With this proposal, the institute commemorates this 8th March the role of women scientists, invisible in history
March, 7th 2022
On 16 March, the life of physicist Lise Meitner will take centre stage at the Palacio de Festivales with the theatrical performance of the Valencian company CRIT Teatre "Proyecto Meitner. Remembering Lise Meitner", organised by the Institute of Physics of Cantabria (IFCA, CSIC-UC) through the María de Maeztu seal of excellence, together with the Palacio de Festivales of Santander.
The story follows the life of Lise Meitner, a Jewish woman and co-discoverer of nuclear fission who fled Nazi Germany. After her forced exile to Sweden, she is forced into absolute scientific and economic austerity due to the private interests of her host, Manne Siegbahn. In 1944, the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of nuclear fission was her close collaborator Otto Hahn. The court ignored Meitner's essential role in the process. How does history remember them? What importance is given to women scientists? Has justice been done to Lise Meitner? These are the questions that the performance will answer.
As a preliminary proposal, this Wednesday the CMS representative in Spain and IFCA researcher Celso Martínez Rivero will present the play at the Ateneo de Santander, in the context of the talk he will give at 19:30: "The formula that describes the world". Thus, the IFCA proposes this activity around 8 March, International Women's Day, to "promote social equality, encourage scientific vocations among women and highlight the barriers that women scientists have faced throughout history". 'Project Meitner. Remembering Lise Meitner' CRIT Companyia de Teatre Photography Miguel Lorenzo
Written by Professor of History of Science and playwright Robert Marc Friedman, 'Remembering Lise Meitner' recovers Meitner's legacy and rescues the story of one of the many scientists who have suffered from the so-called Matilda effect. The plot revolves around her relationship with the chemist Otto Hahn, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944 for his discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei, work carried out together with Meitner; and the physicist Manne Siegbahn, Nobel Prize in Physics in 1924, for his discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy. In addition, after the performance we will have the opportunity to chat with the author and the director of the play in a colloquium afterwards. The rest of the team is made up of its scriptwriter Daniel Tormo, the stage director Anna Marí, and the cast represented by Paloma Vidal, Álvaro Báguena and Panchi Vivó.
Project of IFIC and the University of Valencia
"Meitner Project. Remembering Lise Meitner" is an initiative of the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC) of the CSIC in collaboration with the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, the University of Valencia, the Valencian Institute of Culture and the Fundación General CSIC. This project aims to recover and revalue the contribution of the great pioneers of nuclear and particle physics through the figure of Lise Meitner.
