Research Guides: Chien-Shiung Wu: Biography

Chien-Shiung Wu (May 31, 1912 - February 16, 1997)

Wu decided that she wanted to become a physicist, and with the encouragement of Hu Shi, she entered the National Central University in Nanjing in 1929. By this time, it was not unusual for women to study science, and it is still common in China today. Although she was studying during the early years of the Sino-Japanese War, and Japan had invaded China, Wu managed to complete her degree in physics in four years. In 1936, Wu traveled to the United States, where she pursued her graduate work in physics at the University of California at Berkeley. One of her most influential professors was Ernest O. Lawrence, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for inventing the particle accelerator known as the cyclotron. Continue . . .

Source: Bailey, Ellen. “Chien-Shiung Wu.” Chien-Shiung Wu, Aug. 2017, p. 1. From Academic Search Complete database.

eBook Collection

Madame Wu Chien-Shiung: The First Lady Of Physics Research

Commemorating the Past and Looking Towards the Future OCPA 2000

Nobel Prize Women in Science : Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries

Resources

National Academy of Sciences: Chien-Shiung Wu A Biographical Memoir by Noemie Benczer-Koller.
Atomic Heritage Foundation: Chien-Shiung Wu From the Atomic Heritage Foundation. Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997) was a Chinese American physicist. During the Manhattan Project, she worked at Columbia University, helping develop the process for separating uranium metal into U-235 and U-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion.
Greate Lives from History: Chien-Shiung Wu Nuclear physicist Chien-Shiung Wu disproved the principle of conservation of parity and proved the law of vector current in beta decay. Wu was the first woman elected president of the American Physical Society and honored with Israel's Wolf Prize.
Chien-Shiung Wu Diagnoses the Reactor (Poem) The poem "Chien-Shiung Wu Diagnoses the Reactor" by John Canaday is presented. First Line: "Damn kraut." Dumb kid missed; Last Line: answered honestly.
Chien-Shiung Wu, 29 May 1912 - 16 February 1997 Article from the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
Where State Politics Meets Gender Politics: Chien-Shiung Wu and the Manhattan Project Article by By Kanta Dihal.
Women's History Minute: Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu The Natural Women's History Museum presents a minute in history.
Chien-Shiung Wu, "The First Lady of Physics" Continuing our series as we celebrate Women's History Month and the accomplishments of women in Physics.