THE RADIUM WOMAN

This life of Marie Curie presents the course of her story in absorbing detail. It begins with a childhood in Poland, showing the early signs of her genius and ambition, her warm personality, integral to her part in a close family relationship, and her intense loyalty to her country, which later provided a brief stumbling block to her marriage to a Frenchman. The opportunity to study in Paris was avidly seized, and though she almost starved in order to share the chance with her sister, she did meet Pierre and had her chance for further research (then concentrated on the magnetic properties of steel)- and ultimately of a happy marriage. Familiar as are the details of this life and its brilliant outcome, the setting as presented for young people takes on new fascination, and broadens the significance of the Curies as human beings as well as scientific geniuses.