Female Pioneers of the Atomic Age Who Took a Stand Against Nuclear Arms

The world's first nuclear explosion, code name "Trinity," took place on July 16, 1945, at a testing site known as the Jornada del Muerto, 210 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico. This was part of a research and development program called the Manhattan Project and was determined a success. It was the start of the Atomic Age. Lise Meitner was asked to work on the project and declined. She was vehemently opposed to her research being used to develop an atomic bomb. She wasn't the only one. These are the female pioneers of the atomic age who took a stand against nuclear arms.

The next day dozens of scientists involved with the Manhattan Project signed a petition to President Truman written by their colleague Leo Szilárd, who had first proposed the idea of a nuclear chain reaction. The petition, known as the Szilárd Petition, urged the president not to approve the use of atomic weapons without first offering Japan a chance to accept terms of surrender. Unfortunately, the president didn't read the petition before the U.S. dropped the bombs on Japan, devastating the cities of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9).

The Szilárd Petition was signed by over 70 scientists who had worked to create the bombs and ten of them were women. To determine female pioneers of the atomic age who took a stand against nuclear arms, 24/7 Tempo utilized information from the Atomic Heritage Foundation to generate a list of every woman who signed the petition. The bombs were among 33 weapons that shaped WWII history. To date, there have been over 1,000 nuclear tests in the United States – 815 underground and 215 in the atmosphere.

Mary T. Burke served as a research assistant in the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago during the Manhattan Project, contributing to atomic bomb research in the Instruments Division.

Ethaline Hartge Cortelyou got her bachelor's degree in chemistry from Alfred College in 1932. As a junior chemist at the Met Lab during the Manhattan Project, she assisted in preparing the classified table of isotopes. In her later years, she continued scientific writing and was a strong advocate for women in STEM.

Mary M. Dailey was a research assistant in the health division at the University of Chicago's Met Lab during the Manhattan Project.

Miriam P. Finkel attained a B.S. in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1938, and her Ph.D. in 1944. She went on to investigate the toxicity levels of radionuclides and the effects radiation exposure can have on the body. She worked as an associate biologist at the Metallurgical Laboratory during the Manhattan Project. Finkel's research helped develop health and safety standards for radiation exposure and contributed significantly to molecular biology.

Having achieved a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Illinois, Mildred C. Ginsberg Goldberger went on to work as a research assistant and computer (meaning someone who calculates) at the Met Lab. She became a leading mathematician and economist and later served as the First Lady of CalTech.

Marietta Catherine Moore served as a technician in the health division at the University of Chicago's Met Lab during the Manhattan Project.

Margaret H. Rand was another research assistant in the Met Lab's health division during the Manhattan Project.

Marguerite N. Swift served as a Manhattan Project associate physiologist in the health division at the University of Chicago's Met Lab.

Katharine "Kay" Way obtained her bachelor's in physics from Columbia University and then completed her PhD in nuclear physics. At the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago, she helped develop the Way-Wigner formula for calculating nuclear fission product decay, and her expertise in the area brought her to other project sites including Hanford, Los Alamos, and Oak Ridge. She was one of the Manhattan Project's leading women scientists.

Hoylande Young was educated at Ohio State University and the University of Chicago, earning a Ph.D. in organic chemistry. While working as a senior chemist at the Met Lab, she also served as an editor of the National Nuclear Energy Series, a wartime report on nuclear research. She later became the Director of Technical Information at Argonne National Laboratory.