#Lise Meitner

[diioonysus]

happy women’s history month but also to name a few more women who deserved better

[oldmanontumbler]

There's a post going around titled "Girl Math" about a bunch of awesome women in in mathematics fields. Unfortunately, OP is a TERF. So I have stolen the images and will be putting them under the cut. OP is named "radically aligned," because credit where credit is due (even if they are a TERF).

But while I am at it, let's also give a shout-out to Lynn Conway, a trans woman who co-developed what essentially became today's "microchip," allowing scores of individual components to be integrated into one small chip. If you like being able to go Tumblr, there's a high chance that Ms. Conway is to thank!

[un-ionizetheradlab]

1932

1938

1945

[denimbex1986]

Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated movie “Oppenheimer,” set for release July 21, 2023, depicts J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb. But while the Manhattan Project wouldn’t have been possible without the work of many accomplished female scientists, the only women seen in the movie’s trailer are either hanging laundry, crying or cheering the men on.The only women featured in the official trailer for Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ are crying, hanging laundry or supporting the men.

As a physics professor who studies ways to support women in STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – fields and a film studies professor who worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood, we believe the trailer’s depiction of women reinforces stereotypes about who can succeed in science. It also represents a larger trend of women’s contributions in science going unrecognized in modern media.

Lise Meitner: A pioneering role model in physics

The Manhattan Project would not have been possible without the work of physicist Lise Meitner, who discovered nuclear fission. Meitner used Einstein’s E=MC² to calculate how much energy would be released by splitting uranium atoms, and it was that development that would prompt Einstein to sign a letter urging President Franklin Roosevelt to begin the United States’ atomic research program.

Einstein called Meitner the “Madame Curie of Germany” and was one of a pantheon of physicists, from Max Planck to Niels Bohr, who nominated Meitner for a Nobel Prize 48 times during her lifetime.

Meitner never won. Instead, the prize for fission went to Otto Hahn, her male lab partner of 30 years in Berlin. Hahn received the news of his nomination under house arrest in England, where he and other German scientists were being held to determine how far the Third Reich had advanced with its atomic program.

Of Jewish descent, Meitner had been forced to flee the Nazis in 1938 and refused to use this scientific discovery to develop a bomb. Rather, she spent the rest of her life working to promote nuclear disarmament and advocating for the responsible use of nuclear energy.

Meitner was not the only woman who made a significant contribution during this time. But the lack of physics role models like Meitner in popular media leads to real-life consequences. Meitner doesn’t appear as a character in the film, as she was not part of the Manhattan Project, but we hope the script alludes to her groundbreaking work.

A lack of representation

Only around 20% of the undergraduate majors and Ph.D. students in physics are women. The societal stereotypes and biases, expectation of brilliance, lack of role models and chilly culture of physics discourage many talented students from historically marginalized backgrounds, like women, from pursuing physics and related disciplines.

Societal stereotypes and biases influence students even before they enter the classroom. One common stereotype is the idea that genius and brilliance are important factors to succeed in physics. However, genius is often associated with boys, and girls from a young age tend to shy away from fields associated with innate brilliance.

Studies have found that by the age of 6, girls are less likely than boys to believe they are “really, really smart.” As these students get older, often the norms in science classes and curricula tend not to represent the interests and values of girls. All of these stereotypes and factors can influence women’s perception of their ability to do physics.

Research shows that at the end of a yearlong college physics course sequence, women with an “A” have the same physics self-efficacy as men with a “C”. A person’s physics self-efficacy is their belief about how good they are at solving physics problems – and one’s self-efficacy can shape their career trajectory.

Women drop out of college science and engineering majors with significantly higher grade-point averages than men who drop out. In some cases, women who drop out have the same GPA as men who complete those majors. Compared to men, women in physics courses feel significantly less recognized for their accomplishments. Recognition from others as a person who can excel in physics is the strongest predictor of a student’s physics identity, or whether they see themselves as someone who can excel in physics.

More frequent media recognition of female scientists, such as Meitner, could vicariously influence young women, who may see them as role models. This recognition alone can boost young women’s physics self-efficacy and identity.

When Meitner started her career at the beginning of the 20th century, male physicists made excuses about why women had no place in a lab – their long hair might catch fire on Bunsen burners, for instance. We like to believe we have made progress in the past century, but the underrepresentation of women in physics is still concerning.

Diversity as an asset to science

If diverse groups of scientists are involved in brainstorming challenging problems, not only can they devise better, future-oriented solutions, but those solutions will also benefit a wider range of people.

