本书是一本记述玛丽·怪里和她的女儿伊伦娜生平事迹的英汉对照通俗读物。书中人物塑造鲜明，节奏明快，寓教于乐，作者叙述注重以真实的细节和引人入胜的情节来构造人物的活动空间，让人物行动起来，达到栩栩如生的效果。

全书集知识性、趣味性于一体，对提高英语水平有一定的推动作用。

1 玛妮雅·斯可罗多夫斯卡

2 玛丽

3 居里夫人

4 第一个诺贝尔奖

5 灾难

6 杰出的孀妇

7 战争岁月

8 居里楼

9 伊伦娜·约时奥—居里

10 第二代人——长江后浪推前浪

11 帷幕降下

12 继承遗志

1. Manya Sklodowska (l867~189l)

In mid-Novemher l903, a telegram transformed Marie and Pierre Curies lives. The young couple received word from Stockholm, Sweden, that they and a colleague, Henri Becquerel, had been awarded the Nohel Prize for physics. Receiving the worlds most famous scientific award catapulted the two researchers from celebrity status to international glory. Photographers and journalists took up their trail. When the press descended on the Curies home in Paris, Marie and Pierre were out. Only their daughter, Irene, and her Polish nurse were there. The reporters pestered the pair with questions. The nurse froze, then fled to the kitchen, pleading that she did not understand French. One reporter, undaunted, turned to Irene and asked where her parents were.

1．玛妮雅·斯可罗多夫斯卡（1867～1891）

1903年11月中旬，一封电报改变了玛丽和皮埃尔的生活。这对年轻的夫妇从瑞典斯德哥尔摩得到消息：他们和同事亨利·贝克勒尔被授予诺贝尔物理奖。获得世界最具权威的科学奖项使他们从著名人士一跃成为整个世界为之荣耀的科学巨匠。摄影师和记者们接踵而至，追寻他们的踪迹。

当新闻界突然造访居里夫妇在巴黎的寓所时，恰巧玛丽和皮埃尔外出了。只有他们的女儿伊伦娜和波兰保姆在家。记者们缠着她俩不停地提问题。保姆愣住了，随后声称自己不懂法语，立刻钻进了厨房。一个锲而不舍的记者转向了伊伦娜，问她的爸爸妈妈到哪里去了。