”[Radioactive] is a deeply unusual and forceful thing to have in your hands. Ms. Redniss’s text is long, literate and supple. The electricity…derives from the friction between Ms. Redniss’s text and her ambitious and spooky art. Her text runs across and over these freewheeling pages, the boundaries between word and image constantly blurring. Her drawings are both vivid and ethereal. Her people have elongated faces and pale forms; they’re etiolated Modiglianis. They populate a Paris that’s become a dream city…Radioactive is serious science and brisk storytelling. The word ‘luminous’ is a critic’s cliché, to be avoided at all costs, but it fits Ms. Redniss’s book pretty snugly.”
“An unlikely tale of love, discovery and loss…. It is difficult to compare Radioactive to other works from any written or visual tradition, except perhaps another book of Redniss’s own.”
“Sumptuously illustrated visual biography…Radioactive is a look at science’s greatest partnership…. Even the cover glows in the dark.”
All Things Considered (NPR) audio and slideshow
The Leonard Lopate Show (WNYC) audio
Science Friday (NPR)
Nature
“Redniss unfolds plot and content with skill and kindness. She introduces suspense and selects affectionate, unforgettable details. The concepts of radioactivity, half-life and nuclear fission are delivered with poetic ease, and used as metaphors to parallel steps in the protagonists’ lives. The result is linguistically rich and visually captivating…. Radioactive is romance, history, art and poetry woven together into a unique style of biography. Redniss introduces us to the intense and sometimes frail lives of brilliant devoted scientists, displaying her enchantment with the lyrical aspects of science.”
“No praise is too glowing for Redniss’ brilliant ‘Radioactive’ bio of the Curies.”
Slate’s Culture Gabfest (audio)
“Lauren Redniss has revived [Marie and Pierre Curie’s story] with astounding creativity and beauty….a tender and haunting tribute to the scientists who fell in love while conducting research that led to their discovery of radium and polonium.”
“The story of Marie and Pierre Curie…finds new life in the hands of writer and artist Lauren Redniss, who weaves together deft narrative and vivid illustrations to create a thoroughly modern account of the scientific and romantic passions of the Curies, as well as the repercussions of their discoveries.”
“Utterly original.”
“Art and story become one. The reader leaves with a sense of wonder about the work of a singular woman and her exhilarating era.”
“Amazing multilayered look at the Curies and the world their research has helped to create.”
“Excellent…Exciting.”
“Lauren Redniss’s brilliant biography-in-collage is an astounding portrait of Marie and Pierre Curie…as visually stunning as it is factually rich.… Through her moody, evocative collages, [Redniss] captures the drama of the Curies’ lives and their contributions to science and medicine, sending the reader on a one-of-a-kind historical and biographical journey that any curious mind will appreciate.”
