Physicist. Acclaimed nuclear scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb; she also helped develop a better Geiger counter. Born near Shanghai, China, she emigrated to the United States in 1936 and received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1940. Joined the Manhattan Project early in World War II where she helped develop a process to enrich uranium ore to produce the fuel for the atomic bomb. Accepted a position at Columbia University in 1944, where her research helped to destroy the "law of conservation of parity," which had been assumed to be a fundamental law of nature; it predicted that beta particles, which are emitted by a radioactive nucleus, would fly off in any direction, regardless of the spin of the nucleus. In 1957, using atoms of cobalt-60, she showed that beta particles were more likely to be emitted in a particular direction that depended on the spin of the cobalt nuclei confirming a 1956 theory by others who received the 1957 Nobel Prize in physics. Recipient of numerous awards in recognition of her contributions to atomic research and the understanding of beta decay and the weak interactions, including being the first living scientist to have an asteroid named after her. She was the first woman to be elected president of the American Physical Society and to receive the Cyrus B. Comstock Award of the National Academy of Sciences; also received the National Medal of Science in 1975, the United States' highest award in scientific achievement, and was the first recipient of the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Also conducted research on molecular changes in the deformation of hemoglobins that cause sickle-cell anemia. Cause of death: stroke, in Manhattan, New York.