Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium

by Carla Killough McClafferty

Marie Curie's story has fascinated and inspired young readers
decades. The poor Polish girl who worked eight years to be able
to afford to attend the Sorbonne in Paris became one of the
most important scientists of her day, winning not one but two
Nobel Prizes. Her life is a fascinating one, filled with hard work,
humanitarianism, and tragedy. Her work with her husband,
Pierre - the study of radioactivity and the discovery of the
elements radium and polonium - changed science forever. But
she is less well known for her selfless efforts during World War
to establish mobile X-ray units so that wounded French soldiers
could get better care faster. When she stood to profit greatly
from her scientific work, she chose not to, making her methods
and findings known and available to all of science. As a result,
this famous woman spent most of her life in need of money,
often to buy the very elements she discovered.

Marie Curie's life and work are given a fresh telling, one that
also explores the larger picture of the effects of radium in world
culture, and its exploitation and sad misuse.

Genres: Science, Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens, History

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 2006

Reviews

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book is short, coming in at just under 150 pages, it’s got some great detail. It gives the reader a sense of the kind of person Marie was. It really humanizes her—showing both strengths and weaknesses. One gets to see her not only as a scientist but as a wife, mother, philanthropist, and life-long learner. There is so much to admire about this lady—not just her scientific achievements.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been fascinated with Curie since I was a child. I'm not sure why--maybe it's because she was Polish like me, or maybe it's because she was a female scientist, or maybe both. I think it's amazing that she was able to accomplish so much despite the tragedy of losing her husband, the difficulty of being female in a male-dominated field, and her illnesses.

This biography included some fascinating information about the uses of radium, which exposed thousands of people to radioactivity. I was astounded at the number of uses made for it, and all because the Curies refused to take out a patent on their discoveries, claiming that scientific information should be free for all. It's tragic that she died relatively young (66) just because of her exposure to radium, yet she continued to work with it despite her suspicions that it was affecting her health.

I enjoyed reading this biography, which left me wanting to read more. On to an adult book! I'd also like to find more information about all those early radium products.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

preread for science biography option for AO year 5

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know where I was when the other school kids were learning about Marie Curie, or if she was ever specifically taught in school, but I missed out. This woman was a badass.

From childhood, she was singled out by her school teachers to demonstrate learning in her classrooms to the Russian officials who were checking to make sure that nothing in what had previously been Poland was being taught in Polish. She had a photographic memory and could speak something like 4 languages fluently and so presented as a model Russian loyalist, even though her teachers were secretly teaching things in Polish and igniting a fierce patriotism in her young heart that would stay with her her entire life.

After her mother and older sister died, she worked as a governess to put her other system through school and nearly married the oldest son of the family she worked for until the parents got wind of it and put the kibosh on the whole deal due to classism. Although heartbroken, she stayed with the family because she was so dedicated to her sister's success.

Finally able to go to school herself, she immediately started kicking butt in science and mathematics, met a man who was just as dedicated to scientific work and process as she was and settled down to discover not just one but TWO elements, becoming the very first PERSON, let alone woman, to win not just one, but TWO Nobel Prizes. All while raising two daughters (and hand sewing all their clothes), dealing with the death of another baby, grief over the eventual loss of her husband and the ridiculous sexism that surrounded her and her achievements throughout her entire life.

Oh, and did I mention she and her husband never accepted a penny, made a patent or guarded any of the secrets of their discoveries and worked in a falling down shack for most of their career?

Total badass.

[Jill Marks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naomi’s science biography for the term. Big fan!!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Name: Danielle Autumn Shur
McClafferty, C.K. (2006). Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.
Genre: Biography
Format: Print (Book)
Selection Process: WorldCat
Review:
Marie Curie was born Manya Sklodowska in Russian occupied Poland where she learned her native tongue in secret. In 1891 she moved to Paris to attend Sorbonne where she was the first woman to earn her PhD in France. While attending university, Marie met her future husband and lab partner, Pierre Curie. Together they discovered radium and polonium. Marie was the first woman and first Polish person to win the Nobel Prize and the only person to ever win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice.
In 1906 Pierre was hit by a wagon and died. Marie continued her research and during WWI she contributed her knowledge with x-rays to the war effort. Marie became the first female professor at the Sorbonne and with financial assistance from American woman, continued her research with radium. Marie died in 1934 at the age of 66 by a blood disease caused by an overexposure to radiation. Marie and Pierre had two daughters and the eldest, Irene, followed in her parents’ scientific footsteps. Irene won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935.
Recommendation: Recommend

[Geni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best Book (Non-Fiction) 4Q 2P M J {Review} A Science Romance.
A personal story, which describes Curie's struggle to get to college, her happy marriage to Pierre Curie and their work together, and her recognition as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, a prize she won again later for her work in chemistry. The spacious design makes the text easy to read, and occasional photos.
The writing and language is very basic and to the point for history lessons. I would recommend this book to teens for a research project, especially girls, because most science professors will push students to read about Einstein, and girls need to know they can grow up to be scientist too.

