Skip to main content

mastodon - Link to source

Very pleased to see NYT acknowledge Lise Meitner.

Meitner developed the theory of nuclear fission & newly translated letters show she was barred from sharing credit for the Nobel Prize-winning discovery because she was Jewish & a woman. nytimes.com/2023/10/02/science… #science #history #HistoryRemix

#science #history #historyremix
This entry was edited (2 years ago)
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

ahimsa
mastodon - Link to source
ahimsa
• •

The "Lost Women of Science" podcast just did a 2 part episode about her, part of their "Lost Women of the Manhattan Project" series.

(transcripts available)

Part 1: lostwomenofscience.org/season-…

Part 2: lostwomenofscience.org/season-…

#Science #History #Women #Podcast #ManhattanProject


Why Did Lise Meitner Never Receive the Nobel Prize for Splitting the Atom?

New translations of Meitner’s letters show that antisemitism before and after World War II robbed Meitner of the 1944 Nobel Prize that went to her long-time collaborator chemist Otto Hahn.
www.lostwomenofscience.org
#science #history #podcast #women #manhattanproject
This entry was edited (2 years ago)
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Sheril Kirshenbaum
mastodon - Link to source
Sheril Kirshenbaum
• •

I do have one small quibble with the NYT piece. The headline calls Meitner the “Mother of the Atomic Bomb.”

No. Meitner helped discover nuclear fission & foresaw its dangerous potential. BUT she refused to work on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, famously declaring, “I will have nothing to do with a bomb!”

Her gravestone reads, “Lise Meitner: a physicist who never lost her humanity.” /2

in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

GreenSkyOverMe (Monika)
mastodon - Link to source
GreenSkyOverMe (Monika)
• •

Yay!

I went to Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium (grade 5-13 school) and next to us was Lise-Meitner-Realschule (grade 5-10 school). There was a big split atom in front, made of stone.

in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

[object Object]
mastodon - Link to source
[object Object]
• •
Clearly Meitner took issue with this label. Using it in a headline, even with scare quotes, perpetuates the disservice done to her.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Robert Roy Britt
mastodon - Link to source
Robert Roy Britt
• •
I was peeved by the lack of recognition afforded her but did not know I should also be peeved by the headline (and the source for it). Now I’m twice peeved. Thank you.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Elizabeth
mastodon - Link to source
Elizabeth
• •
it is a huge question. She’s the forebear in the sense that her work led proximally to its construction. So can we make things with a range of purposes and be held accountable when a predictable destructive use is created from it. Some of us have analogous things like that in our work so it’s something to think about. Not so easy if I’m honest.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Tip
mastodon - Link to source
Tip
• •
I'm glad I added Lise Meitner to my physics course after the last time you mentioned her. This year I have my first ever all girl physics class!
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Jeff Darling
mastodon - Link to source
Jeff Darling
• •
thank you for sharing that. Reading a biography of Meitner when I was in my early 20s was transformative.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

drdind
mastodon - Link to source
drdind
• •
yes. It was a serious omission from the Oppenheimer film and, of course, from much of the history of nuclear science.

Lo, thar be cookies on this site to keep track of your login. By clicking 'okay', you are CONSENTING to this.

⇧