This week, the Physics Department celebrated the 111th birthday of Dr Chien-Shiung Wu. Born in China in 1912, Wu made significant contributions to nuclear and particle physics. She is famous for designing the “Wu Experiment”, which showed that nature doesn’t always have “mirror symmetry” and changed how scientists think about the laws of physics. Her experiment earned her male colleagues, theorists Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang, the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics. Wu’s contribution to this discovery was recognised when she was awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. She’s been nicknamed “First Lady of Physics”, “Chinese Madame Curie”, and even ” Queen of Nuclear Research”. We celebrated her with a feast of traditional cakes from Mr Cheung’s favourite Chinese bakery. This was followed by a quiz with questions on Wu, Particle Physics and Chinese Culture and Geography. Happy 111th Birthday, Chien-Shiung!
Dr MacTavish, Head of Physics and Head of Digital Literacy
