电影《奥本海默》剧照 图源：豆瓣
Chien-Shiung Wu was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics.
She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity is not conserved. This discovery resulted in her colleagues Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang winning the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics, while Wu herself was awarded the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Her expertise in experimental physics evoked comparisons to Marie Curie.
1912年，吴健雄出生于江苏省苏州市太仓浏河镇。她家在浏河镇天妃宫庙门前广场的右手边，小时候也常到广场和庙院中玩耍。但与同龄人相比，她更为沉静，常常穿着一身土布旗袍，独自待在家中小楼上听矿石收音机。
吴健雄的父亲吴仲裔思想开明，提倡男女平等，在浏河镇创办了明德女子职业补习学校，对吴健雄的成长起了至关重要的作用。
Chien-Shiung Wu was born in the town of Liuhe, Taicang in Jiangsu province, China, on May 31, 1912. Wu and her father were extremely close, and he encouraged her interests passionately, creating an environment where she was surrounded by books, magazines, and newspapers. Wu received her elementary school education at Mingde Women's Vocational School, a school for girls founded by her father.
1923年，吴健雄小学毕业，考入苏州市第二女子师范学校。在把“嫁人”视为女性最好归宿的时代，她靠着刻苦认真的学习态度、敏而好学的求知精神闯出一片新天地。
Wu left her hometown in 1923 at the age of 10 to go to the Suzhou Women's Normal School No 2, which was fifty miles from her home. In an era when "getting married" was considered the best destiny for women, she carved out a new path for herself through her diligent and earnest approach to learning and her insatiable thirst for knowledge.
In 1930, Chien-Shiung Wu enrolled in the Mathematics Department at Central University, and the following year, she transferred to the Physics Department. She later graduated and worked at Zhejiang University and the Physics Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
1938年，吴健雄正式开启她在原子核物理世界中的实验研究。
In 1936, Chien-Shiung Wu went to the United States to pursue further studies in atomic physics, working towards her PhD. It was during this period of her education that she came to know Oppenheimer, who was teaching in the physics department.
In 1938, Chien-Shiung Wu officially embarked on her experimental research in the field of nuclear physics.
在奥本海默、劳伦斯、赛格雷等著名物理学家的指导下，吴健雄顺利完成学业，并在博士论文工作中涉及有关铀核裂变的研究。由于相关研究高度敏感，她的工作内容直到二战结束后才被公布。
Under the guidance of renowned physicists such as Oppenheimer, Lawrence, and Segre, Chien-Shiung Wu successfully completed her studies and her doctoral research, which involved investigations into uranium fission. Due to the highly sensitive nature of her work, the details of her research were not disclosed until the end of World War II.
In 1952, Chien-Shiung Wu became an associate professor at Columbia University. As an Asian woman, she stood out amidst the sea of suits, gracefully moving through the crowd in her traditional Chinese qipao, while tirelessly conducting experiments day in and day out with unwavering persistence.
1984年，吴健雄从美国回到了阔别已久的祖国。当时，吴健雄已经72岁了，当她回到苏州之后，为家乡捐了25万美元的巨款，用于资助家乡的建设。
后来，她又成为了我国的科学院院士，为国内的发展出了一份力。值得一提的是，他的丈夫袁家骝还成立了教育基金，用以祖国的科研事业。
In 1984, Chien-Shiung Wu returned to China from the United States. At the age of 72, she made a substantial donation of $250,000 to her hometown to support its development. Later, she also became an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, contributing significantly to the scientific development of her home country.
1997 年，吴健雄病逝于纽约。临死之前，她要求将自己埋葬在自己的家乡苏州。如今，在苏州太仓市明德高级中学紫薇阁旁有一个墓碑，墓碑上写着：“她是卓越的世界公民，和一个永远的中国人”。
In 1997, Chien-Shiung Wu passed away in New York. Before her death, she requested to be buried in her hometown of Suzhou. Today, her tombstone in Taicang, Suzhou, bears the inscription: "She was an outstanding global citizen and a forever Chinese."
In the Chinese New Year of 2021, the United States issued a special commemorative postage stamp in honor of Chien-Shiung Wu.
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