Famous Physicists - List of Famous Physicists - page 14

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
Hans Christian Ørsted

Hans Christian Ørsted

Hans Christian Oersted was a famous physicist and chemist who pioneered the concept of electromagnetism

DanishAugust 14, 1777224 views

Luis Walter Alvarez

Luis Alvarez was a famous American physicist who proposed the theory that dinosaurs faced extinction owing to an asteroid impact

AmericanJune 13, 1911141 views

Ludwig Boltzmann

Ludwig Boltzmann was a famous Austrian physicist who is the eponym for the Boltzmann Constant in physics

AustrianFebruary 20, 1844127 views

Katharine Burr Blodgett

Katherine Burr Blodgett was a famous American scientist who invented the ‘invisible glass’ and was the first woman recipient of doctoral degree

AmericanJanuary 10, 1898157 views

Erwin Schrödinger

Erwin Schrodinger was a Nobel Prize winning physicist who formulated the Schrodinger equation in quantum physics

AustrianAugust 12, 1887233 views

Max Born

Max Born was a famous German physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his contribution to advancement of quantum theory in physics

GermanDecember 11, 1882115 views

Evangelista Torricelli

Evangelista Torricelli was a renowned Italian physicist and mathematician who invented the barometer

ItalianOctober 15, 1608204 views

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin

William Thomson was a renowned physicist from Britain who formulated the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and invented the Kelvin scale of temperature

BritishJune 26, 1824158 views

Steven Chu

Steven Chu is a Nobel Prize winning American scientist who discovered the technique of cooling atoms using laser

AmericanFebruary 28, 1948128 views

Lise Meitner

Lise Meitner was a renowned Austrian scientist who worked with Otto Hahn to discover the phenomenon of nuclear fission