Famous Physicists - List of Famous Physicists - page 12

Physicists are the scientists who study the field of physics in great detail. They conduct research into physical phenomena or the natural science that involve the study of matter and related concepts. They analyze the general happenings in nature and try to understand how the universe behaves. On the basis of research through observation and experiments, they discover physical laws and propound theories that explain the functioning of natural forces like gravity, electromagnetism, and nuclear interactions. The discovery of new physical laws and theories contribute to the existing base of theoretical knowledge and can also be used for more practical applications such as development of medial equipment, electronic devices, nuclear reactors, etc. During the earlier days, physics was considered a field of philosophy; it was only during the 19th century that physics was realized as a discipline separate from philosophy. Some of the major branches of physics are classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, theory of relativity and electromagnetism. Since physics covers a vast number of fields, most physicists specialize in one of the many subfields. However, the various subfields may overlap with each other and also with other sciences resulting in interdisciplinary fields such as biophysics, geophysics, meteorology, etc. Browse through this section to explore the biographies, life and works of various famous physicists from all over the world.

The Most Famous Physicists

NameBirthdayNationalityBio
Henry CavendishOctober 10, 1731BritishHenry Cavendish was a theoretical chemist and physicist, renowned for discovery of hydrogen and calculation of the mass of earth
Walter KohnMarch 9, 1923AustrianNobel Laureate Walter Kohn was an Austrian-born American theoretical chemist and physicist
Isaac NewtonJanuary 4, 1643BritishIsaac Newton was an English scientist and mathematician, who discovered gravitation and Newtonian Mechanics
Ernst RuskaDecember 25, 1906GermanErnst Ruska was a German physicist who invented the electron microscope
Amedeo AvogadroAugust 9, 1776ItalianAmedeo Avogadro was an Italian scientist who formulated what is now known as Avogadro's law
Paul DiracAugust 8, 1902BritishPaul Dirac was an English theoretical physicist known for his contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics
Nikola TeslaJuly 10, 1856AmericanNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, best known for his development of alternating current electrical systems
Franklin Chang DíazApril 5, 1950Chinese, Costa Rican, AmericanFranklin Chang-Diaz is an American-Costa Rican physicist and former NASA astronaut
Richard FeynmanMay 11, 1918AmericanRichard Feynman was a Nobel Prize winning American physicist who proposed the theory of quantum electrodynamics
J. J. ThomsonDecember 18, 1856BritishJ.J
Felix Bloch

Felix Bloch

Felix Bloch was a Swiss born American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1952

SwissOctober 23, 190598 views

Jean Baptiste Perrin

Jean Baptiste Perrin was a renowned French physicist who was honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1926

FrenchSeptember 30, 1870127 views

Max von Laue

Max von Laue or Max Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1914.

GermanOctober 9, 1879123 views

James Chadwick

Sir James Chadwick CH was an English physicist, who won the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of neutron

BritishOctober 20, 1891246 views

Victor Francis Hess

Victor Francis Hess was an Austrian-American physicist who won the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of cosmic radiation

AmericanJune 24, 1883106 views

C. F. Powell

Cecil Frank Powell was an English physicist who received Nobel Prize for Physics in 1950

BritishDecember 5, 1903120 views

Karl Ferdinand Braun

Karl Ferdinand Braun was a German physicist and inventor who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909

GermanJune 6, 1850205 views

Gabriel Lippmann

Gabriel Lippmann was a French physicist and inventor

FrenchAugust 16, 1845246 views

Ernest Walton

Ernest Walton was an Irish physicist who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Crockcroft for their work on splitting the atomic nucleus

IrishOctober 6, 1903126 views

John Cockcroft

John Cockcroft was a British Physicist who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ernest Walton for their work on splitting the atomic nucleus

BritishMay 27, 1897128 views