In many ways, Marie Curie represents modern science. Her considerable lifetime achievements—the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, the only woman to be awarded the Prize in two fields, and the only person to be awarded Nobel Prizes in multiple sciences—are studied by schoolchildren across the world. When, in 2009, the New Scientist carried out a poll for the “Most Inspirational Female Scientist of All Time,” the result was a foregone conclusion: Marie Curie trounced her closest runner-up, Rosalind Franklin, winning double the number of Franklin’s votes.
In Nuclear Energy, kids will discover the incredible power stored inside the tiny atom! The key concept is that huge amounts of energy can be released when the forces that hold the nucleus of an atom together are disturbed. That can happen through fission, the splitting of an atom's nucleus or fusion, the combining of protons and neutrons from two different atoms. Pioneering scientists Lise Meitner and Marie Curie are introduced, and students learn how their research led to a greater understanding of the atom.
In the Portraits in Science series, an intelligent chronicle of Curie's life, from her struggle to educate herself in Russian-occupied Poland to her successes in France; her pioneering work with her husband; and her troubles and triumphs after his death. While Pasachoff provides detailed explanations of Curie's scientific achievements, she paints an equally detailed portrait of Curie as a chemist-celebrity. Pasachoff's resolute concentration on the subject at hand--be it the gossip surrounding the Curies' Nobel Prize or the protocol for isolating radium--allows her to fold an impressive amount of information into a compact text.
Marie Curie: A Biography
While Curie is often portrayed as a stern, one-dimensional woman so totally committed to her science that she was incapable of complex emotions, the truth is that the opposite is the case. "Marie Curie: A Biography" covers her entire lifetime, beginning with her early life and education in a Poland under the oppressive rule of the czar of Russia.
The book discusses all aspects, both personal and scientific, of her fascinating life.