Individuals’ lived experiences affect their perspectives – for example, over two centuries ago, mathematician Ada Lovelace imagined applications far beyond what the original inventors of the computer intended. Similarly, women today are more likely to focus on applications of quantum computers that will benefit their communities. Additionally, physicists from Global South countries are more likely to develop improved stoves, solar cells, water purification systems or solar-powered lamps. The perspectives that diverse groups bring to science problems can lead to new innovations.

Our intention is not to disparage the “Oppenheimer” movie, but to point out that by not centering media attention on diverse voices – including those of women in physics like Meitner – filmmakers perpetuate the status quo and stereotypes about who belongs in physics. Additionally, young women continue to be deprived of exposure to role models who could inspire their academic and professional journeys'

[valkyries-things]

DR. LISE MEITNER // PHYSICIST

“She was a leading Austrian-Swedish physicist who was one of those responsible for the discovery of the element protactinium and nuclear fission. While working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute on radioactivity, she discovered the radioactive isotope protactinium-231 in 1917. In 1938, her and her nephew discovered nuclear fission. She was praised by Albert Einstein as the “German Marie Curie”. She became the second woman from the University of Vienna to earn a doctorate in physics and the first woman to become a full professor of physics in Germany.”

[ladymalchav]

I got a 100 postcard pack all about historical/famous women scientists with little facts about them on the fronts.

They were super salty with this one, lol

[girlactionfigure]

It was the summer of 1938. For Lise Meitner, a Jewish scientist in Germany, the time had come to escape. Emigrating was no longer an option. A group of scientist friends who had become increasingly worried for her safety assembled a plan to smuggle Lise out of the country.

On July 12th, with two small suitcases of summer clothes in hand and accompanied by a male Dutch scientist, she made it to the Netherlands by train. Then a few weeks later, to Sweden. Where she settled and, while struggling with adjusting to her new life, continued to work.

Approaching sixty years old at this time, she had dedicated her life to science and friendship. Shy as a child, she grew up enthused by math and science, a researcher in mind almost from the beginning. By eight, she kept records of observations in a notebook. And after years of private schooling, as her hometown of Vienna did not permit women to receive a higher education during most of her teenage years, Lise graduated college and then earned a doctorate in physics.

After earning her doctorate, Lise became a physics professor. In the work she found purpose. And while she would deal with discrimination throughout her career, she became an essential contributor to the research in her field.

—Historical Snapshots

[vqtblog]

The New York Times Lise Meitner, the ‘Atomic Pioneer’ Who Never Won a Nobel Prize

[yubsie]

omg you named your cat after lise meitner???

Yes! Her name is Meitner and we call her Mighty for short.

She's adorable AND I get to tell people about Lise Meitner when they comment that it's not a name they've heard for a cat before.

Previous cats were Schroedinger and Archimedes so there's a bit of a science and history theme.

[la-cosmonauta-extraterrestre]

I keep coming back to this article from 2021 because it's an important topic.

It does mention, that for a while the centre of the scientific world was in Germany and one needed to know German to be a physicist-something the Nazis ruined forever.

It talks about how the United States became the centre of the scientific world after WWII and that cemented the place of English. I think that's problematic not just because of cultural Americentrism, but also because even if many prestigious universities and research institutes are in the United States, the reality is that the American people as a whole don't care about science, and the American government does not fund science as much (scaled to population) as in many European countries, South Korea, Israel, China (probably some other countries I'm forgetting).

The position of English as the only language of physics is problematic also because so many people can't read or write scientific papers in their own language (or in some countries, learn physics in their native language), but I'm not sure what the solution is, and this article does little to suggest a solution. In the late 19th century, western physicists needed to have a working knowledge of English, French and German to do physics. Today, with people around the world collaborating on physics papers and going to conferences, and with little barriers to collaboration between western and non-western scientists, one might need to have a working knowledge of 4-8 languages just to keep up with their narrow subfield of physics were it not for everything being in English.

[simplicius-simplicissimus]

Science makes people reach for truth and objectivity; it teaches people to accept reality, with wonder and admiration, not to mention the deep awe and joy that the natural order of things brings to the true scientist.

-Lise Meitner

Comment: Lise Meitner was probably the first person to calculate and understand the energy that an uncontrolled nuclear fission (chain reaction) could release and what that could mean.

