MARIE CURIE AND HER DAUGHTER IRENE

By the author of a well-regarded adult book on Marie Curie (Grand Obsession, 1989), a well-organized, admirably detailed account that will especially interest young scientists. Lucidly, Pflaum explains the theoretical insights and arduous work that led to two Nobels for Marie (for the discovery of natural radioactivity) and another for Iräne Curie-Joliet and her husband (who first duplicated radioactivity artificially). The description of the close-knit scientific community of the period and its working conditions and place in society is also fascinating; as women, the Curies racked up several firsts not only in science but in education and government. Work took precedence for the Curies, yet Marie was a lifelong patriot of her native Poland and made sure her gifted daughter received favored treatment at the renowned Curie Institute; Pflaum includes enough personal detail to make her subjects human, balancing a basically laudatory depiction with hints of believable stresses and foibles. The many well-chosen b&w photos are beautifully reproduced. For authority, depth of coverage, and readability, a top choice. Includes two simple physics experiments that Marie Curie used as a teacher. Bibliography; index. (Biography. 11+)