Lise Meitner, born into a Jewish family, was an Austrian and later Swedish physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics. She was one of the great experimentalists of her day. Einstein dubbed her “Our German Madame Curie” during their Berlin heyday in the roaring 1920’s.

Edward Sierra will offer an engaging and informative online presentation about the life and science of Meitner, who is the unsung hero of nuclear fission, having played an essential role in its 1938 discovery.

That year, when Hitler’s rise to power put all Jewish scientists at risk, Meitner made a daring escape out of Germany. She faced both gender and racial discrimination yet never ceased to pursue her work: the science that was the passion of her life.

Free and open to the public but registration is required.

Cranston Public Library