From radioactivity to nuclear physics: Marie Curie and Lise Meitner

In the first part of this century, at a time when few women obtained a higher education and even fewer entered the scientific professions, two exceptional women achieved great prominence in physics: Marie Curie in radioactivity and Lise Meitner in nuclear physics. In this article I outline the scientific work of Meitner and Curie, in the context of their backgrounds and career paths that permitted them to overcome many of the obstacles faced by women in science.