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Pursuit of Discovery: Lise Meitner & Nuclear Fission, a Living History Play

6:30 PM - 8:00 PM Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Location:
Main Library
449 Broadway
Lecture Hall
Cambridge

STEM on Stage presents the debut of REENACT:SCIENCE — a new series featuring science history retold by modern scientists. As a new work-in-progress, Pursuit of Discovery explores how nuclear physicist Lise Meitner’s pioneering revelation of nuclear fission a century ago still inspires astronomers to lift the last star stuff secrets of the early universe.

In December 1938, Lise Meitner discovered the process of nuclear fission. Having fled to Sweden to escape anti-Jewish persecution, the Austrian-German physics professor changed the course of science and, inadvertently, also that of the world. Through a living history portrayal by MIT astrophysicist Anna Frebel, the audience will participate in this discovery and its scientific implications. The scene then changes to 2018. Astrophysicists such as Anna Frebel use cosmic objects and modern knowledge on fission to finally complete, some 80 years later, our understanding of the production of all the heaviest elements in the periodic table.

Doors open at 6:00pm, Program begins at 6:30pm

Free with RSVP: https://stemapril18.eventbrite.com

Recommended for adults and students, age 12 and older.