Lise Meitner was an Austrian-born physicist who worked for a time as Max Planck’s assistant. In 1939 she took part in the discovery of nuclear fission, having fled to Stockholm the previous year. The other scientists involved in the discovery were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, although she never received it herself. Element 109 of the period table of elements is named after her “Meitnerium”.
During the Second World War she refused to help the United States build an atomic bomb, choosing instead to stay in neutral Sweden. She went on to stand up for equality for women in science.
A road in the “Drei Hasen” area of Oberursel that will become a business park has been named in her honour.
About Graham Tappenden
