Pop-Up Auststellung

The quantum revolution began over 100 years ago. First, German physicist Max Planck presented his quantum hypothesis. With the discovery of the quantum leap, he radically overturned the ideas of classical physics. In 1925, quantum mechanics was formulated mathematically. Modern physics was born, laying the foundation for a new understanding of the world and serving as the basis for high-tech innovations such as lasers, computer chips and solar modules. It was primarily men who stood at its cradle. For women, the hurdles to entering the world of science were considerable at that time. They had to fight long and hard for recognition.

It was not until 1900 that women were allowed to enrol at German universities on a regular basis and were no longer just onlookers in education. Almost two decades passed before the first female scientists in Germany were admitted to postdoctoral qualifications and received teaching licences for universities.

As a result, the pantheon of physics has so far included only a few ‘great women,’ such as two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie and Lise Meitner, Germany’s first female professor of physics. The brilliant contributions to quantum physics made by mathematician, physicist and philosopher Grete Hermann, for example, have almost been forgotten. Her work on the fundamentals and interpretation of quantum mechanics from the 1930s is still groundbreaking today, but remained largely unknown in the scientific community. A Northern Irish physicist came to similar conclusions some 30 years later and developed Bell’s inequality from them. This shows how far ahead of her time Grete Hermann was. It is only in recent years that she has been rediscovered. An international network of female researchers based at the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter now bears her name.

But times are changing. Women are in the process of conquering physics. Because quantum physics is also female. But there is still a long way to go. To date, only five Nobel Prizes in Physics have been awarded to women, compared to 222 to men. But rethinking does not stop there. The portraits of women in this exhibition testify to their passion for physics. They stand for science free from social attributions, constructs and stereotypes. Enthusiasm on an equal footing. Let yourself be inspired!