Sherika2016

Education

Although Lise Meitner had interest in the science field at an early age, her parents wanted her to study to get into a French institution so that she could be a teacher. After passing the French test, she studied to get an education in Vienna in private. When Meitner got to the university, she faced some adversity from her fellow classmates as it was unusual for a woman to be in the university. However, her professors gave her inspiration to do her best. One professor in particular, Boltzmann, was especially inspiring for her. After graduating, Meitner was introduced by Stephan Meyer to radioactivity. This started her on studying alpha particles.

Scientific Career

When Meitner met Hahn, he was working at the Chemical Institute, ran by Emil Fischer, which did not allow female scientists to enter. Therefore, they set up a carpenter's workshop for radiation measurement. While Hahn was more concerned with discovering new elements, Meitner was more concerned with understanding the radiations of these elements. Together, their first results were mostly inaccurate assumptions. When World War I began, Hahn was called into service and Meitner volunteered as a nurse, handling X-ray equipment. Sometimes, Meitner and Hahn would have leave and the same time. At that time, they would work on their research together. In 1922, Meitner gave an inaugural lecture over cosmic physics. In 1926, Meitner was recognized as an extraordinary professor. While she had not given any courses, she had been participating in the weekly physics colliqua. Although they were separated, Meitner and Hahn continued their research by letter.

Nobel Prize for Nuclear Fission

Meitner was the one that told Hahn and Strassman to test their radium in more detail and it was her that told Hahn that it was possible for the nucleus of uranium to disentegrate. Without these motions done by Meitner, Hahn would not have found that the uranium nucleus can split in half.