Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber, 1911–1998: Nuclear Physicist Against the Odds

The author’s mother, Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber, was a prominent nuclear physicist who had to overcome steep odds to pursue her work. She lived and worked at a time when it was very uncommon for any woman to be a scientist and even more uncommon for a mother of young children. She also faced Nazi persecution and a series of other challenges in growing up in Germany. Drawing on personal conversations and testimony of her friends, this brief account includes a number of intimate details to illustrate some of the difficulties she faced and the zest for life and for understanding the world that pushed her forward anyway. Details of her work and a bibliography are included.