Marie Curie: A Life of Discovery

by Alice Milani

In her intensely researched, inventively drawn exploration of Marie Curie's life, artist Alice Milani follows the celebrated Polish scientist from Curie's time as a struggling governess to her years in France making breakthrough discoveries. Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences. With skill and care, Milani traces Curie's flight from Russia-controlled Poland, her romance with fellow scientist Pierre Curie, and Marie and Pierre's stunning discoveries of the elements radium and polonium. Throughout this distinctive graphic work, Curie defies doubt and double standards to make an enduring impact on the scientific world.

-- "Website"

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Biography, Bande Dessinée, Comics, History, Science

208 pages, ebook

First published September 29, 2017

About the author

Alice Milani, pisana classe 1986, dopo aver studiato pittura a Torino si è specializzata in incisione e tecniche di stampa a Bruxelles. Dal 2010 realizza fumetti autoprodotti con il colletivo di cui fa parte, La Trama. Il suo primo graphic novel, Wisława Szymborska: Si dà il caso che io sia qui, è uscito nel 2015 (BeccoGiallo); dedicato alla poetessa vincitrice del Premio Nobel è stato anche tradotto in polacco. Nel 2016 ha ricevuto il premio Missaglia del Treviso Comic Book Festival.

Reviews

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está bien, no para tirar cohetes pero puede ser una buena introducción para quien esté interesado un poco en la vida de una mujer como Marie Curie.
El dibujo no me mata pero los tonos apastelados me encantan.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una delicia está muy bien diseñado y te refleja la vida de Marie Curie, el diseño los colores y todo me ha gustado, y este año ya me he acercado un poco más a la gran figura que fue esta científica y todo lo que debemos gracias a su trabajo

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another of those biographies that presume a lot of knowledge about the subject, which seems like particularly bad strategy for a book aimed at younger readers. At least read the Wikipedia page about Curie before this book, or like me, you'll end up lost a lot of the time.

The art is roughly sketched and vague with colors that sometimes get random and splotchy.

Unpleasant to look at and read, but I felt like I learned a little bit. Mostly, it depressed me to think how Curie's discovery of radium would lead to her own death and those of the poor unsuspecting workers whose story is told in The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women (a much better book).

[Maricruz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es una biografía fácil de leer y bastante informativa, pero como cómic me ha resultado un tanto flojito. El estilo gráfico es un tanto irregular, Marie Curie se nos representa como una beldad eslava luminosa y casi etérea incluso cuando estaba ya claramente enferma (si busca uno fotos suyas su rostro no tiene mucho que ver con el que dibuja Alice Milani), y la historia está narrada de manera muy correcta pero muy uniforme. Un poco sosa, para que nos entendamos.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

La figlia dei signori Curie racconta la vita della madre. La biografia è disegnata benissimo e dettagliatamente raccontata, specialmente dal punto di vista umano. Arriviamo a conoscere aspetti della persona che spesso sono lasciati da parte nelle pubblicazioni sulla scienziata.

[Mariangel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comic book version of the life of Marie Curie. The pictures are watercolors, which makes it look unusual.

[Danilo De rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sono rimasto affascinato da questa donna, di cui mi sono sempre limitato a conoscerne le scoperte in maniera più che superficiale. È il racconto di una vita che sembra la trama di un romanzo: della governate che lascia la Polonia per studiare a Parigi, dove incontra l'uomo che amerà per tutta la vita e con il quale riuscirà a raggiungere traguardi importanti nella sua attività di ricerca. Una donna che si ritaglia un ruolo importante in un ambiente strettamente maschile, avvezzo alla figura dello scienziato ma non a quella della scienziata. Una vita fatta di tanti sorrisi e di speranze realizzate, ma anche di dolore e lacrime: dalla perdita di un figlio ancora in grembo, alla scomparsa prematura del marito e alla gelosia di una donna che, inevitabilmente, finisce col condizionarla almeno in parte. Una donna sicuramente affascinante, non a caso vincitrice di un nobel. Un libro molto bello anche se, ad onor del vero, molto specifico nelle parti più scientifiche.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was a kid I read and loved a book titled Great Men and Women. The usual dudes were there, but I was utterly fascinated by the two women - one was Marie Curie. A women scientist? A famous and accomplished one at that? Also, she was married, had kids, and somehow her brain cells didn't atrophy? Oh my!

