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Lise Meitner – The Mother of the Atomic Bomb

February 11, 2020 By admin 105 Comments

Lise Meitner was an Austrian-Swedish scientist who worked in the fields of radioactivity and nuclear physics. Meitner, Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann and Otto Frisch collaborated on nuclear research that ultimately led to the discovery of nuclear fission. Meitner won a number of awards for her contributions to science. Although she was nominated 19 times for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry during 1924 and 1947, and 29 times for Nobel Prize in Physics during 1937 and 1965, she never won one. It is believed by many, that Meitner was overlooked and ignored by the Nobel Peace Price Committee in 1944 when Otto Hahn alone, won the Nobel Peace Price in Chemistry for the discovery of Nuclear fission. Many scientists including Nobel laureates like Neils Bohr vouched for Meitner and believed her contribution to the discovery of Nuclear Fission was enough for her to be awarded the Nobel Prize. Even though she wasn’t awarded the Nobel Prize, Meitner was invited to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in 1962.

Lise Meitner in Vienna. (~1906)

Lise Meitner was born on November 7th 1978 to a Jewish family in Vienna, Austria.

Meitner was the 3rd of 8 children. Her birth name was Elise Meitner but she shortened Elise to Lise and henceforth she was known as  Lise Meitner.

Meitner showed a keen interest in science since a young age. She was interested to learn Maths and Physics. Meitner was home-schooled because back then women were not allowed to attend institutions of higher education.

Meitner was able to get private classes of physics because her family was somewhat rich and her parents were quite supportive.

In 1901, she graduated with an ‘externe Matura’ examination at the Akademisches Gymnasium, a school in Vienna. In other words, she passed high school by giving an exam.

Meitner continued with her higher education and started studying physics at the University of Vienna in 1901.

She graduated in 1905 and got her PhD in physics from the University of Vienna. Her dissertation was “Heat Conduction in an Inhomogenous body”.

After getting her PhD she went to Berlin in 1907, where she studied under Max Planck. A year after taking Planck’s lectures she became his assistant. Meitner later started working with chemist Otto Hahn.

In 1908, Meitner and her family converted to Christianity.

Meitner published two papers on beta radiation in 1909.

Meitner and Otto Hahn worked together for the  next 30 years discovering several new isotopes.

In 1917, Hahn and Meitner were among the first to isolate an isotope that they named protactinium-231.

Hahn and Meitner also discovered radioactive recoil, a phenomenon that occurs when a nucleus emits an alpha particle and recoils with a positive charge. The positively charged nucleus could then be attracted to a negatively  charged electrode. The radioactive recoil method could be used to produce elements with high purity.

By the year 1912, Meitner had moved to the newly founded Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin. She worked without pay in Hahn’s department of Radio-chemistry. In 1913, she got an offer to teach in Prague as an associate professor. This prompted the management at Kaiser Wilhelm Institute to offer her a permanent position so she wouldn’t leave them. Meitner accepted their counter-offer and decided to stay in Berlin. This was Meitner’s first paid job and also the first time that she became fully independent as until now her father was bearing all her expenses.

Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn at their laboratory in Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, Berlin. (1913)

During World War I, Meitner volunteered as a nurse. Her job was to handle X-ray equipment. She returned to Germany in 1916 to continue her research, however she found it difficult and felt ashamed that she had to carry on her research while people were suffering and dying in the war. She felt that they were wounded in need of medical help, and that she should be there to help them.

In 1922, Meitner discovered the cause of the emission of electrons with signature energies from atomic surfaces. This effect later became known as the Auger effect named after French Scientist Pierre Auger who discovered the phenomenon two years after Meitner did.

By 1917, Meitner was given her own Physics department at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute and made director of this section.

In 1926, Meitner was appointed a full time professor in the physics department at the University of Berlin. Meitner was the first woman in Germany to be appointed as a professor. In 1935 Meitner and Hahn started the “Transuranium Research” program, which would almost a decade later result in the discovery of Nuclear Fission.

