Obsessive Genius: the Inner World of Marie Curie

Obsessive Genius: the Inner World of Marie Curie

ChemistryName ______

Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie

By Barbara Goldsmith

Pre-reading Questions—answer in COMPLETE SENTENCES!

  1. What would you do if you were told that you couldn’t study in your area of interest because of your gender?
  1. What would you do if you were expected to learn how to take care of a house and family instead of pursuing your education?
  1. What would you do if the only way you could go to college were to travel 1000 miles from home to attend school in another country with mostly people of the opposite gender?
  1. If you could design your own school, what would it be like?
  1. In 1995 the ashes of Marie and Pierre Curie were transferred to the Pantheon, a great honor. Read the quote from Francois Mitterrand on p. 14 and then discuss the irony of the sign above where they were buried “TO GREAT MEN FROM A GRATEFUL COUNTRY.”
  1. At the time of Marie’s birth, Poland was dominated by a Tsarist Russia; school instruction in the native language was outlawed; many held secret classes, even schools in Polish. Is this possible anywhere today?
  1. At this time, science was closed to women. Are any careers closed to women now? To men?

Read chapters 1-3 (pages 20-52).

Vocabulary

Definition / Page on which it first appears / Meaning in context of the text
Insurrection / an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government
Tuberculosis / a highly variable communicable disease … that is characterized by fever, cough, difficulty in breathing
Perfidy / the quality or state of being faithless or disloyal :treachery; an act or an instance of disloyalty
bipolar disorder / any of several psychological disorders of mood characterized usually by alternating episodes of depression and mania
Positivism / a theory that theology and metaphysics are earlier imperfect modes of knowledge and that positiveknowledge is based on natural phenomena and their properties and relations as verified by the empirical sciences

Discussion

After reading, respond to TWO of the following questions in a paragraph each. Attach your responses.

  1. “But major achievements need more than scientific preparedness; they need an individual peculiarly suited to the task.” (p. 20) What is meant by “an individual peculiarly suited to the task”? For what task might you be “peculiarly suited”?
  1. “When one of her teachers reprimanded her for her superior attitude saying, “I feel you look down on me,” Manya, who was taller than her teacher, answered, with anger disguised as humor, “The fact is that I can’t do anything else.” (p. 30) Have you ever felt “intellectually superior” to an adult in your life? How did this affect your relationship? Did you ever have to resist the urge to say something inappropriate? How can you handle a situation like this?
  1. “One by one the Sklodowski children fulfilled their father’s expectations by graduating first in their class with all the attendant honors, with the exception of Helena, who received a second place. She felt despondent that she had failed her father.” (p. 30) Being gifted usually comes with high expectations from yourself, your classmates, your teachers, and your parents. Think of a time when you felt like your performance let someone down. Were your feelings justified? How could you avoid these feelings without feeling increased pressure to perform?
  1. “For someone accustomed to the regimented structure of the Russian curriculum, freedom bewildered her. At the Sorbonne, students could attend whatever classes they wanted, whenever they wanted. Exams were voluntary and could be taken at any time.” (p. 46) What would it be like to attend a school in which you could attend any classes you wished and take exams whenever you wished? For what kind of student would this offer advantages? Disadvantages?
  1. Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt isolated either because of your gender, age, race, or for any other reason? How did this affect your feelings about the activity in which you were involved? How did Marie deal with unequal treatment of women?