Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith

Through family interviews, diaries, letters, and workbooks that had been sealed for over sixty years, Barbara Goldsmith reveals the Marie Curie behind the myth--an all-too-human woman struggling to balance a spectacular scientific career, a demanding family, the prejudice of society, and her own passionate nature. Obsessive Genius is a dazzling portrait of Curie, her amazing scientific success, and the price she paid for fame.

Review Quotes:
Never a dull moment...Goldsmith leads the reader through a wonderland of facts with just the right blend of science and story. In the end, the mystery of the great Madame [Curie] remains, but a deeper understanding of what she went through as a woman and a scientist shines as strong as her radium.-- "San Francisco Chronicle"

Bestselling historian Goldsmith incisively chronicles [Curie's] intensely dramatic life...Her powerful portrait reveals a woman of great passion, genius, and pain who changed the world.-- "Booklist, starred review"

Barbara Goldsmith (1931--2016), a journalist and philanthropist, was the author of Little Gloria...Happy at Last, Obsessive Genius, Johnson v. Johnson, The Straw Man, and Other Powers.

W. W. Norton & Company

Pub Date: October 17, 2005

0.69" H x 8.02" L x 5.52" W

272 pages

paperback