Having been diagnosed with hysteria in 1878, Blanche Wittman was committed to Salpêtrière Hospital for sixteen years. Under the care of the famous M. Charcot she was regularly displayed before a public audience in a cataleptic state. Over time the nature of her participation in these demonstrations changed, as did her relationship with M. Charcot, until eventually she graduated from patient to assistant. On leaving the hospital she was hired by Marie Curie to work in her Paris laboratory, where, on 17 February 1898, after successful experiments conducted with the mineral pitchblende, radium was discovered.

So enchanted was Marie by its soft blue glow that she took to keeping a glass vial of radium salts at her beside. For Blanche, the effects were more brutal; exposure to radiation necessitated the amputation of all her limbs, save one. Marie did not escape tragedy altogether; her husband & collaborator Pierre was weakened by illness & subsequently killed having wandered in front of an oncoming horse & cart. Following Pierre

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The Story of Britain is a significant book published at a significant moment, for there can rarely have been a time when ...

Once upon a time, many years ago
- when our grandfathers were little children
- there was a doctor, & his name was Dolittle
-


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From the tiniest microchip to the information superhighway, the modern world is dominated by & dependent upon science. Yet whether we realize it or not, we live in an age where faith is still an important influence in our lives. The majority of Americans profess a belief in a Christian God & Islam acts as a unifying, energizing force for many of the world ...

From the tiniest microchip to the information superhighway, the modern world is dominated by & dependent upon science. Yet whether we realize it or not, we live in an age where faith is still an important influence in our lives. The majority of Americans profess a belief in a Christian God & Islam acts as a unifying, energizing force for many of the world ...

In The Story of India, Michael Wood weaves a spellbinding narrative out of the 10, 000-year history of the subcontinent. ...

'I'm Tracy Beaker. This is a book all about me. I'd read it if I were you. It's the most incredible dynamic heart-rending story. Honest.'



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'I'm Tracy Beaker. This is a book all about me. I'd read it if I were you. It's the most incredible dynamic heart-rending story. Honest.'



...

It is 1982 & Thatcher is in Downing Street, Human League is in the charts & Dallas is on the telly.



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