The Madame Curie Complex

It was awesome to meet Julie Des Jardins (Jory’s sister and Joy’s daughter) last year at BlogHer 09. I’d heard an awful lot about her and seen a lot of photos of her and her children. It was fun to take her photo with Mrs Potato Head. And it was interesting to hear her talk about her book, The Madame Curie Complex.

I’m not a science nerd but is that because when I was a kid, I was discouraged from pursuing math and science interests? Possible but as with any nature over nurture question, impossible to know for sure.  I didn’t know exactly what Julie was going to write or who she’d include in her pages but any book that talks about invisible women is my kind of book.

When my signed review copy arrived (thanks Julie!) I was thrilled by the names of the women I saw inside. I have always been interested in Marie Curie, haven’t we all?  I’m a huge Roslind Franklin fan, (Watson, Crick and Wilkins… ugh, don’t even get me started… I think I almost drove off of the road the day I discovered The Rosalind Franklin College right next to the Great Lakes Naval Station.)  And, I remember wanting to do a report about Lillian Gilbreth way back when and not being able to find enough information, all I could find was stuff about Frank.

I was really looking forward to reading it but work and kids and life in general kept me from diving in. (Imagine Lillian Gilbreth or Marie Curie making those kinds of excuses…hah.) I decided the Readathon would be the perfect time to sit down with it but I planned poorly and didn’t start it until very late in the Readathon day. I struggled with the intro, though it started beautifully, and ended up putting it down in favor of Nancy Drew – hoping to revitalize a bit. It worked because when I picked it back up, I was hooked – exhausted but hooked.

We’ve all heard the reasons why women didn’t enter (or achieve) in math and science, Julie’s book digs in differently. As she placed these women into historical context, right next to their male counterparts, I found myself thinking about the stories I already knew – in a different way.

The pieces about Gilbreth, the Manhattan project, and the “computers” in Astronomy were fascinating – I suspect I’ll go back and re-read those sections again. I’ve also never been very interested in the Trimates – the primate studies of Fossey,  Galdikas and Goodall- but after reading about them in The Madame Curie Complex, I’ve begun to regret that. I might just end up with a book or two about Primatology – particularly Galdikas and Fossey.  Thanks Julie!

Posted via email from Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

2 thoughts on “The Madame Curie Complex”

  1. What a wonderful review of Julie’s book Denise. I can’t wait to have her read it. What makes it even better is your personal thoughts regarding some of the women in this book….wonderful. Thanks for including The Madame Curie Complex in your Read-a-thon; and I hope, when you’re not ‘booked,’ that you DO go back and read some of it over again.

    Again, congratulations on the amazing job you did for this Read-a-thon. My bookmark and I salute you sweetie… ~Joy xo

  2. Julie Des Jardins

    Denise, my mom told me about your read-a-thon, and I honestly didn’t think it humanly possible to do what you just did. In graduate school, I had to read a lot of books in the course of a day, but never anything like what you just did–and voluntarily! I’m so thrilled and honored that you read my book. You literally must be the fastest reader in the West–and you still take it all in, which is amazing! We’re both Franklin fans.

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