The research of fission at that time was purely theoretical and scientists were in a race to prove this theory with experiments, knowing that the one who discovered the secrets behind Nuclear Fission would surely win a Nobel Prize.

Until 1938, Meitner who had Jewish ancestry was protected by her Austrian citizenship. But, once Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, her Austrian citizenship was no longer valid so  Meitner no longer felt safe and decided to leave Germany. Otto Hahn helped to get her across the border into Netherlands. Hahn also gave Meitner his mother’s diamond ring to bribe the border guards with, if needed. However, it didn’t come to that and Meitner and Dutch border guards waiting on the other side were able to convince the Germans to let her cross. Meitner crossed the border on July 13, 1938 at the age of 60.

Meitner had left all her possessions behind, having only 10 Marks in her purse and the diamond ring Otto Hahn gave her to bribe the German border guards. However, the ring wasn’t used and she didn’t sell it. Eventually, Meitner’s nephew’s wife got to wear the ring.

After leaving Germany, Meitner spent sometime at physicist Derek Coster’s house in Netherlands before heading to Copenhagen and then to Stockholm, where she started working at Swedish physicist Manne Siegbahn’s Laboratory.

Since, Meitner left Germany, her transuranium research came to a stop for a while. Otto Hahn continued with the research in Berlin with his assistant, Fritz Strassmann. Hahn and Meitner continued to interact which each other through letters. Hahn would often share his research with Meitner in these letters. The two also met each other on November 10, 1938. Meitner continued with her research on the yet to be discovered nuclear fission that had stopped when she left Germany.

Lise Meitner (~1940)
Photo: Library of Congress

In December 1938, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann performed experiments by bombarding uranium with free neutrons. Hahn discovered that a each time they bombarded uranium with neutrons, uranium nuclei absorbed a neutron and then broke up into two smaller elements. Hahn found that the element barium, was consistently being created in his uranium experiments. Hahn didn’t tell any of his fellow scientists and only shared the results with Meitner in letters. Hahn wrote to Meitner that fission was the only explanation of the presence of barium.

In light of Hahn’s results, Meitner and her nephew Otto Frisch came up with a new theory by the end of December, 1938. They discovered that during fission of uranium,  the nuclei had to split up to form barium and krytpon and this process released a large amount of energy. The aunt and nephew discovered that no stable elements heavier than uranium existed naturally. Meitner and Frisch found out that Einstein’s famous equation E = mc2, explained the massive energy release during nuclear fission, by the conversion of rest mass into kinetic energy. The duo published these results in a scientific journal called “Nature”. They also informed Hahn and Niels Bohr of their results.

It was due to this discovery Meitner was given the title ‘The Mother of the Atomic Bomb’, which she disliked and never approved of. She believed nuclear energy should only be used for peaceful purposes.

As the news about nuclear fission spread, scientists realised that this knowledge could be weaponized. Albert Einstein warned U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the Germans could make a lethal bomb now. This prompted the U.S. government to initiate the Manhattan project to develop nuclear weapons. Lies Meitner was invited to work on the Manhattan project but she refused to do so, saying, “I will have nothing to do with a bomb”. She was disappointed that the research was being misused.

In 1944, Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of Nuclear Fission. Lies Meitner who contributed significantly to the research was completely overlooked. Neils Bohr and other notable scientists were disappointed at her exclusion. Years later, sealed records of the Nobel Committee, showed that Lies Meitner’s exclusion from the prize was a result of incompetence and ignorance of the Nobel Committee.

In 1947, Meitner left the Sieghban Institute. She continued her research at a new laboratory at the Royal Institute of Technology. This laboratory was specifically built for her by the Swedish Atomic Energy Commission.

She became a Swedish citizen in 1949.

Meitner retired in 1960 at the age of 80. After retirement she moved to England to be with her nephew Frisch and other relatives. She continued working part-time and also gave lectures.

Meitner suffered from atherosclerosis. In 1964, Meitner suffered a heart attack, which left her in very bad health.

