1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, we have some very exciting news. Our trip 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: to Paris was a great success. We had an amazing time. 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,400 Speaker 1: So we are planning another trip, this time to Rome 4 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 1: and Florence. It is from May fourteen. Folks from the 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: US will depart on I guess if you're coming from 6 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: somewhere else in the America's you would also depart on 7 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: the thirteenth. We will spend four nights in Rome and 8 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: three nights in Tuscany. Some highlights of what are in 9 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: the plans the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's David, and 10 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: the Chinqui Chetta, among others. Plus you're gonna have some 11 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: free time to explore both Roman Tuscany on your own. 12 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,239 Speaker 1: So to get more information about this trip, go to 13 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: defined Destinations dot com. That's D E F I N 14 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: E D destinations all one word dot com. Scroll down 15 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: to our trip right there on the home page and 16 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: it'll have all the information about the itinerary, the pricing, 17 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: how to reserve a spot, all of that. Welcome to 18 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: stuff you missed in history last the production of I 19 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 20 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. Today we 21 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: are going to talk about she and Chung Wu and 22 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 1: she was one of the greatest experimental physicists of her era. 23 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: She published papers that were influential before she was even 24 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: out of graduate school and made multiple major contributions to 25 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: the field during her career. In China, she became known 26 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,199 Speaker 1: as the Chinese Marie Curry. There's been a little debate 27 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: about that nickname though, because in some folks minds, she 28 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 1: and Curie were equals, so it was really apt. But 29 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: to others whose work and her influence were beyond what 30 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: Marie Curry was doing, and that makes the name Chinese 31 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: Marie Curry a little maybe deprecating in some ways. Uh. 32 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: And we have a note on names. Here you will 33 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: see whose name both in the American style with her 34 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: family name last, and in the Chinese style with the 35 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: family name place first. Most English language sources in the 36 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: United States and Europe used Shan Jung Woo, and she 37 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: often styled her own name C. S. Woo. But she 38 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: was born in China, she grew up there, and when 39 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: you read about her family members and her friends in China, 40 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: it's pretty much always the other way around, so when 41 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: we were talking about her upbringing in China and her 42 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: Chinese family will have their family names first rather than last, 43 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: as well as hers, just so it's not weirdly inconsistent 44 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: in that first chapter of the episode. Woo Chia Chung 45 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: was born in Leohu, which is northeast of Shanghai, China, 46 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: on mat one of nineteen twelve, that is April twenty 47 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: nine on the lunar calendar. Her parents were Woo zong 48 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: ki and Fan Fuhua. She was the middle of their 49 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: three children, and she was their only daughter. Who's father 50 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: was an engineer with a military background, and he had 51 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,640 Speaker 1: really progressive ideals. When he was in school, he had 52 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: read a lot of Western material about the principles of 53 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: equality and democracy. These publications are actually banned in China 54 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: at the time, but in reading them, he really wanted 55 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,399 Speaker 1: to put these concepts that he found into practice. These 56 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: were turbulent years, though the Shinhai Revolution also called the 57 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,679 Speaker 1: Chinese Revolution of nineteen eleven overthrew the Qing dynasty and 58 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: established China as a republic. The region where the Wu 59 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,679 Speaker 1: family was living also had a bandit problem, and when 60 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: Wu Chang Shuing was still a baby, her father established 61 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: a militia to help deal with that problem. Once that 62 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: was handled, though, he started turning his attention to his 63 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: daughter's education. When and where they were living, it wasn't 64 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: common for girls to be educated, especially highly educated, but 65 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: Wuzani thought that educating girls would not only benefit the 66 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: girls themselves, but would also help dispel prejudice against women, 67 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: so he established the ming Do Women's Vocational School specifically 68 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: to provide an education for girls and young women in 69 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: the area. The first students at this school were relatives 70 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: and friends of the Wu family. It eventually went on 71 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: to have more than fifty female students from Leah and 72 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: neighboring towns. The girls learned practical skills that they were 73 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: likely to need in their later lives, including things like 74 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: sewing and gardening, along with academic subjects like language, classical 75 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 1: Chinese literature, science, and math. Wuchi and Seong, of course, 76 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: started her education at this school and was described as 77 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: a thoughtful, quiet child, but by the time she turned eleven, 78 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: she had really gotten to the end of the school's curriculum. 