Lise Meitner was a renowned Austrian physicist who made groundbreaking contributions to the field of nuclear physics. She was one of the most important women in science who is best known for her part in the discovery of nuclear fission, a process by which atoms are split into smaller particles.
Meitner’s work helped lay the foundation for the development of nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
In 1938, Meitner and her nephew, Otto Frisch, published a paper that described the process of nuclear fission. This work was instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb. Meitner continued to work on nuclear physics until she retired in 1960.
She died in 1968 at the age of 89.