Lise Meitner and the Dawn of the Nuclear Age

Lise Meitner and the Dawn of the Nuclear Age
Title Lise Meitner and the Dawn of the Nuclear Age PDF eBook
Author Patricia Rife
Publisher Plunkett Lake Press
Total Pages 489
Release 2019-08-09
Genre Biography & Autobiography
ISBN

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This biography of Lise Meitner (1878-1968), the Austrian Jewish female physicist at the heart of the discovery of nuclear fission, also looks at major developments in physics during her life. Meitner was a colleague and friend of many giants of 20th century physics: Max Planck, her Berlin mentor, Einstein, von Laue, Marie Curie, Chadwick, Pauli and Bohr. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Vienna, a pioneer in the research of radioactive processes and, together with her nephew Otto Robert Frisch, an interpreter of the process of nuclear fission in 1938. Yet at the end of World War II, her colleague of thirty years, radiochemist Otto Hahn alone was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the “discovery” of nuclear fission — a discovery based on years of research in which Meitner was directly involved before her secret 1938 escape from Nazi Germany to Sweden. “A story of one of the half dozen most remarkable women of the 20th century.” — John Archibald Wheeler, Princeton University “Patricia Rife’s biography truly brings Meitner to life, both as a scientist and as a woman... Rife weaves Meitner’s personal struggles into the social and political fabric of her times. For example, the story of Meitner’s early career is told against the backdrop of the development of the new physics, with plentiful illumination of the limited prospects for women scientists in the German-speaking world during the early twentieth century. When Meitner's story enters the Nazi era — including her escape from Germany — it is as riveting as the best novel.” — Catherine Westfall,Technology and Culture “A well-written, thorough, readable and engrossing work.” — Gary Goldstein, Peace and Change: a Journal of Peace Research “Rife has produced an exciting book, which reads like a novel and she gives justice to Meitner’s life full of science and human stories... [The] book is a beautiful tribute to an outstanding scientist; it has a lot to teach us about our world; and it is a great read. I warmly recommend it to everyone interested in science and in history.” — Structural Chemistry “Lise Meitner comes to life as author Rife skillfully weaves social, political, and scientific events into a well-researched and documented work. Lists of Meitner’s awards and publications and an extensive bibliography complete this excellent book.” — Association of Women in Science Magazine “The dramatic tale of the discovery of nuclear fission on the eve of WWII... not just a story of ideas... but also of the social and intellectual milieu in which these ideas were developed. It is also the story of how a shy, self-effacing young woman, through talent and hard work, became a world-class scientist... Rife tells this story very well.” — The Antioch Review “The particular merit of Rife’s biography of Austrian physicist Meitner is that it places her life and work within the historical context... It is comprehensive, generally clearly written... and appropriate for undergraduate students. Just enough science is included as to make clear the significance of her work... Extensive bibliography, informative footnotes.” — Choice

Lise Meitner

Lise Meitner
Title Lise Meitner PDF eBook
Author Ruth Lewin Sime
Publisher Univ of California Press
Total Pages 564
Release 1996
Genre Biography & Autobiography
ISBN 9780520208605

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Traces the life of Jewish physicist Lise Meitner, who had to flee Nazi Germany, codiscovered nuclear fission with Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, but was denied recognition when the work received a Nobel Prize.

Lise Meitner and the Atomic Age

Lise Meitner and the Atomic Age
Title Lise Meitner and the Atomic Age PDF eBook
Author John Bankston
Publisher
Total Pages 0
Release 2004
Genre Nuclear fission
ISBN 9781584152064

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A biography of the twentieth-century Austrian scientist who, despite facing discrimination as a Jew and a female, made discoveries in nuclear physics which played a major part in the development of atomic energy.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Title The Making of the Atomic Bomb PDF eBook
Author Richard Rhodes
Publisher Simon and Schuster
Total Pages 890
Release 2012-09-18
Genre History
ISBN 1439126224

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**Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award** The definitive history of nuclear weapons—from the turn-of-the-century discovery of nuclear energy to J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project—this epic work details the science, the people, and the sociopolitical realities that led to the development of the atomic bomb. This sweeping account begins in the 19th century, with the discovery of nuclear fission, and continues to World War Two and the Americans’ race to beat Hitler’s Nazis. That competition launched the Manhattan Project and the nearly overnight construction of a vast military-industrial complex that culminated in the fateful dropping of the first bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Reading like a character-driven suspense novel, the book introduces the players in this saga of physics, politics, and human psychology—from FDR and Einstein to the visionary scientists who pioneered quantum theory and the application of thermonuclear fission, including Planck, Szilard, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Fermi, Teller, Meitner, von Neumann, and Lawrence. From nuclear power’s earliest foreshadowing in the work of H.G. Wells to the bright glare of Trinity at Alamogordo and the arms race of the Cold War, this dread invention forever changed the course of human history, and The Making of The Atomic Bomb provides a panoramic backdrop for that story. Richard Rhodes’s ability to craft compelling biographical portraits is matched only by his rigorous scholarship. Told in rich human, political, and scientific detail that any reader can follow, The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a thought-provoking and masterful work.