In 1967, after suffering from several small strokes and a broken hip, her condition became even more worse.

Meitner with actress Katharine Cornell and physicist Arthur Compton on 6 June 1946. Meitner and Cornell were receiving awards from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
PHOTO: Smithsonian Institution Archives

Meitner was honored throughout her life and afterwards. She received several awards and a few honorary doctorates as well. In total, she received 21 scientific honors and awards for her work which include 5 doctorates and membership of 12 scientific academies.

In 1946, while on a visit to the United States, Meitner was given the Woman of the Year title by the National Press Club. She also had dinner with American President Harry S. Truman. Meitner also gave guest lectures at Princeton, Harvard and a few other universities.

Meitner and Hahn received the Max Planck Medal of the German Physical Society in 1949 and in 1955 Meitner was awarded the first Otto Hahn Prize of the German Chemical Society.

In 1957, then German President, Theodor Heuss awarded her with the peace class of the Pour le Mérite, one of the highest honors conferred by the German state.

In 1966, Hahn,Meitner and Strassmann were jointly awarded the Enrico Fermi Award by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Meitner couldn’t attend the event due to her deteriorating health.

In 1997 the element 109 was named Meitnerium in her honor.

Meitner died on 27 October 1968. She died in her sleep at the age of 80. She was buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in a small village in Bramley, Hampshire, England.

Her nephew wrote her gravestone inscription that said, “Lise Meitner: A scientist who never lost her humanity”.

Meitner in 1946
PHOTO: Smithsonian Institution Archives

Facts About Joan of Arc

April 19, 2019 By admin Leave a Comment

Joan of Arc, a folk heroine of France, also known as the Maid of Orleans, was born in 1412 to peasant class and religious parents in Domremy, France. She would grow to become one of the greatest female warriors of the medieval age, leading the French Army into battle and advising the King. She would also become a celebrated historical figure who would years after her death, be canonized into sainthood.

Early life

Joan was born in the village of Domrémy in France. Joan’s parents were farmers and owned about 50 acres (20 hectares) of land. Besides the farming work her father also held the position of a village official, collecting taxes and heading the local watch. Several local raids took place during Joan’s childhood and on one occasion her village was burned.

Divine visions

When she was 13 years old, Joan began to hear voices which she claimed to be St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. She lived her life in accordance with her beliefs from this young age, showing piety, and a devoutness in her faith in God. She also claimed to have regular communications with the Saints and drew upon these experiences to base her beliefs over that of the established church. She shared these traits with other visionaries of her time who claimed similar experiences, such as Madame Jeanne Guyonne.

France was in a difficult situation because the country was torn because of a messy conflict with England known as the Hundred Years’ War. The crown prince of France, Charles of Valois was disinherited because of rumors that he was illigitimate, and King Henry V became ruler of England and France. England occupied much of France and the village that Joan lived in lived under the threat of English invasion.

Joan believed that the voices she heard were sent by God, who had a mission for her to fulfill. She believed that this was to save her beloved country of France by making the English leave. Joan made a vow of chastity to God and pledged her life to him for this purpose. When her father tried to arrange a marriage for her, she went to the court and convinced them that she was not a good candidate for marriage. This in itself shows that at a young age, Joan had the power of persuasion on her side.

Joan as a military leader

Joan managed to convince the dauphin(crown prince of France) that she was truly sent from God to save France. He provided her with military support. Joan led the French and attacked and captured the fortress of St. Loup on May 4th. The next day they marches to St. Jean le Blanc. Joan and her troupe also captured the English stronghold at Les Tourelles on May 7th. During this battle, Joan received a wound as she was shot through the neck with an arrow, but she quickly resumed fighting.

Capture and Trial

After many miraculous victories, Joan became very famous and revered. King Charles was warned that Joan was becoming too powerful. In the spring of 1430, the king had ordered Joan to go out against the Burgundians near Compiegne. Joan was thrown from her horse and taken captive by the English. She was brought to Rouen where she was placed on trial for witchcraft and heresy, and around 70 other charges. The French King did not try to help Joan.

