Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.93 (812 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0520208609 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 540 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-07-24 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Braving the sexism of the scientific world, she joined the prestigious Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry and became a prominent member of the international physics community. Her career was shattered when she fled Germany, and her scientific reputation was damaged when Hahn took full credit—and the 1944 Nobel Prize—for the work they had done together on nuclear fission. Ruth Sime's absorbing book is the definitive biography of Lise Meitner, the story of a brilliant woman whose extraordinary life illustrates not only the dramatic scientific progress but also the injustice and destruction that have marked the twentieth century.. Of Jewish origin, Meitner fled Nazi Germany for Stockholm in 1938 and later moved to Cambridge, England. Lise Meitner (1878-1968) was a pioneer of nuclear physics and co-discoverer, with Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, of nuclear fission
Hahn continued at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute throughout World War II while the Jewish Meitner had to flee to Sweden in 1938, and he later received the Nobel Prize for the discovery. Aside from this criticism, Sime has produced a thorough and intelligent treatment of an extraordinary scientist who received little of the credit she is due. Even given the political nature sometimes associated with this prize, Meitner and Hahn's subsequent failure to credit her contributions perpetuated this egregious distortion of the truth. Whether it is the author's interpretation or actually Meitner's personality, there is a near-whining tone throughout this period?at the same time that the author is recounting innovative second starts made by Meitner's cohorts. Although a fascinating book, it is also annoying at times?particularly when it deals with Meitner's refusal to see what was happenin
"A Glimpse of a World We Hardly Knew" according to William Grother. I first learned of Lise Meitner from a book on atomic energy when I was a kid. I remember the illustration of her and her lab partner Otto Hahn staring at an apparatus in which they discovered the tell-tale signs of radioactive fission. But when I went through science courses in high school and college, she was hardly mentioned. This book has put her in her rightful place in the history of the atomic age. While it is always easy for a biographer to skew the importance of the individual being chronicled, that is certainly not the case he. Five Stars Amazon Customer Wonderful and thorough book about a very important figure. Also explain how discoveries are really made. Excellent birography of an excellent scientist ! Lise Meitner may not be particularly well known outside of scientific circles today, but the same could be said of a lot of other great scientists, mathematicians, etcAnyway, she is one of my favorite scientists of all time. This book helped cement that for meOne of the reasons for her fame (or slight lack thereof) is that she never recieved the Nobel Prize for her nuclear work. It went to Otto Hahn. Had Lise shared in the prize, as many think she should have, she would almost certainly be better known today. I mean, the Nobel Prize sor