[Ljamal3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marie Curie is a very smart woman, she wants to be a scientist and discover new elements. But so many tragedies and events come into he personal and working life that makes it hard for her to work. So she dedicated her life to science, and every day and night she would be in the laboratory. Then her husband passes away, but she doesn't want this tragedy to get in her way of her work.

Theme: Death, Strength of character

[Teagan Aune · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marie Curie accomplished and overcame a lot in her life and this book tells her story very well. Starting with her childhood, McClafferty does a good job at introducing the reader to Marie’s character and values. Marie is described as always being passionate about learning and constantly extending her knowledge. She worked as an educator for a family for a while but later discovered her heart lied in a laboratory setting. After marrying Pierre, the two of them spent most of their time studying together. They discovered two new elements, one of which was radium. Marie figured out how to use radium to help people and the soldiers in WW1. Eventually the harmful effects of ingesting and being exposed to high amounts of radium were discovered, but today radium is still valued for its radioactive properties. Marie and Pierre suffered these weakening effects of radium too but they still continued to pursue research because they wanted to help humankind. I really enjoyed this book. I felt like it was a short read in relation to the amount of information I learned as I was reading it. I also felt very inspired after reading it because McClafferty presented Marie as a person that truly wanted to help and did not want anything in return. I think this book would fit perfectly in a classroom library for 4th or 5th graders. It teaches a lot about Marie Curie but it also does a good job at explaining the scientific terms that are being used. I think this would pair well with other books about specific people in history. Students could choose a famous scientist to study and talk about what significant discovery they made, who they were as a person, and the impact that still exists today from them. This book would be perfect if students were interested in Marie Curie for this project.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something Out of Nothing is a nonfiction book that brings Marie Curie to life with great detail. Marie was a young girl who grew up in Poland during a pivotal time for science. After working her way up as a tutor for a well-off family, she was able to attend Paris-Sorbonne University where she began her life with her husband Pierre and her love for science. With poor circumstances and trial and error like lack of funding and health conditions, the Curies discovered the element radium with little in return. “Radium is an element. It belongs to all people.” This quote depicts Marie’s selflessness and passion to serve others opposed to being fame and money driven with the success. The chapter book is home to quotes from her raw letters, newspaper articles, and journals which gives an in-depth view of her memorable life. I did enjoy this book and its dynamic aspects but found it to be text heavy and hard to implement into the classroom due to its extensiveness.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great compliment to The Radium Girls which I read earlier this year. I read this to my two 5th graders and it was interesting enough for us all to enjoy it and my 8th grader is begging to read it next. Overall the story of radium is a sorrowful one (and Marie Curie’s personal life is as well) but you can’t help but admire her dedication to scientific advancement. She turned down financial gain at every turn when others profited immensely from her work and abused it, causing the deaths of many. By far, my favorite part was the side story of her heroic work in WWI mobilizing x-ray units for field hospitals all over France. She made a huge difference for the war effort galvanizing women to get involved and making them useful.

[Gina Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre-read for my AmblesideOnline year 5 student. While it was so interesting to read about Marie Curie and her discovery of radium I was mostly struck by how profoundly unhappy she seemed and how sad it was she rejected Christ (and all religion). That wasn’t talked about in the book at all (besides that she rejected religion) but it was just what stuck out to me. It was a short, interesting, easy read and I think my student will enjoy it. It also made me want to read The Radium Girls. I had no idea the use of radium was prevalent right after it was discovered and before the dangers about it were known.

[Andrea Lynn Blalock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing historical book. It is more than just the story of Radium; it is also the story of Radon, Polonium, and many other elements. Even more than the elements, this book is a biography of madame Curie herself.

[Maguette Thiam · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was awful

[Magda Werneke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was written for younger readers, but I have learned a lot facts and interesting stories from this book. It’s a quick read.

[Bon Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

THis book was fun. I learned about how Marie curie discovered radium.

