Radioactive Substances

In 1911, Marie Curie received the Nobel prize in chemistry for isolating radium. This profound distinction literally cost the scientist her life, for she ultimately died from exposure to the deadly rays from the element she and her husband discovered. Here is her story, recounted in her own words, of the momentous discovery and her further investigation of radioactive substances. Born in Poland in 1867, Marie Sklodowska enrolled at the Sorbonne after the University of Warsaw refused her admission because of her gender. There she not only earned her master’s degree and doctorate in physics but also became the first woman faculty member in the school’s history. In this memoir, she recounts the struggles and triumphs of a life dedicated to the study of science, in a tale whose truth makes it more gripping and poignant than any fiction.