Maria Goeppert Mayer

Nobel Prize-winning physicist who elucidated the nuclear shell model

Maria Goeppert Mayer (1906–1972) was a German-American physicist and the second woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics (1963) for her groundbreaking work on the nuclear shell model. Educated at the University of Göttingen, she fled Nazi Germany in 1930 and contributed to U.S. atomic research during World War II at projects like the Manhattan Project.

Her most significant achievement came in 1949 when she proposed that protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei orbit in discrete shells, similar to electrons. This model explained why certain 'magic numbers' of nucleons resulted in exceptional stability—a theory initially met with skepticism but later confirmed experimentally. Collaborating with J. Hans D. Jensen, she co-authored the seminal book Elementary Theory of Nuclear Shell Structure (1955).

Despite facing gender discrimination—she worked unpaid at universities for decades—Mayer persisted. Her Nobel win paved the way for women in theoretical physics. Learn more at Nobel Prize Biography.