Lise Meitner

Born: Nov. 7, 1878 in Austria

Died: 1968

Physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics.

She & Otto Hahn discovered nuclear fission of uranium, which, when splitting the nucleus, gives off a huge amount of energy.

Called the ‘mother of the atomic bomb’ but she strongly disapproved of the military’s use of it.

Discovered the element protactinium, and has a chemical element named after her, Meitnerium.

“Science makes people reach selflessly for truth and objectivity; it teaches people to accept reality, with wonder and admiration.”