79 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: So in ninety three, she applied for admission into a 80 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: boarding school that was the Studio Women's Normal School Number two. 81 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 1: This school had two tracks. There was a regular high 82 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: school and a teacher training program. The teacher training program 83 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: was considered to be more prestigious, so that's the one 84 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: that we applied for, and she placed ninth among ten 85 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: thousand applicants to the school. Once she started attending, though, 86 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: she learned that the regular school program had more in 87 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:00,359 Speaker 1: depth instruction in English, math, chemistry, and physics, so she 88 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: started borrowing textbooks from her classmates to teach herself these 89 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: subjects in her off hours. She graduated at the top 90 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: of her class in nineteen nine, and she basically completed 91 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: two different tracks at the school, one of them being 92 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: studied that she was doing on her own. Because Wu 93 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: had chosen the teacher training program, she normally would have 94 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,919 Speaker 1: been expected to spend a year teaching after she graduated, 95 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 1: but she was a truly exceptional student. She was described 96 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: as just brilliant, but also not arrogant and extremely devoted 97 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: to her studies. So instead of teaching, she was recommended 98 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: as a student at the National Central University which is 99 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: now Southeast University in Nanjing, China. She started out as 100 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 1: a math major, but in nineteen thirty, she switched to physics. 101 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: She was partially inspired by a biography of Marie Cury 102 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: that she had read as a team. But aside from that, 103 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: there was a lot of groundbreaking work happening in physics 104 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: at the time. Ernest Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus in 105 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: nineteen eleven, with Neil's Boors model of the atom following. 106 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: A few years later. Einstein published his theory of general 107 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: relativity in nineteen sixteen. These and other discoveries were still 108 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: very new, and physics just seemed like an exciting, dynamic, 109 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: and rapidly evolving field, so that is where Wu wanted 110 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: to be. We studied at the university until nineteen thirty four, 111 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: and during these years she was also called on by 112 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: her classmates to act as a leader during student demonstrations. 113 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: The social, political, and military climate of China was still 114 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: really turbulent, especially in the context of escalating tensions between 115 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: China and Japan. Japan invaded Manchuria on September eighteenth of 116 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty one while we were still a student at 117 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: the university, and that led to students in China demanding 118 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: that the nation declare war on Japan. Wood did not 119 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: really think of herself as an activist or a revolutionary. 120 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: Her classmates looked to her for leadership because several factors 121 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: made it seem less likely that she'd be punished or 122 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: penalized for what she was doing. She was a truly 123 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: exceptional student, and people thought that the university was going 124 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: to be less likely to penalize one of its best 125 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: and brightest for their political involvement. Her father's own background 126 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: in political views also made it seem like her family 127 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: might be more supportive of her actions than other students 128 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: families might. She was also very careful about how she 129 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: planned these demonstrations, one of which was a peaceful sit 130 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: in outside the presidential Palace. She intentionally chose locations where 131 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: they were less likely to encounter police or the press. 132 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: She also liked to choose dates that were just before holidays, 133 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: reasoning that people would be eager to get home and 134 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: so the protest would break up before things got too 135 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: heated or do too much attention from law enforcement or 136 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: the university. She really seems to have been trying to 137 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: strike a balance between the expectations of her fellow students 138 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: on her and her more pragmatic side. After graduating, in 139 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty four. She spent some time as a teaching 140 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: assistant at a university before becoming a research assistant at 141 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: Academia Seneca, which is a research academy in Taiwan. Her 142 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: mentor there was another woman, goujing Wai, who had returned 143 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: to China after earning her PhD in the United States, 144 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: and she strongly encouraged Wou to pursue a similar course 145 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: for herself. So in August of nine thirty six, Wo 146 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: left China for the United States. Since there was not 147 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: any passenger air service between China and the US yet, 148 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 1: she and a friend planned to travel by boat, but 149 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: they ran into a problem. They only had enough money 150 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: to pay a second class fair, but the second class 151 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: cabins were all sold out. Their only option was the 152 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: one remaining first class cabin, which they really couldn't afford. 