Lise Meitner accomplished a lot of firsts: she was among the first women admitted to the University of Vienna, one of the first to study science, one of the rare exceptions to the rule that barred women from admission to German universities, to be taken seriously as a scientist, to receive a teaching appointment and a lab... and to have a man take credit for her work, and receive the Nobel Prize for it. This program tells the story of Lise Meitner and the work that led to the splitting of the atom, among a cast that included Max Planck (Meitner was his assistant), Leo Szilard, Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Fritz Strassmann, and Otto Hahn (who took the credit for Meitner’s work). In following the progress of various experiments and measurements, the program traces the paths that led to controlled nuclear fission, and proves that great scientists are smart but not necessarily honorable human beings. (26 minutes)