An illustrated factual biography for ages 6–8 that begins with Maria Skłodowska’s home science learning and secret classes in Warsaw, follows her careful measurements and shared discoveries, and shows how she and her daughter Irène brought X-ray tools to wartime care while learning the risks of radiation.
Read first 4 pagesThe opening of Marie Curie: A Light for Science, free to read.
In Warsaw, Maria Skłodowska’s father showed his children science instruments he had used for teaching. On Saturday nights, he read books aloud to them. Maria learned math and physics with his help. Physics explores light, energy, and motion. Long before she ran experiments of her own, she was learning to look closely.
Warsaw was in the part of Poland ruled by the czar, Russia’s emperor. Officials tried to push Polish language and history out of school. They even removed experiments from Polish classrooms. A Russian supervisor fired Maria’s father from his teaching job for supporting Poland.
The family had little money, and then Maria’s oldest sister and mother died. Maria, her father, and the children who remained drew close. The family kept helping one another learn.
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