The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner

Summary

The gripping story of Lise Meitner, the physicist who discovered nuclear fission

As a female Jewish physicist in Berlin during the early twentieth century, Lise Meitner had to fight for an education, a job, and equal treatment in her field.

Meitner made groundbreaking strides in the study of radiation, but when Hitler came to power in Germany, she had to face not only sexism but life-threatening anti-Semitism as well. Nevertheless, she persevered and one day made a discovery that rocked the world: the splitting of the atom. While her male lab partner was awarded a Nobel Prize for the achievement, the committee refused to credit her.

Suddenly, the race to build the atomic bomb was on—although Meitner, a pacifist, was horrified to be associated with such a weapon. “A physicist who never lost her humanity,” Meitner wanted only to figure out how the world works.

The Woman Who Split the Atom is a fascinating look at Meitner’s fierce passion, integrity, and her lifelong struggle to have her contributions to physics recognized.