Oppenheimer made a big splash at the Oscars last night, with seven awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor.
Yes, we think it’s a great movie, too. But as we watched Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas bound up to the stage, trailed by the rest of their joyous team, we couldn't help but wonder: Why oh why did this crew of enlightened talent not do a better job of portraying the female scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project?
It wouldn't matter so much but for these very real numbers: 640 women worked at Los Alamos. They made up 11% of the workforce there; more women worked at the other Manhattan Project sites.
We've taken a stab at filling the gap with our Lost Women of the Manhattan Project, which tells a few of their stories.
Leona Woods joined Enrico Fermi's team at the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago, shortly after getting her Ph.D. in molecular spectroscopy. Listen here
Floy Agnes Lee, a member of the Santa Clara Pueblo Nation, worked as a hematology technician at Los Alamos, analyzing the effects of radiation on people's health. Listen here.
Lilli Hornig, who just makes a token appearance as a composite character, worked on plutonium research and was part of the team that developed and tested the detonator mechanism for the plutonium weapon in the Trinity test. Listen here.
Katharine “Kay” Way, a nuclear physicist, spoke out against the atomic bomb and signed the Szilárd petition, asking President Truman to demonstrate its power before dropping it on Japan.Listen here.
We're planning to add more episodes to our Lost Women of the Manhattan Project series. So keep listening!
Women’s History Month
Every month is women's history month at Lost Women of Science – but March is special. Celebrate Women's History Month with us by listening to episodes about remarkable female scientists through the ages at lostwomenofscience.org.
