Tag: Lise Meitner

To close out this difficult year, this month’s blog series is going to look back at a few of the titans of scientific discovery from years past. This week, we return to the topic of nuclear fission with the story of Lise Meitner—an Austrian physicist who discovered the fundamental mechanism behind nuclear fission. Meitner’s story is pocked with the sexism and anti-Semitism that characterized Europe in the early 1900s. But despite the adversity she faced, Meitner made one of the most pivotal scientific discoveries of her time—one that would make nuclear power (and nuclear bombs) possible. Lise Meitner was born…