Lise Meitner, German Chemist

Lise Meitner (1878-1968), German chemist and pioneer of nuclear chemistry. She worked with Otto Hahn for nearly 30 years. In the 1930s they worked on uranium bombarded with neutrons, but they did not realize fission was occurring. In 1938, Meitner, who was Jewish, fled Nazi Germany to Sweden. By 1939, both Hahn and Meitner had worked out that nuclear fission was taking place. Meitner recognized the possibility for a chain reaction of enormous explosive potential. Meitner refused an offer to work on the project at Los Alamos, declaring I will have nothing to do with a bomb! Hahn, but not Meitner, received the 1944 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. After breaking her hip in a fall and suffering several small strokes in 1967, Meitner made a partial recovery, but moved into a nursing home. She died at the age of 89

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Bombarded Chemistry Enhancement Experimented Fission Fled Hahn Lise Meitner Neutrons Radiochemist Radiochemistry Stroke Uranium

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