies or to present their own work - around the same time as the suffragette movements. While society and academia have moved forward since then, it was really galling to see the imposter syndrome women suffer and micro-aggressions such as withholding credit and bad jokes on personal lives that are still prevalent today. One can only hope that society continues to move forward with awareness on these issues.

“The combination of the ability to think in mathematical formulas and to manipulate skillfully the whimsical instruments of a physical laboratory— a combination necessary to attain eminence in physics— is apparently one seldom met with in women,” she (Harriet Brooks) said. She seemed to have forgotten that she herself had once embodied these abilities.

The book is strengthened by excerpts from letters and recollections about Marie adding a personal touch to her characterization. It was wonderful to see the several strong women depicted here and her support system.

“Then the door opened and I saw a pale, timid little woman in a black cotton dress, with the saddest face I had ever looked upon.” “I had been prepared to meet a woman of the world, enriched by her own efforts and established in one of the white palaces of the ChampsÉlysées or some other beautiful boulevard of Paris.” Instead, “I found a simple woman, working in an inadequate laboratory and living in a simple apartment on the meager pay of a French professor.” This discovery unhinged Mrs. Meloney.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Grove Atlantic for providing me with a ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
[One star for the premise and the whole book; One star for the characterization; One star for the story; One star for the world-building; Half a star for the writing - Four and a half stars on the whole, rounded up to Five stars.]

[lila !! (jurdan's version) hiatus · Rating 1 out of 5]

guys. Maria SKŁODOWSKA Curie.
An amazing woman from POLAND
woah
couldn't notice that one element called... Polonium? wonder what's that from !

[Christy fictional_traits · Rating 4 out of 5]

'I had been prepared to meet a woman of the world, enriched by her own efforts...Instead, I found a simple woman working in an inadequate laboratory and living in a simple apartment, on the meagre pay of a French professor'.

Marie Curie is a name that has long epitomised women's contribution to science. Dava Sobel takes us back to Marie's (born Marya and nicknamed Manya) childhood and education in Poland, before moving to the Sorbonne in Paris to further her studies. Enrolling in 1891 as 1 of 23 female students, among 2,000 men, to study science, little did she know that she had truly found home. Although her experimental work was always at the forefront of her life, she found love with her research partner Pierre and had two daughters. And, as focused as she was on her work, she still always found time to give back to the scientific community and other women in science in particular - including training female x-ray technicians with only basic schooling in WW1 to meet the skyrocketing demand of those wounded in action.

Sobel's, 'The Elements of Marie Curie' is, indeed, a multi-faceted perspective look at Curie's life, research and accolades. It is well-researched and, although bound by the science of Curie's discoveries, equally balanced by the biography of her personal life. As acclaimed as Marie Curie is, I still discovered so much more about this truly talented lady.

'...few persons contributed more to the general welfare of mankind and to the advancement of science than the modest, self-effacing woman whom the world knew as Mme. Curie'.

[Bianca · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you cant respect a woman enough to even respect her decision to keep using her maiden name then what are you doing writing a book for her?

[PauPau · Rating 1 out of 5]

No respect for her maiden name. Shouldn't be accepted.

[Luna · Rating 1 out of 5]

*inhale* SKŁODOWSKA

[Akshat Verma]

Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie

[Linnie S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Imagine writing a book about someone and you don’t even bother to know their name. Embarrassing.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn’t written in an entirely captivating or engaging way, but my god, Marie Sklodowska Curie was incredible!

I’ve only known her name as the answer to a General Knowledge pop quiz. But now I know why. She had a wonderful romance with her husband, won two Nobel prizes and set up places of learning, to lift up both young girls and also women in STEM year after year. All this while suffering from slow radiation poisoning.

Her daughters went on to become lauded scientists in their own right, and Eve Curie wrote a couple of bangers - one about Sklodowska Curie’s life, and another about her time as a WWII reporter gallivanting around crazy dangerous and adventurous parts of the world in Journey Among Warriors.

This is the story of what it takes to drive innovation with a zero fucks attitude, like a bad ass scientist boss.

[Gabby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a HUGE Marie Salomea Skłodowska fan but this was despairingly dry along with the disrespect to Marie insisting on going by her maiden name (she signed BOTH Nobel Prizes with it). Honestly reading Radium Girls and Obsessive Genius, of which are both incredible books, would be better than wasting your time with this one.

[Panda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Audiobook (10 hours) narrated by Pat Rodrigues
Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.

I put in for the audiobook to be added to the goodreads list. In the meantime, please enjoy this video from the publishers site: Thank you goodreads librarians for adding this edition so quickly! You are appreciated!

https://vimeo.com/1029758264

I am going to drop this one, it's just overly dry. I keep coming back to it, reading a little at a time and as much as I like the details, the delivery shouldn't be this difficult for someone who is interesting af. Others might enjoy the delivery, and it may go different if I was able to read it myself and skim over the more lackluster areas, but as an audiobook it's not working for me.