153 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 1: Woo couldn't wait for a later sailing, so she negotiated 154 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:40,199 Speaker 1: for the two of them to be allowed to share 155 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,839 Speaker 1: the first class cabin while paying only the second class fair, 156 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: as long as they only ate in the second class 157 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: dining room, and this was fine with them. The first 158 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 1: class cabin required formal dress for dinner, which they didn't 159 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: really want to do. Woo dressed very elegantly her whole life, 160 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: but dressing up for dinner every night was just too much. 161 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: On this boat trip, Yeah, they were not. They were like, 162 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: that's it, that's fine, it's fine if we do that. 163 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: When we got to the US, though, things didn't go 164 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,839 Speaker 1: exactly as she had planned before leaving, and we will 165 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: get to why after a sponsor break. When she left China, 166 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: she planned to pursue a pH d at the University 167 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:23,559 Speaker 1: of Michigan and then to go back to China once 168 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: she had finished her studies. She had secured financial support 169 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: from the university, as well as some help from an 170 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: uncle to make this happen, but first she planned to 171 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: spend a week visiting a former classmate who lived in 172 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: San Francisco. The classmate's husband worked at the University of 173 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: California at Berkeley, so while she was in San Francisco, 174 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: Wo got a tour of the campus, including the Chinese 175 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 1: Students Association. One of the students there heard about her 176 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: plans to study physics and introduced her to Luke Yuan, 177 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: who was also from China and was studying physics at Berkeley. 178 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: You once showed Wu through the university's physics research facilities, 179 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: and Wu was very impressed. Berkeley had a radiation lab 180 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,959 Speaker 1: and a cyclotron and other new, cutting edge facilities that 181 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: would offer a just incredible opportunity for research. Berkeley's physics 182 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:14,199 Speaker 1: faculty was also extremely impressive and included theoretical physicist Jay 183 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: Robert Oppenheimer, as well as Ernest Lawrence, who would go 184 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: on to be awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in nine. 185 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 1: There was also Emilio Sega, who would later be awarded 186 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,960 Speaker 1: a Nobel Prize and had also studied under Enrico Fermi. 187 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: Ernest Lawrence was extremely impressed with Wu, so much so 188 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: that he encouraged her to stay at Berkeley rather than 189 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: going on to Michigan as planned, and this was definitely 190 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: a special case. Berkeley's academic calendar was ahead of Michigan's 191 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: and classes had already been going on for a couple 192 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: of weeks, but even so Wu decided that she would stay. 193 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,079 Speaker 1: In addition to her opinion of the facilities and the faculty, 194 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: Will also realized that Berkeley was much more liberal than 195 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,079 Speaker 1: Michigan was likely to be, and she thought she might 196 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:01,079 Speaker 1: face less discrimination there. The university for her a comparable 197 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: financial assistance package to the one that she'd had in Michigan. 198 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: While she was at u C. Berkeley, who was described 199 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 1: as kind, brilliant, thoughtful, and just really devoted to her studies, 200 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 1: she immersed herself in the English language and American culture, 201 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: but she also stuck to parts of her Chinese roots. 202 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: She mostly ate Chinese food. She made arrangements with a 203 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: local Chinese restaurant for her and three other students to 204 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: eat there for twenty five cents a meal apiece. As 205 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:30,079 Speaker 1: part of this deal, they weren't ordering their own food, 206 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:32,839 Speaker 1: they were being served whatever the restaurant had extra of 207 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: that day, plus as much rice as they wanted. She 208 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,120 Speaker 1: also mainly wore cepaw, which is a fitted high necked 209 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: gown that was introduced in Shanghai in the nineties. That's 210 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: also called h hansm. We made her own when she 211 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: couldn't get them from China. For her entire academic career 212 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: to this point, we had really focused on her studies, 213 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 1: refusing to allow herself to be distracted by romantic relationships, 214 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,040 Speaker 1: and that changed at Berkeley. She dated a few and 215 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: fairly steadily, eventually becoming more serious about Lukuan, who she 216 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: had met during that earlier tour. By nine they were exclusive, 217 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: although by that point he had transferred to another university 218 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: because