Undark: The Heavenly Glow of Radium
I became aware of the sad fate of 'The Radium Girls' some years ago, I think possibly from a Hidden Dangers TV documentary and from a chapter in Deborah Blum's 'The Poisoner's Handbook' but it was through reading Kate Moore's excellent 'The Radium Girls' that I became more engrossed in the dark history of the illuminating substance. (Thank You to my lovely girlfriend Erin for the gift of the book). I will only give a brief resume below but thoroughly recommend that anybody whose interest is piqued to read Kate Moore's book and for a wider history of Radium also to read Lucy Jane Santos' 'Half Lives: the Unlikely History of Radium'. Also covering the Radium Girls' tragic plight in a different manner is the graphic novel 'Radium Girls' by Cy. (Noticing a texture on the cover of this book I thought to shine my black-light upon it and Lo ...) Radium ( 88 Ra) is an alkaline earth metal element that was discovered by the scie...
