An Austrian scientist of Jewish descent who collaborated with Otto Hahn. When the Nazis came to power, Meitner was turned into the authorities by a colleague and was forced to flee to Sweden. She continued her collaboration with Hahn long-distance and made the revolutionary discovery that Enrico Fermi had discovered nuclear fission. Hahn ultimately allowed the Nobel Prize committee to give him full credit for their joint work, but when this was eventually discovered, the element named after him—hahnium—was renamed meitnerium after Meitner.
Lise Meitner Quotes in The Disappearing Spoon
The The Disappearing Spoon quotes below are all either spoken by Lise Meitner or refer to Lise Meitner. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 12: Political Elements
Quotes
The committee could have rectified this in 1946 or later, of course, after the historical record made Meitner’s contributions clear. Even architects of the Manhattan Project admitted how much they owed her. But the Nobel committee, famous for that Time magazine once called its “old-maid peevishness,” is not prone to admit mistakes.
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Lise Meitner Quotes in The Disappearing Spoon
The The Disappearing Spoon quotes below are all either spoken by Lise Meitner or refer to Lise Meitner. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12: Political Elements
Quotes
The committee could have rectified this in 1946 or later, of course, after the historical record made Meitner’s contributions clear. Even architects of the Manhattan Project admitted how much they owed her. But the Nobel committee, famous for that Time magazine once called its “old-maid peevishness,” is not prone to admit mistakes.
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