CURIE DESCENDANT PUSHES SCIENCE : NOBEL WINNERS' GRANDDAUGHTER URGES STUDENTS NOT TO FEAR TECHNOLOGY.

Byline: Sara Fornaris Daily News Staff Writer

Hoping to inspire a new generation of scientists, the granddaughter of Nobel Prize winners Marie and Pierre Curie spoke with students Thursday about her family's contribution to science.

Helene Langevin-Joliot, a nuclear physicist and chemist, told a group of about 150 students, educators and journalists at Cal State Northridge that gaining equal opportunity for women in science remains a cultural and practical problem.

``Science education today is as important as reading and writing were years ago. The question is not to fear technology but to use it for the benefit of the greater number of people,'' said Langevin-Joliot, also a professor at the University of Paris at Orsay.

Langevin-Joliot is visiting Cal State Northridge as part of her nationwide tour this month to promote improving education and encouraging women to pursue careers in science.

Granada Hills High School 10th-grader Briggid Thomas said she was impressed by the physicist.

``She is so interesting,'' Thomas said, adding that she is mulling over a career in science.

Thomas was among a cluster of students who went to the lecture from Granada Hills High's science and chemistry magnet program.

``Students need to see that scientists are people, too,'' said Stan Metzenberg, a visiting assistant professor in molecular biology at Cal State Northridge.

Langevin-Joliot will also speak today at D.S. Jordan High School in Watts and at UCLA.

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PHOTO Helene Langevin-Joliot, granddaughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, relaxes before speaking at CSUN.

Tina Gerson/Daily News