I picked this graphic biography from my library's young adult shelves, and while I didn't particularly love the art, I did really enjoy time spent with Madame Curie. It also reminds me that I really should find an adult biography of the woman, and also read her journal - was that published? She's a fascinating person, and I found her absolutely inspirational as kid. As an adult too.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book about Marie Curie's life starting when she was a governess in Poland and continuing through her discoveries of radium and polonium all the way up to her death in 1934. This book is wonderfully researched and therefore felt very cohesive while I was reading it. I wasn't totally sold on the artwork at first. I didn't really like how the people were depicted but it grew on me the more I read. I loved how the architecture and the backgrounds of the panels were done though. If you are curious to know more about Marie Curie and her fascinating life then this is a fantastic book. I have read other books that are in this same vein and they were overly complicated and focused to much on the minute science rather than the person and their accomplishments. I would highly recommend this book; it was fascinating and very well done.

Thank you to NetGalley for this free review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Dina · Rating 3 out of 5]

He descubierto algo que no sabía de Marie y que sucede después de la muerte de Pierre q me ha sorprendido.
En cuanto al dibujo...no me ha gustado demasiado.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marie Curie (2017)

Nella trama sono ben dosate le parti scientifiche-professionali dello studio e delle scoperte con le questioni personali-sentimentali (l'amore per Pierre, la pedita di un figlio, il lutto per il marito, lo scandalo della relazione con Langevin); colpisce molto che il ritiro del secondo Nobel avrebbe potuto essere ostacolato dalla rivelazione pubblica del suo affaire con Langevin, soprattutto considerando che Marie Curie ha sacrificato la salute per le sue ricerche. Colorazione molto bella. Nonostante questo, non mi è piaciuto come altre graphic novel biografiche, ad es. quelle di Vanna Vinci; forse dipende dall'argomento scientifico e non artistico degli studi della protagonista, forse dalla società di contorno, non so

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The adult life of Marie Curie is recounted by her daughter in flashback. We see glimpses of her education, personal life and scientific career as well as social and cultural feelings of the times including the roles of women in the home and in professional life.

Milani's graphic novel is difficult to follow. Quite a bit of background knowledge is necessary as much of the plot is told in conversations - so many different characters it was hard to keep track of everyone. Lots of scientific discussions as well - even the description of Radium that was directed to a child was confusing. The illustrations seem messy, the text is disjointed - like overhearing snatches of conversation. I think an average middle schooler would quickly lose interest.