he had been receiving less financial aid than his peers, 219 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,839 Speaker 1: something that he attributed to discrimination. During her pH d work, 220 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:23,599 Speaker 1: Wo developed a reputation for just relentless accuracy and precision, 221 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: something that she put into play for the entirety of 222 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: her career and experimental physics. If she needed different materials 223 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: to get more precise results, she used to them, and 224 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: if she needed different or better equipment to get consistent 225 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: enough measurements to answer the question she was trying to answer, 226 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:43,319 Speaker 1: she got them, sometimes figuring out for herself what specifically 227 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 1: needed to be adjusted to get a fine enough level 228 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,560 Speaker 1: of accuracy. She proved herself to be truly masterful at 229 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: designing the right experiment to test a particular theory and 230 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: to get results that weren't muddied by inaccuracy or unclear data. 231 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: Whose PhD research focused on the products of uranium fission, 232 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 1: and she identified to xenon isotopes that were part of 233 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: the process in uranium decay. She finished her PhD in 234 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,199 Speaker 1: nineteen forty. Her published thesis was regarded as way ahead 235 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: of other PhD work. As a side note, previous podcast 236 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:18,560 Speaker 1: subject Luis Alvarez was at Berkeley for postdoctoral work while 237 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: she was there, and he was on her thesis defense committee. 238 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: Although she had planned to return to China after finishing 239 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,559 Speaker 1: her pH d work, when the time came, she couldn't. 240 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: The Second Sino Japanese War had started in July of 241 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,199 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty seven, and that made returning home just impossible. 242 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: By the time she finished her PhD, a lot of 243 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,319 Speaker 1: Europe was also at war with Germany, so she stayed 244 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: in Berkeley for a while, but the university wouldn't offer 245 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,079 Speaker 1: her a faculty position. At the time, there were not 246 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:48,960 Speaker 1: any women on the physics faculty in the top twenty 247 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: research universities in the United States, and in general, universities 248 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: were reluctant to hire women, as well as racial, ethnic, 249 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: or religious minorities wose Chinese nationality was a particular issue 250 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: with this. The United States had banned immigration from China 251 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: completely in the Chinese Exclusion Act of eighteen eighty two, 252 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: and by nineteen forty, when she was graduating with her PhD, 253 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: there were still strict quotas on immigration from China, with 254 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: Chinese immigrants also banned from becoming US citizens. Eventually, though 255 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: she was hired at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Lukewan 256 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: had finished a PhD from the California Institute of Technology 257 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: and was offered a job at r c A near Princeton, 258 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: New Jersey. They married on May ninety two and moved east. 259 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: Who was not really happy at Smith though she really 260 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: missed Berkeley and her friends and the California weather. There's 261 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: a lot of snow on the ground in Massachusetts right now, 262 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: is a recording this, So I understand that she also 263 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: missed doing research. This was a teaching position and not 264 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: a research position, and she missed her husband. Northampton and 265 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: Princeton are just hours apart by car. Eventually, Ernest Lawrence 266 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: was at this point a Nobel laureate, wrote letters of 267 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: recommendation to several universities on her behalf, and after that 268 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 1: she was offered multiple jobs, including one at Princeton, which 269 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: she took so that she could join her husband. She 270 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: was the first female physics instructor at Princeton. In ninety four, 271 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: Wu became part of the Manhattan Project at the Columbia 272 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: University Substitute Alloy Materials lab. Her work there was primarily 273 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: related to the development of radiation detectors, as well as 274 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: the separation of uranium two thirty five and to thirty 275 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: eight from uranium, or in other words, enriching uranium into 276 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: a usable fuel. This and her earlier work on nuclear 277 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: fission folded into the development of the atomic bomb. Wood 278 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: didn't talk much about how she felt about this aspect 279 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: of her work. I mean, scientists who were part of 280 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: the Manhattan Project and the development of the bomb all 281 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: had their own opinions and feelings on this. On the 282 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: one hand, having grown up in China, she was acutely 283 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: aware of Japan's wartime atrocities towards China and the need 284 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: to bring World War Two to a swift end. On 285 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: the other hand, she also thought the power of the 286 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: atomic bomb was just too immensely destructive, and she hoped 287 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: that one day the world could live together peacefully rather 288 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: than needing that kind of weaponry. During