Lise Meitner: Revolutionizing the Atomic World

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The science of nuclear fission lies at the very heart of our ability to harness nuclear power. Regardless of whether it is used for weapons, energy, or some unknown purpose, we wouldn’t have any of it if one of the world’s most brilliant scientific minds had not unlocked its secrets. In 1944, the Nobel Committee awarded a German scientist named Otto Hahn the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of nuclear fission, and he would go on to be known as the so-called father of nuclear chemistry. Hahn was a brilliant researcher, scientist, and chemist, but he didn’t conduct his research alone. In fact, when it came time to publicly explain his findings, he had difficulty articulating the very science he was credited for pioneering. This was because another researcher did much of the work before she was purposefully excluded from the published paper due to her gender and Jewish heritage. Her name was Lise Meitner, and in the decades following Hahn’s Nobel Prize, her continued anonymity has been consistently identified as one of the most blatant instances of sexism and prejudice in the scientific community.

Lise Meitner was born in Vienna in 1878, though there is some debate about the exact date. She had always observed her birthday on November 7th, but according to official records, she was born on November 17th. The reason for this discrepancy isn’t clear; perhaps it was a clerical error or simply a matter of her parents delaying the submission of paperwork. Regardless, Lise’s birth stands in sharp contrast to other parts of Europe, where such an error would have caused chaos. For Meitner, it just didn’t seem to matter. The Meitner family had only moved to Vienna fairly recently, and they had adopted their last name as a nod to their ancestral home in Moravia. They hadn’t bothered with a surname before, only adding one when the coins of Joseph II mandated the use of a surname for families availing themselves of civil services like education and employment. This was the first time the family enjoyed benefits that others took for granted—those who weren’t Jewish.

Just a few generations later, the doors of Vienna opened to a bustling hub of liberal advancements. Sure, it was crowded, highly unsanitary, and plagued by cholera, but for the first time, Jewish men and women found themselves eligible for participation in activities and occupations that were previously off-limits. Philip Meitner was one of the first Jewish men who could study and practice law, and the social standing afforded to him by his occupation allowed him to open his home to many of Vienna’s most progressive citizens. The Meitner home was a gathering place for politicians, lawmakers, and entertainers, where they would discuss the future of their beloved city and often just socialize.

Lise was the third of eight children. Her family was by no means rich, but they were comfortably middle-class. Because her family had enough money to pursue hobbies, she and her siblings were encouraged to explore the world around them and find their passions. They all studied music, and Lise’s days spent playing the piano as a child sparked a passion that lasted for the rest of her life. However, when it came to more formal education, she was at a major disadvantage simply because she was a girl. Fortunately, Lise’s parents were adamant that all their children would receive similar opportunities in life, so they hired private teachers and tutors to help keep everyone up to speed. Lise studied subjects like math, basic bookkeeping, history, geography, and a bit of science, along with some subjects that seem a bit out of touch today, like singing, drawing, gymnastics, and something called feminine handiwork.

By the time Lise and her sisters were looking for secondary education options, the firm glass ceilings that had been in place were beginning to crumble. In Austria, women had been barred from university for a long time, but in 1897, they were finally granted access to higher education. Even as university became a viable option, new problems emerged, such as the requirement to pass entrance exams. Fortunately, Lise and her siblings had been well prepared by their parents. Her elder sister, Gisela, passed her exams and entered medical school in 1900, while Lise pushed herself to compress eight years of schooling into two. She studied mathematics, physics, mineralogy, logic, religion, Latin, Greek, and botany. It was a long and difficult period, but all that hard work paid off when Lise Meitner turned 21 and enrolled at the University of Vienna, becoming the first woman to study physics there. When she graduated, she was only the second female student to earn a PhD from the school.

While studying at university, Lise found a teacher who encouraged her to enter the field of physics: Ludwig Boltzmann, a physicist who also graduated from the University and worked in statistical mechanics. Boltzmann was different from other professors; he accepted women in fields of higher learning without hesitation. Unfortunately, in 1906, Boltzmann took his own life, a tragic event that would serendipitously lead to a meeting that would change Meitner’s life. Among those who traveled to Vienna to pay their respects at Boltzmann’s funeral was Max Planck, the father of quantum theory. However, Planck had unconditionally refused to welcome women to his lectures. When Meitner moved to Berlin to continue her studies, she found that while Planck opened the door to his lectures, the doors to the practical experimental laboratories were still firmly shut.

At the University of Berlin, Meitner worked alongside Otto Hahn in a makeshift radiochemistry lab. Their partnership was interrupted by some of the most iconic events of the 20th century, but they achieved significant milestones, including the discovery of several new isotopes. By 1912, Meitner had moved from their makeshift lab to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, where Hahn accepted a position as the head of the Radioactivity Institute. However, their work was put on hold due to World War I. Hahn spent the war working under Fritz Haber, researching chemical weapons, while Meitner volunteered as a nurse with the Austrian army, primarily working with x-ray technology.

After the war, they returned to their work at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, where Meitner was appointed to head the Physics Division. Despite her recognition, she faced skepticism regarding her abilities. In 1926, she became Berlin University’s first female professor and gave her first lecture on radioactivity and cosmic physics. Throughout the 1920s, Meitner and Hahn made several subatomic particle discoveries and regularly published their research. However, it wasn’t until the eve of World War II that James Chadwick’s discovery of the neutron opened new possibilities for creating new elements in the lab.

As the Nazi Party began consolidating power in Europe, Meitner faced increasing danger due to her Jewish heritage. Although her parents had not been practicing Jews, their children had registered within the Jewish community. As Hitler rose to power, Meitner saw fellow Jewish scientists disappear, and she realized her life was no longer safe in Germany. Eventually, she was dismissed from her position at the University of Berlin, and while she continued her research, her name was removed from official documents pertaining to her findings. Hahn alone received credit for their work.

In July 1938, Meitner left Berlin for the Netherlands, where she was welcomed by a Dutch chemist named Dirk Koster. After arriving in Stockholm, she and Hahn maintained correspondence. They discovered that they could turn a radioactive substance into something almost barium, but they couldn’t make sense of their findings. Eventually, they realized that the uranium from their experiments had been split, releasing nuclear energy, which they dubbed “fission.”

When it came time for Hahn to publish their work, he had to consider how to attribute credit. Although it was he and Strassmann who conducted the experiments, it was Meitner who had guided them and interpreted the results. Fearing the repercussions of including a Jewish woman’s name in Nazi Germany, Hahn published his paper on fission without mentioning her. Fortunately, Meitner explained the process in a letter to the editor of Nature, where the term “fission” first appeared.

By April 1939, the German government was pushing its scientists to weaponize the discovery. Meanwhile, Meitner continued to work in Sweden, steadfastly refusing to be involved in weaponized fission. Despite being honored by the Women’s Press Club and having dinner with President Harry Truman, who referred to her as “the little lady who got us into all of this,” Meitner’s career was punctuated by slights based on her gender and Jewish heritage.

The Nobel Prize Committee’s oversight regarding Meitner’s contributions remains a significant topic of discussion. Historians have determined that the committee underestimated her influence in the discovery, but no formal acknowledgment of their oversight was ever made. While Hahn returned to Germany and became an active voice against nuclear weapons, Meitner refused to ever return to Germany, eventually settling in England for her retirement years.

Lise Meitner passed away in 1968, and her legacy continues to be recognized. She received several awards, including the Enrico Fermi Award, and her name is honored in various ways, including an asteroid and elements named after her. Although these gestures came decades later, they serve as a reminder of her significant contributions to science.

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