Lise Meitner

Hello! My name is Lise. When I was a little girl, my head was always buzzing with questions. I wanted to know how everything worked, from the twinkling stars in the sky to the smallest pebbles on the ground. I especially loved science! I learned that everything in the world is made of super-duper tiny things called atoms. They are so small you can't even see them, but I knew they were there, and I wanted to learn all their secrets.

When I grew up, I became a scientist and worked in a laboratory with my good friend, Otto Hahn. We spent our days doing experiments with those tiny atoms. We wanted to see what was inside them. One day in 1938, we did an experiment that was amazing! We figured out how to split an atom right in two. Pop! It was like discovering a secret power hidden inside. When the atom split, it released a huge burst of energy. It was a brand-new discovery that no one had ever seen before!

My discovery helped other scientists understand so much more about our world. I lived a very long and happy life filled with science, and I lived to be 89 years old. Even though my work was very serious, I always remembered to be curious and ask big questions, just like when I was a little girl. I hope my story shows you that girls can be amazing scientists and that you should never, ever stop wondering about the world around you.