Seduced by Radium - by Maria Rentetzi (Hardcover)

About the Book

Traces the Evolution of Radium from a Scientific Object to a Desirable Commodity

Book Synopsis

The discovery of radium by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898 eventually led to a craze for radium products in the 1920s until their widespread use proved lethal for consumers, patients, and medical practitioners alike. Radium infiltrated American culture, Maria Rentetzi reveals, not only because of its potential to treat cancer but because it was transformed from a scientific object into a familiar, desirable commodity. She explores how Standard Chemical Company in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania--the first successful commercial producer of radium in the United States--aggressively promoted the benefits of radium therapy and its curative properties as part of a lucrative business strategy. Over-the-counter products, from fertilizers to paints and cosmetics to tonics and suppositories, inspired the same level of trust in consumers as a revolutionary pharmaceutical. The radium industry in the United States marketed commodities like Liquid Sunshine and Elixir of Youth at a time when using this new chemical element in the laboratory, in the hospital, in private clinics, and in commercial settings remained largely free of regulation. Rentetzi shows us how marketing campaigns targeted individually to men and women affected not only how they consumed these products of science but also how that science was understood and how it contributed to the formation of ideas about gender. Seduced by Radium ultimately reveals how innovative advertising techniques and seductive, state-of-the-art packaging made radium a routine part of American life, shaping scientific knowledge about it and the identities of those who consumed it.

Review Quotes

Seduced by Radium is utterly original. By focusing on the development and marketing strategies employed by chemical corporations, Maria Rentetzi reveals the many products they sold to consumers and their uses for a wide range of problems. Analysis through the lens of gender shows how such strategies differed for women and men with consequences for both. This book is extremely important both for its subject matter and for its thoughtful analysis. Anyone with an interest in corporations and consumerism, as well as chemicals and consequences, will appreciate its valuable insights.--Frederick Rowe Davis, author of Banned: A History of Pesticides and the Science of Toxicology

Rentetzi has written an important and interesting book whose breadth opens new vistas, but also leaves significant unanswered questions for others to address. Seduced By Radium is a most innovative contribution to the study of the use and abuse of science in validating brands, and, indeed, as a brand in itself. There are few works which do this, and by studying the marketing, production technology and medical history together, Rentetzi provides a most useful model for others to emulate.-- "British Journal for the History of Science"

This is a meticulous and detailed historical work, offering new details of the industrial dynamics that help make sense of the remarkable American enthusiasm for radium products--and the cost of that enthusiasm.-- "Technology and Culture"

About the Author

Maria Rentetzi is professor and chair of Science, Technology and Gender Studies at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). She is also correspondent member of the International Academy of the History of Science, and FAU's special representative for internationalization. She has served as Scientific advisor on science diplomacy to the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, (2017-2018) and as member of the EU working group "Making European diplomacy more strategic, effective and resilient through scientific evidence and foresight." She is the editor of a new book series on Science Diplomacy published by Brepols and of the academic journal Almagest. Her research focuses on nuclear history, gender science studies and science diplomacy. Her latest monograph is Seduced by Radium: How Industry Transformed Science in the American Marketplace (2022). For more info please visit https: //rentetzi.de