Chien-Shiung Wu vs Dmitri Shostakovich
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Chien-Shiung Wu | Dmitri Shostakovich | |
| Field | Science | Music |
| Sub-field | Physics | Composer |
| Born | 1912 | 1906 |
| Died | 1997 | 1975 |
| Country of birth | China | Russia |
| Star sign | Gemini | Libra |
Who they are
Chien-Shiung Wu
Wu Experiment 1956 — Proved parity violation, overturned a law of physics The First Lady of Physics · Columbia University · Wolf Prize 1978 Born May 31, 1912 · Liuhe, China · Died February 16, 1997
Full biography of Chien-Shiung Wu →
Dmitri Shostakovich
In January 1936, Josef Stalin attended a performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District at the Bolshoi Theatre and left before the final act. Two days later, Pravda published an unsigned editorial — almost certainly authorized at the highest level — titled "Muddle Instead of Music." The article attacked the opera as "formalist" and "bourgeois," its dissonances described as deliberate assaults on Soviet socialist culture. Shostakovich was twenty-nine years old, the most celebrated composer in the Soviet Union, and now suddenly in danger. He had a new symphony nearly finished —…
Full biography of Dmitri Shostakovich →
What they share
- Near contemporaries - 6 years apart.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Science for Chien-Shiung Wu, Music for Dmitri Shostakovich.
- Born in different countries: China and Russia.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Chien-Shiung Wu or Dmitri Shostakovich?
- Dmitri Shostakovich. Chien-Shiung Wu was born in 1912, Dmitri Shostakovich in 1906.
- What field is each of them in?
- Chien-Shiung Wu is filed under Science (Physics). Dmitri Shostakovich is filed under Music (Composer).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.