Download or read book Radium and the Secret of Life written by Luis A. Campos and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-07-05 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long before the hydrogen bomb indelibly associated radioactivity with death, many chemists, physicists, botanists, and geneticists were excited thinking that radium held the key to the secret of life. Luis Campos examines the many and varied connections between early radioactivity research and understandings of vitality, both scientific and popular, in the first half of the twentieth century. As some physicists and chemists early on described the wondrous new element and its radioactive brethren in lifelike terms ( decay, half-life, and frequent reference to the natural selection and evolution of the elements), many biologists of the period eagerly sought to bring radium into the biological fold. They did so with experiments aimed at elucidating some of the most basic phenomena of life, including metabolism and mutation, and often saw in these phenomena properties that in turn reminded them of the new element. These initially provocative links between radium and life proved remarkably productive in experimental terms and ultimately led to key biological insights into the origin of life, the nature of mutation, and the structure of the gene. "Radium and the Secret of Life" traces the half-life of this connection between the living and the radioactive, while also exploring the approach to history that emerges when one follows a trail of associations that, asymptotically, never quite disappears."
Download or read book The Radium Girls written by Kate Moore and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2017-04-18 with total page 585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts Bestseller! For fans of Hidden Figures, comes the incredible true story of the women heroes who were exposed to radium in factories across the U.S. in the early 20th century, and their brave and groundbreaking battle to strengthen workers' rights, even as the fatal poison claimed their own lives... In the dark years of the First World War, radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright. Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" are the luckiest alive — until they begin to fall mysteriously ill. And, until they begin to come forward. As the women start to speak out on the corruption, the factories that once offered golden opportunities ignore all claims of the gruesome side effects. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America's early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights that will echo for centuries to come. A timely story of corporate greed and the brave figures that stood up to fight for their lives, these women and their voices will shine for years to come. Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives...
Download or read book Romancing the Atom written by Robert R. Johnson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2012-08-03 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a compelling account of atomic development over the last century that demonstrates how humans have repeatedly chosen to ignore the associated impacts for the sake of technological, scientific, military, and economic expediency. In 1945, Albert Einstein said, "The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking ... the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind." This statement seems more valid today than ever. Romancing the Atom: Nuclear Infatuation from the Radium Girls to Fukushima presents compelling moments that clearly depict the folly and shortsightedness of our "atomic mindset" and shed light upon current issues of nuclear power, waste disposal, and weapons development. The book consists of ten nonfiction historical vignettes, including the women radium dial painters of the 1920s, the expulsion of the Bikini Island residents to create a massive "petri dish" for post-World War II bomb and radiation testing, the government-subsidized uranium rush of the 1950s and its effects on Native American communities, and the secret radioactive material development facilities in residential neighborhoods. In addition, the book includes original interviews of prominent historians, writers, and private citizens involved with these poignant stories. More information is available online at www.romancingtheatom.com.
Download or read book Something Out of Nothing written by Carla Killough McClafferty and published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux (BYR). This book was released on 2006-03-21 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Manya Sklodowska, better known today as Marie Curie, the co-discoverer of radium, and who became the first woman awarded the Nobel prize for her work on the discovery. Learn what life was like for Marie, and the effect her discovery had on the world.
Download or read book The Radium Girls Young Readers Edition written by Kate Moore and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the unbelievable true story of America's glowing girls and their fight for justice in the young readers edition of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The Radium Girls. This enthralling new edition includes all-new material, including a glossary, timeline, and dozens of bonus photos. Amid the excitement of the early twentieth century, hundreds of young women spend their days hard at work painting watch dials with glow-in-the-dark radium paint. The painters consider themselves lucky—until they start suffering from a mysterious illness. As the corporations try to cover up a shocking secret, these shining girls suddenly find themselves at the center of a deadly scandal. The Radium Girls: Young Readers Edition tells the unbelievable true story of these incredible women, whose determination to fight back saved countless lives. This new edition of the national bestseller is perfect for: Educators looking for history books for kids ages 9 to 12, nonfiction books for kids, biographies for kids, and real stories around the industrial revolution, chemistry, and science Parents, educators, and librarians looking for stories about strong women, inspiring books for girls, childrens books about women in history, and famous women books for girls Young readers who want to read one of the most inspiring and shocking narratives of the early 20th century
Download or read book The Secret Life of the Periodic Table written by Ben Still and published by . This book was released on 2025-07-17 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Secret of Life written by Georges Lakhovsky and published by Health Research Books. This book was released on 1996-09 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1936 Cosmic rays & radiations & radiations of living beings. Contents: Problem of Instinct of Special Sense in Animals; Auto-Electrification in Living Beings; Universal Nature of Radiation in Living Beings; on Radiations in General & on Electro-Magn.
Download or read book Half Lives written by Lucy Jane Santos and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fascinating, curious, and sometimes macabre history of radium as seen in its uses in everyday life. Of all the radioactive elements discovered at the end of the nineteenth century, it was radium that became the focus of both public fascination and entrepreneurial zeal. Half Lives tells the fascinating, curious, sometimes macabre story of the element through its ascendance as a desirable item – a present for a queen, a prize in a treasure hunt, a glow-in- the-dark dance costume – to its role as a supposed cure-all in everyday twentieth-century life, when medical practitioners and business people (reputable and otherwise) devised ingenious ways of commodifying the new wonder element, and enthusiastic customers welcomed their radioactive wares into their homes. Lucy Jane Santos—herself the proud owner of a formidable collection of radium beauty treatments—delves into the stories of these products and details the gradual downfall and discredit of the radium industry through the eyes of the people who bought, sold and eventually came to fear the once-fetishized substance. Half Lives is a new history of radium as part of a unique examination of the interplay between science and popular culture.
