October 6, 2008 | 27 comments

No Nobel for You: Top 10 Nobel Snubs

As the 2008 laureates are announced, SciAm looks back at some of Nobel history's also-rans

By Erica Westly   

 
e-mail comment
< Prev     1 of 10     Next >
1.) Lise Meitner--left out of the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of nuclear fission No Nobel for You: Top 10 Nobel Snubs :: As the 2008 laureates are announced,  SciAm  looks

CLICK TO ENLARGE + U.S. Department of Energy

1.) Lise Meitner--left out of the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of nuclear fissionIn 1907 Meitner (left), a physicist by training, began collaborating with German chemist, Otto Hahn (right). They worked together for 30 years until 1938 when Meitner, an Austrian Jew, was forced to leave Nazi Germany. She moved to Sweden, but they continued their collaboration by mail. The letters between the two scientists indicate that Meitner guided Hahn through the experiments that led to the discovery of nuclear fission, according to her biographer, Ruth Lewin Sime. But Hahn published the results without including Meitner as a co-author, a move she understood at the time given the political climate.  Historians say that Hahn initially indicated that he intended to credit Meitner when it was safe to do so but that, in the end, he took sole credit, claiming that the discovery was his alone. Hahn received the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Meitner was nominated multiple times in both the physics and chemistry categories, but the award always eluded her. Many Nobel omissions are debatable, but, most physicists today agree that Meitner was robbed, says Phillip Schewe, chief science writer for the American Institute of Physics.
< Prev     1 of 10     Next >
 

More from this In-Depth Report

More to Explore


Share
Propeller    Digg!  Reddit delicious  Fark 
Slashdot    RT @sciam No Nobel for You: Top 10 Nobel SnubsTwitter Review it on NewsTrust 
sharebar end


Discuss This Article


Click here to submit your comment.

VIEW:

2,573 characters remaining
 
  Email me when someone responds to this discussion.
 


risk free issuefree gift

Sciam - cover Email:
Name:
Address:
Address 2:
City:
State:  
spacer




Editor's Pick

  • Adapting to the Freshwater CrisisForward-thinking experts are getting a better handle on the growing global water shortage and coming up with innovative approaches to ensuring the security, safety and sustainability of this resource

Newsletter

Space Newsletter

Get weekly coverage delivered to your inbox


 Podcasts

  • 60-Second Earth     RSS  · iTunes The Jellyfish Menace
    click to enable

    Download

  • 60-Second Science     RSS  · iTunes Plants Share Light If Neighbor Is Related
    click to enable

    Download





ADVERTISEMENT
 
 

Also on Scientific American


© 1996-2009 Scientific American Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
ADVERTISEMENT