This article summarizes the misinterpretations and failures and finally, the successes in research during the 1930s that eventually led to the discovery of nuclear fission. According to the author, Kurt Starke, “… the experiments leading to the fragmentation of uranium were aimed originally at building-up a heavier transuranic element” (p. 771). Starke documented the work of many scientists, including Enrico Fermi, the Joliot-Curies, Fritz Strassman, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Frederick Soddy.