FIRST APPEARANCE OF AN IMPORTANT PAPER ON RADIATION, BY "THE GERMAN MADAME CURIE"

Meitner, Lise. Der Zusammenhang zwischen Beta- und Gamma-Strahlen IN: Ergebnisse der exakten Naturwissenschaften. Dritter Band. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1924. Octavo, contemporary tan cloth. $6000.

Scarce first appearance of an article laying the groundwork for the discovery of nuclear fission.

Leading up to her pioneering work on nuclear fission, physicist Lise Meitner—dubbed "the German Madame Curie" by Einstein—conducted significant experimental research into the means by which unstable atoms produce radiation. This volume of Naturwissenschaften features her important paper on beta particles, concluding that "even though we still know so little about primary beta rays, the study of secondary beta-ray lines has nevertheless yielded valuable insights. It has enabled us to measure gamma-ray wavelengths that could not be measured by any other method currently at our disposal, and it has pointed the way toward a path that might one day lead to an understanding of nuclear structure." Also present in this volume is Walther Gerlach's article "Atomstrahlen." See PMM 422. Ink stamps of a European technical university; title page with penciled shelving number.

Text clean; cloth lightly worn, with minor toning to spine. Volume in very good condition, with the article itself near-fine.