Review of Goldsmith’s Book About Marie Curie

Marie Curie was a very important person in science and changed science forever by being a woman. Not only did she receive a doctorate degree she also discovered two new elements: radium and polonium. She went on to receive Nobel prizes in 1903 in the field of physics and again in 1911 in the field of chemistry. She is one of the most famous scientists in history and surpassed many obstacles. Her ashes in 1995 were buried in the Pantheon in Paris. She is the first woman to receive this honor and her ashes were still radioactive. Goldsmith goes on to describe that Marie Curie lived in an era where women were repressed and not as important to men. Many scientists did not believe that she was competent enough to be a scientist because she was a woman. But Marie Curie contradicted these prejudices over women. She had a very successful scientific career and also was a wife and mother. Goldsmith’s goal of this book was to reveille the real women behind science and not the myths created by the general public. She achieved this goal by relying heavily on primary sources. The primary sources consisted of articles, personal journals, and personal biography’s written by Marie Curie or by family members. By looking at primary sources she was able to get a better sense of who she really was as a person and not a version of what people thought she was.

This book did create a good a good sense of who Marie Curie was not just as a scientist but also as a mother and wife. The book also spoke about her hardships and how she had to overcome them. The main one was that she was a woman in a field that was dominated by men. She was the first woman to graduate from her college with a doctorate degree. Another one was how she was a wife and mother of two daughters who she raised on her own after her husband died. This book takes a more intimate look at Marie Curie and not just her life as a scientist. Goldsmith also talks about her mental health and her inner struggles. This was a very interesting book it wanted to show a more person look on who Marie Curie was but I do think the author should have gone into more detail about her children and how they were impacted by her and her work as a scientist.

Marie Curie discovered radium and polonium so I decided to do some research on both of these elements. Radium is a naturally occurring metal that exists in several different forms. There are two main forms of radium that are found in the environment radium -226 and radium – 228. Radium is formed when uranium and thorium break down and these two elements are found in rocks and soil. Radium has a molecular weight of 226.02541 g/mol, melting point of 700 ⁰C, and boiling point of 1737 ⁰C. Radium has also been used to treat cancer in a treatment known as radiation. Radium was a part of paints, clock dials, compasses and several other items unit the 1960s. Also, this element can cause certain cancers as well as prevent them. Radium - 224 and Radium – 228 causes bones sarcomas, Radium – 226 causes both sarcomas and carcinomas. This element is very dangerous to be around. This element also undergoes radioactive decay and divides into two parts one radiation and the other a daughter. During the decaying process alpha, beta, and gamma radiation is released during this process. I found this element very interesting to learn more about because this was an element that was present in many items but it was very toxic to the body. Marie Curie did a wonderful thing when she founded this element and showed the dangers of it. Polonium is an element that I never fully understood I did know however that it was discovered by Marie Curie. Polonium is a radioactive element founded by Marie Curie who named it after her home country Poland. It has a molecular weight of 208.98243 g/mol and a member of the chalcogen family and has the longest half-life and decays alpha emission.

Marie Curie’s discoveries put light on many other problems such as the radium present in several items. An article about the people who helped make these items was another interesting article to find. The Radium Girls were factory workers who made items such as clocks and paints became sick and died from radiation poisoning. This story a terrible story of people who suffered the terrible effects of the radiation and their stories have been told. Most of these people who worked in the factories were teenage immigrants that painted dials. We only now get to know the full effect the radiation had on them. Most of the research done on the dangers of Radium were not open to the public so many people believed the effects were good. The rich even drank water with radium in it called Radium Water. Marie Curie finding out truly how dangerous this element was allowed for these items to become banned so people would not have to suffer the same effects these radium girls did.

Marie Curie had a major impact on the science community and women who wished to become scientists. I chose to read this book because I find her story very interesting. She is an inspiration to many people and overcame so many obstacles and achieved what she always wanted to achieve. Her dedication paid off when she received not one but two Nobel Prizes in two different fields. This proved all the people who said she could not do it because she was a woman and therefore incompetent wrong. She changes my view on chemistry because she shows me that no matter what everyone says with hard work and dedication you can achieve your goals.

Works Cited

1. National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Database. Radium, CID=6328144, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Radium (accessed on Dec. 10, 2019)
2. National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Database. Polonium, CID=6328143, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Polonium (accessed on Dec. 10, 2019)
3. Roberts WC. Facts and ideas from anywhere. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2017 Oct;30(4):481- 490. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2017.11930239. PMID: 28966474; PMCID: PMC5595405.
4. Goldsmith, B. Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie; Norton, 2005.