Ruth Lewin Lewin SimeLise Meitner: A Life in Physics (Volume 11)

Such it reads on her tombstone, and if you read this meticulously researched biography you will see why it is absolutely correct and why she would be pleased. The author in her preface explains that women of historical significance are often excluded from history due to a sort of double bias: they are already less visible, and then because historians are likely to focus on the already-famous, are omitted from accounting further as deemed to fall " below a certain historiographic threshold". Dr Sime is uniquely suited to rectify the situation. A Harvard-educated chemist herself, with a wealth of primary source material at her disposal, she documents Meitner's life scientifically, personally, and politically. The central issue of course is the misrepresentation in history of the discovery of fission as being by chemists alone, when it was in fact the achievement of a multidisciplinary team of which Meitner was the intellectual leader. If one can admire the black female "calculators" of Hidden Figures fame, have a thought to this pioneering woman, her obstacles as follows 1. Got herself admitted to college, and through a PhD program in physics in VIenna at a time when women did not go to high school. 2. In Berlin, achieve the respect and admiration of the worlds' most renowned physicists, from the humble beginnings of having to sneak into the basement of an institute that didn't admit women, having no bathroom (similar to the Hidden Figures women), and being paid no salary for the first few years of her research life, while her otherwise equal partner received a living wage.3 Having worked many years to earn professional reputation and stature and job stability, the Third Reich happens. She spends 1933-38 trying to hold on to the collegial life she has built for herself, while more and more of her department members become Nazis. She is stripped of her position and ultimately has to flee to Sweden with nothing but the clothes on her back. Her partner continues to seek her scientific input in writing, but cannot/will not acknowlege it publicly. Some of this input leads directly to the discovery of nuclear fission, which due to circumstances she will be robbed of the Nobel Prize for. She continues to be life long friends with the man who more and more as time went on deleted her from accounts of the discovery in his memory, not even quibbling with the conventional view that she was his "assistant". 4 How the US press after the war got things totally wrong the other way, referring to her as "The Jewish mother of the bomb", even though she had refused to help with the Manhattan project, and did not identify as Jewish. 5. How she never seemed to have any significant romance during her life, but had a huge capacity for friendship, (the record of the correspondence and relationships with such figures as Neils Bohr, Max Plank, Einstein, and many others is noteworthy), and empathy--for instance, dropping everything to volunteer as an X ray technician for wounded soldiers during WWI. She cared deeply about all of humanity and never forgave the Germans for their rationalization of their cruelty after WW2, though unlike Einstein she gradually regained ties with the scientific community there --it had given her the best years of her life, then stripped them away. She was especially sickened by the German physicists after the war (Heisenberg) ridiculously attempting to claim a superior moral position over the Allies for having never made a uranium bomb--she knew full well it had not been for a lack of trying.

A few days ago I was browsing old NYT front pages from the past. The top story on the frontpage Aug 6, 1945 was the bombing of Hiroshima. In the lower righthand corner of page one was a connected story about the amazing Lise Meitner, the German physicist who escaped Germany “with the secret for the bomb in her purse.” As I read the story it became apparent that she was an enormous celebrity at that time. I have a personal interest in women is science (about which I will not waste your time) so I went to Amazon and bought a copy of this book. Once I started reading it I could not put it down. I was entirely engrossed in her story; I was transported back in time. I followed her experiments with her, was thrilled at her breakthroughs along with her, and I shared the hurt and anger caused by the self-serving revisionist history of Otto Hahn. I got a glimpse into the life of a brilliant young women building a life in Germany through 2 wars, and through the rise of fascism. I was shocked at the similarities between the powerful people of that time and of today in the way they managed then and manage today to avoid facing an ugly leadership. I felt the terror of her last days in Germany. I saw the giants of the day through her eyes. I learned that the giants of her time were not all heros in the end. Her escape, her flashes of intuition, her correspondence with Einstein. Plank, Bohr, her struggle to work on her beloved physics in a male dominated profession - it was a thrill ride.I have always deeply resented the mistreatment of women in school, in industry, and in science, especially the subtle prejudice from those in whom the defect is so deep that they can’t see it. The number of women graduating with STEM degrees in this country is dropping, so don’t think for a second that things are better today than in Meitner’s time.

This book is both a well-written biography of Lise Meitner and an attempt to put her contribution to nuclear fission into perspective. Sime is a good writer and she makes a strong case that Otto Hahn’s Nobel Prize should have, and would have, been shared with Meitner if political conditions and Hahn’s self-justificatory behavior had been different. Sime uses extensive documentation to show that there is no doubt that Hahn, Meitner and Fritz Strassman were a team. When Meitner was forced to leave Germany for fear of her life in 1938, she and Hahn continued a back-and-forth series of letters that clearly show that Hahn the chemist, who admitted he did not understand the physics, relied intimately on Meitner the physicist to advance his work. Sime details the exile of Meitner in Sweden where she had almost no resources to work with and spends the last 30% of the book covering the ensuing events surrounding both Meitner’s and Hahn’s lives. It is an eye-opening chapter of nuclear physics.But the book is about much more than the Hitler and post-war years. It covers the details of Meitner’s childhood in Vienna and spends a good deal of time spelling out her work in experimental nuclear physics. Non-scientists may have a hard time following certain sections in the book in which Sime, a chemist, explains the details of Meitner’s work with the radioactive elements. But this is important for the historical record of Meitner’s achievements and the book would be incomplete without it. To anyone with a background in chemistry and physics these sections are a central part of the history of our understanding of radioactivity. Sime, unlike many writers about science, is able to combine the details of her subject's scientific work with a superbly written account of her personal struggles. Parts of the book are gripping reading. Meitner’s escape from Nazi Germany was a desperate move surrounded by life-threatening dangers and bureaucratic blocks to her movement. Her relationship with those scientists who stayed in Germany provides a thirty year post-war dialogue about courage and cowardice, truth and self-deception, and whether scientists should be held responsible for what happens to their discoveries. Meitner’s close friendship with Hahn and the voluminous correspondence between them may be unique in the history of physics. After the war Otto Hahn went on to become a household name in Germany – a man who stood for scientific achievement, integrity and charm. Streets, institutes, postage stamps – all honored him. This book is about his partner, a woman whose achievements were misunderstood and usually overlooked. Lise Meitner deserved so much more. I highly recommend the book.

Absolutely incredible read. Bought this as part of my research for an EPQ I am doing on women in nuclear physics and found that it went beyond telling me about Meitner and her work, but the influence of everyone around her and how she was affected by her circumstances. Although arguably biased, the book focuses hugely on Meitner and her achievements and where the blame lies on her not gaining suitable recognition. Nevertheless, it was an interesting and enjoyable read and has exponentially helped with my research.

An excellent read giving Meitner her rightful place in the pioneers. and...illuminating journey from the atom to fission thru the medium of physics and chemistry. Wonderful writing. Thank you.

Excellent value copy of an outstanding book. Five star service.

a biography to be commended, long overdue.congratulations to the author

Fantastic biography of a rare female scientist