[Masha Kazankova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Я взяла эту книгу в библиотеке, чтобы почитать что-то несложное на французском языке. Жанр графического романа для этой цели отлично адаптирован: сохраняется фактическая составляющая, остаётся место для воображения, при этом нет лишних слов.
Я наконец поняла, в чем смысл научных экспериментов, которые сконструированы так, чтобы опровергнуть выдвинутую гипотезу. Если идеально выстроенный эксперимент гипотезу не опроверг, значит, она скорее подтвердилась, чем нет.
Еще до меня дошло, почему Кюри назвала открытый ей элемент Полоний (в честь Польши, по-французски — Полонь). В школе про это не рассказывали, я вообще довольно долго не знала, каким свинским образом вела себя Россия. При том, что семью моего прадеда выслали из Польши в Казахстан.
Мой любимый эпизод про то, как Мари поехала получать Нобелевскую премию несмотря на скандал по поводу её романа с Ланжеваном. Со словами «премия — признание моей работы, моя личная жизнь тут не при чем». Меньше 100 лет назад. Кажется, женщины очень далеко ушли с тех пор, с другой стороны — не дальше стеклянного потолка. Работаем, девочки.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting biography in graphic form of Marie Curie. The focus is on her personal as well as professional life. There are primary sources used within the text and to inform it. There are a lot of actual scientific explanations throughout which was unexpected (and definitely a little over my head!), but made the narrative even more compelling. To my art-basic eyes, the art was more like watercolor paintings which is different from many graphic novels and differed based upon Curie's mood/season of life. The only issue I had was that the timeline was a little too jumpy and abrupt, but overall was interestingly informative read that left a very well-rounded image of Marie Curie in my head.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an OK biography of Marie Curie. I found some characters in the story hard to follow.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bastante flojo y muy mal maquetado. Hay páginas en las que se encuentran mogollón de errores en las viñetas, como: bocadillos que se solapan, faltas en la grafía o dibujos literalmente cortados. Da la sensación de que no se revisó la novela una vez terminada o que lo hicieron, vieron que estaba mal, y les dio completamente igual.
Por otro lado, al principio me costó bastante ubicarme en la historia porque, en mi opinión, está bastante mal narrada y estructurada. No hay capítulos o partes diferenciadas y además, mezcla las cartas de Marie Curie en viñetas en las que se están hablando otros temas, ya sin hablar de que se malgasta espacio con algunas totalmente inverosímiles y que no me parecen necesarias para la narración. Además, ya que estamos, y si me pongo en plan quisquillosa, ha habido partes en las que me ha costado darme cuenta de qué personajes eran por el estilo pictórico de la artista que es un poco “intermitente (¿?)”.
No sé, en resumen me ha parecido un despropósito de novela gráfica. Me da pena porque es la biografía de una mujer que hizo mucho por la ciencia, por la humanidad y por romper con los estereotipos de género, por lo que se podría haber conseguido una novelaza informativa y muy interesante, en vez de esta chapucilla mal planteada.

(1.5 siendo generosa)

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, the life of Marie Curie, it will never get old because a woman scientist-- egads! Her brain! How can she take care of a family?

So for that reason alone, I'll never get enough of female scientists and double-Nobel Prize winner- Marie Curie, but it's a fascinating choice of events in this graphic biography that dedicates a significant enough portion to another scientist she had been writing to and that was involved in some scandal about their relationship. But how harshly felt was Pierre's death. Those two pages as what graphic novel dreams are made of and if that was an attributed quote- what heartbreak for Marie.

I like that it showed her family and her work and how she loved the laboratory life. She thought hard, she worked hard, and she was dedicated. Milani didn't shy away from the math and science but it also showed the civil side that scientists walked to help regular people understand the significance of their work.

Well done, especially with the approach graphically.

[Christelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personnellement, je les trouvais bien, les illustrations à l'aquarelle et autres techniques. Et j'ai trouvé certains moments parlants de vérité (Marie Curie qui se bute au sexisme, à la vision traditionnelle de la femme; certains moments de son mariage sont présentés avec tranquillité et retenue, on y sent l'intimité; les symptômes de maladie de Marie comme de Pierre qu'on entrevoit mais qu'à cette étape de leur vie, ils ne savent pas encore attribué à la radioactivité -- disposer de ce regard qui en sait plus que les personnages apporte un pincement au coeur).

Cela dit, je n'ai pas trouvé mon compte dans ce livre. Les passages scientifiques me passaient au-dessus de la tête, n'ayant pas moi-même le bagage scientifique nécessaire, et les passages plus romancés/personnels esquissaient des trajectoires incomplètes à mon sens; des potentiels non-meublés.

[Dustyloup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to see how the drawing style developed or changed over time. I found the drawings to be ugly in Russia and "gay" in Paris, probably how it was intended, like a rough draft, a life on hold until she gets to Paris. I think it did a good job of presenting Curie as a whole person, a scientist with a family and passion. The story of her relationship with Langevin is interesting but doesn't detract. I guess this is a feminist work/Curie was a feminist. It's weird we don't usually think of her as a feminist, ’just' a pioneer, but of course she was.

