Here’s the story of the Lilli Hornig, the only female scientist named in the film Oppenheimer.
Lilli Schwenk Hornig was 23 years old when she arrived at Los Alamos to contribute to the development of an atomic bomb that would end World War II. A passionate chemist, Lilli battled sexism throughout her academic and professional careers and remained a steadfast advocate for female scientists like herself.[New to Lost Women of Science? You can listen to our most recent Short here and our most recent multi-episode season here.
We also want to tell you Lilli Hornig’s story because she's an example of something we keep seeing over and over at Lost Women of Science: female scientists who follow their scientist husbands to new jobs in academe or industry. The Manhattan Project scooped up many of these spouses though it’s impossible to put a number on just how many.
Tatananni: In 1929, when Lilli was eight years old, she moved with her family to Berlin, where her father began work for a pharmaceutical company. But anti-semitism was on the rise and the Nazis were establishing a stronghold throughout Germany. The danger to the Schwenk family was palpable. But she wasn’t deterred. Lilli earned a B.A. in chemistry from Bryn Mawr in 1942 before moving on to a graduate chemistry program at Harvard. Unlike Bryn Mawr, a women’s college, Harvard’s chemistry department was far from inviting for women. For one thing, there was no ladies’ room in the building.
In 1944, Don was approached by his thesis advisor, Bright Wilson, with a job offer. But he wouldn’t elaborate on just what the job would be.And Don said, “Well tell me where it is.”“No, couldn’t tell you.” She started with the plutonium group as soon as her security clearance came through, and she quickly found that her new life was…lonely.
Tatananni: Plutonium chemistry was a mystery at the time, as almost none of the artificial element had been created. Lilli’s group was working on studying plutonium-239, the isotope that was believed to be a powerful fuel for the atomic bomb. However, in the summer of 1944, there was a disappointing discovery. It turned out that using plutonium in a bomb would be harder than expected.
Tatananni: Lilli went on to join her husband in the high explosives unit. The need for precision in the explosives and their detonators was unprecedented, and that unit proved crucial to the success of the new plutonium bomb, which was codenamed Fat Man. McGehee: They really needed to figure out how implosion was working. And so they had to come up with all these different methods and new technologies that had to be invented on the spot and facilities that actually had to be built.
Forty eight hours later, Lilli was sitting atop a mountain in the Sandia range with colleagues, 110 miles from the test site, watching and waiting for ignition. Tatananni: It didn’t take long for Lilli and her colleagues to understand in the most concrete of terms the potential for destruction on an unprecedented scale.
Hornig: I remember the petition came around just after the test. Some of my friends were signing it and I thought about it and I thought that was a good idea. That was an odd mix of feelings. I mean, certainly some triumph and the destruction was just so incredible. I think we’ve all been a little haunted by that over the years.
Lizzy Younan composes our music, Paula Mangin creates our art. And Alex Sugiura was the audio engineer. Danya AbdelHameid was our fact checker. Thanks to Amy Scharf, Jeff DelViscio, Eowyn Burtner, Lauren Croop, Carla Sephton, and Jeannie Stivers.
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