these same years, 289 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: WU helped troubleshoot an issue with the nuclear reactor at 290 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: the Hanford site in Washington, which was part of the 291 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: Manhattan Project as well. After being shut down, it took 292 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: the reactor much longer than expected to restart, and it 293 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: was not clear why this was happening. Wu helped pinpoint 294 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: the problem as zenon one thirty five, which was one 295 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: of the fission products of the reactor's uranium, and that 296 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: was poisoning the process. That circled back to some of 297 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 1: her pH d work. In March of ninety four, We 298 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: started working as a senior scientist at Columbia University. This 299 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: made her the first woman to hold a tenured faculty 300 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: position in Columbia's physics department. This was also her return 301 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: to academic research after spending time teaching at Smith and Princeton. 302 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: She started studying beta decay, becoming one of the world's 303 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: leading authorities on that subject, including experimentally proving Enrico Fermi's 304 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 1: beita decay theories. In addition to her research work, she 305 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: also taught, and she was described as having extremely high 306 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: expectations of her students. She was also described as having 307 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,360 Speaker 1: a deeply loving and sweet relationship with her husband, one 308 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: that did not follow the stereotypes of the time. Wu 309 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,680 Speaker 1: was extremely dedicated to her career and she was sometimes 310 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: in the lab at all hours, so her husband did 311 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: a lot of the cooking and housework, although Woo would 312 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 1: cook if she had time or if they were having company. Yeah, 313 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: they were both physicists, both working as physicists in their careers, 314 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:44,399 Speaker 1: and uh, he was maybe even doing more of the 315 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:49,159 Speaker 1: share of the household labor than she was. On February fifteenth, seven, 316 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: they had a son, who they named Vincent, who's labor 317 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,879 Speaker 1: was really long and difficult, and she finally delivered via 318 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 1: C section. In the process of all this, she lost 319 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: a lot of blood and had to stay in the 320 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,920 Speaker 1: hospital for three weeks after. While she was there, Albert 321 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: Einstein visited her. His sister was actually being treated in 322 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,399 Speaker 1: the same hospital. Wu and her husband were still hoping 323 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: to return to China someday, but after the Communist Party 324 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: came to power in nineteen nine, they decided to stay 325 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,119 Speaker 1: in the US. They did not want their son to 326 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: be raised in a communist country, and soon the Korean 327 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: War and increasing anti communist sentiment in the US made 328 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,199 Speaker 1: it impossible to even visit China. At some points, they 329 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: hadn't even been able to send or receive mail from home. 330 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: During the Sino Japanese War, for example, mail service was 331 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 1: completely disrupted at this point, they had both come to 332 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: the US to go to graduate school, and neither had 333 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: been able to go back. By the nineteen fifties, though, 334 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: they both needed to travel for their jobs, and they 335 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: were having difficulty getting the necessary visas. Because of all 336 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: the governmental changes and upheaval that China had gone through, 337 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,239 Speaker 1: their passports were no longer recognized as valid, so they 338 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 1: went through a long immigration process. By this point, Chinese 339 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:00,880 Speaker 1: people could become US citizens, but there were still really 340 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: tight quotas in place. We was naturalized as a US 341 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: citizen in nineteen fifty four. Her most famous accomplishment was 342 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:09,959 Speaker 1: still to come, though, and we'll talk more about that. 343 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:19,119 Speaker 1: After we first paused for a little sponsor break. In 344 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six, to scientists both born in China and 345 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: working in the US came to chen Chung Wu for help. 346 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: They were named Sung Down Lee and chen Ning Yang. 347 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: They had noticed that no one had tested whether parody 348 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: was conserved in beta decay, and they thought that it 349 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,119 Speaker 1: might not be. They wanted Wu to design an experiment 350 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: to prove whether or not it was okay. So beta 351 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: decay is a type of radioactive decay, which is when 352 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,640 Speaker 1: one of the sub atomic particles in an Adams nucleus 353 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 1: breaks down, specifically, in beta decay, a neutron decays into 354 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 1: a proton, an electron, and an anti neutrino, or a 355 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: proton decays into a neutron, a positron, and a neutrino. 