Execution

After much duress, and a year’s imprisonment, Joan signed a confession that denied her guidance by God. A death sentence was pronounced upon her, and at the age of 19, on May 30, 1431, Joan was taken to an old market place and burned at the stake. Her fame skyrocketed after her death, however, it took Charles VII 20 years to clear her name of the charges. She was later canonized in 1920 as the patron saint of France.

Facts About Edwina Benner

April 10, 2019 By admin Leave a Comment

Edwina Benner was the first mayor to be elected in California, USA. Although, another town in the state called Sawtelle had already elected a woman named Mrs. Ellen French Aldrich as mayor in 1916. However Sawtelle was merged into Los Angeles in 1922 and as a result Mrs. Aldrich was no longer mayor, since Sawtelle was no longer a town. Hence, a lot of people believe Ms. Edwina Benner to be the first female mayor in California. She was elected as the Mayor of Sunnyvale in 1924 and a second time in 1938.

Edwina Benner

Her full name was Edwina Adaha Cochrane Benner.

Edwina was born on 1st August 1885 to Welford Irvin Cochrane and Mary Anne Johnson Cochrane on a vineyard in Santa Clara Valley.

She was a middle child in her family and had 2 sisters named Marilda and Elma.

Edwina married Carson Clinton Benner, a local business man in 1909. Edwina and Carson didn’t have any children together and remained married for 36 years until the death of Mr. Carson in 1945.

In 1920, Edwina won a seat as a Sunny Vale Town Trustee. Just a few years later, in 1924, she won the mayoral election and was appointed Mayor of Sunnyvale. She became Sunnyvale’s first mayor and also the first female mayor in California.

Apart from governing the city as mayor, Edwina also volunteered for many other leadership roles and also worked part-time at a local cannery.

She was re-elected as mayor of the city a second time in 1938. In total, she served on the Sunnyvale city council for 28 years.

Mrs. Benner also held other offices in the city including “Commissioner of Public Works” and the “City Commissioner for Finance and Revenue”.

In 1954, the city opened a new school and named it the Edwina Benner Intermediate School in her honor.

She was honored again in 2017 when a new housing project in the city was named after her and called the Edwina Benner Plaza.

Edwina Benner died on 14th May 1955 at the age of 69. She is buried at the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

Facts About Major Aziz Bhatti

March 7, 2019 By admin 1 Comment

Major Aziz Bhatti was a Pakistani war hero who fought in the Indo-Pak War of 1965. He was awarded the Nishan-e-Haider which is the highest military honor in the country and only awarded posthumously. Numerous TV shows and films have been produced in Pakistan honoring him and he’s still highly revered in Pakistan.

Image: Pakistan Army

His full name was Major Raja Abdul-Aziz Bhatti.

Aziz was born in Hong Kong on 14 July 1928 to a Muslim family from India.

Just before the partition of India, Aziz and his family moved to Lahore.

A year after the creation of Pakistan, Aziz joined the Pakistan Army.

He had a total of 6 siblings, 4 brothers and 2 sisters. His father’s name was Abdullah Bhatti and his mother’s was Bibi Amana.

Aziz Bhatti was married and had 6 children.

Initially he joined the Pakistan Air Force but later joined the Pakistan Army as a cadet in 1948.

During his training at the Pakistan Military Academy, he was awarded the ‘Sword of Honor’ an award given to him for being the best cadet in a batch of 300 officers. He also won the Norman Gold Medal.

Badge of the 16th Punjab Regiment(Used from
1922-1956), Major Aziz Bhatti was part of this regiment.
Author: Beloochee / (CC BY-SA 3.0)

In 1950, Major Aziz Bhatti started his service in 4 battalion of the 16th Punjab regiment of Pakistan Army.

During the 1965 war with India, he was posted in Lahore.