[the.literaturewitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting with her displacement from diminishing homeland of Poland to her travels to France and tracing all the revolutionary “firsts” she was able to accomplish, The Elements of Marie Curie is a wonderful history of one of the most incredible figures in scientific history. Still only one of the few female scientists most can came and a twice Noble laureate, what Curie achieved in her life was immense. From the first inklings of a curiously tuned mind to her discovery of an entire facet of chemistry yet to be discovered to her fatal diminishing by what she spent most of her time with - the history of Curie becomes both a history of passionate scientific zeal as well as just being that of radioactivity. Not only did she repeatedly stand out as the only dress among hoards of suits, but under her precise tutelage, many many more girls were able to step into science’s room, sit at the table barred for them till now, and create many more “firsts” in their own countries. Sobel, thus, does a wonderful job marrying Curies’ own particular history with all the lives they changed for the better. Through quoting letters, recorded conversations, biographies from her own daughters as well as photographic records, the author masterfully weaves a worthy tapestry of an extraordinary life.

With chapters entitled with names of the girls as well as the elements or isotopes discovered, I really enjoyed the way in which Sobel arranged this work. Even though we were acquainted with so many names by the halfway point - so many lives had Curie helped transform - that one would expect to get muddled, but Sobel successfully manages to keep them quite distinctive by assigning them particular characteristics that made them easier to identify. Even still, none of them really felt like caricatures and even with the very brief encounters with some of them, the author managed to show us the humanity and the sense of wonder that propelled these girls forward.

The only gripe I had with the work - and this is quite superficial - was the sheer amount of names of institutes that Sobel repeats quite frequently throughout. Don’t get me wrong, of course I understand that those institutions play as much a part in the history but I wish it wasn’t peppered throughout so much - especially since most of them are in French - that they hindered an otherwise smooth reading process. I would be totally immersed in a great narrative that I was eagerly following only to be bumped up and down by having to pause to digest the names of the institutes. There were some chapters where this was a bigger issue than others, but like I said, it was just a shallow gripe that hampered my overall enjoyment just a little bit.

To quote Eve Curie in her biography of her mother. “There are, in the life of Marie Curie, so many great moments that one is tempted to tell her story as a legend.”, and I agree. It seems impossible to not mythologize such a figure but Sobel again does a great job of combining her admiration with an acknowledgement of her profoundly simple humanity. Moreover, she returns again and again to Marie and Pierre’s wishes against celebration and adoration - in their eyes they were simply doing what they must. Despite being the first woman to enter so many esteemed rooms of science, Marie was never “seeking uniqueness”, Sobel says. She continuously admitted girls to her laboratory, making it a haven for women who were otherwise turned away from places like Harvard and Yale. Along with acquainting us with the women and their brief histories, I also loved how Sobel checked in on them from time to time, even if they left Curies’ lab or science entirely, looking into how they spend their lives after Curie.

To us now, it seems obvious that the highly disastrous and dangerous radium is not something to be intimate with as much as the Curies were. Fingers numbed and roughened, Marie surely realized the effects her beloved discovery was having on her but never went beyond a simple getaway to get some fresh air as the cure. Sobel describes thus the “cognitive dissonance” in which all radio-activists lived. Though they were actively learning about and experiencing the destructive, decaying effects of radio-active elements, the allure of discovery always kept them coming back.

All in all, this biography - brief but all encompassing - did a masterful job of portraying all that her life was both within and outside science’ realms. Pierre too is ever-present in the first half before his unfortunate demise, and is given all the credit due for his immense support for his wife and his repeated clarifications on the part she played when the committees and tables of men would have preferred to assign her only the assistant’s role. Thus her immense loss, though insurmountable, stoked the fire for her to assume both their roles and live the life of innovation and discovery they dreamed of. To Curie, whose only definition of scientific enquiry was to simply follow where one curiosities led and to figure out how Nature worked, science became the means through which she loved and lived. This was a wonderfully told narrative, if a little clunky at times, but that too can be forgiven for what Sobel was able to achieve. Highly recommend.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m happy that I read this in honor of Women’s History Month and at the suggestion of an earth science book club I joined. Marie was so intelligent and hardworking and I really loved the earlier parts of the book that humanized her, especially talking about her family and relationships. Her relationship with her spouse Pierre was especially Goals. Also, who knew there were so many mentees and other women working alongside her in these pioneering scientific efforts!


On the down side, I was painfully reminded that my own public elementary school and junior high were very behind the times with STEAM in general and for girls especially, and the expectations of us were low - and we met them. I was really interested in science, but I needed some additional help and support and encouragement that I didn’t get. By the time I got to a pretty academically sophisticated Catholic high school, I was too behind to catch up, especially as science began to incorporate math, and the teachers also weren’t especially interested in catching up the laggards given they had many Advanced Placement children of doctors (many themselves future doctors) in class. To be fair, I don’t think they assumed I was interested and I don’t think I knew how to ask them for help, or that it was even an option to be supported in learning about something and getting good at it: I pretty much assumed that we were all just stuck with what we were naturally good at, and for me that was things other than science and math. (Basically anything other than science and math!)


As a result, I have to admit that some of this book seemed a bit dry and out of my scope. Sometimes it sounded like those old Charlie Brown cartoons where the teachers and adults talking are like “Wah-WAH-Wah…” and it just didn’t register. I just heard science science science elements. And I never even knew pitchblende was a thing before, and now I feel like I’ve heard that word more than I’ve heard many other words in my life. However, I persevered, and if Marie could do it and if I can do it, than so can you! And you should!

[Nick Crisanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dava Sobel has written a wonderful little book about the preeminent female scientist, Marie Curie. This isn't a terribly detailed biography, but I feel it provided just the right amount of depth and breadth, of herself, her family, and those she personally influenced. At a time when women were rarely prestigiously decorated or distinguished, she discovered new elements, won Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry, founded research facilities, participated in international conferences that were mostly reserved for men, assisted in the field with X-ray equipment during WWI, and guided many women in her own lab who would go on to be esteemed scientists themselves. It's a quick read, and a captivating one. I would definitely recommend.

**I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.**

[Alan Chrisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some reviewers complain not listed under maiden name, but she's known as "Madam Curie". Winner 2 Nobel Prizes, 1st w/husband, 2nd by herself discovered radium. Exposing herself to radiation which eventually killed her. Often only woman scientist among men, trained many female researchers including daughter Irene won Nobel Prize later. Excellently written by Sobel explains complicated physics and chemical processes.

[Paromita · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning and middle were so good but the last 20-30% felt very rushed and a bit abrupt
A good book, but inconsistent.

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly serviceable biography - however, while the project of highlighting female mentorship and bonds in Marie's life is interesting and admirable, it ultimately didn't add much substantially and it resulted in a lower quality story of her overall life. Details and scientific context had to be cut in order to have the stories of the many women she interacted with, and somewhat arbitrary episodes of her life were included in extended detail just because they involved another woman; these additions are interesting and worth knowing, but they muddled the overall narrative of Marie's life. They also did not create a strong "women in science" narrative because Marie didn't intentionally seek out women collaborators or anything, they were just the women who happened to intersect with her life for however long (and it often wasn't very long). The mini biographies of these women just felt like a lot of names and stories without a cohesive throughline (beyond just "women in science had a tough time"). So in the end it felt like a scattered selection of stories based on semi-random people she had interacted with, not a representative selection of stories that revealed a clear story about Marie/feminism/etc.

[Eloise H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written and interesting book. Coupled with noting Marie Curie’s life and accomplishments, a good majority of the book focuses on her science and its explanations. It does a good job of explaining these science of these discoveries. It also mentions or showcases the many, many scientists who were a part of progressing the research of radioactivity, a term which she and her husband coined, at the time. It’s amazing what she accomplished and the Nobel prizes she won while being a mother, housekeeper, cook, teacher, and researcher. Thank you NetGalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for giving me the opportunity to read this galley.

[Lara Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marie Curie is so cool, and I’m so glad that I now know so much more about her!

I knew embarrassingly little about her achievements considering I am now studying my own PhD in science, and I didn’t realise just how revolutionary her studies in radiation were! Both Nobel prizes were very thoroughly deserved!

I’m actually so shocked that Marie Curie and Albert Einstein were friends?! They went on walks together through the countryside with their children, and casually discussed the elevator paradox?! AND Solvay conferences, which include so many people that I never knew would have known each other - but what a powerful room of people that would have been!

[Waywardsamm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not understand how the author managed to make a book about this woman’s incredible life so insanely boring. The writing was not engaging at all and I found my mind constantly wandering off while reading. I love a biography, but this has no shine (pun intended).

[Jess (scijessreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Elements of Marie Curie is for anyone interested in the history of science, the trailblazing women of science, or curious about the process involved in making scientific discoveries. Marie Curie is a name that many of us know from school, but we rarely learn more than the fact that she discovered radium. In reality, she was a bigger scientific powerhouse than textbooks lead us to believe.

Dava Sobel has crafted a timeline of the life of one of the great minds of science. From her early days as a student to her later years of carrying the mantle of discovery and progress, Marie's life is a treatise on how women were viewed in science, and how much they contributed to the body of knowledge we rely upon today. The sheer number of female scientists that worked in her (and Pierre's) lab, and then later went on to continue their own research is astounding, and something that is not often reflected on. It was also fascinating to see the changes in the handling of radioactive materials that occurred even over Marie's own lifetime.

