The Queen of Nuclear Physics (Part One): Chien-Shiung Wu's Discovery
Short Wave
NPR
4.7 • 6.5K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2022
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Short Wave's Scientist-In-Residence Regina Barber joins host Emily Kwong to talk about that landmark discovery—what it meant for the physics world, and what it means to Regina personally as a woman and a Chinese and Mexican American in physics.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. |
| 0:04.8 | Hey everyone, Regina Barber here. |
| 0:08.4 | So this may is AAPI Heritage Month. |
| 0:11.3 | And we at Shortwave are celebrating by sharing the stories from the Asian American and |
| 0:15.3 | Pacific Islander communities. |
| 0:17.2 | We couldn't let this month pass by without revisiting one of the legends of Shortwave |
| 0:21.3 | lore, a pioneering Chinese American, one of the best experimentalists, and the queen |
| 0:27.5 | of nuclear physics, Chen Cheng Wu. |
| 0:30.1 | In this two-part series, we discuss Wu's life, work, and impact. |
| 0:34.1 | We talk radioactive coal-balled antimatter and a secret project that would change her life |
| 0:39.2 | and the lives of countless others. |
| 0:41.5 | We hope you enjoy. |
| 0:42.8 | Okay, Shortwaveers, we have a story in two acts for you about a discovery that changed |
| 0:47.4 | the world, and it all went down in a particle physics lab in the 1950s. |
| 0:52.2 | That's where one scientist ran a painstakingly difficult experiment that shattered fundamental |
| 0:58.5 | ideas about how our universe works at the tiniest levels. |
| 1:01.9 | We'll talk more about her backstory in part two, which you can listen to tomorrow. |
| 1:07.3 | For part one, we're going to decipher the science of her accomplishment. |
| 1:11.7 | With our very own scientist and residence, Dr. Regina Barber, who is an astrophysicist |
| 1:16.4 | by trade, though her PhD is in physics. |
| 1:20.3 | This was an accident. |
| 1:22.3 | Astronomy was what I loved. |
... |
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