The Last Man Who Knew Everything

The Last Man Who Knew Everything
Title The Last Man Who Knew Everything PDF eBook
Author David N. Schwartz
Publisher Basic Books
Total Pages 480
Release 2017-12-05
Genre Biography & Autobiography
ISBN 0465093124

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The definitive biography of the brilliant, charismatic, and very human physicist and innovator Enrico Fermi In 1942, a team at the University of Chicago achieved what no one had before: a nuclear chain reaction. At the forefront of this breakthrough stood Enrico Fermi. Straddling the ages of classical physics and quantum mechanics, equally at ease with theory and experiment, Fermi truly was the last man who knew everything--at least about physics. But he was also a complex figure who was a part of both the Italian Fascist Party and the Manhattan Project, and a less-than-ideal father and husband who nevertheless remained one of history's greatest mentors. Based on new archival material and exclusive interviews, The Last Man Who Knew Everything lays bare the enigmatic life of a colossus of twentieth century physics.

Obsessed by a Dream

Obsessed by a Dream
Title Obsessed by a Dream PDF eBook
Author Aashild Sørheim
Publisher Springer Nature
Total Pages 511
Release 2019-01-01
Genre Cancer
ISBN 303026338X

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This Open Access biography chronicles the life and achievements of the Norwegian engineer and physicist Rolf Widerøe. Readers who meet him in the pages of this book will wonder why he isn't better known. The first of Widerøe's many pioneering contributions in the field of accelerator physics was the betatron. He later went on to build the first radiation therapy machine, an advance that would eventually revolutionize cancer treatment. Hospitals worldwide installed his machine, and today's modern radiation treatment equipment is based on his inventions. Widerøe's story also includes a fair share of drama, particularly during World War II when both Germans and the Allies vied for his collaboration. Widerøe held leading positions in multinational industry groups and was one of the consultants for building the world's largest nuclear laboratory, CERN, in Switzerland. He gained over 200 patents, received several honorary doctorates and a number of international awards. The author, a professional writer and maker of TV documentaries, has gained access to hitherto restricted archives in several countries, which provided a wealth of new material and insights, in particular in relation to the war years. She tells here a gripping and illuminating story.

Fission Girl

Fission Girl
Title Fission Girl PDF eBook
Author Melanie Fine
Publisher
Total Pages 128
Release 2017-11-28
Genre
ISBN 9781973410492

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On March 12, 1938, German troops crossed over the Austrian border to welcoming cheers and adulation. In one instant, Lise Meitner's veil of protection, her Austrian citizenship, disappeared. Lise Meitner, though she had converted to Protestantism, was born Jewish, and that's all that mattered. Her lifelong collaborator Otto Hahn, concerned both for her and his standing at the institute, sought the advice of Heinrich Horlein, overseeing treasurer of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, returning with the news that Lise had to leave the institute immediately, never to return. Scientists outside of Germany, realizing Lise's desperate position, sent letters requesting her lectureship abroad, a pretense to get her out of the country. Lise Meitner was a physicist who by this time had already been recognized for her vast contributions to the world of physics, in addition to discovering, along with Otto Hahn, the element protactinium, and the two of them were now working on something far greater. Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist who developed the orbital model of the atom, was alarmed enough after personally visiting with Lise in Germany, that he wrote to physicists across Europe to find or make a position for her -- anything. Lise's application for a passport to leave Germany was rejected. "It is considered undesirable that well-known Jews leave Germany to travel abroad where they appear to be representatives of German science, or with their names and their corresponding experience might even demonstrate their inner attitude against Germany. (Wilhelm Frick to Carl Bosch, June 16, 1938)."Meanwhile, on July 4, 1938 Carl Bosch found out that Germany's borders were going to be closed imminently. Lise had to leave now if she were going to leave at all. Fortunately, on Monday July 11, 1938, Meitner received word that Holland would admit her. Dirk Coster arrived late Monday evening, and planned on smuggling Meitner out of the country the next day on a lightly-traveled train route that crossed the border at Nieuwe Schans. "We agreed on a code-telegram in which we would be let known whether the journey ended in success or failure. The danger consisted in the SS's repeated passport control of trains crossing the frontier. People trying to leave Germany were always being arrested on the train and brought back... We were shaking with fear whether she would get through or not." - Otto Hahn wrote in his autobiography, My Life.The next day, Tuesday, July 13, 1938, Lise Meitner went to work at the institute as usual. She worked until 8 o'clock that night, correcting a paper that one of her young associates was preparing for submission. Otto Hahn went home with her, helping her pack a few of her belongings. While they were saying their goodbyes, Hahn slipped her his mother's diamond ring. "Keep this. You may need it." She said goodbye to no one else, her excursion that night cloaked in utmost secrecy. Paul Rosbaud, an Allied spy who had successfully relocated his own Jewish wife and daughter to England, drove her to the train station. Though he would help many Jewish families escape Germany, Lise Meitner's would be his most famous. As they drove closer to the train station, Meitner, consumed with the fear of being caught, and the regret of leaving the only life she had known, begged Paul to take her back, to no avail. Kirk Coster was already on the train when Lise boarded. They greeted each other as if by chance. The train ride was pleasant enough, but with all her belongings reduced to two suitcases, and her destination unconfirmed, Lise was palpably upset. That upset quickly changed to heart-pounding fear, as Lise's train approached the Dutch border. Would she be arrested? Or worse? .This book Fission Girl, is the story of Lise Meitner, her escape from Nazi Germany, her discovery of nuclear fission and her role in the creation of the atomic bomb, known as the Manhattan