[Sunny Kim]

This book was ok it was fun learning abt her life and how she figured out cool stuff abt radiation

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first book i finished in 2010 was a quick but interesting book about Mme. Curie and the discovery of Radium. i think it was written for teenagers because it was a simple account of what happened in those days when they thought that radium was going to save the world. i was glad not to have to read all of the complicated scientific jargon and research excerpts and still find out what she was all about (i really didn’t know too much about her).

Marie Curie was born in Poland during the Russian occupation and she was one of the smartest kids in her class. she had a photographic memory that could be counted on when the Russian inspectors came to the school to make sure they were learning their Russian history. the teachers were covertly teaching them Polish language and history although they could have been executed for doing so. Marie was a super Polish nationalist and very close to her family.

she met her husband Pierre while going to school in France and they were so in love. they were partners in life as well as in the lab and he made sure that she got all of the credit that was due to her in their discoveries (these were still the days where women couldn’t possibly do as much as men). when they won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of radium they were only going to give it to Pierre. he wrote back and said he wouldn’t accept because it was his wife that actually made the discovery and if she wasn’t given credit, he wouldn’t either. she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize.

radium made Marie and Pierre famous but they did not approve of all that. they wanted radium to be used for science and medicine (like for treatment of diseases like cancer). they made their research public and would not put a patent on it because they felt that the more people with access, the more good could be done. others took advantage of this and became rich by selling radium as the cure-all for every ailment. the bits about what they used to do with radium was quite entertaining with what we know about it and radioactivity now! people would put it on their teeth to make them glow in the dark, they would paint it on religious icons and watch faces, drink radium infused water as a “health drink”– it was hailed as the element that would cure everything. there were some really funny pictures of the ads that were used back in the day. they also went into what happened when they found out it was killing people!

when Marie’s life ended she was heartbroken (mainly from the early death of Pierre) and chronically ill (possibly from the element that she discovered) but what an interesting life she had!! i really enjoyed this quick read.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! What a life Marie Curie lived! Totally amazing. I could not help but be inspired when I read about her life -- the incredible strength that she had to endure and accomplish all that she did.

My 13 year old daughter was chosen, out of all of the 7th Grade girls in her middle school, to attend a scholarship funded week long girl's math and science camp at Stanford University. In preparation to go to the camp, my daughter was asked to read a book about Marie Curie. This book was one of two books we checked out from the children's section of the library. I think the other book, "Marie Curie Mother of Modern Physics", was probably more thorough and a better book than this one. But, I believe this shorter book still highlighted all of the major events of Madame Curie's life. I think it is so awesome that the camp asked my daughter to read about such an inspirational woman!

Here are a few thoughts that flow through my mind after reading this book. Madam Curie totally lived by her words, "We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that thing at whatever cost, must be attained." I sometimes wonder what our world would be like if everyone believed this and gave as much as she did to follow through on that belief.

I also thought this was an amazing quote from the book,voicing the same thoughts I had, "No one knows why Marie, who had worked with radium longer than anyone, was still alive while others around her were dying from its effects."

How sweet it was to hear that Curie and Albert Einstein were close friends and had great admiration for each other. I loved that they remained close friends throughout the years and Einstein said of her, "Marie Curie is, of all celebrated beings, the only one whom fame has not corrupted."

My, the high price she and her husband paid for their discoveries was staggering. The last chapter in the book said it well, "The life of Marie Curie demonstrates that one person can make a difference in the world. She overcame obstacles of poverty, fear, depression, discrimination, personal grief, and public humiliation to accomplish groundbreaking scientific work. .... One person can change the world."

I highly recommend reading a book about his women, whether it be this one or another one. You cannot help but be impressed by Marie Curie and the life she led.

Note to self: I really need to read more Biographies, I love them!!!

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something Out of Nothing is an exciting biography written by Carla Killough Mcclafferty. The story takes place in Poland where the main character, Marie Curie, lives with her family. Marie starts out as a young student trying to speak Polish without the Russian officials find out. Then she has to get a job as a governess, and she does for a very nice family but she falls in love with the eldest brother and they want to get engaged but his parents don’t allow him to and he can’t marry Marie. She’s heartbroken and she doesn’t want to stay working but she has to, to let her sister Bronya get her degree as a doctor. Finally, Bronya finishes college and gets married with Casimir and invites Marie to stay with them. She goes to live with them and finds out that she can’t stand it so she buys her own apartment because she can’t afford to pay for the bus fare to and from college.In order to make her money last longer, Marie ate as little as possible and because she was living in a cheap apartment and there wasn’t any hot water. It paid off because she was the first woman to get a master’s degree in physics. Then she met Pierre who wanted to marry her but she rejected him but then he wrote letters and she got married in 1895.

