Bedtime Biography: Madame Curie summary

Marie Curie was born in Warsaw as Maria Salomea Skłodowska, on November 7, 1867. She was the youngest of five children. Her mother was a school principal, and her father a physics professor. They planted the seed of scientific ambition in their youngest daughter early on.

At just four years old, little Maria stood transfixed in front of her father’s glass cabinet, which contained what he called his “physics apparatus.” Inside was shelf upon shelf of instruments, mineral specimens, and even a gold-leaf electroscope. She didn’t understand what they were for, but her fascination with their potential stayed with her for life.

After a four-day-long journey to Paris, Marie arrived at the Gare du Nord. She was to live with Bronya and her husband – another Casimir – who’d fled Poland because of his predilection for socialism. They lived in an apartment in the Rue d’Allemagne. Marie spent her first few weeks living with Bronya and Casimir until the commotion there became too much for her. Marie was ready to finally commit herself wholeheartedly to science, but in their tiny apartment Bronya and Casimir would receive patients by day and host parties at night where discussions on art, science, and socialism would extend until daybreak.

Marie didn’t have time for all this idle chatter, as she called it, and moved out to an unheated tiny apartment, which would later become part of her legend. There, she could finally devote herself to her obsession as she’d longed to for so long. And it was also during this time that she started calling herself Marie, the French version of her name. In a new city, at a world-class university, and with a new name, Marie finally felt free.

Pierre and Marie’s good fortune didn’t last long. In April 1906, one year after the Nobel Prize ceremony, Pierre died unexpectedly in an accident.

Marie’s grief over the loss of her great love turned into a long depression. She spent her days indoors, mourning in the dark. She was unable to deal with all of the problems that this sudden loss brought. She’d lost not only her husband but also her research partner. His income was gone, and Marie didn’t even know if she was allowed to continue to use his lab.

Even before her US trip, Marie’s many years of experimenting with radioactive materials were starting to catch up with her. Nowadays one might view her relationship with radium to be reckless, but at the time, the risks weren’t known at all. Quite the opposite, actually – people thought it was a cancer-curing health elixir. Radium drinks and creams were all the rage.

Not only that, radium was Marie’s pride and joy. After all, she’d discovered it with Pierre. She had a special relationship with the substance and compulsively carried it around with her in a vial. She even kept some at her nightstand and would take it out at night to gaze at its hypnotic blue glow. Even now, her records are so radioactive that they have to be kept in a lead safe.

You’ve reached the end of this Bedtime Biography. Thank you for listening. Why not pause listening now so you can stay in a relaxed state? And if you’re off to bed now, I wish you a good night’s sleep.