356 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: The electrons and positrons that are part of this are 357 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: known as beta particles, and this type of decay is 358 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,719 Speaker 1: possible thanks to the weak nuclear force, which is one 359 00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: of the four fundamental forces in physics and parity in 360 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: an extremely basic sense, is about the mathematical depiction of 361 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,879 Speaker 1: a sub atomic system as in a graph. Essentially, the 362 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,880 Speaker 1: universe does not really care whether one of these systems 363 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,719 Speaker 1: is spacing to the left or to the right. Everything 364 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: going on in that system should still work the same way, 365 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 1: and there should be no detectable difference in the graphs 366 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:35,919 Speaker 1: representing the left hand in the right hand version. The 367 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,199 Speaker 1: graph of each should just be a mirror image of 368 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,680 Speaker 1: the other. If you're thinking about this and it's making 369 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: your mind hurt a little, please don't feel bad. Uh. 370 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: Folks have probably heard about things like the law of 371 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: conservation of mass and the law of conservation of energy. Basically, 372 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 1: the idea that you cannot create or destroy mass or 373 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: energy by normal chemical or physical means. Similarly, the conservation 374 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,160 Speaker 1: of parity was a fundamental understanding and quantum mechanics, just 375 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: like the laws of conservation of mass and energy, are 376 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,800 Speaker 1: an accepted and fundamental part of basic physics. So the 377 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: idea that maybe parody wasn't conserved in beta decay was 378 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,640 Speaker 1: potentially earth shattering. It was also hotly discussed among physicists, 379 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: with some of them placing bets that nobody would ever 380 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,679 Speaker 1: prove that parity was not conserved. One even said that 381 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,880 Speaker 1: he would eat his hat if anyone ever did. Wu 382 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: was so eager to study this question that she canceled 383 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:35,200 Speaker 1: a vacation with her husband to work on the project. 384 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: At the time, the National Bureau of Standards in Washington 385 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: was doing some work related to the polarization of nuclear systems, 386 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:45,919 Speaker 1: and Wu teamed up with the NBS to study beta 387 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:50,640 Speaker 1: decay using radioactive cobalt sixty. In this experiment, they cooled 388 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: the cobalt down to an extremely cold temperature, as in 389 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: barely above absolute zero, so that the atoms were moving 390 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: as slowly as possible, and then they polarized to those 391 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: atoms so that all of their nuclei were spinning in 392 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 1: the same direction. Then they observed which way the beta 393 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 1: particles went when they were admitted from the nuclei of 394 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:13,400 Speaker 1: the cobalt atoms. If the beta particles had symmetrical distribution, 395 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: regardless of the polarity, parody was conserved. It turned out 396 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: that they didn't. Most of the beta particles went in 397 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: the opposite direction of the nuclear spin, and that means 398 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: if you graph these results, you would see an obvious 399 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: difference between the experiment and its mirror image. In other words, 400 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: parody was not conserved. I'm gonna say again, if your 401 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:39,160 Speaker 1: mind still hurts my mind as too, it's okay. Louse 402 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,439 Speaker 1: experiment was the first to prove that parody was not 403 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: conserved during beta decay, and she did this definitively. I mean, 404 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 1: it was an unquestionable result. At the same time, though, 405 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: there were people who were absolutely sure that parody was 406 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,119 Speaker 1: always conserved, and they were convinced that she had just 407 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: made an error. Soon afterward, though, other experiments took place 408 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: and they had the same results. We published a paper 409 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 1: called Experimental Test of parity conservation in Beta decay in 410 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,919 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty seven, and that described what came to be 411 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: known as the Wu experiment, and this was a huge development. 412 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,159 Speaker 1: It was regarded as the decade's biggest achievement in the 413 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,719 Speaker 1: world of physics. Lee and Yang were awarded the nineteen 414 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: fifty seven Nobel Prize in Physics as a consequence. Sometimes 415 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: this comes up as an instance of men getting credit 416 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,680 Speaker 1: for women's work undeservedly, but that's not exactly what happened. 417 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,639 Speaker 1: Wu created the first experiment that proved definitively Lee and 418 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: Yang's theoretical work. That experiment and the theory were two 419 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: different parts of the same discovery. And there were also 420 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 1: some frustrations around the paper that she wrote. We wrote 421 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: it herself without input from the four scientists of the 422 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: National Bureau of Standards who had been part of this work. 423 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: They had all thought they were equal partners with her 424 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 1: in this experiment, but when Wu wrote the paper herself 425 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 1: without consulting them, she they real eyes that she had 426 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,360 Speaker 1: been considering them as sort of her support team with 427 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 1: her as the lead. That said, there were absolutely people 428 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: who believed that Wu should have been included in that 429 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:14,080 