Lise Meitner

B- Hello, Lise. I’m glad you could be here.
L-I’m glad I could be here too. I’m glad I have a chance to finally share some important unanswered questions about my life.

B-So, I have heard that you were interested in science quite early in your child hood. Is this correct? You have been interested in physics since you were little too?
L-well, Brooke; ever since I was a little girl, I have been interested in science and mathematics. In school Science and Mathematics were my favorite subjects, no questions asked. Math and Science together is basically Physics. I love to work in the field of Physics because of the reasons of loving Science and Math. I always hated the lectures but, I was always so intrigued by the science labs that I knew I wanted to pursue a career in science. I ended up picking Physics because it included two subjects that I was fairly good at and I loved.

B-Well, than I guess I heard right. Now, let me ask you this; who was there for you through all of this? Did you have any teachers or inspirations?
L-Brooke, I had a couple people that I looked up to at that time. The one person I could always go to for any support and loved with all my heart is my nephew who is also a Physicist; Otto Frisch. He was always there for me and I thank him for that. I also was very inspired by my Physics teacher, Ludwig Boltzman. He always believed in me and helped me find my partner Otto Hahn. Two very inspiring scientists that I always looked up to and will continue to look up to are Marie Curie and Florence Nightingale. I will always look up to these fantastic scientists. They are my base for my inspiration.

B-Ok, so you sound like a very well rounded person. I know you have to have a lot of magnificent accomplishments. Am I correct to say that?
L-Actually, I do have a lot of accomplishments, I am very proud of. I can’t just say them though with out thanking the people who helped me get to where I am and led me to the accomplishments themselves though. My greatest achievement is being active in discovering Nuclear Fusion. I have to thank my partner Otto Hahn for helping me in this. Another great moment in my life, I could call an achievement is being the second woman accepted into the university of Vienna with a Doctoral Dissertation. That was a very proud moment of my life. I don’t want to use up all your time on just my accomplishments. So, I will just speak about one more important event, which I would classify as an accomplishment to me. That would be having an element named after me. You don’t even know how joyful and proud I was to find this out. The element 109 has been named after me, “Mieternium.”

B- Wow, you have done so much amazing things. I think we all can agree on that. Golly, I wish I had an element named after me.
L- Haha, well people are right when they say “achieve the impossible”. Work hard and you will achieve and get honored for great things.

B- Well, I will take that advice Lise. So, what exactly were your goals and limitations as a person as well as a scientist?
L- I had many goals of life and many people expecting great things from me. My parents made me study French to be a teacher. They also put me in piano. I enjoyed piano very much as a child and very much now. I did not want to become a teacher; it just wasn’t appealing to me. I did however have an interest in science. I decided early in my childhood that my goal in life was to be a Physicist. In 1906 I began to work on the question “whether alpha particles are only absorbed as they pass through matter, or if they also scattered.” This was what I wanted to figure out the answer to. I was very interested in this question and continued to research. I didn’t have many limitations.

B- Well, that is good to know. I can’t even imagine the pressure you were under. Wait, how much was know about the subject you chose to study before you entered that field?
L-Well, there were other scientists working on this subject for a while, Brooke. I mean other scientists should receive credit too. There was a little knowledge about the subject before I got there. I know Otto knew more than me for a while. The knowledge was limited at the time, but there was some there.

B- Ok, so enough about you as a scientist. Let’s talk about you as a person and the beliefs of your era.
L- Ok. You may not get the answers you are looking for though, Brooke. I have a very interesting background of beliefs and they aren’t quite the beliefs that everyone else shared at that time.

B-That’s ok, I still want to know. What were the basic beliefs back then?
L- Well, you know Hitler came in charge, am I correct at that?

B-yes, you are. I do know that.
L- Well, people believed what Hitler told them too. Every one thought Hitler was a supreme man. Basically, Hitler told people to hate any one that wasn’t the perfect race. This included Jews for the most part. It also included, Gypsies and other categories.
These beliefs led to much more like, destruction and war. This was not a good time to be alive and many people didn’t see it coming.

B- Wow, with me being a Jew, I kind of understand where you are coming from. I am really glad I wasn’t alive then. What are your thoughts on all this?
L- Brooke, this was a horrific time to be alive. I am also a Jew, but I had to live through all of this. I actually ran from all of this. I left before they started putting Jews in the “Ghettos.” I ended up escaping and secretly working on my project with Otto. I grew up in a Jewish family and believe in all of the Jewish faith. Hitler coming to power was a time of great fear for me. I am very glad I escaped and lived to share this with you. Brooke, you are very lucky to not of been alive back then.

B- Lise, I am tearing up and I am very sorry for you and what you had to go through. I understand the stereotypes today but back then, they must have been horrific. What major things were happening at this time of your work?
L- I thought I already shared this but I will clarify for you. Hitler was coming to power at my time of work. This is when the “perfect race” was superior. Blue eyes and blonde hair was the perfect person. Hitler discriminated against anyone that didn’t fit this stereotype. This was the time of horrid events mostly towards Jews. The ghettos came in affect around this time and war broke out. I worked between the wars. So I lived though a lot. Many Jews died because of Hitler, they tricked them into death. Many were just killed on the spot. Hitler found amusement out of this. This is as much as I can say about this time period with out starting to remember the fury and start to cry.

B- That is ok with me. I am glad you are sharing these events with me. I don’t want you to start crying, so, we will change the subject. How were the different genders treated?
L- I appreciate the subject change. What a random question to change it to though. Well, the class roles were very much towards discriminating against females. The males were superior to the females. The females were expected to do everything; they were not allowed to have jobs. I mean I was very lucky to have gotten into college. I was one of the first females to be accepted. My time period was a time period very much for males. Every one thought females were weak and couldn’t do anything. In fact they used to line up your families and pick out the males and put them in one line and the females and children in the other. It wasn’t a good time for women at all.

B-Well, that is just hard to take in all at once. This seems like a very hard time to live through. I have one more question before we are out of time. I was wondering who in the arts industry was working in the same country and time period you were working?
L- There were very few I actually know of. I mean I was only focused on saving my butt. I didn’t really notice any. I know a lot of Germans were famous around this time. There were many famous German musicians. This was known as the “swing era. There was a lot that came into place around this time though. A lot of different styles of art were expressed.

B- Well, Lise; I thank you for being here today. I have learned a lot form you. Not all of it is happy things, but reality isn’t always happy. I’m glad you could share all of this info with me.
L-You are very welcome Brooke. I am interested to know that you are also a Jew. I’m glad I could share my thoughts with you, with out being judged. Now, if you would be so kind as to show me the door. I need to get home before sundown, for the start of Passover.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

The eye opening Interview with Lise Meitner.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Lise Meitner

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