The Curies: A Biography of the Most Controversial Family in Science - Hardcover

Brian, Denis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471273910 ISBN 13: 9780471273912

Publisher: Trade Paper Press, 2005

Synopsis

Focusing on the lives and relationships behind their magnificent careers, The Curies is the first biography to trace the entire Curie dynasty, from Pierre and Marie's fruitful union and achievements to the lives and accomplishments of their two daughters, Irene and Eve, and son-in-law Frederic Joliot-Curie. Biographer Denis Brian digs deep beneath the headlines and legends to reveal the Curies' multigenerational saga in its entirety, featuring new, never-before-published personal information as well as newly revealed correspondence and diary excerpts. Brimming with endearing and often amusing anecdotes about this much-misunderstood clan, The Curies reveals a family as closely intertwined in their private lives as they were in their professional endeavors.

About this title

About the Author

DENIS BRIAN is the author of Einstein: A Life and Pulitzer: A Life, both published by Wiley. His other books include The True Gen: An Intimate Portrait of Hemingway by Those Who Knew Him and Genius Talk: Conversations with Nobel Scientists and Other Luminaries.

From the Back Cover

The Curies

The Untold Story Behind Their Private and Professional Lives

Here is the first full-scale biography of the world's most extraordinary family in science: the Curies, whose combined work changed the course of history. Focusing on the lives and relationships behind their magnificent careers, The Curies is the first to trace the entire Curie dynasty, from Pierre and Marie's fruitful union and achievements to the lives and accomplishments of their two daughters, Irene and Eve, and son-in-law Frederic Joliot-Curie.

Denis Brian digs deep beneath the headlines and legends to reveal the Curies' multigenerational saga in its entirety, featuring new, never-before-published personal information as well as newly revealed correspondence and diary excerpts. Brimming with endearing and often amusing anecdotes about this much-misunderstood clan, The Curies reveals a family as closely intertwined in their private lives as they were in their professional endeavors.

Praise for Denis Brian's Einstein: A Life

"Brian's intimate work does much to reveal the man behind the image."
--Detroit Free Press

"The best account. . . . Superb insight."
--The Times (London)

"A fascinating, vastly enjoyable, deeply researched, and fair accountof Einstein the man."
--Physics World

"A thoughtful and captivating account of one whom I had the joy of knowing and loving."
--George Wald, Nobel laureate

From the Inside Flap

Awarded a combined total of six Nobel Prizes, the celebrated Curie family's collective work and momentous achievements alone make their lives fascinating. But the lesser-known side of their story includes the controversy, the drama, the scandal, and the tragedy that surrounded them. Now, the first full-scale biography of the Curies provides a well-rounded, honest look at both the private and professional lives of the world's most gifted scientific family.

Drawing upon years of research, interviews, and correspondence with friends, family, and associates of the Curies, biographer Denis Brian provides intriguing insights into the entire Curie clan, including Pierre Curie's father and grandfather, both gifted doctors who made their own considerable contributions in the field of science.

You'll learn how the brilliant though personally unambitious Pierre dealt with his fear of failure on the heels of his first major scientific breakthrough; why the deeply patriotic, driven, and highly intelligent Marie worked for years as a governess; and how the Nobel Prize money alleviated Marie and Pierre's financial worries but created a new problem--the shattering of the couple's privacy.

You'll also read about the scandal that erupted over Marie's affair with one of Pierre's students and how it nearly drove her to commit suicide, and about reports that son-in-law and lifelong pacifist Frederic Joliot-Curie helped the Soviet Union build its atom bomb. You'll discover why daughter Eve was the only family member to eschew a life of science--and why daughter Irene followed in her mother's footsteps, but feared always living in her mother's shadow.

The Curies also unravels the mysteries surrounding this intensely private family, including Pierre's disdain for public recognition and how it stymied his professional advancement; the couple's decision not to benefit financially from their discovery of radium; the Machiavellian plot devised to exclude Marie from being nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1903; the illnesses that plagued Pierre, Marie, and Irene as a result of their research; and Marie's ongoing battle with France's chauvinistic science community.

Passionate, enlightening, and engaging, The Curies reveals a family as deeply devoted to their work as they were to each other, risking their lives to improve the lives of countless others.

Edition details

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471273910
• ISBN 13: 9780471273912
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448