Lise Meitner(1878-1968)

“a physicist who never lost her humanity. “

What was it like…

• 1880s universities and even academic high schools were closed to women (formal schooling ended at age 14)

• At an early age Lise showed a strong aptitude for mathematics and science

• Lise “pursues” a teaching career as the only avenue open to her

• By 1900 universities had been opened to women

• In 1901 Lise passed her Matura – this enabled to enrol as a physics student at the university of Vienna. Her 1st year professor was Franz Exner, for her 2nd and subsequent years Ludwig Boltzmann!

Circa 1900

What was happening then..

• 1899 J.J. Thomson discovers the electron and Max Planck initiates the idea of the quantum

• By 1900 the new science of “radioactivity” was a hot topic. Marie Curie was making history by not only being a woman scientist but also by winning the Nobel prise in 1903

• Rutherford was uncovering the mystery of the nucleus• 1905 – Einstein and the “Annum Mirabilis”

– The concept of the quantum is applied to light

– The Special Theory of Relativity

– The Mass-Energy equivalence

– The concept of “atom” was put on firm experimental ground which, among other things, vindicates the work of Ludwig Boltzmann

Early Years…• Lise graduates with her PhD (suma cum

laude) in early 1906 (Boltzmann take his life September 1906)

• With no scientific job prospects she begins teaching by day and conducting research at Turkenstrasse #3 – Physics building

• In 1907 she makes a decisive move to Berlin to continue study under Max Planck

• Lise “leaves” Judaism and becomes a baptized protestant

• She is offered a position in the laboratory of Heinrich Rubens – head of the experimental physics institute and meets another young scientist – chemist Otto Hahn

The Mysteries of Radioactive Decay

• Number of radioactive elements was steadily growing – what did it mean?

• Why were - decay and -decay so different?

4 42 2

A AZ i Z fX X He

Alpha Decay

1A AZ i Z fX X e

Beta Decay

1A AZ i Z fX X e

The Nucleus

• By 1911 Rutherford, Geiger and Marsden had discovered the nucleus and by implication clarified existence of the proton

• This was setting the stage for Lise’s “greatest work”

• BUT…

The Great War…

• The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

• Austrians and Germans enlisted enthusiastically for the “just” and expected to be “short lived” conflict

• Otto Hahn joined Fritz Haber in the production of chlorine and phosgene

• Lise volunteered as an X-ray nurse technician in a travelling x-ray unit at the front lines

After the War…

• Max Planck is determined to rebuild science in Germany – Lise is appointed professor of physics in the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute in 1919

• Anti-Semitism on the rise; Adolph Hitler gains political prominence

• Quantum Physics arrives…• 1932 James Chadwick discovers the

neutron• 1933 Hitler seizes control – German Jews

are forced from all academic positions – many flee but Lise is “protected” by her Austrian nationality

• 1938 Lise flees to Holland and then Sweden

The Discovery of Nuclear Fission

• In 1934 Irene Curie and Frederic Joliot discover that new isotopes can be created by bombarding elements with alpha particles

• Enrico Fermi suggests that neutron bombardment can lead to the creation of new elements - “trans uranics” and also notes reactions such as

• 1934 Lise and Otto Hahn begin investigations in which Uranium nuclei are bombarded with neutrons

• Lise in exile in Sweden receives a letter and manuscript from Otto Hahn

4 27 30 1He Al P n

27 1 24 4Al n Na He

Barium…

• Otto Hahn reported finding barium in the products of their uranium-neutron experiment

• Lise discusses this with her nephew Otto Frisch – they realize that in stead of creating a “trans-uranic”, Hahn and Strassman has “split the atom”!

• (in fact - this explains some of the odd results that they were getting prior to Lise’s escape from Germany)

• Lise is unable to be a co-author on critical papers published by Hahn and Strassman

235 1 141 92 13U n Ba Kr n

“Disconnect and Suppressed memory?”• 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Otto Hahn for the

discovery of fission of Uranium!• Lise is generous in her praise for Hahn and does not openly

complain about the Nobel committee decision – Hahn is less generous and his memory of events seems to diminish Lise’s role in discovering fission

• Lise Meitner never receives a Noble prize.

Last years…

• Lise received many awards and prizes recognizing her as a great scientist:– Vienna Prize for Science and Art 1947

– Max Planck Medal (with Hahn) 1949

– Otto Hahn Prize! 1955

– The Fermi Prize 1966

• In 1960 she emigrated to Cambridge and dies in 1968.• Throughout she and Hahn remain friends and she never openly

attacks the injustice that many perceive

Lise Meitner: a physicist who never lost her humanity