Lise Meitner. A Life in Physics, Ruth Lewin Sime (ISBN 978-0-520-20860-5, University of California Press)

This is the second biography of Lise Meitner I read. After reading the biography by Patricia Rife I was at first hesitant to also go and read this book by Ruth Lewin Sime. But after finishing the book I have to say it was well worth every minute. Where the biography of Patricia Rife focused more on the general aspects of Lise Meitner’s life and science and the importance of her work leading to the discovery of fission, this one from Ruth Lewin Sime goes a little more into the details of the work she did. For example, in this book, when radio active decay is discussed the decay sequences are written down with the chemical symbols, including atomic number and number of nucleii. That makes it a lot easier to follow compared to just having the tentative name given to an of as of yet unknown decay project; for example eka-Rhenium. By the way the author discusses the work it is obvious she is a chemist herself. The discussion is also nicely embedded in the developments in physics and chemistry related to atomic structure and the periodic table. Ruth Lewin Sime also dedicates more pages to the other work Lise Meitner did that was not directly linked to the discovery of fission. For these reasons I enjoyed this book more and it also increased my appreciation of the volume and importance of the work Lise Meitner did during her entire career. That makes it easier to understand why Lise Meitner was a leading physicist in her time even though these 2 biographies were needed to help rescue her from oblivion, and why Albert Einstein proudly called her ‘our (as in German) Madame Curie’. If you have an aversion for formulas and believe that every formula in a book is one too many then don’t read this book. Otherwise I highly recommend it, the formula density is very low anyway. The book is very well written and there was enough evil in the world that impacted both Meitner and the other main characters in the book personally such that at times the book reads like a thriller and at other times almost resembles the story of a lone hero battling adversity.