I know this book is a biography because it talks about a person’s life. I think this person is a hero because she created an element that saved people’s lives which are amazing how many people survived after it. I like that Mare isn’t afraid to tell the truth to people, she doesn’t brag about how smart she is, when she won the Nobel prize she didn’t let the fame get to her and when she got sick she still kept going to the laboratory even though she was sick. Marie is an amazing person that doesn't let anyone stop her from doing what she wants. She inspires me so much because of how brave she is.

The most exciting episode in the story is when Marie gets the Nobel Peace Prize because she worked for a long time to figure out the element that is now radium. However, the most disappointing moment in this story happened when Marie, at first, said no to Pierre’s marriage proposal because they were into the same things, Pierre has a laboratory and he’s handsome. I would recommend this story to grades 6-12 because it’s enjoyable to read and has a lot of interesting facts. I think that these students would enjoy reading about Marie’s accomplishments and how she got through life.

[Camille Tesch]

France ages 10-12

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium is a biography about Marie Curie, but focuses on her work with radium. I will admit that when I pick this book I did not know who Curie was, but because of that this novel was a very interesting read. The book goes in chronological order and starts off with her life living in Poland, and how the Polish people were being oppressed by the Russians. She has four siblings and a caring mother and father. Sadly, her mother had tuberculosis and was never able to kiss her children out of fear of them catching the disease. Within two years Curie’s older sister Sophia caught Typhus and died followed shortly by her mother. Marie put her heart into education and graduated first in her class at the age of fifteen. While Marie helped her sister pay for college, she worked as a governess. When Bronya graduated as a doctor it was finally Curie’s turn to go to college. She received a Master in Physics and a Doctorate in math, the first women to do either. During her years in France getting an education Marie fell in love and married Pierre, who would become her lab partner. They worked together on everything neither claiming to have the discovered Polonium or Radium on their own. The rest of the novel is devoted to the fame and continued research by the Curies. McClafferty brings Marie Curie to life by including numerous quotes, newspaper clippings, and pictures for the readers. One thing I liked about this book was at the end there was a section on the author’s source notes, bibliography, and recommended websites for further knowledge on the subject.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personally, I thought this book dragged on and read more like and adult biography than a children's biography book. Not to say it was not interesting, it indeed was. I learned many things about Marie Curie from reading this book that I did not before. She was a woman who always strived for her goals and would not let anyone get in the way of them. Most of the first chapter is not really needed at all since it only helps to set a serious tone of a book that should be serious anyway since it is a biography. Marie Curie lived in Russian controlled Poland in the late 1800s. They were not allowed to read or speak Polish or else they would get sent to Siberia or killed. Marie saved up money working as a governess and sent some money to her sister who was studying to be a Doctor in the University of Paris. Once her father received a better paying job then Marie was able to save up money to go to Paris. I knew back then the University of Paris was the place to be, but I never knew Marie Curie went there to get a physics degree and was top of her class. Marie Curie is one of the many scientists and physicists that schools do not teach much about, and if they did then more girls would probably be interested in science

[Esther May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading this book, I basically knew very little about Marie Curie. What I read fascinated me. I was amazed by her dedication to what she was passionate about. She worked hard throughout her live, even through very sad happenings. She overcame great oppression to gain her education. It was interesting to read about Radon. Many people knew of the healing properties of this element and jumped on the bandwagon, selling it, using it, injecting it, and ingesting it. All this would later end their lives.

I learned a bunch about dedication, passion, hard work, no excuses, resiliency and working for the good of people, from this book. I also learned that it is not always a good idea to run after every new thing, sometimes it is better to see the long term effects before accepting new ideas.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this the other night when I couldn't sleep. I bought it to give to Sophie when she gets a little older, and now I can't wait until she's old enough to read it. It's definitely written for older kids. It's simple and short, but it was still fascinating to me. I LOVED reading it.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for older students who want to learn more about Marie Curie. Fluid writing makes even the more difficult science topics understandable to even a casual science enthusiast. Very interesting! I learned a lot about her life that I did not know before.

[Jacques · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting biography, had the potential to be very emotional for Marie had a challenging life, but the author did not emmerse them self into her world. Other than that the facts where there and I learned a lot.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never knew much about Marie Curie. I have found this to be a fascinating read. Excellent non-fiction for children.

[Yashna · Rating 4 out of 5]

never stop working for what you want

[Sidik Fofana · Rating 4 out of 5]

SIX REVIEW: Be careful of wonder drugs (radium).