Queen of physics : how Wu Chien Shiung helped unlock the secrets of the atom

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Title:

Author:

Robeson, Teresa, 1964- author.

ISBN:

9781454932208

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 29 cm

Abstract:

When Wu Chien Shiung was born in China 100 years ago, girls did not attend school. But her parents named their daughter "Courageous Hero" and encouraged her love of science. This biography follows Wu as she battles sexism at home and racism in the United States of America to become what Newsweek magazine called the "Queen of Physics" for her work on how atoms split.

Reading Level:

5 & up.

K to 3.

960L Lexile

Personal Subject:

Wu, C. S. (Chien-shiung), 1912-1997-Juvenile literature.

Subject Term:

Nuclear physicists -- United States -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Women physicists -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Chinese Americans -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Added Author:

Huang, Rebecca

Holds:

Available:

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... HCPL Katherine Tyra @ Bear Creek	HCPL Book	B Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... HCPL Atascocita	HCPL Book	B Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... HCPL Atascocita	HCPL Book	B Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... HCPL Katy	HCPL Book	B Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... HCPL Katy	HCPL Book	B Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... LSC-CyFair Library	HCPL Book	B Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... HCPL Spring Branch	HCPL Book	B Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... HCPL Kingwood	HCPL Book	B Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... MCML Mitchell Library - West Woodlands	Juvenile Books, circulating	jB Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... MCML South Regional Library - The Woodlands	Juvenile Books, circulating	jB Wu	Searching... Unknown
Searching... MCML CB Stewart Library - Montgomery	Juvenile Books, circulating	jB Wu	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Meet Wu Chien Shiung, famous physicist who overcame prejudice to prove that she could be anything she wanted.

" Wu Chien Shiung's story is remarkable--and so is the way this book does it justice." -- Booklist (Starred review)

When Wu Chien Shiung was born in China 100 years ago, most girls did not attend school; no one considered them as smart as boys. But her parents felt differently. Giving her a name meaning "Courageous Hero," they encouraged her love of learning and science. This engaging biography follows Wu Chien Shiung as she battles sexism and racism to become what Newsweek magazine called the "Queen of Physics" for her work on beta decay. Along the way, she earned the admiration of famous scientists like Enrico Fermi and Robert Oppenheimer and became the first woman hired as an instructor by Princeton University, the first woman elected President of the American Physical Society, the first scientist to have an asteroid named after her when she was still alive, and many other honors.

Winner - 2020 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature Picture Book !

An NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended book!

Notes

Teresa Robeson was born in Hong Kong, raised in Canada, and now writes and creates from her mini-homestead in southern Indiana where she lives with her scientist husband. A nonfiction winner of the We Need Diverse Books Mentorship Program, Teresa advocates for greater scientific and cultural literacy. Visit her online at teresarobeson.com and on Twitter @TeresaRobeson.

Rebecca Huang is an illustrator from Taiwan who currently lives in the Bay Area. Rebecca received her MFA degree in illustration from Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She is the author and illustrator of Bobo and the New Baby . You can visit her at rebeccamhuang.com.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Robeson details the life of Wu Chien Shiung, a female physicist of the mid-20th century who completed important, often unrecognized work in beta decay. Fortunate to have parents who started a girls' school in China, Wu was educated like her brothers, attended university, and led student protests to "resist Japanese invaders" just before WWII. After moving to the U.S., she investigates parity and beta decay in California and New York, often facing prejudice, and is passed over for the Nobel Prize as her male colleagues receive accolades. All the while, she perseveres, remembering her Baba's words: "Just put your head down and/ keep walking forward." Huang's stylized illustrations feature chalkboards full of equations and backdrops with swirling nuclear symbols. A list of Wu's "firsts" (first woman instructor at Princeton, for example) and a glossary of nuclear terms close this bittersweet biography of a brilliant woman. Ages 5--up. (Oct.)