Download or read book Radioactive written by Winifred Conkling and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2018-02-20 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fascinating, little-known story of how two brilliant female physicists’ groundbreaking discoveries led to the creation of the atomic bomb. In 1934, Irène Curie, working with her husband and fellow scientist, Frederic Joliot, made a discovery that would change the world: artificial radioactivity. This breakthrough allowed scientists to modify elements and create new ones by altering the structure of atoms. Curie shared a Nobel Prize with her husband for their work. But when she was nominated to the French Academy of Sciences, the academy denied her admission and voted to disqualify all women from membership. Four years later, Curie’s breakthrough led physicist Lise Meitner to a brilliant leap of understanding that unlocked the secret of nuclear fission. Meitner’s unique insight was critical to the revolution in science that led to nuclear energy and the race to build the atom bomb, yet her achievement was left unrecognized by the Nobel committee in favor of that of her male colleague. Radioactive! presents the story of two women breaking ground in a male-dominated field, scientists still largely unknown despite their crucial contributions to cutting-edge research, in a nonfiction narrative that reads with the suspense of a thriller. Photographs and sidebars illuminate and clarify the science in the book.
Download or read book Radium Girls written by D. W. Gregory and published by Dramatic Publishing. This book was released on 2003 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage- until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease. Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not only with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but also with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.
Download or read book Making Marie Curie written by Eva Hemmungs Wirtén and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unconventional biography of Marie Curie explores the emergence of the "Curie persona," the information culture of the period that shaped its development, and the strategies Curie herself used to manage and exploit her intellectual property.--Adapted from publisher description.
Download or read book Multiple Exposures written by Catherine Caufield and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1990-04-16 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Catherine Caufield has written an important book on an important topic: the history behind the safety standards limiting the effects of high energy radiation on human beings. . . . Provides an immense amount of information in a very readable form."—W. Alan Runciman, Prometheus "From fallout and radon to radioactive smoke detectors and dental X-rays, Caufield traces the proliferation of the uses of radiation in medicine, industry and the military, and in generating energy. An intelligent, non-alarmist history."—Publishers Weekly
Download or read book Inventing Chemistry written by John C. Powers and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-04-09 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of this little-known Dutch physician “will interest students and practitioners of history, chemistry, and philosophy of science” (Choice). In Inventing Chemistry, historian John C. Powers turns his attention to Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738), a Dutch medical and chemical professor whose work reached a wide, educated audience and became the template for chemical knowledge in the eighteenth century. The primary focus of this study is Boerhaave’s educational philosophy, and Powers traces its development from Boerhaave’s early days as a student in Leiden through his publication of the Elementa chemiae in 1732. Powers reveals how Boerhaave restructured and reinterpreted various practices from diverse chemical traditions (including craft chemistry, Paracelsian medical chemistry, and alchemy), shaping them into a chemical course that conformed to the pedagogical and philosophical norms of Leiden University’s medical faculty. In doing so, Boerhaave gave his chemistry a coherent organizational structure and philosophical foundation, and thus transformed an artisanal practice into an academic discipline. Inventing Chemistry is essential reading for historians of chemistry, medicine, and academic life.
Download or read book Obsessive Genius written by Barbara Goldsmith and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2005 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Using original research (diaries, letters, and family interviews) to peel away the layers of myth, Goldsmith offers a portrait of Marie Curie, her amazing discoveries, and the immense price she paid for fame."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Radium Halos written by Shelley Stout and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2009-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a true story. In the 1920s, young women factory workers are exposed to radiation while painting glow-in-the-dark watch and clock dials with paint made from radium.
Download or read book Marie Curie written by Hourly History and published by . This book was released on 2018-10-03 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marie Curie One of the most famous women of the twentieth century, Marie Curie was a trailblazer in the truest sense. Known for her discovery of two radioactive elements, radium and polonium, Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She remains the only woman to win two Nobel Prizes in different sciences. Inside you will read about... ✓ Early Life and Loss ✓ The Flying University ✓ Nobel Prizes ✓ Scandals ✓ Curie's First World War Efforts ✓ The Discovery that Killed Her And much more! Marie Curie lived by her own rules in a society marred by misogyny and xenophobia. A scientist, but also a loving wife and mother, she defied expectations as a matter of course. Curie also fought for her country during the First World War the best way she knew how--with science. There is much more to Marie Curie's story than the discovery of the radioactive elements that eventually killed her.
Download or read book Luminous written by Samantha Wilcoxson and published by . This book was released on 2020-06-02 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catherine Donohue's life was set on a an unexpected course when she accepted a job at Radium Dial. The pay was great, and her co-workers became her best friends. But a secret was lurking in the greenish-grey paint that magically made things glow in the dark. When Catherine and her friends started becoming sick, this shy Catholic girl stood up to the might of the radium industry, the legal and medical communities, and townspeople who told her to be quiet. Would she be too late? Catherine's quest for social justice in the era between World Wars is emotive and inspiring.
