Photograph of two scientists working at their respective benches in a laboratory at the University of Leipzig. Identified by an inscription beneath the photograph, pictured at left is Alwin Mittash (1869-1953) and on his right is Otto Hahn (1879-1968).

Hahn was one of the first to recognize that the uranium atom split when bombarded by neutrons. In 1944, he received the Nobel prize in Chemistry for the discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei.

Mittasch was a German chemist known for his research in the development of catalysts for industrial ammonia synthesis using the Haber–Bosch process. His doctoral advisor was Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932).