- US Edition
Radioactive!: How Irene Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World
A compelling story of how the scientific accomplishments of two brilliant female physicists developed from aiding medical advancement into the unthinkable.
This narrative non-fiction book tells the story of Irene Curie and Lise Meitner, two of the most accomplished female physicists in history, who learned to hate war after volunteering as X-ray technicians during WW1, only to have their life’s work used to create the world’s most destructive weapon during WW2.
Rights details
World Rights: Algonquin (spring 2016)
Good news
A Bank Street Best Book of 2016
Outstanding Merit, 14 and Older.
https://www.bankstreet.edu/center-childrens-literature/childrens-book-committee/best-books-year/2016-edition/
The Author
Winifred Conkling
Winifred Conkling (she/her) studied journalism in college and later worked as a writer and editor at various newspapers and magazines. She has written more than 30 non-fiction books for grown-ups and a number of highly regarded non-fiction books for young people, including Ms. Gloria Steinem, Heroism Begins with Her, Hidden Figures (co-authored with Margot Lee Shetterly), Votes for Women!, Radioactive!, and Passenger on the Pearl. She’s adapted various adult nonfiction titles for young readers including The Light of Days by Judy Batalion, American Moonshot by Douglas Brinkley, Exploring the White House by Kate Andersen Brower, Craig and Fred by Craig Grossi, and works by Bret Baier (Three Days at the Brink, Three Days in January, and Three Days in Moscow).
She has loved writing since third grade when she taught herself to type, and she went on to become a journalist and author of adult non-fiction books, rediscovering her love of children’s books when she became a mother. She has also taught reading to inmates at a maximum-security prison, run a marathon, spent the night in a dung hut with Samburu warriors, and volunteered with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India.
She lives in Northern Virginia and has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of the Fine Arts.
Visit her website at winifredconkling.com.
Winifred is represented by Kristin Ostby.