STEM traIIbaЕer BIOS NUCLEAR PHYSICIST I CHIEN SHIUNG WU VALERIE BODDEN Lerner Publications a Minneapolis a
Chapter 1 As a girl in the 1920s Chien Shiung had to work hard to get the same education as boys her age A SCIENTIFIC START Ihien Shiung Wu was born on May 29 1912 in the small town of Liuhe China Chien Shiung's parents encouraged her and her two brothers to read and ask questions about everything In the evenings her father Zong Yi read news about the latest scientific discoveries to the whole
At that time there were not many schools for girls in China Most girls were taught only how to become good wives and mothers But Chien Shiung's father founded the Ming De School This was the first girls school in the region Chien Shiung's mother Fuhua Fan helped Zong Yi convince other parents to send their daughters to the school When she was old enough Chien Shiung attended Ming De But the school had only four grades Chien Shiung graduated when she was nine She wanted to continue her education but there were no other schools for girls in the area AWAY FROM HOME Chien Shiung applied to the Soochow Girls School in the city of Suzhou This school was 50 miles 80 kilometers from her home For the next seven years she saw her family only during school breaks The Soochow Girls School had two programs One was a regular school and the other was a teacher training school The teacher training school was free Students were promised a job after graduation Chien Shiung's family had enough money to pay for the regular school But she wanted the challenge of the more difficult teacher training
