Madame Curie: A Biography (Paperback)

by Eve Curie (Author), Vincent Sheean (Translator) "DEEP SILENCE INVADED the school building in Novolipki Street on Sundays..." (more)
Key Phrases: radium institute, pure radium, radioactive bodies, Mme Curie, Pierre Curie, Marie Curie (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A beautiful account of the life and passion of Marie Curie, discoverer of the radioactive elements radium and polonium." -- Chicago Tribune 3/23/03

Product Description
The professional triumphs and personal struggles of a pioneering woman scientist.

This account of the remarkable life and astonishing mind of one of the greatest scientists of the century, written by her daughter, it remains a landmark and an inspiration for students, scientists, and young women everywhere.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306810387
• ISBN-13: 978-0306810381
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #130,529 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great., May 31, 2003

By	Matthew Bratkowski "mattster" (Ithaca, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Madame Curie is a touching and honest biography. It tells the perserving story of Marie Curie, a native Pole who would seem out of place in France and--being a woman in a more prejudice timeframe--in the scientific community in general. Although this was the case, it did not stop her from becoming one of the most prolific and important scientists in the realm of physics and chemistry.

Within this book is held the tale of a woman who worked almost every single minute of her life in either the laboratory, the classroom, or her own home. But she never faltered under pressure and endured inhospitable laboratory conditions (she was originally working in a shed to help discover radium, the element that created the field of radiation cancer treatment and spurred the field of nuclear science.

As a biographer, Eve Curie remains factual in content, allowing the reader to form an unbiased opinion of her mother. She buttresses the book with personally letters to and from Marie Curie, which add a first hand account of certain aspects of her mother's life.

A must read for anyone looking for a heartwarming story.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marie Curie - An Inspiration for All, June 22, 2002

By A Customer

The book is a reprint of the biography written by Marie Curie's daughter, Eve Curie in 1937. It is a book which should be read by all - especially aspiring scientists. Marie Curie was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in France, the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize and the first person to receive two Nobel prizes. The work she accomplished under the most difficult situations for a scientist is truly inspiring. When asked why she and her husband, Pierre Curie did not patent the procedure for extraction and purification of radium, something which would have made them very wealthy, she said "No, It would be contrary to the scientific spirit." How refreshing, since in today's world the first thought of scientists is patenting their discoveries.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most human book I ever read., March 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Madame Curie (Da Capo Series in Science) (Paperback)

This book brought forth to me the human side of a great scientist. As a daughter, wife, mother and not the least as a patriotic citizen of a country that was being wiped out due to tyranny. I cried every time I read the book. Especially twice -- when Pierre Curie dies and when Madame Curie addresses the gathering of students. A book I cannot forget.