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty seven Nobel Prize for Physics, including Jay Robert Oppenheimer, 430 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: who said in a speech that Woo, Lee, and Yang 431 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: should have all been recognized rather than just Lie and Yang. Yeah, 432 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: they were all doing different but related work about the 433 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,879 Speaker 1: same question. It was not that Woo did something that 434 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 1: Lie and Yang claimed that they had done, like, which 435 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 1: is sort of how it's presented sometimes in articles on 436 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: the internet about times that women did work that man 437 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 1: got credit for. Right. They had figured this out, but 438 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 1: they needed proof, and she was like the mechanism that 439 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: provided the proof, right, right. So yeah, there's totally an 440 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: argument about how the Nobel could have included all three 441 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: of them, but they like, they were doing two different 442 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 1: aspects of the same thing. Wu continued on with their 443 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 1: teaching and her experimental work after this, including becoming a 444 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: full professor or at Columbia. She applied her nuclear physics 445 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,159 Speaker 1: research to the study of sickle cell anemia at the 446 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: atomic level, and she contributed to medical understanding of how 447 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,159 Speaker 1: that condition works in nineteen fifty eight. In nineteen sixty two, 448 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: she and her husband made their first trip back to Asia, 449 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: visiting Taiwan to deliver lectures, attend receptions, except awards, and 450 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 1: just tour the region. By this point, both Wu's parents 451 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,120 Speaker 1: and her elder brother had all died. She had never 452 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: seen them again after leaving for graduate school, and she 453 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: had not been able to attend their funerals. In nineteen 454 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: sixty six, her book Beta Decay was published, which she 455 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 1: co authored with Stephen Masnowski of u c l A. 456 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,639 Speaker 1: This continues to be a fundamental text on that subject. 457 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:47,159 Speaker 1: As US diplomatic relationships with China improved, Wu made her 458 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: first of several visits back there. In nineteen seventy three. 459 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: She learned that her parents tombs had been desecrated during 460 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:57,919 Speaker 1: the Cultural Revolution, something that she received an official apology for. 461 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy five, who became the first woman to 462 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: serve as President of the American Physical Society. Although she 463 00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,160 Speaker 1: was still doing research and teaching, she started spending more 464 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 1: time working on social issues in the seventies as well, 465 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:16,160 Speaker 1: specifically on educational opportunities for women and on getting women 466 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 1: into physics and other scientific fields. She was very critical 467 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:22,679 Speaker 1: of the fact that women still had so many fewer 468 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: educational opportunities in a lot of the world than men did, 469 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 1: and at one point she said quote, the world would 470 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 1: be a happier and safer place to live if we 471 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,640 Speaker 1: had more women in science. She had applied this focus 472 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,679 Speaker 1: to her own work as well. She always insisted on 473 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: equal pay with her male colleagues, and she corrected people 474 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:43,440 Speaker 1: when they called her by her husband's name. In ninety eight, 475 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,200 Speaker 1: who became the first person to be awarded the Wolf 476 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 1: Prize in Physics, which is an international award by the 477 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: Wolf Foundation in Israel. During her career, she was also 478 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,080 Speaker 1: awarded the National Medal of Science, the Comstock Prize, and 479 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,639 Speaker 1: many many other awards. She became the first woman to 480 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: be a at an honorary doctorate from Princeton University. She 481 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,919 Speaker 1: was also the first Chinese American person in the United 482 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,200 Speaker 1: States National Academy of Science. During her career, she had 483 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: also worked at some of the most notable research facilities 484 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:16,160 Speaker 1: in Europe and Asia, including it CERN. In night, Wu 485 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:18,200 Speaker 1: made a trip to China for what would have been 486 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 1: her father's one hundredth birthday, and while there she established 487 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,680 Speaker 1: a memorial foundation to help fund scholarships and the library. 488 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,439 Speaker 1: She also campaigned for human rights and improved opportunities for 489 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: girls in China. Chin Chung Wu died on February sixteenth, 490 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 1: nine seven, at the age of eighty four at her request. 