She Ought to have Shared the Nobel Prize!

The Nobel Prizes hold the status of being one of the most prestigious awards in the world. However, they have their share of controversies. There have been instances of personal negative opinions, political motives, Eurocentrism, and subjective selections, systematically leading to the exclusion of deserving scientists. Lise Meitner is one such scientist. 

Born in 1878 (11  years before Adolf Hitler was born) to a Jewish lawyer, Philipp Meitner, and his wife Hedwig, Lise Meitner was a curious young kid. It is said that she always had a notebook under her pillow to note down her scientific research. Her passion for science was understood and supported by her parents. She privately studied physics, since during that time women were not admitted to public institutions. In 1905 she became the second woman to earn a doctoral degree from the university of Vienna. 

After a doctoral degree her best local job prospect was to work in a gas lamp factory, which didn't appeal to her. With her father's financial support and blessing she moved to Berlin. She entered the Friedrich Wilhelm University, where Max Planck taught and she was allowed to attend his lectures, an unusual gesture from Planck who is known to be skeptical of women in science. He apparently recognized Meitner as an exception. She went on to become his laboratory assistant. He also introduced her to Otto Hahn, who was looking for a physicist to collaborate with. Thus began her long-time collaboration with chemist Otto Hahn.

Hahn was the same age as Meitner and was recognized for his work in radioactive isotopes. It was important for her to collaborate because many scientists did not believe a woman could do good scientific work, and didn’t trust her results. Collaborations gave more trust. Together they formed a long and formidable scientific partnership that spanned decades, making ground breaking discoveries in radioactivity and nuclear physics.  However, while Hahn was widely recognized and celebrated, Meitner's role was largely overlooked. Her wry remark, "You probably mistake me for Professor Hahn," when a colleague she did not recognize said that they had met before, subtly reflected the gender biases that shaped their professional lives. Though Hahn valued Meitner as a collaborator, he did little to correct or even address these biases. 

In 1926, Lise Meitner joined the University of Berlin to lead a research program in nuclear physics, becoming the first woman in Germany to hold a full professorship. This period marked an exciting era for physics, with several new discoveries reshaping the field. The discovery of the neutron in the early 1930's, launched a four-way international quest to create an element heavier than uranium in the laboratory. The competitors were, Ernest Rutherford in England, Irene Joliot-Curie in France, Enrico Fermi in Italy, and Meitner and Hahn in Germany. However, this period coincided with the rise of Adolf Hitler and a growing wave of anti-Semitism, casting a dark shadow over Lise Meitner's life. In 1933, when most Jewish scientists fled Germany, she chose to remain in Berlin and continue working. Her Austrian citizenship offered some protection, but she  was eventually forced to flee the country with just 10 German marks and a diamond ring given to her by Hahn.

While in exile in Stockholm, Sweden, Lise Meitner continued her collaboration with Otto Hahn through letters, even managing to meet him secretly in Copenhagen to plan a new series of experiments. Hahn, working with Fritz Strassman in Berlin, successfully carried out the experiments but was puzzled by the results—bombarding uranium with neutrons unexpectedly produced lighter elements. In a letter to Meitner, he admitted his confusion, writing, “Perhaps you can come up with some sort of fantastic explanation.” Meitner, along with her nephew Otto Frisch, did just that, they formulated the theory of nuclear fission, explaining how a uranium nucleus could split apart, with the loss in nuclear mass manifesting as released energy—an insight that would change the course of history.

When Hahn published his results in Nature in January 1939, he failed to list Meitner as a co-author. Meitner’s contribution went unrecognized. The 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for the discovery of nuclear fission, Hahn received the honor alone, while Meitner was completely excluded. Her omission is widely attributed to a mix of sexism and anti-Semitism, reflecting the systemic barriers that limited recognition for women and Jewish scientists at the time. According to the Nobel Prize archive, she was nominated 19 times for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry between 1924 and 1948, and 30 times for the Nobel Prize in Physics between 1937 and 1967. 

Despite being overlooked for the Nobel Prize, Lise Meitner’s contributions to nuclear physics remain undeniable. Albert Einstein is known to have greatly admired her work, he used to call her the 'German Marie Curie'. She not only played a crucial role in the discovery of nuclear fission but also refused to be associated with its use in warfare, famously rejecting any involvement in the Manhattan Project. Throughout her career, she faced immense challenges—both as a woman in science and as a Jewish physicist. Yet, she persevered with unwavering dedication. Her legacy serves as a powerful reminder of the need for scientific recognition to transcend gender and prejudice, ensuring that brilliance is acknowledged regardless of the barriers it faces.

Written by Parvathy Ramachandran and edited by Janaky S. and Sujaya R. @ThinkHer

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lise_Meitner

2. https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/201502/physicshistory.cfm

3. https://www.epa.gov/radtown/women-radiation-history-lise-meitner