Career

After getting her doctorate in 1906 in Vienna, Lise Meitner went to Berlin in 1907 to look for research opportunities. In Berlin she met Otto Hahn who she ended up working with for 30 years.

In 1912 Meitner got a position at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for chemistry. During WWI she volunteered as an x-ray nurse, and upon her return Meitner was made the head of the KWI physics department. Meitner conducted research with her colleges at KWI in till she was forced to flee the Nazi's in 1938.

Meitner got a position at the Nobel Institute for Physics in Stockholm after she fled Germany. She had few resources and always felt unwelcome there. Hahn kept in touch with her after she left Germany and told her about continuing the studies they had begun together.

In one of His letters Hahn told her of an unusual find. Meitner and her nephew Otto Frisch were able to make sense of it. They had discovered nuclear fission.

Later Meitner felt bad that her discovery had contributed to the creation of the atomic bomb because it was so destructive. However Meitner continued her research on nuclear reactions and helped Sweden create its first nuclear reactor.