Includes bibliographical references and index.

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. Her ingenuity extended far beyond the laboratory walls; she took over from her late husband as professor of physics at the Sorbonne, drove a van she outfitted with X-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I and inspired generations of young women to pursue science as a way of life. Sobel navigates Marie Curie's remarkable discoveries and fame alongside the women who became her legacy - from Norway's Ellen Gleditsch and France's Marguerite Perey to her own daughter, Irène, a Nobel Prize winner in her own right. The Elements of Marie Curie deftly illuminates the trailblazing life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of all time.