(By haidee Clauer and Nate Wire)
Ten Reminders that Contributions to Physics come from all over the world
Shirley Ann Jackson (1946-)
(Born Washington D.C)
- The second African-American woman to receive a doctorate in Physics, she successfully advocated to
increase the number of students of color at MIT. - Researched charge density waves, layered materials, quantum dots, and other generally small scale to subatomic phenomena.
- Jackson has had an incredibly successful career, which includes work on the Nuclear Regulation Commission, involvement in the administrations of MIT,
- Rutgers, and RPI (as president).
Lynn Conway (1938-)
Born Mount Vernon, NY
- Work on chip design revolutionized integrated circuitry, including a process that allowed for a major increase in transistor density on chips.
- Was fired from her job at IBM when she transitioned, and had to essentially go undercover to protect her life and
career, the latter of which took
her to Xerox, DARPA, and
eventually the University of
Michigan, where she is currently
Professor Emerita of Electrical
Engineering. - Has been heavily involved in
activism for trans rights for
nearly 20 years.
Mario Molina (1943-)
Born Mexico City, Mexico
- Chemist who predicted that the decomposition of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by ultraviolet light would eventually damage earth’s radiation-shielding ozone layer.
- Research covers a wide range of topics, including chemical kinetics, atmospheric science, pollution mitigation, and climate change.
- Received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 along with his collaborators.
- Molina has held positions at JPL, MIT, and UCSD as part of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
Sameera Moussa (1917-1952)
Born El Gharbia, Egypt
- After her mother died early in her
childhood, Sameera was encouraged to
pursue an education by her father - After excelling through college, she turned
down opportunities to become an engineer
for a position at the University of Cairo,
where she became the first woman professor
and first woman with a PhD in atomic radiation. - Volunteered at hospitals and worked relentlessly in atomic research for a accessible cure for cancer
- Led “Atoms for Peace” movement and conference -First non-US-born person working in secret US atomic labs (and granted Fulbright scholarship to do so).
- Much of her work in arabic remains largely unpublished, especially after her sudden death – and potential assassination – cut much of it short.
Martine Berterau (c.1600-1642)
Born France
- Berterau was a mining engineer and the first recorded female mineralogist -Worked with her husband, Jean de Chastelet, to visit hundreds of mines for the Holy Roman Emperor throughout Hungary, Germany, and South America
- Her work was a major influence in Hydrogeology -Advocated for equal pay and recognition for women in the mining industry
- Charged with witchcraft, and died in prison
Lisa Meitner (1878-1968)
Born Vienna, Austria
- Discovered nuclear fission
- the basis for modern nuclear energy – though the 1944 nobel prize for her work went only to her male colleague
- Proved the “Auger Effect”… before Auger
- Held the first full-professorship as a woman in Germany and was one of the first women Max Planck invited to his lectures
- Left as a refugee in 1938 for Sweden after Nazi laws disallowed Meitner, who was Jewish from working throughout the 1930s.
- Element 109 named “ meitnerium” after her.
Hideki Yukawa (1907-1981)
Born Tokyo, Japan
- Quit math after being marked wrong in high school for a new proof of a theorem – Quit experimental physics after struggling in a glassblowing pre-requisite course at the Kyoto Imperial University.
- Returned to theoretical physics, becoming a professor by age 26.
- Predicted the pion, a facet of the “strong force” between protons and neutrons, as well as a characteristic of cosmic rays.
- Leader in movement for Nuclear disarmament, even as he became ill and later physically disabled.
Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974),
Born Kolkata, India
- Theoretical physicist who is most well-known for his work on Bose-Einstein Statistics, which describes a way in which identical particles occupy energy levels in a gas and predicts the existence of Bose-Einstein Condensates.
- “Being of Bengali origin, he devoted a lot of time to promoting
Bengali as a teaching language…”
- Awarded India’s Second-highest civilian Award, the Padma Vibhushan.
Narinder Singh Kapany (1926-),
Born Moga, Punjab, India
- Created the first fiber optic cable in the 1950s at Imperial College London.
- Called one of the “Father[s] of Fiber Optics”, having coined the term “fiber optics” himself.
- communications, including high-speed internet, telephone communication, and television signals all rely on this technology to some degree.
Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997)
Born Taicang, China
- While working on the Manhattan Project, she worked on improving the gaseous diffusion process of uranium enrichment.
- Disproved the “law of conservation of parity” in weak interactions, an important contribution to modern particle physics. She was not truly recognized for this work until 1978, over 20 years after her experiment.
- Became a leading figure in the area of beta decay
- Received the National Medal of Science, among other honors.
