Lise Meitner helped discover nuclear fission but never won a Nobel Prize for her brilliance despite 49 nominations

Sun, 01/28/2024 - 06:28

Lise Meitner looks at Otto Hahn. — Otto Hahn (left) won a Nobel Prize for the discovery of nuclear fission and would later downplay his colleague Lise Meitner (right) for her critical role in the discovery.
ullstein bild Dtl./Getty Images

Lise Meitner identified the process of fission when her male colleagues couldn't figure it out.
Her closest colleague, Otto Hahn, downplayed the significant role she played in the discovery.
In 1944, Hahn won a Nobel prize for the discovery. Meitner was nominated but didn't win.

The discovery of nuclear fission was one of the greatest scientific milestones of the 20th century. It led to the atomic bomb, nuclear power, and a Nobel Prize in 1944 for German chemist Otto Hahn.