03/07/2022
Happy ! The STEMinista Project is excited to share some amazing women in STEM who didn’t let anything keep them from fulfilling their dreams. This week we’re honoring Lise Meitner, an Austrian Jewish woman who studied math, physics, and radioactivity. Born in 1878, Meitner attended school until she was 14 and then attended private classes because girls at the time were barred from pursuing higher education. In 1899, Austria opened public universities to women and Meitner entered the University of Vienna, where she studied math and physics. After completing her PhD in 1906, Meitner went to Berlin where she collaborated with Otto Hahn on the study of radioactive elements. Due to being Jewish and a woman, she was barred from the main labs and lectures. Meitner fled Austria in 1938 to escape N**i rule and settled in Sweden to continue her work with Hahn.
After Hahn discovered that uranium atoms split when bombarded with neutrons, she calculated the energy released in the reaction and named the phenomenon “nuclear fission.” This discovery eventually led to the creation of the atomic bomb, and Hahn won the Nobel Prize in 1944. Meitner was not credited with the discovery and was overlooked by the Nobel committee. She refused to return to Germany after the war and continued her atomic research in Stockholm into her 80s.
is part of MathAlive!, MiSci's traveling exhibit that connects math to the world around us. MathAlive! closes April 24th-visit mi-sci.org/math-alive to learn more, and to plan your visit before it's gone!
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The background is a gradient mixture of big blue, red, and purple circular spirals. The STEMinista Logo is in a purple gradient circle to the upper right of the graphic. Under the STEMinista logo there are six rings interlocked in dark blue, yellow, light blue, orange, red, and blue. In a yellow circular frame is a black and white photo of Lise Meitner. To the lower right of Lise Meitner’s photo, there is white text that reads, “Lise Meitner” Under her name reads, “Math & Physics, Radioactivity” The hashtags “MathtasticMonday” and “STEMinistasCan” are at the bottom of the graphic.