The story here is Marie's, but it is also framed by the people (the women) who came into her space in Paris and their own discoveries under her mentorship. We get a picture of the "boys club" of science, and what Marie had to go through to get her research presented. We also see into her home life, her love for Pierre and their two daughters (who become significant in their own right). We see her deep ties to Poland and her family, and the human person behind the celebrated historical figure.

I read this as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Allison McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

5

I'm stunned as a woman in STEM that I did not know how important of a trailblazer Mme. Curie was for women in science! She hired so many fellow FEMALE physicists and chemists to work with her at her multiple institutes and I loved how the author highlighted them with each Chapter title. Her success forced men at the time to have to acknowledge that women deserved to be professors, leaders, and fellow Nobel Prize winners. We do not hear enough about her accomplishments, endless dedication to her family and home country of Poland, and above all her passion for scientific research and discovery. Her work to develop mobile x-ray vans in WW1 and her ability to turn her study of radioactivity into a way to treat cancer is just the tip of her amazing work. I felt like this novel did a great job of capturing her passion, dedication, and accomplishments while highlighting all the women she set forth on a similar path.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography on Marie Curie, with also a great focus on the young women she mentored during her research. Sometimes a bit long-winded, and the writing is not always very engaging. But, Marie Curie was an inspiring female scientist who paved the way for all of us in a way, so in all an entertaining read.

The 1 star review bombers haven't actually read the book, by the way. The book addresses her homeland Poland, the choice why she decided to publish and work under the name Marie Curie, and does no disservice to Poland in any way.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had NO idea that Marie Curie was such an absolute BOSS! I loved the way this book showed how she gracefully inserted herself into a male dominated world and literally showed them how it is done. It also paints a picture of the different women that benefited from her tutelage and the domino effect that had for women all over the world. I learned so much from this book and Madame Curie is now one of my heroes.

[Alex Hirchert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. If you paid attention at all in any science class growing up, you should have heard the name Marie Curie BUT you’ve never heard the name Marie Skłodowska Curie.

I recommend this for anyone who knows her name but wants to know the true woman behind the science

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I pick up a book by Dava Sobel, I can never suppress a gleeful expectation that I have a tasty literary treat in my hands. It has happened three times before with Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time; Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love; and Letters to Father: Suor Maria Celeste to Galileo. That makes The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science, my fourth data point, enough to constitute a solid trend in my book for Ms. Sobel’s ability to research and write enormously entertaining and interesting works of nonfiction.

I will confess that I fell into the trap of associating Marie Curie with the discovery of radium, and then remaining completely ignorant of the momentous significance of that scientific event. In fact, Marie Curie was truly a multi-dimensional woman in all the best ways. On the one hand, she was a precious daughter, an affectionate sibling, a loving wife, and a devoted mother. On the other, she was a towering intellectual, an exemplary scientist, and a veritable trailblazer for women in science.

Marie lived in a time (1867-1934) when it was firmly believed that women simply didn’t have the mental and physical capabilities to be scientists. Women were dismissed as an entire demographic in very condescending language to the extent they were even barred from entering academic institutions. Thanks to a progressive-minded father sending her to France, she was able to study at the equally progressive Sorbonne University. Within two years, she not only learned French, but topped the class in physics and began her doctorate degree. She also met her future husband, Pierre Curie, who consistently promoted Marie as his equal is all respects.

Marie’s list of firsts is impressive: first woman in France to earn a PhD; first woman professor at the Sorbonne University; first woman to win a Nobel Prize; first woman to win a second Nobel Prize; and first and only person—man or woman—to win two Nobel Prizes in different science disciplines. Her discovery of polonium and radium increased her recognition in the scientific domain, and her related groundbreaking hypothesis declared that radiation from radioactive (a term Marie coined) elements was not the result of molecular interaction, but emanated from atoms themselves. This enabled the opening of floodgates for studying elements at the atomic and subatomic level.

Despite her growing global reputation (including two visits to America when she wowed society and academia), countless medals, monetary awards, and numerous honorary degrees, she was noted for her modesty and self-effacing nature. She was a pure scientist forever attempting to dodge the limelight, telling persistent reporters, “In science, we should be interested in phenomena, not individuals.” To be a scientist was also “to push against the limits of knowledge, to pursue the secrets of matter and of life with no preconceived idea of the eventual outcome.”

Based on Dava Sobel’s uniquely-angled biography, I am of the belief that if Marie Curie could dictate her legacy, she would wish it to be about how she used her fame, recognition, and personal resources to facilitate the way for other prospective women scientists to achieve what she achieved. With The Elements of Marie Curie, Ms. Sobel has written another five-star winner!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely book that has illustrates just how impressive a woman Marie was.