1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,799 Speaker 1: Lauren bog Obam here. It's no secret that for centuries 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: women have faced innumerable obstacles pursuing careers in the fields 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 1: of science, technology, engineering and mathematics now sometimes known as STEM. 5 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: And of course, many people have faced challenges related not 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: only to their sex or gender, but also to their race, heritage, religion, 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: and more. But a few of those people, like physicist 8 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: head Vig Kohn, have embodied enough resilience to triumph in 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: their chosen field. Born on April five, eighteen eighty seven, 10 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: in Breslau, Germany now Votswaffe, Poland, Kohn paved a unique 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,599 Speaker 1: path for herself early on, auditing at a local university 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty, a year before women were 13 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,520 Speaker 1: even allowed to officially enroll. In nineteen thirteen, she earned 14 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 1: a doctorate in physics and went on to become one 15 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: of just three women certified to teach the subject at 16 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: any German university before World War Two. But in nineteen 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: thirty three, the Rye saying Nazi powers forced Kohn and 18 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 1: her fellow Jewish colleagues Lisa Meitner and Harthas Bonner out 19 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: of their jobs. Kohen was able to support herself through 20 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: research work for the next two years, and in five 21 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: she was able to take on a three month project 22 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: at an observatorium in Switzerland, but the short term endeavor 23 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: didn't pan out into a permanent escape from the atrocities 24 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: occurring throughout Eastern Europe. In November of ninety eight, a 25 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: two day terror strike known as Crystal Knock or the 26 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: Night of Broken Glass took place. Nazis in Germany murdered 27 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: nearly a hundred Jewish people, arrested thirty thousand men and 28 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: sent them to concentration camps, and destroyed Jewish homes and businesses. 29 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: Cohen knew she had to get out, but how she 30 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: lacked the global acclaim that might warrant an international work visa, 31 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: and most American university jobs required job applicants to have 32 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: recent teaching experience, a qualification con lacked due to the 33 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: Nazi imposed ban. In the same month as Crystal Knocked, 34 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: a Princeton University physicist named Rudolph Laudenboard began pushing for 35 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: Cohen's immigration. Anborg had directed Kohn's research in Breslau and 36 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: had made a name for himself at Princeton. With the 37 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: help of his initial insistence, the International Federation of University 38 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: Women and the Society for the Protection of Science and 39 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: Learning in London created a university position for Cohn in 40 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine, but just before she could flee, World 41 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: War two officially broke out and England provoked all visas 42 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 1: for enemy aliens. Refusing to give up hope, Kohn, Landborg 43 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: and representatives from several international organizations exchanged more than seventy 44 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: letters with institutions, eventually securing con job offers at three 45 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: United States schools. She was granted a visa to the 46 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: US via Sweden just before her only brother was deported 47 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: and killed by the Nazis. Kohen eventually made it from 48 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 1: Stockholm to Greensboro, North Carolina, in nineteen forty. She went 49 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: on to spend nearly two decades teaching physics at both 50 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: the Women's College of the University of North Carolina and 51 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: Wellesley College in Massachusetts. When she retired in nineteen fifty two, 52 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: the German government awarded Cohen a pension and the title 53 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: of Professor Emerita, but Cohen wasn't quite ready to call 54 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: it quits on her career she took on a research 55 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: position at Duke University studying flame spectroscopy, and in the 56 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties contributed extensively to the frameworks of plasma physics 57 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 1: and combustion science. By the time of her death in 58 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty four, Cohn had produced numerous scientific publications, written 59 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: several book chapters, secured a patent, and made a lasting 60 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: impact as an innovator within the stamp world and beyond. 61 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by 62 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's 63 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more in this amounts of other topics, 64 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com, and 65 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: for more podcast from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 66 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 67 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: favorite shows.