Denis Brian

The Curies: A Biography of the Most Controversial Family in Science Denis Brian New edition

The first book to chronicle both generations of the famous French scientific family For two generations, the Curie family conducted key early research on radiation, discovering radium and laying the groundwork for the development of the A-bomb. Their work earned them a slew of Nobel Prizes: for Physics in 1903 (Pierre and Marie), Chemistry in 1911 (Marie), and Chemistry in 1935 (daughter Irene and her husband, Frederic Joliot-Curie). Another daughter, the glamorous writer Eve Curie, became her mother's biographer and a fearless war correspondent. This revealing biography relates the personal stories and controversies behind the family's success, including the sex scandal that devastated Marie, the run-ins Marie and Irene had with the male scientific establishment, and Frederic's Resistance exploits and involvement with the Communist Party.