Want a NOOK? Explore Now
In 1891, 24 year old Marie, née Marya Sklodowska, moved from Warsaw to Paris, where she found work in the laboratory of Pierre Curie, a scientist engaged in research on heat and magnetism. They fell in love. They took their honeymoon on bicycles. They expanded the periodic table, discovering two new elements with startling properties, radium and polonium. They recognized radioactivity as an atomic property, heralding the dawn of a new scientific era. They won the Nobel Prize. Newspapers mythologized the couple's romance, beginning articles on the Curies with "Once upon a time . . . " Then, in 1906, Pierre was killed in a freak accident. Marie continued their work alone. She won a second Nobel Prize in 1911, and fell in love again, this time with the married physicist Paul Langevin. Scandal ensued. Duels were fought.
In the century since the Curies began their work, we've struggled with nuclear weapons proliferation, debated the role of radiation in medical treatment, and pondered nuclear energy as a solution to climate change. In Radioactive, Lauren Redniss links these contentious questions to a love story in 19th Century Paris.
Radioactive draws on Redniss's original reporting in Asia, Europe and the United States, her interviews with scientists, engineers, weapons specialists, atomic bomb survivors, and Marie and Pierre Curie's own granddaughter.
Whether young or old, scientific novice or expert, no one will fail to be moved by Lauren Redniss's eerie and wondrous evocation of one of history's most intriguing figures.
westonm
Posted Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012
¿Radioactive¿ by Lauren Redniss. A beautifully illustrated, if strangely chosen, pastiche on the life and love of Marie and Pierre Curie and the impact of their work in science on the world. The book is in the style of short vignettes, printed on multi-colored pages in triangular and other unusual formats with colored fonts (which are sometimes difficult to read) intermingled with abstract , a few photographs and a copy of an FBI report. The story of the Curies and of their offspring the Joliet-Curies and of Marie¿s later liason with Langevin are interesting and coherent. However, the choice of intermingled vignettes presumably illustrating the impact of the Curies¿ scientific work on the world is quite odd an uniformed: there is a vignette on 250 young women who suffered from radiation effects due to licking the paint brushes used to apply radium containing paint to watch numerals and another on a couple who were convinced that their repeated visits to a Montana mine converted to a radon health spa had saved the wife¿s life, but no mention of the enormous benefits to billions of medical X-rays, radiation therapy and nuclear electricity.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Fri May 03 00:00:00 EDT 2013
Would have loved to see the sample book but, as a PDF, it only shows some artfully crafted pages that are crude graphics without any text to speak of (except the table of contents - also as graphic, not text). How anyone could evaluate this book without first purchasing it is a mystery. One star for the possibilities. As well, I would -never- consider a PDF instead of an ePub. Get it straight, B&N, before your business craters.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is a great book! Give me a good reason why is not available on NOOK yet?
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.stitchingpink
Posted Thu Jan 27 00:00:00 EST 2011
I won't do this book justice with a review. It is simply beautiful.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Muhkenziee
Posted Sun Dec 19 00:00:00 EST 2010
Why isnt this a nookbook yet?! I wanna read it so baddddd!
0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Overview
In 1891, 24 year old Marie, née Marya Sklodowska, moved from Warsaw to Paris, where she found work in the laboratory of Pierre Curie, a scientist engaged in research on heat and magnetism. They fell in love. They took their honeymoon on bicycles. They expanded the periodic table, discovering two new elements with startling properties, radium and polonium. They recognized radioactivity as an atomic property, heralding the dawn of a new scientific era. They won the Nobel Prize. Newspapers mythologized the couple's ...