Switching Books Too

Well I've decided to change my September selection as well! I started the Niffenegger and it didn't take long to feel like it wasn't worth my time. I'm sad too! I was really excited! I think the story is probably quite creative and fun, but there are some "flies in that ice cream", so to say.

Lucky for me, I just finished reading Madame Curie and hadn't even realized it fit for our category! Madame Curie won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 1937. At least, I just read that somewhere. But as I've looked into it more, I'm not even sure how that'd be possible. In the first place, the National Book Awards were started in 1950. And then the National Book Awards are supposed to award American authors -- Eve Curie was French/Polish. So...maybe the book didn't receive an award after all - but I think it should have.

I already wrote about it on my personal blog, but I'm copying the text to here so that it's more convenient for everyone to read and be able to comment on. I'd love to discuss it with anyone who's read it. If you already read this on my personal blog, I've added a sentence or two and they are in the green text.

I recommend Madame Curie by her daughter Eve Curie to anyone. It was SO good! I was surprised at how easily I was drawn into it and also how easy it was to understand the scientific jargon. Granted, I do lean toward what I might call being "scientifically minded", but I think Eve Curie did a masterful job of telling her mother's story in a way that laymen could understand many of the details of Marie Curie's work.

I admire Marie Curie greatly. She worked in awful conditions alongside her husband, Pierre, for many years to discover Polonium and Radium. I was struck by her drive to continue her work. I think she was a little insane about her rigorous work schedule but at the same time it's admirable. And she loved what she did. She even worked 12-14 hour days right up to her death at age 66! She was so driven that she would stay up till 2 or 3 in the morning sitting on the floor with pages of equations spread around her. (I loved that. I could go for that myself. If it was math anyway.)

I wish she could have had better resources for her research earlier on her career. I'm not sure that's changed much for scientists over the years. They slave so hard to make new discoveries, but very few are "sponsored" or supported with the things they need until those discoveries are actually made.

When I started the book, I knew very little about Marie Curie and her life. I think I knew what most people know - that she was a great scientist and discovered radium with her husband. I really enjoyed learning about the work she did during World War I! She created mobile x-ray "cars" that could be used in surgery and also found a way to make x-ray hospitals throughout France. She was only able to put together something like 10-15 of the cars, but she personally started 200 X-ray hospital rooms during the war to help the war effort. Amazing!

I was also struck by how intense her relationship with Pierre was. I was really sad reading about his death and how much her life changed after that. She never was able to speak with her daughters about him. It hurt too much.

I thought several times as I was reading about how wonderful it is to have a testimony of the Gospel and have perspective when it comes to this life and how it fits into the plan. Her inner struggles would have been so different and she could have been comforted in knowing that Pierre was waiting for her and in knowing that there is a greater plan than our mortal lives. I think she is waiting peacefully and happily in the spirit world though, and knows more of our Heavenly Father's plan for us now. At least, I like to think so. She was such a smart woman, I think she'll figure things out!