Born in mainland China during the early 1900s, Wu was born in an era where most girls couldn’t receive education. However, with the support of her dad, by 1934, she could graduate from Nanchang University as their top student. Later on, she pursued University of Michigan’s graduate program to explore more about the world of physics.
"I have always felt that in physics, and probably in other endeavors, too, you must have total commitment. It is not just a job, it is a way of life."
Throughout her life in the USA, she has contributed to many enhancements in radioactive decay and nuclear reactions.
As a nuclear physicist and professor, she assisted physicist Enrico Fermi in his plutonium fission by-product problem, which she later found was caused by the development of Xenon and improved flaws in the radiation detector, Geiger counter.
In addition to this, she also refined the not fissionable 238U to the fissionable 235U and proved the conservation of parity, changing nuclear physics forever.
"Science is not static but is dynamic and ever-improving. It is the courage to doubt what has long been believed and the incessant search for verification and proof that pushes the wheels of science forward."
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