Summary

Manya registers at the French university Sorbonne as "Marie Sklodovski" and dives into her coursework. Her education at the less-structured Floating University in Warsaw has left some gaps in her learning, but her classmates and instructors are more than welcoming of foreign born students such as herself. Manya, now Marie, works tirelessly in order to achieve the title of Master of Science. She has little room for diversion.

Soon, Marie moves out of her sister's house so as to be less of a financial burden, and pays for her own room in the Latin Quarter of Paris. There, she lives a life of "monastic simplicity," (105) industrious and fanatic, often foregoing such necessities as meals and heating coal. She works so tirelessly that she obtains one Master's degree in physics and one in mathematics, even as...