His was stationed in Burki, Lahore and his job was to defend Lahore from Indian attacks.

While under heavy fire from Indian infantry, tanks and artillery he moved forward with one of his platoons to defend the strategic BRB canal near Lahore’s border with India.

His platoon of few soldiers was under constant fire from a whole Indian Army battalion.

BRB Canal, where Major Aziz Bhatti and his troops fought the Indian Army.
Author: Abbas dhothar / (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Given how outnumbered Aziz and his troops were, he was ordered to retreat back to his home base. Aziz covered the retreat of all his men and was the last to leave the area.

While at his home base, he defended his posts against Indian attacks.

Aziz observed enemy positions that his men could target.

To get a better view he moved to higher ground, despite knowing that this would expose him heavily to enemy fire.

While looking through his binoculars, selecting enemy targets Major Aziz got hit by a tank shell in his left shoulder. He died on the spot on 11 September 1965.

It is said that Major Aziz Bhatti didn’t rest during the battle near BRB canal and stayed awake continuously for 5 days. His soldiers and commanding officer asked him to take a rest but he carried on fighting saying he would rather die defending his motherland than go back.

For his gallantry he was awarded the ‘Nishan-e-Haider’ military honor.

He’s also known as “Muhafiz-e-Lahore” which means “Protector of Lahore”.

Major Aziz Bhatti(Nishan-e-Haider) is honored each year on Pakistan’s Defense & Martyrs Day.


Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistan’s highest military honor was awarded to Major Aziz Bhatti posthumously due to his heroism in the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
Image: Pakistan Army

Lyudmila Pavlichenko: Facts About the Greatest Female Sniper of all Time

February 26, 2019 By admin 2 Comments

Regarded as one of the best snipers of all time, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was born in Tserkva city in Ukraine(formerly part of the Soviet Union). Pavlichenko is also considered the greatest female sniper of all time.

Lyudmila Pavlochenko with her rifle in a trench. (1942)

Facts About Lyudmila Pavlichenko:

  • She was born on 12 July 1916.
  • Her full name was Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko.
  • She got married at 16 and had a son. Her marriage was short lived and ended in divorce.
  • She studied at Kiev University from where she got a Masters degree in History.
  • When Pavlichenko was young, she joined a shooting club and became a skilled marksman.
  • At the age of 25, Pavlichenko was recruited as a sniper in the Soviet Red Army after initially being refused a combat role. Pavlichenko’s superiors thought she was pretty and delicate, and was more suited to being a nurse. Pavlichenko proved them wrong by showing them her shooting skills.
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Facts About Sheri McCoy: American Scientist and Business Executive

February 24, 2019 By admin Leave a Comment

Born in Massachusetts USA, Sheri McCoy is an American scientist and business executive. She is one of the most influential woman of the 21st century.

Sherilyn S. McCoy (2014)

Some Interesting Facts about Ms. McCoy:

  • Sherilyn Sheri McCoy was born in 1959 in the city of Quincy, Massachusetts.
  • She has a Bachelors degree in Textile Chemistry. In addition to this she also has a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters degree in Business Administration.
  • In 2011, Fortune Magazine listed her as the 10th most powerful woman in business.
  • In 2012, Forbes named her the 39th most powerful woman in the world.
  • McCoy joined the Johnson & Johnson Company in 1982 where she worked for 30 years.
  • She worked in the R&D department of the company. Her department dealt with research and development of woman health products. She eventually became the head of Johnson & Johnson’s research division.
  • During her time at the company she occupied several executive positions.
  • She became the Vice Chairman of the company in 2010.
  • McCoy resigned from the company in 2012 after she was superseded by a junior executive who was appointed CEO of the company instead of McCoy.
  • She was appointed CEO of Avon Products in 2012.
  • Sheri remained the CEO of Avon from 2012-2017.
  • In 2018, she was elected to the board of directors of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
  • Sheri McCoy has 5 patents to her name, registered in The United States and Europe.
  • She is married and has 3 sons.
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