I don't think I need to explore Curie any further and can only half-heartedly recommend the book. It had been sitting on the shelf for awhile and for someone who had little or no knowledge about Curie beyond what Goldsmith would call the myth, it was an introduction and an easy read. I read this for the CATWoman July book: women in science. But, as the biography unfolds, she seems to like her subject less and less and that attitude may color the later stages of the book as she delves into Curie's private life beyond the laboratory. I read a few Amazon reviews and agree with one reviewer: Goldsmith seems sympathetic to her subject at the beginning as she describes her childhood and her battle with depression. But she did so, Goldsmith suggests, at the expense of her children, especially her youngest, Eve, who did not have the scientific inclinations of her older sister Irene. In a world where women were not welcome in the scientific world, she created a space for herself that she managed to keep even after Pierre died. The portrait she paints is not at all flattering but perhaps not surprising.

She also interviewed family members and friends. Goldsmith was able to access new materials including Curie's letters and other papers, many of which had been sequestered because they were radioactive. Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith purports to tell the real story behind the mythical woman.

Obsessive genius marie curie