Chien-Shiung Wu

Chien-Shiung Wu (Chinese: 吳健雄; pinyin: Wú Jiànxióng; Wade–Giles: Wu2 Chien4-hsiung2; May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997) was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics. Wu worked on the Manhattan Project, where she helped develop the process for separating uranium into uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion. She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity is not conserved. This discovery resulted in her colleagues Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang winning the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics, while Wu herself was awarded the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Her expertise in experimental physics evoked comparisons to Marie Curie. Her nicknames include the "First Lady of Physics", the "Chinese Madame Curie" and the "Queen of Nuclear Research".

31 May 1912

Born on the same birth day (31 May): Adye Douglas • Andrea Appiani • Art Coulter • David Leigh (scientist) • Francis Younghusband • Fritz Hilpert • Jean-François Gillet • Julian Beck • June Clark (nurse) • Krista Kilvet • Lloyd Quarterman

Born in the same month (May 1912): Archibald Cox • Chen Dayu • George Woodcock • Gil Evans • Herbert C. Brown • Hugh Griffith • Jay Silverheels • Julius Axelrod • Otto Kretschmer • Pedro Armendáriz • Perry Como • Sam Snead • Virgil Fox