Otto Hahn Accomplishments

Otto Hahn was a German chemist who revolutionized the field of nuclear chemistry. Following a lifelong interest in chemistry, he found himself on the forefront of radiochemistry research in the early 20th century. Through a series of chance discoveries, he and his fellow researchers brought radiochemistry out of the realm of theoretical research and into actual practical science. One of the practical uses of this research led to the development of nuclear weapons. While Otto Hahn’s lifetime of education and research led to great contributions to chemistry, it also led to his dedication to using his powerful voice for social causes, especially to limit the threat of nuclear weapons.
Otto Hahn was born March 8, 1879 in Frankfurt am Main, Prussia,
As Nazism was growing in power in Germany in 1933, Hahn was beginning a four-month term as a lecturer at Cornell University in Ithaca. New York, followed by visits to several American universities. He received disturbing correspondence from his friends in Germany, as “some of his very capable Jewish coworkers were discharged. People who were members of the Nazi Party … were dictating policy” (Hahn, 108). Fearing the situation in Berlin, Hahn shortened his trip and returned to the rapidly changing laboratory situation at home. Some Jewish scientists left their homes to find work elsewhere, and in these “early years of the Hitler regime some resistance-minor, to be sure- was possible; at a somewhat later date no such possibility remained” (Hahn, 112). Indeed, by 1938, Hahn’s Christian, but ethnically Jewish collaborator, Lise Meitner, was forced to leave Germany. “While Hahn was powerless to protect Meitner, he did help her to escape, and he gave her a diamond ring that he had inherited form his mother so that she could sell it when needed” (Bernstein, 9). Hahn then used his connections with Dutch physicists to get Meitner safely to Sweden, and safe from Nazi