Fall 2024 Bethe Lecture Series - Public Lecture, Professor Beate Heinemann, Universitat Hamburg and Director for Particle Physics, DESY

Title:  Pioneers in Physics:  Lise Meitner and Vera Rubin, Explorers of the Nuclear Force and Dark Matter

Host:  Julia Thom-Levy

Abstract:  Lise Meitner and Vera Rubin were both extraordinary scientists and pioneers as women in the male domain of physics. Lise Meitner was born in Austria in the late 19th century and played a pivotal role during the first quantum revolution, particularly in the understanding of the nuclear force. More than fifty years later in the U.S., Vera Rubin discovered and measured in detail the anomalous rotation of stars around galaxies. Her discovery led to the belief that a halo of dark matter must be part of the galaxy and that it increases the rotation velocity of the stars. Both these women encountered – and overcame -- numerous obstacles during their careers; Beate Heinemann will discuss how they became scientists, their scientific accomplishments and how they overcame obstacles.