She changed the laws of physics, but couldn’t change prejudice.
May 31, 1912: Nuclear physicist Chien-Shiung Wu was born in a small town near Shanghai, China.
There was only one woman who could prove it.
In 1956, physicists Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang proposed a startling idea. One of the fundamental laws of physics, known as parity conservation, might be wrong. The theory was bold. But they didn’t have the evidence.
So they turned to Chien-Shiung Wu.
At the time, Wu was already considered one of the world’s leading experimental physicists. If anyone could design an experiment capable of answering the question, it was her. Working under extraordinarily difficult conditions, Wu devised an experiment involving radioactive cobalt atoms cooled to temperatures near absolute zero.
The results shocked the scientific community. Parity was not conserved. A principle that physicists had accepted for decades had fallen. Modern physics would never be the same.
Courtesy of Suzhou Chien Shiung Institute of Technology
Born in a small town outside Shanghai, Chien-Shiung Wu studied physics in China before moving to the United States in 1936 to pursue graduate studies at UC Berkeley.
Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives
By 1956, Chien-Shiung Wu was already one of the world’s leading experimental physicists. When other scientists needed an answer, she was often the person they turned to.
Courtesy of AIP Emilio Segré Visual Archives
Lee and Yang proposed the theory. Chien-Shiung Wu provided the evidence. Without her experiment, their Nobel Prize-winning discovery would have remained unproven.
Photo by Sophia Elizabeth Bennett / CERN
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Jack Steinberger later described Chien-Shiung Wu’s exclusion from the 1957 Nobel Prize as one of the Nobel Committee’s greatest mistakes.
The Nobel Prize
The following year, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Lee and Yang, both male scientists. Chien-Shiung Wu was not included. The omission surprised many scientists.
After all, Lee and Yang had proposed the idea. Wu had proven it.
Over the years, numerous physicists have argued that she should have shared the award. Nobel laureate Jack Steinberger later described her exclusion as one of the Nobel Committee’s greatest mistakes.
Today, Wu’s omission is widely considered one of the most controversial Nobel Prize decisions in scientific history.
Why she wasn’t included, no one can claim they know for certain. But there are theories.
Why Wasn’t She Included?
Some point to a long history of experimental physicists receiving less recognition than theorists. Others point to the reality that science in the 1950s remained overwhelmingly male. Still others note that Wu was not only a woman, but a Chinese American working in an era when both gender and race often shaped professional opportunities.
Marie Curie had won not one Nobel Prize, but two. Yet decades later, a scientist many regarded as Curie’s equal, was left standing outside the Nobel spotlight.
Physicist Emilio Segrè compared Wu to Curie, whom Wu greatly admired. Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez was even more direct: “She was the most talented experimental physicist I have ever met.”
Coming from a future Nobel Prize winner, it was among the highest compliments imaginable.
Courtesy of Institut International de Physique Solvay
Physics was overwhelmingly male-dominated during the first half of the twentieth century. At the famous 1927 Solvay Conference, Marie Curie was the only woman.
Marie Curie proved that women could win Nobel Prizes. Yet decades later, Chien-Shiung Wu, a scientist many compared to Curie, was left outside the Nobel spotlight.
Photo by Lynn Gilbert
Chien-Shiung Wu never received a Nobel Prize, but her influence on science continued for decades. She remained active in research, education, and advocacy.
Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives
Chien-Shiung Wu never received a Nobel Prize. She earned something else: the respect of generations of scientists who followed in her footsteps.
The First Lady of Physics
Although she couldn’t completely overcome prejudice, Wu pushed the boundaries anyway.
She became the first woman to serve as president of the American Physical Society. She received the National Medal of Science, the Wolf Prize, and countless other awards.
More importantly, she earned the respect of the people who understood her work best.
She became known as the First Lady of Physics.
For generations of physicists, Chien-Shiung Wu was not defined by the Nobel Prize she never received. She was defined by the discovery that changed physics forever. The Nobel Committee made its choice in 1957. Scientists are still debating it today.