The Woman Who Split the Atom

Starred review from April 18, 2022
Moss’s (America’s Tea Parties: Not One but Four!) accessible biography paints a searing portrait of Jewish physicist Lise Meitner’s (1878–1968) most famous and controversial achievement. For most of her career, Meitner worked and lived in relative obscurity due to sexism and antisemitism. Her partner—fellow physicist Otto Hahn, with whom she collaborated for 30 years—frequently devalued her discoveries and took credit for her work, including the splitting of the atom in 1938. Caught in the machinations of WWII and fearing for his reputation, Hahn ends his partnership with Meitner, but colleagues in Copenhagen and Stockholm rescue her from Berlin and Nazi persecution. In the years following the war, Meitner, who had not anticipated the weaponization of her scientific discovery, worked with the United Nations and scientists such as Albert Einstein toward nuclear peace. Moss’s engagingly illustrated panels begin each chapter, bolstering the narrative by offering a direct emotional connection to Meitner’s work and thoughts. Short, easily digestible chapters capture a little-known pioneer in her field caught in dangerous times, and address nuclear implications that still resonate today. Includes an author’s note, photographs, a glossary of physics terms, and more. Ages 10–14.