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Artist and Author Lauren Redniss Talks
with me for The Economist online.
Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout is Lauren’s extraordinary new book. I first wrote about it last month. Because I usually don’t wear my exuberance well, I’ll spare you my thoughts on the book today. Though I do hope you take a moment to seek out Lauren’s work.
From our Skype chat:
When did you first feel the desire to make a book about the Curies?
I had been thinking about love stories. I wanted a certain kind of love story that would have resonance in the world but would also make sense with a visual story. I was talking to a friend on Tenth Street and Fourth Avenue, walking into the Three Lives bookshop in the West Village. We started talking about the Curies and it was a eureka moment because suddenly all the different threads I had been thinking about were woven together. I could picture how the book would unfold. What struck me as an interesting challenge was that the two main themes were love and radioactivity. And both of those things, of course, are invisible. I loved the idea that I could try to make a visual book out of invisible things.
So the beauty of the Curies’ love story to you is what exactly?
It’s a few different things. The tenderness and mutual admiration and respect between them. They remained distinct individuals but they were also fused in such a way in the intensity of their collaboration, both romantic and scientific. One of the things that links the Curies’ scientific work to their passionate love affair is their curiosity—that ability to make a leap of imagination and to look into the unknown. I think that is common to all those threads and if there’s an idea central to the book it’s that intellectual adventurousness.
Read the entire article here.
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