Radium, in all its many forms and incarnations, can be dangerous AF. We know this now, but “back in the day” it was used in dermatology, homeopathy, cosmetics, wristwatches, architecture, and even high fashion. And its value wasn’t strictly utilitarian; the possession of a few micrograms of radium in a tiny vial was, in fact, high social currency.

Good science writers are able to make complex topics enjoyable and accessible to laypersons (like me) without resorting to the tactics of condescension or misrepresentation. Lucy Jane Santos makes it look easy. She shuttles her readers through the storied history of radium, from its discovery in 1902 to its current use in medical therapies, by artfully braiding physics and chemistry with colorful biographical snippets of the personalities involved. This is a weird, sometimes tragic, always fascinating chronology.