Title
On Marie Curie and Me
Document Type
Creative Writing
Publication Date
1-2017
Department 1
Physics
Abstract
When people discover I am a nuclear physicist, they often say, "Oh, like Marie Curie!" And yes, I am like Marie in that I have woman parts, I study nuclei, I have two children and a physicist husband. But had I lived in her time, I would not have been that rare female admitted to the Sorbonne. I could not have quietly made the top scores on the math and physics examinations. I am impulsive and thin-skinned, my occasional cleverness passing for deeper talent. I would probably have been a cleaning girl, pregnant at 15, unable to speak any language but my native one, whatever mine might have been back in 1891. [excerpt]
Copyright Note
This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Stephenson, Sharon. "On Marie Curie and Me." Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction 18, no. 2 (2017). pp. 31-40.
Required Publisher's Statement
© 2017 Michigan State University. This work originally appeared in Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2017, 31-40.