Lise Meitner

What she did

With Otto Frisch, explained nuclear fission after interpreting experimental results obtained by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann.

Impact and significance

The explanation showed how a heavy atomic nucleus could split and release energy. It separates her theoretical contribution from the experimental work and the later dispute over Nobel recognition.

This is Matria’s interpretation, not a quotation or personalised advice.

Works recorded in the archive

• Co-discovery of nuclear fission (1938)
• Letter to Nature with Frisch (1939)
• Memoirs of a Nuclear Physicist (1951)

Sources and access

• Meitner and Frisch on nuclear fission, Atomic Heritage Foundation document
• Meitner, Lise, and Otto Frisch. "Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons." Nature, 1939.Bibliographic reference. Consult the named edition through a library or publisher.
• Sime, Ruth Lewin. Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics. University of California Press, 1996.Bibliographic reference. Consult the named edition through a library or publisher.

This label concerns the sources on this record. It does not validate every argument an author makes or establish what is true for a reader. Bibliographic coverage does not mean every passage or quotation has been verified. Specialist review remains pending.