I didn't remember that one of her daughters followed in her parents' footsteps. Pierre Curie was Langevin's thesis advisor and Langevin was the advisor for Curie's daughter.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this expecting a middle-grade read about the life of Marie Curie (I didn't read about this book before opening it). What I got was a beautiful multimedia art project telling the story about this amazing scientist. Absolutely stunning. If you're looking for a visual treat mixed with a history lesson, you've come to the right book.

[Ainhoa Prieto · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐2.5⭐
Como cómic es bastante flojo, aunque el dibujo, aunque simple, esta cargado de mucha sensibilidad. Me gusta el uso del color. Como biografía es básica, no ahonda demasiado y aporta información de Marie Curie y su grandísima aportación, pero la verdad es que el cómic en sí, me ha dejado bastante fría.

[BookCupid · Rating 3 out of 5]

She was the other woman ?!

I truly enjoyed reading about Marie Curie. She has done so much for science and for women in general by being a pioneer in the scientific field. Even though I applaud the author for writing about her indiscretions, I wasn't too in love with the drawings.

[Safronia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un roman graphique intéressant sur le fond, mais je n'ai pas accroché au style du dessin.

[Veronica Bonino · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★ e mezzo.

[M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found that to be a bit depressing

[MonicaEmme · Rating 4 out of 5]

La prima volta che incontriamo Marie è a Szczuki un piccolo paese della Polonia, li fa la governante ad una bambina alla quale insegna anche il francese. Però si sente costretta in quell'ambiente è spronata della sorella va a Parigi a frequentare la Sorbona. Aveva già una laurea in fisica e aveva intenzione di ottenerla anche in matematica. Lì conosce Pierre Che lavora nella scuola di chimica industriale e gestisce laboratorio dove sta facendo degli studi sui cristalli. Marie vorrebbe tornare in Polonia per servire la causa del progresso sociale con l'istruzione delle masse ed aiutare così la sua gente e le sue sorelle, ma Pierre insiste perché rimanga lì a fare ricerca e alla fine riesce nel suo intento.
Subito fra i due si accende una simpatia sia intellettivo che emotivo. In un solo anno cominciano col dividere il laboratorio, poi affittano un appartamento, si sposano ed hanno un figlio!!! Siamo di fronte ad un grande amore qui, altroché! 😃
Nel frattempo il fisico Becquerel riesce a capire che l'uranio emette dei raggi spontanei che attraversano la materia non grazie alla fosforescenza e neppure all'energia accumulata e si chiede che energia sia. Su questo Marie vuole farci il dottorato.
Da qui in poi, sinceramente, non è che ci abbia capito molto diciamo che studia la conducibilità dell'area sotto l'influenza dei raggi organici e vuole capire se ci sono altri corpi, oltre all'uranio, che rendono l'aria conduttrice di elettricità E per farlo usa dei minerali. E portata a credere che alcuni minerali contenenti uranio si erano più attivi dell'uranio stesso e conclude che esiste un altro elemento che ancora non si conosce.
A questo punto Pierre abbandona le sue ricerche e si dedica ad aiutare Marie ed insieme scoprono il Polonio (in onore del paese di origine della scienziata)!
Marie rimase incinta, ma perse il figlio. Più tardi nacque Eve.
Come c'era da aspettarsi, dalla Svezia arriva la lettera che Pierre Curie e Mr. Becquerel hanno vinto il premio Nobel tagliando completamente fuori Marie! (Da questo fumetto non risulta che la scienziata abbia vinto il premio) Pierre accetta, anche se a malincuore, solo per avere più fondi per gli studi.
Mentre la scienziata è in campagna con le figlie Pierre viene investito da una carrozza e muore. La scienziata passa un periodo depressivo durante il quale scrive al marito, come fosse vivo, si isola e diventa apatica.
Poi si riprende ed inizia un' ambigua corrispondenza con un altro scienziato, Paul Langervin. La moglie scoprirà tutto e minaccerà di dare scandalo e farà di tutto per allontanarla dalla Francia. Andranno a casa di amici fingendo una fuga d'amore e la scienziata sarà soggetto a crudeli critiche. In questo periodo vince il Nobel.
Lui torna con la moglie. Lei si ammala a causa delle radiazioni, mette in piedi un' enorme quantità di macchine radiologiche, forma moltissime infermiere sul loro utilizzo e, poi, muore.
Trovo che questa donna sia tutt'ora sottovaluta. Diamo per scontato che grazie alla sua scoperta il campo medico ha fatto passi da gigante!
Tornando a noi i disegni sono molto gradevoli con dei colori a volte pastello a volte acquarello. Mi hanno un po' infastidito certi fumetti illeggibili a causa della sovrapposizione con altri, perché poi?
Interessante e ben fatto. Grazie Becco Giallo! 😊

