Scientific society recognizes women's contributions to the Manhattan Project

WHAT:
Women scientists of the Manhattan Project Era

WHEN:
Monday, April 8, 8:05 a.m.

WHERE:
Orlando Convention Center, Room 209A

WHO:
Steve Stow, Site Historian, United States Department of Energy Oak Ridge Site, Oak Ridge, Tenn. "Oak Ridge, the Manhattan Project, and involvement of women scientists." During the Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge, Tenn., known then as the Clinton Engineer Works, was the super secret location where uranium 235 was enriched and the basic research on production and separation of plutonium using the graphite reactor was conducted. Women contributors made significant advances at this site and their successes will be reviewed and put into perspective.

Michelle Gerber, Hanford Site Historian, Fluor Hanford, Richland, Wash., (author of On the Home Front: The Cold War Legacy of the Hanford Nuclear Site). "Women of the Hanford Engineer Works." From the onset of the war in Europe secrecy enveloped atomic research. The historical contributions of women of the Hanford Site to the Manhattan Project will be discussed.

Isabella Karle, Chief Scientist of the X-ray Diffraction Section and 56-year employee of the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. "Personal recollections of my time on the Manhattan Project." The presenter worked on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago in 1943 and will convey personal thoughts regarding the early controlled nuclear reactions.

Caroline Herzenberg, Physicist and engineer, Argonne National Laboratory (retired), Chicago, Ill., (co-author of Their Day in the Sun). "Women scientists of the Manhattan Project era." Information will be presented from a study of over 300 women scientists, examining their participation and roles in the technical research program of the Manhattan Project.

Darleane Hoffman, Professor at University of California Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "Impact of women on nuclear science: past, present, and future." A brief account of the seminal role of women scientists in the establishment of nuclear science in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries and in recognizing its applications will be presented. Women continued as leaders in the discovery of radioactive elements, artificial radioactivity, nuclear fission, development of nuclear theory, and made significant contributions to the Manhattan project and to nuclear medicine. Prospects for future opportunities in nuclear science and its applications will also be considered.