Lise Meitner, (7 November 1878 - 27 October 1968) was an Austrian, later Swedish, physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics.
Meitner discovered nuclear fission of uranium, an achievement for which her colleague Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize. Meitner is often mentioned as one of the most glaring examples of women's scientific achievement overlooked by the Nobel committee. A 1997 Physics Today study concluded that Meitner's omission was "a rare instance in which personal negative opinions apparently led to the exclusion of a deserving scientist" from the Nobel. Element 109, meitnerium, is named in her honor. On Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 10:47 AM, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]>wrote: > NHK's 7 o'clock news opened with a long interview with Dr. Obokata. It was > full of high praise, yet dreadfully sexist. It is hard to believe they > could be so obnoxious in the 21st century. They were astounded that she > likes to wear nice clothes and that she is just an "ordinary girl." > > She said that during the long years of rejection she often cried at night, > which may have contributed to the sexism. She is honest, anyway. She seems > like a nice person, especially for someone from Haaaavard. (Speaking from > my own bias: you can always tell a Harvard man, but you cannot tell him > much.) > > CNN and others reported this, ascribing the research to her co-author > Vacanti instead of her. I complained. > > - Jed > >
