Women in CERN: Lise Meitner (1878-1968) & Meet My Theoretical Physicist Father, Professor Tomasz Taylor

In this first episode of our Women in CERN series on Hot Girl Histories, we are joined by HGH dad who happens to be a theoretical physicist (meaning he has studied really tiny things called particles for over 40 years now)! In the ethereal town of Fraserburg with seagulls squawking in the background, we dive into extremely important physicists who happen to be women! The first is Meitner, most famously known for her discovery of nuclear fission. This discovery later allowed for the development of the atomic bomb. But first, we discuss how the field of physics has changed for women since Tomasz started doing physics back in Poland. Because Lise Meitner was unable to attend university right away due to Austrian and Prussian laws that prevented women from completing higher education, and with no women's bathrooms at her uni, she experienced various professional barriers throughout her career as a physicist. Additionally, to most, she did not receive the recognition (such as a Nobel prize or prizes) she deserved for her contributions to chemistry and physics.

Disclaimer: I am anything but a woman in STEM, so don't take any of my mathematical talk seriously, I tried but not hard enough here...

Esperanto Wor(l)ds: Scotland, Postcards, and the Creation of an International Language zooms into the lives of several Scottish Esperanto speakers in the early twentieth century, particularly into the lives of John Beveridge and his family, and will be on display at the Wardlaw Museum until 29 May 2023. An exhibition curated by Bernhard Struck, Guilherme Fians, and Claire Taylor and sponsored by the University of St Andrews, the Laidlaw Foundation, and the Leverhulme Trust.

In 1869, a group of women began arriving in Edinburgh to study at the medical faculty, led by the indomitable Sophia Jex Blake. They would eventually be known around the world as "The Edinburgh Seven." This is a story of turbulent times: women were not welcomed at Edinburgh University, and there were death threats, a violent riot, and a court case reported across the world. Pre-Order The Edinburgh Seven by Janey Jones, out April 30th, here: https://amzn.eu/d/boYjexr

STOP THE RENT INCREASE IN ST ANDREWS: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=yyZW-KgN00mqWGTvZ47wGu77IHD5lZtDtAviOFG0AZ1UOFdDQTBTNjcwNUFXOFo5QjJHTE1KM1pVTS4u

Works consulted in episode:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lise_Meitner

https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/biographies/meitner.html

https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/meitner-lise

https://www.epa.gov/radtown/women-radiation-history-lise-meitner