Maria Goeppert was born on June 28, 1906 in Kattowiz, Upper Silesia, then a part of Germany. Her father was a professor of pediatrics, the sixth generation of Goepperts to be university professors. When Maria was four years old, the family moved to Göttingen where her father joined the faculty at the university.

Like most women scientists, Goeppert-Mayer encountered special problems and barriers from the time she entered the educational system in Göttingen. There was no public school at which girls could prepare for the university. So she enrolled at the Frauenstudium, a small private school operated by suffragettes to prepare girls for the university. When the school closed, a few teachers continued to tutor Goeppert-Mayer privately for the university entrance exams.

In 1924, Goeppert-Mayer passed her exams and entered the university. Her initial interest was in the area of mathematics. But contact with Max Born caused...