[Joseph R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel tells the story of Marie Curie, a Polish scientist who discovered radiation with her French husband Pierre. After a brief look at her life as a housekeeper in Poland the story moves to Paris where she studied physics and mathematics. She also met her husband Pierre. Her "life of discovery" is both personal (she had a tendency to be reclusive, so being married and having children was a discovery for her) and scientific (she discovered radium and polonium). She was the only person to win Nobel Prizes in different sciences and the first woman to win any Nobel Prize. She ran into controversy after the death of her husband when she had an affair with a married man. The book bends over backwards to paint that incident in a positive light.

The art is fantastic. The entire book is in watercolor style that brings out the Frenchness of her life. The look is very distinctive and good at communicating a variety of emotions without having to verbalize them. The book reads very quickly and recommends other books at the end for more detail. The book puts far too much emphasis on the affair, as if getting past that was as big an accomplishment as her scientific discoveries.

Mildly recommended.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the second graphic adaptation of Marie Curie's life I read in less than a week. The first was about 12 pages, this was over 200. But somehow I learned more about Marie Curie in the shorter first one than I did here. This one focuses more on the relationships in Curie's life than it does on the science, and it manages to only briefly touch on some of the more important moments in her life. The watercolor art is often pretty, but the large supply of characters who drift in and out of the story makes it hard to keep track of many of them, and it doesn't focus on the scientific aspects of Marie Curie's story.
It's almost like this is a book about how Marie Curie FELT about her life, rather than a book about her life itself. It's a weird choice of focus and it makes it less useful as a biography, but does provide more emotional impact than a more scientific focused version would. If that's what you're looking for, go for it. If you want the science, maybe try "Women Discoverers: Women in Science" instead for a briefer but deeper examination.

[Claire Wrobel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a convoluted story. To begin, I can’t tell who the narrator is. At times it seemed to be Marie’s older sister, then Marie, then the daughters. It wasn’t clear if switching narrators was intentional, which made it blurry. The art was also blurry. I felt like at times the art seemed childish and the only reason I knew who was Marie was because of her hair. If another blonde lady was in the panel I had no idea who was who. Faces were too vague. The parts that talked about the real science of her research were completely unreachable and not reader-friendly. They didn’t make sense in the way they were written. The rest of the book is pretty readable but whenever it talked about the actual science it’s like it used a totally different language. Completely different reading levels. I also feel like I learned very little about Marie. Now I know she loved two men and had two children and also two Nobel Prizes. But I didn’t get to know her at all.

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, la peppa! Mi ero dimenticata di aggiungere questo...

Primo incontro con Alice Milani con questa biografia a fumetti dedicata a Marie Curie. Incontro riuscito tra l'altro, visto che ho in mente di recuperare anche la biografia che ha dedicato a Wisława Szymborska.

Si parte dall'infanzia di Maria e poi ci si trasferisce a Parigi, dove lei riesce a mettere a frutto le sue capacità. Ho scoperto cose di lei che non conoscevo. E, a differenze di quanto scritto in un'altra recensione, trovo che gli avvenimenti siano legati tra di loro piuttosto bene. Non ho sentito il bisogno di andare a caccia di altre informazioni per coprire i buchi.

Ci è voluto un po' per abituarsi allo stile di disegno. I colori son molto belli ma il tratto è un po' meno dettagliato di quanto solitamente mi piaccia.