Obsessive Genius

Marie Curie, A Life in Science

Barbara Goldsmith

Marie Curie remains the only woman to win two Nobel prizes - the first in 1903 for the discovery of radioactivity and the second in 1911 for the discovery of radium and polonium. Her discovery of radium opened the door to the exploration of the atom.

What is even more remarkable is that the Nobel prize wasn't awarded to another woman until twenty years later, and it was Marie's daughter - Irene Joliot-Curie - who received it for discovering artificial radioactivity. In turn Irene's daughter, Helene Langevin-Joliot, helped create the first atomic pile in France.

The legacy of Marie Curie, her daughter and grand-daughter makes for a fascinating story of the family who released the radioactivity that has transformed our world.