Women's History - Chien-Shiung Wu

"Even the most sophisticated and seemingly remote basic nuclear physics research has implications beneficial to human welfare."
- Chien-Shiung Wu

Renowned physicist Chien-Shiung Wu led an impressive life, working for the Manhattan Project and overturning one of the basic assumptions in physics. Coming to America from China in 1936, Wu received her Ph. D from the University of California, Berkeley.

Working at the National Bureau of Standards, she created the experiements that led to the discovery of parity violations, which show that when field strength is low, parity is not conserved (for more information, read here). For this, Wu received the Comstock Award from the National Academy of Sciences, becoming the first woman to be recognized with the distinction.

Wu broke down barriers for women in the field of science, being the first elected female president of the American Physical Society. She also became the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate of science from Princeton University.

For more biographies in celebration of women's history month, click here.