REGISTRATION INFO:

Registration is required for this free hybrid event.

Only use this form if you want to register to attend the presentation virtually (to watch online). Do NOT use this form if you want to attend the event in-person.

If you want to attend in-person, go to: https://bit.ly/DavaSobelTalk-InPerson

Tickets are limited so please only register if you plan to attend this virtual event. The lecture will be recorded but no recording link will be sent to registrants. If you want to view it at a later date,  just go to our YouTube channel where it will be posted a week or so after the talk.

ABOUT THE EVENT

Acclaimed author and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Dava Sobel, will speak about her new book “The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science.” Following her presentation, Ms. Sobel will be available to autograph copies of her book, which will be available for purchase.

The discovery of two new elements—polonium, named for her homeland, and radium with its strange powers—brought the Polish-born Marie Sklodowska Curie to the world’s attention in 1898. Both elements were “radioactive,” a term she coined to describe their unusual behavior. 

As radioactivity reshaped physics and chemistry in the early 20th century, Mme. Curie met regularly with a coterie of scientists, including her friend Albert Einstein. For decades she stood out at international conferences as the only woman in the room. Meanwhile she made room in her laboratory between 1906 and 1933 for more than forty aspiring female scientists. During the First World War, she drove her personally outfitted mobile X-ray units to combat zones accompanied by her seventeen-year-old daughter, Irène. Together they trained some 150 French women as X-ray technicians. After Irène completed her university studies, she followed her mother into the lab and won her own Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935.

Weather permitting, in-person attendees will enjoy stargazing by telescope with Hamptons Observatory founding Board member and Academic Chair of Science at Suffolk County Community College, Sean Tvelia. Feel free to bring your own telescope.

“The Elements of Marie Curie” is much more than a biography. It is a tribute to a woman who redefined what was possible for women in science, inspiring generations to follow her. Sobel's elegant prose and thoughtful use of personal and historical accounts bring Curie to life, offering a nuanced portrait of a woman whose contributions to science were matched by quiet strength, humility and commitment to humanity. This is an essential read, capturing both her genius and her legacy.” —Chen Ly, New Scientist

Dava Sobel is a highly acclaimed, award-winning author of seven books, including best-sellers The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of Harvard University Took the Measure of the Stars; Longitude (on which a NOVA documentary and a four-hour mini-series were based), and The Planets. Dava was a 2000 Pulitzer finalist for her book, Galileo's Daughter, which served as the basis for an Emmy Award winning PBS documentary. She is currently Poetry Editor of Scientific American and formerly a science reporter for the New York Times. Dava has been a member of Hamptons Observatory’s Advisory Board since its inception.

Hamptons Observatory thanks the Southampton Arts Center for its kind collaboration, and Dava Sobel for so kindly sharing her expertise.

ABOUT HAMPTONS OBSERVATORY

Hamptons Observatory (HO), a 501(c)(3) New York State nonprofit, has served the community since 2005 and operates exclusively through public support. It's mission: to foster interest in science, particularly astronomy, through quality educational programs. Lectures, star parties, portable planetarium shows and other events are held frequently and often in collaboration with other nonprofit organizations. HO has an observatory in East Hampton that it is endeavoring to restore and to make accessible (in-person and remotely) to students, researchers, educators and the general public. We offer our public programs free of charge so that everyone has the opportunity to learn about and enjoy the wonders of the universe. For further information about us or to join our mailing list, please visit our website: https://HamptonsObservatory.org.