[satnpifi]

Intresting

To go back to early december. Anne L'Huillier who got the nobel prize in physics is called the second French woman to get the nobel prize in physics after Marie Skłodowska* Curie. The thing is that wikipedia calls her “French-Swedish physicist”, so Anne L'Huillier should also be the first Swedish woman who got the prize? Sure if you know your science history, you know that the Austrian Swedish physicist Lise Meitner should have shared the prize in 1944 because of her hypothesis about nuclear fission. But apparently back in the days you couldn’t be a woman and get a scientific nobel prize unless your last name was Curie, that’s another story. The third story might be that Lise Meitner ended up in Stockholm when it seems like all other Jewish scientists from Central Europe emigrated to the US (largest brain gain in history?).

* According to a Polish Swedish guy I knew, Marie Skłodowska Curie was very keen on keeping her Polish name.

[hagnanimous]

Who cares about Oppenheimer, let’s talk about Lise Meitner!!!

She was the first to name and explain nuclear fission, but she was passed over for the Nobel Prize in favor of her collaborator Otto Hahn. She planned experiments in secret after having to flee Austria during WWII because she was Jewish. When she was asked to join the Manhattan Project, she refused on moral grounds. Her tombstone reads “A physicist who never lost her humanity.”

Lise Meitner is one of the most important scientists of the 20th century, and she’s rarely ever mentioned.

Some articles about her:

[infactforgetthepark]

[Free Audiobooks] The Woman Who Split the Atom by Marissa Moss & Bump by Chiara Atik [Award-Winning YA Science Biography & Pregnancy Drama Play]

The annual SYNC Summer of Listening program encouraging literacy among teens by giving away a themed weekly pair of audiobooks—usually 1 modern or non-fiction, 1 classic or drama—returns for another year, courtesy of sponsor AudioFile Magazine and participating publishers.

This 10th week's theme is “Inventive People”, featuring technically-minded discoverers and tinkerers, available from Thursday June 29th through Wednesday July 5th:

The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner by award winning children's book author and illustrator Marissa Moss, read by Sandy Rustin from Recorded Books. This is a YA level scientist biography of pioneering mid-20th century Austrian Jewish physicist Lise Meitner, who fled the Nazi regime and contributed significantly to the key discovery of nuclear fission, which would later lead to the development of the atomic bomb and nuclear reactors, and has the chemical element Meitnerium named after her. The audiobook reading of this was a recipient of AudioFile Magazine's own Earphones Award.

Bump by playwright Chiara Atik, a recipient of the Steinberg/ATCA Award, performed by a full cast from L. A. Theatre Works. This is a comedic social drama play focused on the experience of pregnancy and childbirth in three intertwining timelines: one with hilarious posts on a social media message board for moms, one an historical strand featuring interactions between a midwife and a first time mother in the late 18th century, and the core story of a young woman planning a home birth as her inventor father experiments with building a birthing gadget to help make the experience easier. This audiobook includes an interview with the playwright and a gynecologist.

The freebies are available via Overdrive's Sora service (listenable via browser on their website, or via their mobile app for iOS & Android devices). To claim them, you'll need to register on the SYNC website with a valid email address to use in a Sora account, using the setup code and directions in the instructions in SYNC's FAQ (no need to re-register if you've participated in previous years' giveaways), clicking “Borrow” to add them to your Sora library as a permanent loan. NB: if you need to free up space on your device later, follow the instructions in the FAQ to only “delete files” and DO NOT “Return” the title, which would remove your future access.

Offered worldwide through Wednesday July 5th until just before midnight Eastern Time, available via the Sora website and app. You can also browse AudioFile Magazine's planned season list to see what will be offered in the weeks ahead and if there's anything you'd especially like to get.

[tenth-sentence]

Later that evening and the following days off a 'spoiled holiday', inspiring debates took place in the old-fashioned lounge of the boarding-house.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Frisch described them in these words:

Very gradually we realized that the break-up of a uranium nucleus into two almost equal parts . . . had to be pictured in quite a different way. The picture is one . . . of the gradual deformation of the original uranium nucleus, its elongation, formation of a waist and finally separation of the two halves. The striking similarity of that picture with the process of fission by which bacteria multiply caused us to use the phrase 'nuclear fission'* in our first publication.

That publication was somewhat laboriously composed by long-distance telephone (Professor Meitner had gone to Stockholm, and I had returned to Copenhagen) and eventually appeared in Nature in February 1939. . . . The most striking feature of this novel form of nuclear reaction was the large energy liberated. . . . But the really important question was whether neutrons were liberated in the process, and that was a point which I, for one, completely missed.

* It was the American biologist James Arnold, also at that time working with Bohr in Copenhagen, who suggested this technical phrase from Arnold's own branch of science when Frisch described the phenomena to him.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh