Uncovering the lost women of the Manhattan Project

PROVIDENCE – The latest episode in the podcast series, “The Lost Women of Science,” featuring chemist Lilli Hornig, “The Story of the Real Lilli Hornig, the Only Female Scientist Named in the Film ‘Oppenheimer,’” dropped on Thursday, Aug. 17.

‍“Lilli Hornig was only 23 years old when she arrived at Los Alamos to contribute to the development of an atomic bomb that would end World War II,” the written introduction to the podcast began. “A talented chemist, Lilli battled sexism throughout her career and remained a steadfast advocate for female scientists like herself.”

‍The written introduction continued: “Lilli is the only female scientist named in Christopher Nolan’s film, “Oppenheimer.” But the character is a blur, popping up here and there to say they didn’t teach typing in her graduate chemistry program at Harvard, when asked whether she could be a typist, or to rib a colleague, telling him that her reproductive system was better protected from radiation than his.”

Read more on the ConvergenceRI website here.