Curie

Voted ‘Outstanding Academic Title’ by CHOICE

‘A brisk but inviting text that invites the reader into the cultural context in which the Curies lived … scholarly scrupulousness combined with a graceful style.’
American Library Association

REVISED AND UPDATED EDITION

Marie Curie’s insatiable passion for science allowed her to achieve the unthinkable, in doing so becoming the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person ever to win Nobel Prizes in two disciplines. Curie is most famous for her pioneering work in the field of radioactivity and for discovering two new elements, polonium and radium. However, Curie not only broke scientific barriers but defied the gender expectations of her time amidst a male-dominated scientific community.

This striking biography debunks myths about Curie, rejecting the notion of her as cold and reserved and recasting her as the dynamic and lively woman she truly was. Sarah Dry illuminates Curie’s personal and professional struggles: the demands of motherhood, the public scrutiny she faced, the grief she suffered after the loss of her husband, and her exposure to radiation. Ultimately, Curie emerges as an astonishingly resilient figure whose contributions to science and her courage during adversity make her an enduring example, and a woman whose powerful legacy continues to inspire today.

Curie also includes an enlightening essay from Sabine Seifert, which explores the impact of Curie’s daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, an overlooked scientist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935.

Sarah Dry is a writer and historian of science. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she studied at Harvard, the London School of Economics, the Institute for Development Studies, and the University of Cambridge. She is the author of The Newton Papers: The Strange and True Odyssey of Isaac Newton’s Private Manuscripts (2014) and Waters of the World: The story of the climate in six remarkable lives (2019) which was book of the year for Nature, The Chicago Review of Books, and Booklist. She is currently a trustee of The Oxford Trust. She lives in Oxford.