Dava Sobel and The Elements of Marie Curie at Hatchards, Piccadilly

We are thrilled to welcome author Dava Sobel to discuss her new book The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science here at Hatchards, Piccadilly in conversation with Marina Benjamin.

For decades, Marie Curie was the only woman in the room at international scientific gatherings, and despite constant illness she travelled far and wide to share the secrets of radioactivity, a term she coined. She is still the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields.

Her ingenuity extended far beyond the laboratory walls; grieving the death of her husband, Pierre, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne, devotedly raised two daughters, drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I, befriended Albert Einstein and inspired generations of young women to pursue science as a way of life.

Approaching Marie Curie from a unique angle, Sobel navigates her remarkable discoveries and fame alongside the women who became her legacy – from Norway’s Ellen Gleditsch and France’s Marguerite Perry, who discovered the element francium, to her own daughter, Irene, a Nobel Prize winner in her own right. Elements of Marie Curie deftly illuminates the trailblazing life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time.

Dava Sobel is the author of the international bestseller,Longitude, the bestselling Pulitzer Prize finalistGalileo’s Daughter, The Planets, A More Perfect Heaven,And the Sun Stood Still,andThe Glass Universe, and co-author ofThe Illustrated Longitude. She is the recipient of the Individual Public Service Award from the National Science Board, the Bradford Washburn Award, the Kumpke-Roberts Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other honours. A former New York Times science reporter and current editor of the “Meter” poetry column in Scientific American, she lives on Long Island. (author photo credit Glen Allsop).

Marina Benjamin is an editor and author whose most recent books include A Little Give: the unsung, unseen, undone work of women; Insomnia and The Middlepause.

We hope you are able to join us for what will be a fascinating evening!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

London - Hatchards - Piccadilly, 187 Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom