PHYSICIST

Chien-Shiung Wu

1912 - 1997

Photo of Chien-Shiung Wu

Icon of person Chien-Shiung Wu

Chien-Shiung Wu (Chinese: 吳健雄; pinyin: Wú Jiànxióng; Wade–Giles: Wu2 Chien4-shiung2; May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997) was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics. Wu worked on the Manhattan Project, where she helped develop the process for separating uranium into uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion. She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity is not conserved. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Chien-Shiung Wu has received more than 1,078,771 page views. Her biography is available in 53 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 48 in 2019). Chien-Shiung Wu is the 218th most popular physicist (up from 226th in 2019), the 213th most popular biography from China (up from 246th in 2019) and the 4th most popular Chinese Physicist.

Chien-shiung Wu is most famous for her work in the field of particle physics. She was the first woman to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.1M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 63.63

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 53

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.67

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.78

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, Chien-Shiung Wu ranks 218 out of 851. Before her are Arthur Ashkin, Yoichiro Nambu, Abdus Salam, Jerome Isaac Friedman, Leon Cooper, and Clifford Shull. After her are Norman Foster Ramsey Jr., Vitaly Ginzburg, John L. Hall, John Clauser, Murray Gell-Mann, and Sheldon Lee Glashow.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1912, Chien-Shiung Wu ranks 38. Before her are Juan Pujol García, Leonid Kantorovich, Maria Mandl, Alois Brunner, Isser Harel, and Pierre Boulle. After her are Glenn T. Seaborg, Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland, Kim Philby, Tibor Sekelj, Jozef Gabčík, and Otto Ernst Remer. Among people deceased in 1997, Chien-Shiung Wu ranks 36. Before her are Clyde Tombaugh, Robert Mitchum, Carl Gustav Hempel, Edward Mills Purcell, Dora Maar, and Zoltán Czibor. After her are Willem de Kooning, Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland, Cornelius Castoriadis, John Eccles, Eugene Merle Shoemaker, and John Kendrew.

Others Born in 1912

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Others Deceased in 1997

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In China

Among people born in China, Chien-Shiung Wu ranks 213 out of 1,610. Before her are Zhang Liang (-290), Wang Yangming (1472), Xu Fu (-255), Donnie Yen (1963), Emperor Yingzong of Song (1032), and Empress Xiaoyichun (1727). After her are Liu Bian (176), Emperor Qianshao of Han (-150), Zhang Jue (200), Emperor Suzong of Tang (711), Charles K. Kao (1933), and Diaochan (null).

Others born in China

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Among PHYSICISTS In China

Among physicists born in China, Chien-Shiung Wu ranks 4. Before her are Walter Houser Brattain (1902), Yang Chen-Ning (1922), and Tsung-Dao Lee (1926). After her are Qian Xuesen (1911), Daniel C. Tsui (1939), and He Jiankui (1984).

Chinese born Physicists

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