491 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,360 Speaker 1: Her cremated remains were scattered at the school that her 492 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: father had founded. Today, asteroid two seven five to Woo 493 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:46,760 Speaker 1: Chien Shung is named after her. The citation at the 494 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: I A U Minor Planet Center reads quote named in 495 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,160 Speaker 1: honor of Woo Chiang Shun. Born in China and currently 496 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,520 Speaker 1: pupin Professor Emerita at Columbia University. She is renowned for 497 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:01,040 Speaker 1: her work in nuclear physics, particularly in the experimental study 498 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: of the beta decay of radioactive atomic nuclei. The precision 499 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 1: and elegance of her experiments have earned her the title 500 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: of greatest living woman physicist with co workers, she made 501 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:14,920 Speaker 1: her most famous contribution in ninety six with a critical 502 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 1: experiment on polarized cobalt sixty beta decay. The result of 503 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: this work, which substantiated the theory of Lee and Yang, 504 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,159 Speaker 1: shocked the world of physics and overthrew the concept of 505 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:29,600 Speaker 1: parody conservation in weak interactions. There's also a Chance Hung 506 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:33,040 Speaker 1: Wu Memorial Hall at her alma mater in Southeast University, 507 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: and in she was inducted into the American National Women's 508 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,040 Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. In the words of Sun Dao Le 509 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,239 Speaker 1: Quote c. S. Wu was one of the giants of 510 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,719 Speaker 1: physics in the field of beta decay. She had no equal. 511 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:53,200 Speaker 1: I find her to be really incredible. Yeah, she's fantastic. Um, 512 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: do you have a little bit of listener mail to 513 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: go with this? I do. This is from Stacy and Stacy. 514 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: He says, Happy Thanksgiving, Holly and Tracy. This came in 515 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: on Thanksgiving Day. I wanted to share how excited I 516 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: was to see your episodes on the occupation of Alcatraz 517 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: pop up on my feed. I worked as a teacher 518 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: at a tribal school in the Pacific Northwest for a year, 519 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: and several of my colleagues from our culture department traveled 520 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: to Alcatraz with our school canoe to participate in a 521 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: paddle to Alcatraz to commemorate the anniversary. There was a 522 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: pow wow and they got as many of the original 523 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: occupiers as they could manage to get there. Once on Alcatraz, 524 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:31,600 Speaker 1: they gathered at the prison and sang a blessing song. 525 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:34,640 Speaker 1: The video is so deeply moving. The tribes in the 526 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: Puget Sound area do a major canoe paddle in the 527 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: Sound every summer, and I believe some of the tribes 528 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,040 Speaker 1: around the Bay area want to start something similar in 529 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 1: the future. It was so amazing to see the photos 530 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: and stories my colleagues brought back from that weekend. Another 531 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 1: movement that definitely helped to fuel the occupation was the 532 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 1: fishing wars here in the Pacific Northwest, which started early 533 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: mid sixties. It was a movement of tribes in the 534 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: area to finally access their treaty right. It's to fish, 535 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 1: and they're accustomed places. There's a member of the tribe 536 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: that I worked with who tells a powerful story about 537 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,080 Speaker 1: fishing with her family when she was four or five 538 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: and having to be quickly taken away from the river 539 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: by her grandma who tried to shield her eyes because 540 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: the game wardens were there and arresting everyone who was fishing, 541 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 1: her parents included. The area tribes won a landmark case 542 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy four that finally granted them their treaty 543 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: fishing rights. Uh. Stacy's email continues on on a more 544 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: personal note, So I'm just gonna end what we're reading 545 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: today there. Thank you so much, Stacy for this note. Um. 546 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: I wanted to read it for a couple of reasons. One, 547 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: I'm glad that somebody wrote in with a connection to 548 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: some of the folks that went out to Alcatraz for 549 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: the anniversary this year. And also, uh, if all goes 550 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:48,120 Speaker 1: according to plan, the Fishing Wars and the Fishing Movement 551 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 1: UM is going to be part of an episode after 552 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,400 Speaker 1: the first of the year. So fingers crossed that my 553 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: plan does come to fruition UM folks will get to 554 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: hear about that a little later on. So you so much, Stacy. 555 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this 556 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 1: or any other podcast where History podcasts at I heart 557 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,040 Speaker 1: radio dot com. That's a new email address that we 558 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:12,680 Speaker 1: have started getting some email from, So thanks, folks for 559 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,239 Speaker 1: updating your your address books if we're in there. We 560 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: are also all over social media at missed in History. 561 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 1: That's where you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. 562 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,440 Speaker 1: And you can come to our website, which is missed 563 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 1: in History dot com and find show notes for all 564 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,120 Speaker 1: the episodes Holly and I have worked on together and 565 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: a searchable archive of every episode ever. And you can 566 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: subscribe to our show in Apple Podcasts, the I Heart 567 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: Radio app, and anywhere else you get podcasts. Stuff you 568 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I Heart Radios. 569 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: How Stuff works for more podcasts for my heart Radio, 570 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 571 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.