Summary

For their work, the scientific community bestows honors after honor upon the Curies. In December of 1903, they are jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics with Henri Becquerel, which amounts to about seventy thousand francs. Marie is the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize, but she is disinterested in fame. The honors mean little to her and her husband. The couple continues to toil in the name of science.

Now wealthy and well-known, Marie's life is not without its difficulties. Her tireless work ethic is challenged by her notoriety; now she is finally exhausted. Pierre's rheumatism troubles her, and her second pregnancy puts her in poor health and a dark mood. The birth of her second daughter, Eve, rejuvenates her outlook. The Curies close themselves off from the public as Pierre continues to fruitlessly search...